7 Ways to Stop Emotional Eating
After a stressful day at work, you unwind on the couch with mindless television and a bag of tortilla chips…and the next thing you know that bag is empty.
Or maybe your kid spent the entire day pushing your buttons, so as soon as he’s in bed you drown out your frustration with a carton of Mint Chocolate Chip.
Or maybe you swore off carbohydrates in the name of losing ten pounds, only to find yourself in a desperate showdown with a bowl of pasta.
We eat to stay alive, yes. But we also eat for countless reasons that have little to do with physical nourishment.
It’s the reason the phrase “comfort food” exists.
Indulging in a bit of chocolate after a bad day is generally no big deal. The problem is when we overdo it with the hopes of distracting ourselves from stress, loneliness, frustration, anxiety, shame, or whatever uncomfortable emotion we’re facing.
The problem is when we go so overboard that we’re plagued with guilt over what we ate. More →