Overeating – Emotional and Binge Eating

Help! I Overeat – and I Don’t Know Why?!

Do you ever start eating, or overeating, when you’re feeling upset or stressed, even though you aren’t even hungry?

Do you ever start eating, or overeating, just because it helps you feel better emotionally? Kind of like a warm blanket?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, you might be an emotional eater. Often combined with the act of binge eating.

People have different ways of handling and managing their feelings and behavior when they’re feeling depressed, stressed, or upset about something. Some people choose to turn to food as a way of managing these feelings as food fills an emotional void for some.

What Is Emotional Eating?

Emotional eating is when you eat in response to an emotional trigger. Finding comfort in food when you’re upset, sad or depressed, or having negative feelings like anger.

After you choose to eat in response to feeling stressed or overly emotional, some start feeling guilty or shameful. This is often because you know you ate for the wrong reasons. (I.e. other than hunger or the need to fuel your body after a workout, for example.)

This can lead to cyclical emotional eating behavior. And typically won’t end until you face your emotional needs directly. Emotional eating can then lead to binge eating disorder, as well as other eating disorders, weight gain, and other related health issues.

While emotional eating affects both men and women, some studies say that emotional eating is more common among women.

Binge eating is the most common eating disorder in the United States, and is classified as a medical condition. People with this disorder tend to eat large amounts of food in a short amount of time, and then feel guilty and/or sad afterwards.

Binge eating is associated with psychological symptoms, including depression and anxiety. It’s important to understand your triggers to help anticipate binges before they occur. Obviously, there’s less chance that you’ll give into your triggers if you have a solid understanding of them.

One way to do that is to start a food diary, journal or tracker. This would include everything you eat, as well as logging your feelings and emotions around when, what, and WHY you’re eating. This way, you can begin to pick up on patterns and uncover what your personal triggers may be.

What triggers can lead to emotional (and binge) eating?

There can be multiple factors involved, including the following:

  • Work
  • Relationships
  • Finances
  • Health issues
  • Boredom
  • Having a bad day
  • Hormonal changes and fluctuations like PMS

How can you determine if you are an emotional or a binge eater? Be sure to pay attention to how and when your hunger starts, and how you feel after eating.

Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish the difference between emotional and physical hunger.

Here are some ways to help you to determine which of the two main types of hunger – emotional & physical, that you’re actually experiencing:

EMOTIONAL HUNGER

  • You only crave certain foods.
  • Hunger comes about fast or suddenly.
  • You binge on food but likely don’t feel full.
  • You feel guilty or shameful after eating.

PHYSICAL HUNGER

  • You desire a lot of different foods.
  • Hunger develops slowly over a period of time.
  • You get the feeling of being full, and in turn, stop eating.
  • You don’t usually have negative feelings after eating.

If you think you might be an emotional (or binge) eater, here are some solutions to help overcome it:

  • Engage in regular exercise – walking, running, yoga (anything you enjoy that moves you – and causes you to break a sweat too!)
  • Have healthy food and snacks on hand at all times
  • Don’t go grocery shopping when you are feeling upset or stressed
  • Watch your portion sizes carefully
  • Practice mindfulness when eating
  • Meditation OR simply deep breathing through your nose OR alternate nostril breathing
  • Ask for help and support from friends & family, community support groups, and counselors
  • See your doctor or a dietitian, both of whom can assist with making a diagnosis

And to top off that list, here’s a simple no-bake recipe for a healthy snack to keep on hand for the next time you’re having true hunger sensations. Especially when you’re craving something a little sweet!

RECIPE

No-Bake Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Ingredients

¾ cup natural peanut butter, no sugar added

½ cup honey, unprocessed

2 ½ cups old fashioned rolled oats (look for gluten free if necessary)

½ cup mini dark chocolate chips

Pinch of salt

Preparation

Put the peanut butter and honey in a medium sized saucepan.

Heat over low heat until the peanut butter and honey can be easily combined (the mixture does not have to be hot, just easy to blend). Stir well.

Add the oats, chocolate chips, and salt. Stir until well combined.

Place in a greased 8” x 8” baking dish and flatten into an even layer.

Cover and refrigerate until firm. Slice into bars or squares. Store in the refrigerator.

REFERENCES

About No Limits

No Limits Fitness provides step-by-step programs to help busy adults get the body they’ve always wanted, without restrictive diets or time-consuming workouts, so they can lead more fulfilling lives. Life is a much better experience in a strong, healthy body!

Recent Posts

The Single Biggest Predictor of Success With Your Fitness

By Juan Perez • 03 May, 2024
Every year millions of people make the resolution to improve their fitness. It’s not exactly a secret that the majority of these good intentions will quickly turn into empty promises. When you first get started, your excitement and energy are high and it’s easy to feel like you’re in control and that your will power alone will help you through the difficult days ahead. The reality is that you’ll probably have more days when you don’t “feel” like training. This is the reason we preach Standards Over Feelings because we understand how fundamental this is for human behavior. There have been several studies on human behavior that have helped identify the single biggest predictor of success when it comes to long-term consistency with your fitness. It’s not keeping a gym bag ready and with you at all times…although this helps. Setting your gym clothes out the night before is a great idea…but it’s still not the determining factor. Surprisingly it’s not even having an accountability partner. Schedule in advance when and where you’ll do your training. Everything else is simply in support of this habit. Being accountable to someone you don’t want to disappoint is incredibly helpful, but if you haven’t taken that first step, accountability falls short. Having been that accountability piece for hundreds of people, I’ve been ignored and ghosted more times than I can count. Even my sister stopped responding to text messages and phone calls at one point. (I called our mother but apparently you can’t put an adult on restriction). Scheduling in advance WHEN and WHERE you’ll workout is the single most important step to developing consistency with your fitness. This helps you develop integrity with yourself…if you say you’ll do something, that thing gets done. Period. Show up like a boss and bosses don’t cancel. Your training is time on your calendar dedicated to getting better. The workouts on your calendar become non-negotiable. You don’t wake up and see how you “feel” because you already know there will be days you don’t “feel” like it. In advance, you schedule your training where it best fits into your life with your responsibilities. Once you’ve planned your work, you show up and work the plan. If you fail to plan the work, you’re significantly increasing the likelihood of failure. Ask someone that has been remarkably consistent with their fitness if they know when and where they’ll workout.  This has already been decided. Their feelings aren’t involved in the process. If you truly want to be consistent with your fitness, this habit is a must: Schedule in advance when and where you’ll workout.

