5 Tips for Overcoming Emotional Hunger
January 3, 2025
When on a weight loss journey, one of the biggest obstacles we must overcome is regulating our appetite. Did you know that there are two different types of hunger: physical and emotional? We can experience both, but for most of us, what we associate with cravings is actually due to emotional hunger.
While losing weight, much of the focus is on what you eat. And it should be. What you put into your body matters - not only while losing weight, but to maintain a healthy body and life. But have you ever stopped to think about why you eat? If you haven't, you should. After all, understanding the why behind your eating habits hughely helpful in making good choices, reachng your goals, and successfully maintaining your lost weight.
The American Psychological Association did a study on emotional eating, and this is what they found:
- 38% of adults say they over-ate or ate unhealthy foods in the past month because of stress; half of which say they do it every week or even more frequently
- 33% of adults who over-ate or ate unhealthy foods because of stress said it helped to distract them from stress
- 27% of adults say they eat to manage stress; one-third of these say it’s become a habit
So, if you find yourself relating to any of the above statistics, know that you are not alone. Let's understand a little more the differences between physical and emotional hunger so you can correctly identify your hunger.
What is the difference between physical and emotional hunger?
Physical hunger is simply your body telling you that it needs nutrition. It usually starts gradually and is generally felt from within your stomach. It can present itself with a feeling of emptiness, rumbling in the tummy, and can even lead to weakness or headache.
Emotional hunger is not caused by actual physical pain or the need for food to survive. Instead, it is caused by a desire to eat either out of habit, a response to emotions, or because food tastes good and is “fun.” Emotional hunger is an obstacle to habit and lifestyle change. Because the painful reality is that emotional eating can be a vicious cycle. When you eat in response to an emotion or a trigger (and not because of hunger) you are not only diverting your attention from the the issue that caused you to eat and not addressing it, but eating out of emotions can also lead to feelings of guilt...and guilt can be an emotional trigger for eating, too...thus the cycle continues. Obviously, this vicious cycle can make it difficult to make long term healthy food choices and lifestyle changes that last. The good news, though, is that there are actionable ways to reverse the cycle of emotional eating. Below, we'll share our top five tips.
5 tips for overcoming emotional hunger
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Identify your triggers. What feelings, situations, or places are around you when cravings strike? Note: these don’t have to necessarily be negative. Happy feelings can elevate our emotional hunger as much as sad ones! We recommend journaling in a planner so that you can notate before and after these triggers occur to help you identify, understand, and change your patterns. To get you started, some common triggers that we've heard our clients are things like boredom, celebrations, stress, and social settings. By identifying your triggers, you will be more likely to stay strong and on track towards your weight loss goals.
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Change up your rewards. From a very young age, we are programmed from to reward ourselves with food. Skin your knee, get a lollipop. Do well on your report card, go out for pizza. Win your t-ball game, here’s an ice cream cone. This programming extends into our adult life and wreaks havoc on our ability to stick to a menu plan. The good news is that there are plenty of ways that you can reward yourself that don't involve food. Pick up a new nail polish color, taking a bubble bath, or finally getting that new gadget you’ve been eying!
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Find a healthier outlet. Knowing what causes us to experience emotional hunger is the first step to overcoming it, but it's equally important to find a healthy way to cope with your emotional eating triggers. Some client favorite healthy outlets include taking your dog for a walk, exercising, talking to a weight loss coach or close friend, squeeze a stress ball, read a book, or simply just get outside and out of the physical element where you were triggered!
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Take a second. When the hunger strikes, try to take a moment, sit back, and find a different way to address the hunger pangs. Tell yourself to wait 15-20 minutes, drink a full glass of water, start a task that keeps your hands busy, jot down the reasons that you are making the healthy changes to your lifestyle and the ways your life has improved so far since starting your journey. If all else fails and you absolutely must eat something, opt for healthy Protein Drinks or snacks such as Double Chocolate Pudding HNS, or Zesty Nacho Crisps. It only takes 15-20 minutes for our brain to reset; so in most cases, you will find that your emotional hunger has subsided, and your resolve against unhealthy food choices feels stronger than ever.
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Get a boost from supplementation. Utilize the hunger-abating properties of protein by increasing your protein intake. High quality protein products, such as MRC's High Nutrient Supplements can help to stabilize your blood sugar to eliminate cravings when consumed as a part of a healthy diet. When hunger strikes (or appears to strike) and a glass of water isn't quite doing the trick, let a protein drink be your snack!
Learning how to break the cycle of emotional eating may seem daunting, but it is 100% within your power. When it comes to emotional hunger, you can stay in control and be successful. It's not always easy, and it may not come naturally. But with focus and determination, you can do anything you set your mind, too. The better you can distinguish between physical and emotional hunger, the better chance you will have at saying "no" to those pesky emotional cravings when they do crop up!