The issue of emotional eating affects many people. It’s very common, so don’t be embarrassed if this is a problem for you. It’s important that you don’t beat yourself up about anything as you work to make improvements.

Emotional hunger is different from physical hunger, but it can be hard to tell the difference between the two. Emotional hunger can cause these symptoms:

• Feelings of pain in the heart

• Feeling that something is missing in your life.

• Feeling of needing comfort

• Need to fill a void in your life

This is different from physical hunger, which is commonly felt as:

• Empty stomach

• Weakness

• Lack of energy

• Growling noises

It’s important to ask yourself before you eat if you feel physically hungry. If you find that it isn’t, you need to find out what it is that you really feel that makes you want to eat. These are some feelings that can make people want to eat: sadness, anger, confusion, fear, depression, boredom, disappointment, discomfort, bad mood, irritation, feeling insecure, upset, puzzled, procrastination, stress.

The process of eating is supposed to be enjoyable, but eating to deal with an emotion or to fix something in your life is not going to work. Food can comfort you in the short term, distract you from bread, or even lull you into a food hangover, but when you’re done eating not only is the root problem still there, but now you’re probably feeling guilty about eating all the food. Every emotion or problem has a solution.

If you have used food to cope with emotions, it is important to acknowledge this and be kind to yourself. Let go of any guilt or shame you feel or have felt about turning to food for happiness. Dieting is another thing that leads to emotional eating: dieting en masse with your emotions, so you don’t just binge on the overwhelming biological urge to eat, but eat to comfort yourself from the pain of dieting!

Here are 3 ways to work on overcoming emotional eating:

1) Ask yourself: Am I physically hungry? If the answer is yes, ask yourself what you want to eat and allow yourself to eat! Honor your hunger and satiety. Eat until you are full and know that you have nourished your body. If the answer is no, go to step 2:

2) Ask yourself: What am I feeling right now? When you realize you’re not biologically hungry, take a break from searching for food and look deeply to see what you’re really feeling. This may not be an easy question to answer, especially if you are out of touch with your emotions. However, if you know you are not physically hungry and are turning to food for another reason, then this is a great place to start! Give yourself a pat on the back for being aware that there is another reason you want food.

3) Ask yourself: What do I need? Many people eat to satisfy some unsatisfied need. If you discover the emotions you’re experiencing, try to figure out what you can do besides eat that actually addresses the problem at hand.

Emotional eating can be a dangerous thing if it gets out of control. Not only does it lead to weight gain, but it can also make you sick and avoid emotions that make you turn to food.