Crunch-Free Zone: 5 Exercises For Stronger Abs

By Will Matthiessen • 19 Apr, 2024
Crunches.  The go-to core exercise for a lot of gym goers. Yet, it’s one of the worst ab exercises you can do. Shocking, I know. You’re probably wondering why it’s one of the worst. Crunches put force on your spine and oftentimes strain on your neck. They force your spine into flexion, which is generally what people are told not to do in order to protect their back. Aside from the pressure it puts on your spine, crunches don’t activate your core muscles to the extent that a lot of other dynamic core exercises do. If your goal is to have sculpted abs like a lifeguard on Baywatch, crunches are not your solution. Aside from the aesthetic aspect, a strong core is important for your body’s balance and stability, posture, and reduction of back pain and other injuries. If you want to develop a rock hard core, here is a list of exercises better than the old fashioned crunches that you can start incorporating into your workouts: The Hard Style Plank Put your forearms on the ground and your arms set shoulder width apart. Your arms should be parallel to your body. Once you’re up in the plank, imagine squeezing your elbows to your knees and your knees to your elbows. Don’t be surprised if you start shaking like a leaf as soon as you create that tension. Dead Bugs Lie on your back with your arms straight up and your hands above your shoulders. Bend your legs at a 90-degree angle with your toes facing up at the ceiling. Imagine pushing your belly button into the ground and keeping your body tight enough to where if someone was pulling on your limbs, you’d be able to resist it. Next extend your right arm and left leg at the same time, without touching the ground. Keep pushing your belly button into the ground to avoid arching your back. The right leg that is still bent should stay completely still while the other leg is in motion. Bring your arm and leg back into the start position and then switch sides. When it comes to Dead Bugs, one of our favorite sayings applies: “Slowly is holy. Faster is disaster.” If you want to increase the intensity, add a kettlebell to the stationary arm. If you want to significantly increase the intensity, press the kettlebell once you’ve reached the fully extended position. Reverse Crunches Lie down flat with your back on the floor and your legs straight down, toes pointed up. Press your lower back into the floor and pull in your belly button as you lift your legs together up off the floor. Push your heels through the ceiling at the top and slowly lower them back to the ground. Fun, right? Double Kettlebell March Hold two heavy kettlebells in the racked position. Pull your belly button to your knees and your knees to your belly button to find max tension in your core. Once you feel that tension, slowly lift one knee up 90 degrees and then switch legs. Hollow Rocks I’ve saved the worst (I mean best) for last. Lay down on the ground with your legs a little bit off of the ground as well as your shoulder blades and head. With arms extended over your head, rock back and forth like a banana rocking back and forth on a counter. Or a see-saw…take your pick. Alright, now that I’ve given you the secret sauce to getting rock hard abs, it’s time to get to work people!

How To Lose Weight Without Counting Calories

By Juan Perez • 05 Apr, 2024
One of the first recommendations you’ll hear for someone wanting to lose weight is to begin by counting calories. Although weighing your food and counting calories does work for some people, the reality is that this approach to weight loss has an astonishingly high failure rate. If this strategy is “based in science”, why does it fail more than 95% of the time? The Top 3 Issues With Counting Calories The number of calories in the foods you eat are estimates. This is where the concept of counting calories being “based in science” can be misleading. The FDA allows companies to use 5 different formulas to estimate calories and a standard deviation up to 20% is acceptable. This means that something listed as 150 calories exists on a range between 120 calories and 180 calories. How ripe is your banana? The ripeness affects caloric availability. The second issue is that as individuals we each absorb a different amount of the calories from the food we consume. Thirdly, Americans are notoriously bad at determining healthy portion sizes. Our super-sized culture has heavily influenced our concept of a normal sized portion. The good news is that there is another way to lose weight without counting calories. The Three Pillars of Nutrition Whether or not you’re a card-carrying member of Camp Calorie Counters, the foundation of your nutrition is built upon three pillars: Food Quality, Food Quantity and Food Timing. Food Quality All calories are not created equal. The popular 100 calorie snack bags do not offer the same nutritional value as 100 calories from fruits or vegetables. When the majority of your meals are composed of minimally processed single ingredient whole foods (lean protein, fruits and vegetables), you’re more likely to get the micronutrients your body needs to thrive. Food Quantity As mentioned earlier, Americans aren’t known for our skills at eyeballing healthy portion sizes. Although using a food scale to determine portion sizes can be helpful, it isn’t always practical. This is the reason we recommend learning to use your hand as a guide to determine portion sizes. You can’t take a food scale with you everywhere you go but you’re always allowed to bring your hands!
Show More
Share by: