How to manage emotional eating and build a healthier relationship with food

When life feels overwhelming or stressful, we can turn to food for comfort — there's a reason why we refer to certain foods as 'comfort food'.

Eating food for relief or solace is also known as emotional eating and it doesn't usually involve a need to satisfy physical hunger but rather emotional distress.

If this sounds like something you've experienced, you might be looking for a way to manage feelings of emotional hunger — especially if you're on a weight loss journey. This is where we come in.

We've created a handy guide to help you manage emotional eating and steps to take when you feel like you're responding to certain uncomfortable emotions with food.

What causes emotional eating?

Food does a great job at quelling physical hunger but it can also be used to soothe emotional stressors and can act as a means of distraction.

People often engage in stress eating when they're feeling sad, lonely, bored, overwhelmed or depressed. These are all emotions that can often lead to ‘food noise’, a constant mental chatter about food.

For some people, this chatter becomes so loud and out of their control, that it doesn’t just contribute to the vicious cycle of emotional eating, but it ends up significantly impacting other aspects of their day-to-day lives.

In some cases, food can also be used as a reward, which also falls into the emotionally-related eating patterns.

When you're on a weight loss journey but also engage in stress-related eating, this can create a cycle of guilt and shame that pushes you into a negative space and can further trigger emotional eating.

Why emotional eating often happens at night

Night-time is a common trigger for emotional eating, especially after a stressful day. You may feel relief once the day is over, but also loneliness, fatigue, or anxiety about tomorrow. 

Combined with easy access to snacks and fewer distractions, it’s a perfect storm. 

How to manage and control emotional eating triggers

There are a number of strategies you can implement to help manage and control emotional eating.

It’s important to note that emotional eating can also be linked to eating disorders and if this feels like something you’re dealing we, please seek assistance from a mental health professional.

For those who are trying to change their eating habits while on a weight loss journey, there are ways to break the emotional eating cycle.

Understanding and implementing these strategies will help you foster a healthier relationship with food.

1. Examine your hunger

When you start feeling hungry enough that you want to eat, try asking yourself whether it feels physical or emotional. Distinguishing between physical and emotional hunger is crucial because each manifests differently and has unique consequences.

Emotional hunger is often for a specific food — like chocolate — and it will usually occur when you want to quieten a particular feeling or emotion by eating.

If you recently ate and you don’t feel physical hunger pangs, you’re probably not hungry and the hunger is actually emotional.

The distinction between the two forms of hunger you can experience are:

• Physical hunger usually builds up over a period of time and causes a physical feeling like a rumbling stomach.
• Emotional hunger pops up quickly and often includes a fixation on a specific food.

To break it down further:

Regularly checking in with your hunger levels and noting whether it feels physical or emotional can help make it easier for you to make a conscious decision to only engage with the former versus the latter.

2. Try a food diary

Jotting down what you eat over the course of a day can help identify the habits you may have around food.

In fact, a food diary can show your behaviour and the connection you experience between food intake, your mood and the situation you’re in at the time.

When filling in your diary at each meal or snack time, try noting the following points:

• How much did you eat?
• How hungry did you feel?
• How were you feeling emotionally?
• What was going on at the time?
• Where were you when you ate?

Recording food intake can also be a practice in 'mindful eating', encouraging you to pay attention to the experience of eating, savouring food, and preventing overeating.

3. Evaluate your environment

Now is a good time to have a look around at your environment and if you have a particular food that you turn to for emotional comfort when you're stressed, try to keep it out of the house and don't add it to your trolley during your weekly grocery shop.

While moderation is key and that includes consuming a balance of all foods, it can be difficult if you're trying to lose weight.

While you are making a concerted effort to change your eating habits and engage in regular exercise in order to lose weight and improve your health, it can be helpful to avoid purchasing the foods you eat when you're stressed.

4. Ask yourself a few questions

Before diving into a meal when you first feel hungry, try asking yourself a couple of questions to help deduce what type of hunger you're experiencing.

