Eating is important to sustain our nutritional needs every day. However, there are certain instances when eating damages our health journeys instead of helping.

Case in point: emotional eating.

Let’s talk about emotional eating in this blog post, and how it looks in the eyes of a health and nutrition specialist like me.

What is emotional eating?

Emotional eating, in the simplest of words, is filling the void that negative emotions create in your mental space. We tend to eat as a temporary distraction from our emotions. When we’re stressed, anxious, upset, or tired, we turn to our favorite comfort foods in an effort to cheer us up a little.

Emotional eating also happens when we’re happy. We eat out to celebrate. We reward ourselves for getting through a long day.

Why is emotional eating bad?

While these are true, the thing we have to keep in mind about emotional eating is that it is only temporary and you may feel bad about yourself after eating. Either you feel guilty for overeating or you still feel empty.

Emotional eating does not contribute in any way to what we are feeling.

It only creates an unhealthy coping mechanism, and it is something that is detrimental to our health journey in the long run if it becomes a habit.

Again, emotional eating is not the answer.

How do we get rid of emotional eating?

To better deal with our emotions, it is important for us to learn how to feel and deal with them in a positive way. Triggers have to be identified to get to the root of the problem, and these may include stress, unhealthy coping mechanisms, childhood habits, boredom, and others.

Once we do that, we will then be able to find other ways to cope with our negative emotions without having to sacrifice our health for something temporary and unhealthy.

Plus, it is also ideal for us to seek support from the people around us. If we feel like emotional eating, they may step in and force us to take control of the urges and make us remember why emotional eating is bad.

Lucky for you, I am inviting you to FREE phone calls where we can talk about how to deal with emotional eating and your overall health journey. Book the call here.

As a health and wellness coach, I am committed to coming up with healthy eating programmes for women. Take the next step and create healthy habits as we create your personal transformation plan.