Emotional Eating: Why Are You Doing It & How Do You Stop?

Do you use food to address your emotional needs rather than fueling your body? If so, you are one of many people engaging in emotional eating.

It’s common for people to turn to food for comfort, especially in stressful, difficult times. When you’re in the middle of an uncomfortable, emotionally draining time in your life, practicing mindful eating can feel like just another task on your plate.

But as you probably know, emotional eating doesn’t make you feel any better afterward. In fact, it often leaves you feeling guilty, sad and out of control.

That’s exactly why it’s so important to learn how to practice intuitive eating and focus on using food to fill your stomach, not your emotional voids.

Emotional eating and stress eating are common responses to life’s challenges. Many individuals turn to food for comfort during times of stress, sadness or boredom.

While occasional indulgence is normal, frequent reliance on food to manage emotions can lead to unhealthy patterns and weight gain. Understanding the triggers and developing healthier coping mechanisms are essential steps toward breaking this cycle.

What is emotional eating?

Emotional eating is when you eat in response to negative emotions or stress. This can be done consciously or unconsciously, sometimes occurring when a person is undergoing a stressful, uncomfortable situation or even when he or she is bored.

For most emotional eaters, food is used to soothe feelings of sadness, loneliness, anger and fear. Research has revealed that emotional eaters attempt to self-medicate and self-regulate their moods with food, usually in the act of overeating.

Life events that are perceived as negative can trigger emotional eating and even weight gain. Emotional eating can also be used to fulfill a feeling of deprivation, which may occur when on a diet or restricting calorie consumption.

An emotional and physical emptiness is being “filled” with food when you eat. For emotional eaters, the food provides a temporary wholeness, but it doesn’t last long.

Emotional eating involves consuming food not out of physical hunger but to soothe emotional distress. This behavior often includes cravings for high-calorie, sugary or fatty foods that provide temporary relief.

Stress eating is a specific form of emotional eating triggered by stressors, leading individuals to seek comfort in food. Over time, this can become a habitual response to negative emotions.

Causes

Several factors contribute to stress-induced eating, such as:

• Hormonal changes: Stress increases cortisol levels, which can heighten appetite and cravings for unhealthy foods.
• Emotional triggers: Feelings of anxiety, loneliness or boredom can prompt individuals to eat as a coping mechanism.
• Environmental cues: Situations or settings associated with eating (like watching TV) can trigger unnecessary snacking.
• Dieting and restriction: Strict diets can lead to feelings of deprivation, increasing the likelihood of emotional eating episodes.
• Stuffing emotions: Many people use food to suppress uncomfortable feelings like anger, fear, sadness or shame instead of processing them. This emotional stuffing leads to temporary relief but reinforces unhealthy habits.
• Childhood habits: If food was used as a reward or comfort in childhood, those associations may persist into adulthood and trigger emotional eating when stressed.
• Social influences: Social situations, like family gatherings or eating out with friends, can promote overeating, especially when combined with peer pressure or emotional highs and lows.

Understanding these causes is the first step toward overcoming the stress eating cycle and developing healthier emotional responses.

Are you an emotional eater?

To determine if you’re engaging in emotional eating, consider the following questions:

1. Do you eat when you’re not physically hungry?
2. Do you eat to cope with stress or negative emotions?
3. Do you find comfort in specific foods during emotional times?
4. Do you feel guilt or shame after eating?
5. Is eating your primary method of dealing with emotional distress?
6. Do you eat more when you’re feeling stressed?
7. Do you eat to feel better (to calm and soothe yourself when you’re sad, mad, bored, anxious, etc.)?
8. Do you reward yourself with food?
9. Do you regularly eat until you’ve stuffed yourself?
10. Does food make you feel safe?
11. Do you feel like food is a friend?
12. Do you feel powerless or out of control around food?
13. Do you eat when you feel angry, depressed, hurt or otherwise upset?
14. Do you eat in response to certain people or situations?
15. Do certain places or times of day trigger food cravings?
16. Are you eating more than usual?
17. Do you eat at unusual times, like late at night?
18. Do other people in your family use food to soothe their feelings too?

If you answered “yes” to several of these questions, you might be using food to manage emotions.

Emotional eating cycle

Emotional eating is an unhealthy cycle that’s repeated over and over again, sometimes allowing the problem to get out of control. For people dealing with daily emotional eating, it’s a type of binge eating disorder.

The emotional eating cycle is continuous. It begins with a trigger that leads to discomfort and promotes eating, even if you aren’t actually hungry.