Are you feeling angry?

If so, try taking some time away from the situation. Call a friend or family member, take a breath and try to centre yourself.

Are you feeling tired or thirsty?

Have you had enough sleep recently? Are you drinking enough water? Both of these factors can play a role in feelings of emotional hunger.

Are you bored?

Try distracting yourself with a new behaviour instead of diving into the pantry.

Are you feeling stressed?

If you're feeling stressed, try engaging in stress relief activities like deep breathing exercises or mindfulness meditation. It could also be helpful to look at ways you might be able to reduce stress in your day-to-day life.

Are you hungry?

If so, it's time to eat! Choose high protein and low GI meals that will help keep you feeling fuller for longer and help keep cravings at bay.

5. Reassess your thoughts

If you have a moment of stress eating, don't be hard on yourself. It might feel like a step back for your weight loss but it's only a small bump in the road.

Weight loss isn't linear and practising forgiveness and kindness towards yourself is important.

Instead of looking at this as something that went wrong, try to view it as a way to learn more about your eating habits. Try answering the following questions to gain a little more clarity:

• What was the situation that led to emotional eating?
• How did you feel? What were your thoughts at the time?
• How did you feel after?
• Is there a more positive way of viewing the situation?

The role of hormones in emotional eating

Stress affects your body on a chemical level. When cortisol (your stress hormone) spikes, it can increase cravings for high-fat, high-sugar foods.

This isn’t a lack of willpower — it’s your body trying to self-soothe. Knowing this can reduce guilt and empower you to find alternative ways to manage stress, like movement, breathwork, or reducing your caffeine intake.

Overcoming emotional eating

If you're experiencing emotional eating while trying to lose weight, Juniper's Nourish Shakes might prove helpful for you.

These meal replacement shakes help you achieve long-lasting weight loss with the nutritional benefit of a balanced meal. With 20 vitamins and minerals in each glass and 29.4 grams of protein, these are a high-quality meal substitute that can help keep you fuller for longer.

You can choose from 2 delicious flavours and know that you're receiving more than 40% of your daily vitamin needs for immunity and overall health, as well as a good source of fibre.

If you consume 2 shakes per day, which is the Rapid weight loss plan, you can lose around 1.6 kilos a week for the first 6 weeks [1].

The Steady weight loss plan, which involves combining a low-calorie diet with one shake per day, can help you lose 4% of your body weight in 12 weeks [2].

When to seek professional help

Emotional eating can be a part of a larger issue with disordered eating, such as binge eating disorder, and there’s no shame in reaching out for help.

Seeking the support of a healthcare professional is the best way to go as they can teach you ways to manage emotional eating behaviours and how to create a new relationship with food.

If you or someone you know needs help with emotional or binge eating, reach out to the Butterfly Foundation.

Frequently asked questions

Emotional eating can feel confusing and frustrating, especially during a weight loss journey. These commonly asked questions help shed light on what it is, why it happens, and what you can do about it.

What is emotional eating?

Emotional eating is when you use food to manage feelings, rather than satisfy physical hunger. It’s often tied to stress, sadness, boredom, or even celebration.

Is emotional eating a sign of an eating disorder?

Not always, but it can be. If emotional eating is frequent, feels out of control, or causes distress, it may be linked to an eating disorder like binge eating. If you’re concerned, reach out to a health professional.

What are some quick strategies to stop emotional eating?

Try pausing to assess your hunger, journaling your meals and feelings, changing your environment, or engaging in calming activities like deep breathing or stretching.

Can you emotionally eat healthy food?

Yes — emotional eating isn’t always about junk food. You can emotionally eat healthy foods if you’re using them to cope with feelings rather than hunger.

Does emotional eating stop weight loss?

It can. When emotional eating leads to regular overeating, it may hinder weight loss efforts. However, with awareness and support, it can be managed.

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