Is it hunger or emotion? Signs of emotional eating & 5 ways mindful eating can help.

Ever find yourself reaching for snacks when you're stressed, bored, or just feeling off? That’s emotional eating, and it’s something many of us experience more often than we realize. While food can be comforting, using it to cope with emotions can lead to habits that don’t support your overall wellbeing. In this post, we'll break down what emotional eating is, how to recognize the signs, and how mindful eating can help you reconnect with your body, your emotions, and your relationship with food.

What is emotional eating?

Emotionally eating is the opposite of mindful eating. It’s led by stress, cravings, the desire to change or soothe our feelings, or simply the habit of eating on “autopilot."

Signs of Emotionally Eating

• Eating is triggered by emotions rather than actual (physical) hunger.
  
• Continuing to eat despite feeling full. 
  
• Habitual or routine eating that doesn’t require your attention. Eating “on autopilot” mindlessly.
  
• Multitasking while you eat, such as watching TV, emailing, reading, instead of paying attention and enjoying the experience.
  
• Grazing on food and snacks but skipping actual meals that require more time. 
  
• Ignoring body’s real hunger signals and physical cues. Forgetting to eat if you’re in a rush.
  
• Ignoring portion sizes and appetite – eating everything on the plate because it’s there.
  
• Eating in a trance. Forgetting the meal ever happened once you’re finished.
  

5 Benefits of Mindful Eating

1. Better Weight Control

Weight-loss programs are increasingly using mindfulness training to facilitate dietary and physical activity changes because numerous studies show it’s highly effective. The real goal of mindful eating is to give your body what it needs, balance cravings, remain healthy and, of course, feel good! Your body will often naturally settle at a healthy weight when you eat the optimal amount, without giving it too much or too little. The pitfall of many diets are that they don’t teach you to manage your emotions and preferences.

2. Improved Digestive Functioning

Eating too fast and/or too much often leads to gas, bloating, indigestion and bowel problems. Chewing food slowly and more fully allows enzymes to start breaking down the food in our mouth and reduces the burden on the stomach and other digestive organs. Eating less also lowers the burden considerably.

3. Less Stress

Taking time to focus solely on enjoying and savoring our food shifts our minds away from ruminating on stressful thoughts and worries. Mindful eating creates appreciation and awareness on the present moment. Stress can sabotage diet and fitness goals. Eliminating emotional eating can impact your weight and health immensely because it stops a vicious cycle. Awareness can help you avoid stressful eating, recognize cravings, and make healthier decisions.

4. More Satisfaction

Mindful eating attunes you to your body’s signals and senses, allowing you to experience pleasure around foods without losing control. Paying more attention = less food intake! Studies show that brief mindfulness instructions led to lower calorie consumption of unhealthy food due to greater eating enjoyment.

5. Better Management of Health Conditions

According to certain studies, training in mindful eating can result in better self-management over conditions, including diabetes, digestive issues, eating disorders and more. Research shows diabetic patients who were trained in mindful eating became more attuned to their own habits, which resulted in better management of food intake, anxiety, depression, and blood sugar levels.

Learning to recognize emotional eating and practicing mindful eating isn’t about being perfect — it’s about being kind to yourself and building a healthier, more compassionate relationship with food. If you’re struggling with emotional eating know that you’re not alone. You can schedule a visit with a registered dietitian at First Stop Health for support. They are here to help you explore your habits, understand your needs, and guide you toward a more balanced and nourishing approach to eating.

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