The stages of emotional eating are:

1. Stress or trigger occurs
2. Turn to food for comfort
3. Temporarily feel relief
4. Develop feelings of guilt and sadness
5. Repeat

Why do we use food for comfort and engage in this harmful cycle? For many people, the fullness they feel from food takes the place of fulfillment they lack in other areas of life.

There can be a feeling of emptiness that’s stemmed from relationships issues, issues related to self-esteem and worthiness, and feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Emotional eating often follows a cyclical pattern:

1. Emotional trigger: Stress, anxiety or other negative emotions arise.
2. Craving: A desire for comfort foods develops.
3. Eating: Consumption of food provides temporary relief.
4. Guilt: Feelings of shame or regret follow the eating episode.
5. Repeat: The cycle continues as emotional distress returns.

Breaking this cycle requires awareness and the development of alternative coping strategies.

Emotional hunger vs. physical hunger

If you’re an emotional eater, you may be getting cues for emotional hunger confused with physical hunger. It helps to understand the difference between the two types of hunger, so here’s a simple breakdown:

Physical hunger

• Develops over time
• Comes with physical signs, including empty stomach, lack of energy, stomach growling, moodiness
• You want to eat a balanced meal and you’re open to eating different foods
• While eating, you use your senses to enjoy the food
• After eating, you feel full and satisfied
• You don’t experience feelings of guilt after eating

Emotional hunger

• Develops randomly and quickly
• Doesn’t come with physical signs of hunger but is triggered by emotional discomfort
• Comes with specific food cravings (like for sugary or salty foods)
• You stress about your food choices and tend to label foods as “good or bad”
• You ignore portion sizes and overeat without even noticing
• Usually doesn’t come with a filling sensation after eating
• You feel like you’re eating in a trance
• Leads to feelings of guilt, regret and sadness

How to stop stress eating

Good news: There are ways to combat emotional eating. Research published in the Journal of Eating Disorders indicated that promoting exercise, mindful eating, emotion regulation and positive body image could have positive effects on emotional eaters.

Here are more ways to help gain control of your eating habits:

1. Identify your triggers

Perhaps the most important step in overcoming emotional or binge eating is identifying your triggers. What situations, conversations, experiences or feelings occur when the cycle begins?

To pinpoint your triggers, try keeping a journal that describes what occurred before you began eating, even when you weren’t physically hungry. Then look for patterns and work to redirect your behavior or reaction to the trigger.

Instead of reaching for comforting foods, have a list of healthy alternatives that will help you to work through the discomfort.

2. Avoid severe calorie restriction

Are you constantly on a diet and restricting calorie intake? If you overthink your meals and snacks and continue a dieting mindset, you may be more likely to “eat your emotions.”

This is because you are eating to comfort the feelings of deprivation and you are unsatisfied with your body and diet.

To stop overeating in moments of discomfort, try to eat more mindfully instead of dieting. Pay close attention to your physical hunger cues, and prepare filling, healthy meals for yourself.

A healthy diet can be very fulfilling, especially when you add in healthy fats and high-fiber foods.

3. Pay attention to your body

Humans need to eat to fuel their bodies. You should expect to be hungry several times a day.

Some basic hunger cues are a feeling of lightness in your stomach, growling stomach, headaches and weakness. Ideally, you wouldn’t wait until you’re feeling fatigued to have a meal or snack, but you’d get a sense of when you’ll need more food to maintain energy.

If it’s difficult for you to tell the difference between emotional and physical hunger, try creating an eating routine. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time every day.

You can also add in one or two snacks, if needed. Your body will adjust to these meal times, and if you feel tempted to eat outside of these times, you’ll have to think twice about whether or not you’re really hungry.

4. Enjoy meal times and engage your senses (mindful eating)

When you’re eating, try to remain fully engaged. Use all of your senses to enjoy the meal, including the taste, smell, colors and texture.

While eating, slow down and make it last. Don’t rush meals, and try not to multitask while you’re eating.

It also helps to sip water in between bites and tune in to your body as you eat, paying attention to the full feeling you get after finishing your portion.

5. Find another emotional outlet

It’s safe to say that many of us need to get more comfortable feeling uncomfortable. It’s normal to have moments of stress, anxiety, embarrassment, fatigue and boredom.

Instead of managing discomfort with food and the act of eating, find another emotional outlet that will help soothe and validate your feelings.

