How do you know you’re an emotional eater?
Do you understand the meaning of emotional eating?
Have you ever eaten a big meal and still felt a strong desire for more food?
Even when you know you’re not hungry, have you ever kept eating?
Maybe you know or maybe you don’t, but there is this “hunger” that’s deep within us – a hunger that you just can’t get rid of so the first thing that your body wants is…food. These are classic tell-story signs that you are an emotional eater.
So how can you tell the difference between emotional eating, or eating to please a real hunger?
Here are 5 signs that you might be emotionally eating :
- You need to eat a very well stated food
When something comes up in your life that causes doubt, fear, or lack of control, we often turn to food to help ground us and to feel comfortable. We turn to very particular foods on an individual basis that will bring us comfort (knowing we can be certain in one thing when all else seems out of our control).
- You continue eating even after you’ve eaten a meal
If you are an emotional eater, you are often using food as a placeholder for something else in your life. Whether we are lonely, disconnected, psychic, or searching for purpose in life, food can for the time being take the place of what’s missing. If you feel like you are unfulfilled from a meal, you may be using food to fill up the areas in your life that need filling with something greater.
- You eat fast
When you are eating emotionally, you will often “numb out” during the meal and take your attention off the eating process. It’s uncomfortable for us to address certain upsetting things in lives so the body turns to a very easy and comforting diversion…food.
- You eat immediately after an emotional event
After you’ve gone through an emotional event, be it positive or negative, if the first thing you want to do is eat, which is one of the biggest sign of being an emotional eater. Whether you’re celebrating a promotion or very sad over the loss of a loved one, the body will try to come back down to earth by turning to food. Food literally grounds us when we experience intense feelings of love, hate, fear, etc.
- Guilt after eating: A strong sign that you’re an emotional eater
A lot of us are the victim of this one and probably facing weight management problems. You often tend to eat what you like and not what your body needs, which eventually develops unhealthy addictions. It generally ends with the feeling of guilt or shame.
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