Coping with Emotions that Trigger Eating Binges

Emotional eaters try to medicate feelings with food. Learning healthy ways to cope with emotions is the key. When trying to break a negative habit, always replace it with a healthy habit.

7 Common Emotions That Trigger Binge Eating

1. You don’t feel well. 

You’re in pain, have a headache, or just feel yucky. Food is not going to change how you feel. Instead of eating, rest or take a nap if possible, take something for pain, or just sit quietly and listen to music. Make a cup of your favorite tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. Holding a warm beverage in your hands is very soothing when you aren’t feeling the greatest. Unlike food, your favorite warm drink has to be sipped and enjoyed slowly. Simply feeling the warmth from the cup in your hands is comforting and the calories are none to minimal. A cup of vegetable soup is another low-calorie option you can choose.

2. You feel lonely. 

While food can feel like a friend, the comfort it provides is very temporary. Instead, pick up the phone and call a friend or go visit a friend. If it’s too late at night to call or visit a friend, you can go online to the Weight Watchers message board and read the posts and get encouraged. It's a very active board and someone is always there around the clock. You don't have to be a member to access the board. There are other online communities for weight loss also. The choices are endless. Skype and other face-to-face technology makes it possible to chat in real time to friends when you are unable to meet in person. Watching a favorite TV show or comedy can also help you feel less alone.

3. You feel depressed. 

Turning to food or binge eating will only add to your misery after the eating frenzy is over. Reading scripture, especially the Psalms, is very helpful when you feel blue. Taking a walk outdoors is a mood lifter. Studies show that exercise is one of best treatments for depression. Put on some music and dance. Write a note or card to someone who needs encouraged. Helping others is another proven way to feel less down. 

4. You feel unloved. 

Food is a lousy lover. You certainly won’t feel loved after an eating binge. The Bible is full of verses about God’s love for his people. No human being can love you like God. He will never leave you and His love is eternal. Women of all ages struggle with feeling unloved whether they are single or married. We need to remember that no earthly relationship will ever satisfy us completely. Only when we turn to God will we find true love. I will share a list of some of my favorite Bible verses about love in an upcoming post. 

5. You are bored. 

People often turn to eating when they are bored. Maybe you have stuff to do, but you just don’t feel like doing it. You are tired of the same old routine or just daily life in general. Let’s face it, life is not always going to be exciting and many of our jobs are routine and monotonous. You feel bored, so you eat, but it does not have to be that way. Just get up and do anything other than eating. Knowing you accomplished something  will bring more satisfaction than eating a bag of chips or a box of ice cream. There are ALWAYS things we can do to break boredom. Revisit an old hobby you enjoyed but have neglected. Sometimes all we need is to make a few small changes to break out of our routine. A few examples: clean off your desk and rearrange it or add new photos, etc., take a different route home from work, shop at a new store, research a new hobby you would like to try, clean your house, plan a garden for next spring, try a new healthy recipe, sign up for an online course in something you've wanted to learn just for fun. The possibilities are endless.

6. You feel stressed. 

Stress is something we all have. It’s never going to go way, but we don’t have to grab food to cope with it. Stress eating is common. You grab the cookies or snacks without even realizing it when under extreme stress. Stress eating is probably one of the most difficult habits to change. It requires you to act and think fast when those old familiar stress symptoms arise. The first step is to try to get a few minutes alone, even if it means going to the bathroom. Take some deep breaths and say a prayer. Exercise is another great way to relieve stress. Sitting quietly and meditating on positive things or spending an extended time praying is helpful. Call your best friend and vent. Often the things we stress about are the things we look back on and laugh about later. Don’t get caught up in the moment. Pull back, breathe, and regroup. Remember, this too shall pass! 

7. You feel rebellious. 

Have you ever had a day where you just feel like you want to eat, you don’t care, and you are sick of tracking food and eating healthy? Some diet plans encourage you to take a day off occasionally and splurge. That’s fine if you can handle it, but most emotional eaters who splurge end up going completely off course and regaining several pounds before they get back on track again. I’ve been there, done that, more times than I can count. It feels good to cast away the diet mentality for a day. I recall many of my own “planned binges” from the past. I would have a lousy day at work and stop at the grocery store on the way home and buy whatever I wanted. I would think about what I was going to buy when I got to the store while I was sitting at work. It was my secret sin. Nobody would know--sort of like the “forbidden” fruit that always tastes sweeter. However, the little “affairs” with food when nobody was looking did not end well. I felt exhausted, sick, and miserable afterwards. And secret affairs with food are never hidden. Gluttony is obvious to everyone. It’s a sin we wear outwardly for the whole world to see. Our obese bodies are like giant billboards proclaiming our sin of gluttony. So, what do you do when you feel rebellious? List the reasons why you want to get healthy. Write down how you will feel after your free day of eating. Ask yourself how this action will help you reach your goals. Think about how far you have come, pounds and inches lost, and how much better you feel when you eat well. Ask yourself why you feel rebellious. Usually, rebellious feelings can be linked to one of the other emotions listed above. 

Journal Your Feelings

 One of the most helpful things you can do to better cope with any of the above emotions is to journal your feelings. Writing how you feel is therapeutic in itself. Nobody has to see your journal, so be honest. There's just something calming about writing in a journal and spilling your guts. I find for me personally this is what helps me more than anything else, but then I've always been a writer at heart. Another reason to journal? When you reach your goal weight, a journal is a written record of your journey and the process of getting there. It's a great way to document your struggles and celebrate your success.

  

Create Your Own List

You can create your own personal list of emotions you struggle with and list some healthy ways to cope. Keep the list with you. The next time you find yourself reaching for food because you're feeling a certain way, just pull out your list and use the success strategies you developed to cope. You will feel empowered to continue on your weight loss journey each time you successfully overcome an emotional trigger.