What Is Emotional Hunger?

How often do you go to the pastry shop around the corner to treat yourself to dessert at the end of a hard day's work? And what do you do when you're sad: watch your favorite TV series while eating ice cream?

If such situations become regular in your life, here is something to think about. Most likely, you use food as a way to cope with emotions .

Modern science calls this behavior emotional hunger . It is he who is suspected of the ineffectiveness of various diets. Modern specialists who work with obesity are increasingly looking for the root of evil not in the food products themselves , but in an overly emotional attitude towards them.

What motivates us to eat even when we are full

In 2018, Dutch researchers managed to identify the psychological causes of emotional hunger . As it turns out, there are 3 main reasons that push us down this slippery slope. Inability to recognize body signals, alexithymia (inability to verbalize feelings), as well as a tendency to hide emotions . Because instead of dwelling on the sadness, anxiety, and anger, the emotional eater suppresses those feelings with food, often without even realizing it.

According to scientists, the root of the problem should be found in childhood, because the attitude towards food is formed in preschool age. Maybe your grandmother always had a candy to deal with your whims? Maybe your parents always bought a cake to celebrate the end of the fourth grade? Unfortunately, as we grow up, we continue to treat food as our best friend, unable to cope with difficulties and enjoy ourselves in any other way.

If one-time stress relief with food is not dangerous, regular emotional overeating can become a serious problem. Today, we increasingly hear that obesity is becoming an epidemic that affects more than just adults.

In search of an optimal solution to the problem, researchers are not betting on broccoli with celery. They note that teaching people skills to manage emotions and recognize body signals can be a much more effective means of combating emotional hunger .

Realize and feel hunger

Modern residents of the metropolis often eat not when they feel hungry , but according to the schedule (or even worse - when they have to). And portions of food do not depend on physical needs, but on the size of the plate. No wonder people have lost the ability to hear their bodies. Getting back in touch with the body and learning to clearly distinguish physical hunger from emotional hunger is the first step on the way to normalizing nutrition .

What is the difference between these types of hunger ? Physical does not appear suddenly at the sight of something appetizing, but grows gradually. If you are really hungry, then you just want to eat: soup, salad, and a sandwich will do. If the hunger is emotional , the desire will be very specific: for example, here's that chocolate bar, and I don't want something for soup right now. Another sign of emotional eating : feeling guilty after eating. While satisfying your physical hunger , you will feel calm and satisfied.

So, you have noticed that you often succumb to emotional hunger . How to deal with it if willpower alone is not enough? Let's try a few techniques.

Food diary

Simple, but effective. Divide the page into 3 parts: in the first write down what was eaten, in the second - in what quantity, and in the third - what events and emotions preceded this meal. Regular records will help identify triggers of emotional eating .

Over time, you will see that you open the refrigerator in the same situations: when you are tired, nervous, sad, or, on the contrary, happy. The main thing is to identify the trigger, and then learn to respond to these emotions more consciously. A fat slice of pizza does not help with physical exhaustion. Tired - rest. Get nervous - learn mental practices to control emotions .

Lie down in shavasana

If anxiety, stress, or emotional exhaustion are among the triggers, shavasana will help you quickly cope with hunger . A warm blanket and 15 minutes of free time is all you need.

Lie on your back, take a comfortable position and be sure to cover yourself: during practice, the body temperature decreases. Close your eyes and mentally walk through your entire body, from your toes to your ears, relaxing every cell.

Remember, a shock dose of chocolate does not yet know how to relieve stress. In such a state, the best thing you can do is to switch your attention from food to feelings. Not running away from the consequences, but dealing with the cause is the best scenario for fighting emotional hunger .

Do not exclude, but add

At first, giving up food can be difficult: in shavasana you lie down, and the habit of fighting fatigue with the help of cakes has not gone anywhere. In such moments, it is important to do without pressure and prohibitions. Better to try the opposite strategy.

Have you decided to eat a cake? OK, but what else can you do to feel better? Maybe a walk in the fresh air will also help to cope with emotions ? Or call someone close to you to hear words of support. And then eat what you wanted. With pleasure!

Thus, for the 5th, 10th, or 20th time, the connection "tired/excited - ate" will be destroyed, and other ways of solving the problem will become a habit, without turning to the refrigerator for help. The main thing is not to put pressure on yourself and remember: it takes time to adjust, and that's normal.

More positive

Sometimes appetite appears from boredom or a lack of positive emotions , because food is a common means of improving mood. In this case, to satisfy emotional hunger , think about what else brings pleasure on an ongoing basis. If nothing comes to mind, immediately correct the situation.

Write a list of things that can cause positive emotions . It can be anything from a warm bath with aromatic oils to a comedy series and dancing in front of the mirror. Add 1-2 items from this list to your daily schedule. There will be more happiness in life, and over time you will stop needing additional doping in the form of chocolate.