Emotional eating means that you eat for reasons other than hunger.
You may eat because you’re sad, depressed, stressed, or lonely. Or you may use food as a reward. Food can be soothing and distract you from what’s really bothering you.
Emotional eating is a symptom of something you are avoiding. So what are you avoiding? What emotion do you not want to feel?
There are really quite a few different types of emotional eaters. Today I am going to share with you the most common ones.
I also want to note that you don’t have to be any particular size, shape, weight, etc. We all struggle with some form of emotional eating.
We all turn to food to fill our body so we don’t feel an emotion.
So with that all said, here are the 5 most common types.
The Celebratory Eater
You celebrate every happy occasion with food…and take it too far. For you, there’s something to celebrate every day, and you don’t know any other way to mark a happy occasion. For some, just being in a good mood is enough to trigger emotional eating. You get that new-relationship high or the sun-is-shining smile, and you associate those good feelings with food.
The Sad Eater
You turn to food when things get tough and you needs to be cheered up. This could happen once in a blue moon in response to a major event like a death in the family or it could happen all the time due to lingering feelings of sadness or loneliness. This one probably makes you think of the most typical emotional eating example: devouring a pint of ice cream after a break-up.
The Angry Eater
Unless…said break-up inspires more anger than sadness. Angry eaters are often the people who easily get into fights with friends and family members. For the angry eater, rage may come as a quick burst of emotion or linger long-term, but either way, the thing that calms you down is generally…sugar.
The Unfulfilled Eater
Some people eat because they don’t feel fulfilled, in one or multiple areas of life. For example, maybe it’s a dead-end job or a relationship they feel stuck in or just a general sense of aimlessness. People who experience these emotions eat to fill a void. In order to stop, you need to find ways to feed yourself that doesn’t involve food.
The Stressed Eater
Ever scarf down a cupcake before a huge presentation or eat five slices of pizza instead of having a really hard conversation? The stressed eater is the type of person who feels overwhelmed under pressure and turns to food as a soothing antidote. You could be dealing with a ton of responsibility 24-7 or just going through a particularly difficult life event. The former is the one you’ve really got to worry about, since chronic stress eating gets tied up in everyday things (Emails! Bills! Getting the kids to school and or start their online school!) and can be harder to stop.
So which one are you?
I personally have been all of these at one time in my life. I struggled many many years with food addiction, non-food addiction. Stuffing my feelings and never feeling them.
It was a hard battle that I eventually yes broke free from.
If you are ready to break free from your pattern of emotional eating, I would love to invite you to a FREE session with me.
During an End Emotional Eating Breakthrough Session, we will:
- Identify what stories are stuck in your head that keep you emotional eating
- Create the vision of what your new life looks like when you lose weight and love your body
- Chart the road-map to get there
Book that call today: www.talkwithliza.com
Let’s get you started on the path to loving yourself and your body….again.
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