Emotions Change Eating Behavior – with these 6 Tips you Succeed in Controlling your Emotions

If you immediately turn to food to compensate for negative feelings such as stress, this is referred to as emotional eating behavior. This can lead to unintentional weight gain, which in turn triggers negative feelings – this quickly creates a vicious circle from which it is not so easy to find your way out again.

Emotions and eating can be closely linked: “Very many people are prone to emotional eating and don’t know what to do about it. The first step is to find out what causes it. Only then can you take active action against it,” explains fitness and emotion coach Karla Gehrlach. Here she explains how to take action against emotional eating.

1. Provide clarity

First, it is important to identify the cause and thus the responsible emotional state for uncontrolled eating. Sadness, frustration or boredom can be among the triggers. They often point to individual needs of the person concerned. For example, the desire for security and harmony may be present – but unfulfilled. These needs must be satisfied. And not by overeating.

2. The harmful reward

Some people also reach for unhealthy foods when they want to reward themselves – for example, after a hard day’s work. But in doing so, they harm their health. It is therefore advisable to resort to alternatives. For example, taking a relaxing bath, reading a book or listening to music. If you don’t want to give up snacks, eat healthy nuts, dried fruit or berries.

3. The dangers of the evening

Many people break their resolutions in the evening. That is, when they are already tired and willpower is waning. In the weakest moments, people reach for chips and chocolate, as emotions triumph over reason. As a solution, that part of the brain responsible for rational thinking should now be stimulated. This can be achieved through breathing exercises, thinking tasks or meditation.editation gelingen.

4. Reduce the stress

Emotional eating often manifests itself in stressful moments. Here, too, meditation or breathing exercises can contribute to inner calm and composure. Of course, it is even better to minimize stress or to generally consider how to ideally deal with the stress that regularly occurs in one’s professional or private life. Deliberately scheduled breaks or a longer vacation can be helpful for this.

5. The physiological causes

Those who frequently eat unhealthy foods and foods with a high sugar content drive up blood sugar levels. If this level subsequently drops, cravings reappear. If negative emotions are added, a vicious circle can quickly develop from which many people cannot find a way out. It is therefore advisable to drastically reduce the amount of sugar consumed and generally eat fewer meals throughout the day.

6. Fight causes instead of symptoms

Emotional eating is a reaction to negative feelings. But this only combats the symptom at first. It would be better, however, to illuminate the cause. The affected person must understand himself better. He must recognize his needs and establish a connection with his body and soul. Regular exercise and a little sport often already help to achieve this goal.