Some healthy ways to ease stress, anxiety and discomfort include:

• meditation and prayer
• walking outdoors
• yoga or stretching
• bike riding
• jogging
• calling a friend
• journaling or creative writing
• taking a warm bath
• drawing or coloring
• reading

6. Practice self-care and acceptance

Be kind to yourself, and avoid negative self-talk. Being judgmental and critical of yourself will only lead to feelings of worthlessness and anger, furthering the emotional eating cycle.

To stop stress eating, you’ll have to change the way you treat yourself and perceive your own value. Utilize positive self-talk, and avoid self-sabotaging behaviors.

7. Establish regular eating patterns

Maintain consistent meal times to prevent extreme hunger. Aim to eat meals and snacks at consistent times each day, typically every three to four hours.

This helps regulate blood sugar levels and prevents the extreme hunger that can lead to impulsive, emotional eating. Planning meals in advance and not skipping breakfast can also stabilize appetite and energy levels throughout the day.

8. Seek support

Talk to friends, family or professionals about emotional challenges. Don’t hesitate to reach out to people you trust when emotional challenges arise.

Talking to friends or family members can provide comfort and perspective. You may also benefit from joining a support group or speaking with a licensed therapist, especially if emotional eating feels difficult to manage alone.

Social support can help you feel less isolated and more empowered.

9. Keep an emotions diary

Tracking your emotions and how they relate to eating can help uncover patterns and triggers for stress eating. Writing down what you feel before, during and after eating helps build awareness and accountability.

Use a journal or app to track your emotional state alongside your eating habits. Each time you eat, note the time, what you ate, your hunger level (on a scale of 1-10) and any emotions you experienced.

Over time, this can reveal patterns (like eating when bored, anxious or sad) and help you identify alternative coping mechanisms. The act of writing things down also builds mindfulness and accountability.

10. Take a beat when cravings hit

Pause for a moment, and ask yourself if you’re truly hungry. This short delay helps break the automatic reaction to eat in response to stress.

When a craving surfaces, pause and take a few deep breaths. Ask yourself questions like:

• Am I physically hungry?
• What am I feeling right now?
• Is there something else I need instead of food?

Even a brief pause can interrupt the cycle of emotional eating and give you time to choose a more constructive response, such as taking a walk, journaling or calling a friend.

11. Practice a healthy lifestyle

Regular exercise, adequate sleep and balanced nutrition all play vital roles in reducing stress and emotional eating urges.

Engage in regular physical activity that you enjoy, whether it’s walking, dancing, swimming or yoga. Exercise boosts mood-regulating hormones like endorphins and reduces stress.

Prioritize seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night, as fatigue can increase emotional reactivity and cravings for comfort food.

Eating a well-balanced diet, rich in whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables, provides your body and brain with the nutrients needed for emotional stability.

12. Avoid distractions while eating

Turn off the TV, put down your phone and fully experience your meal. This increases satisfaction and reduces the likelihood of overeating due to emotional cues.

Make mealtime a focused activity. Sit at the table, eat slowly, and pay attention to your food’s taste, texture and aroma.

Mindful eating enhances satisfaction and allows your body’s natural hunger and fullness cues to guide how much you eat. Avoid screens or multitasking, as distractions can lead to mindless overeating and disconnect you from your emotional and physical signals.

With consistent effort and mindfulness, it’s possible to regain control over emotional and stress eating patterns and replace them with more nourishing, supportive behaviors.

When to seek help

If emotional eating becomes frequent and uncontrollable, it may be time to seek professional assistance. Signs include:

• Persistent guilt or shame after eating.
• Inability to control eating habits despite negative consequences.
• Using food as the primary coping mechanism for emotions.

Organizations like the National Eating Disorders Association offer resources and support for those struggling with emotional eating.

Conclusion

• Do you experience food cravings after a stressful or uncomfortable situation? If so, you’re not alone. Many people experience emotional eating, and for some, it becomes a form of disordered eating that leads to feelings of guilt and worthlessness.
• Emotional eaters are triggered by stressful situations, restriction, discomfort or boredom. This sets a vicious cycle in motion, leading to binge eating and then guilt. Emotional eating is harmful because it alters the way you feel about yourself.
• To stop emotional or binge eating disorder, pinpoint your triggers, find healthier emotional outlets, begin an eating routine and be kind to yourself. Reach out for support from loved ones or professionals to help you navigate your feelings.
• By understanding emotional and stress eating, recognizing triggers, and developing healthier coping strategies, individuals can foster a more balanced relationship with food and emotions.