by Laura Leigh Fields

Created on: March 21, 2007   Last Updated: February 01, 2012

Emotional eating is often referred to as stress eating and over eating in general. Regardless of what it is called, it is a common problem in today's society. Technically, it would be considered a type of eating disorder in the sense that the person that is emotionally eating is using food as a crutch to deal with problems.

I am an emotional eater. I use it as an escape when things don't go my way or to celebrate when I am on top of the world. If I get a promotion at work, I grab a snack cake. If I am having a bad day, I grab two snack cakes. I eat because it is available and rarely just because I am hungry. Actually, many of the times that I have turned to food for comfort, I have not been hungry at all.

We all need food for survival but it is when that line is crossed that a problem begins. When food is used for something other than sustenance or a means to nourish the body, it is defeating the purpose. Yet, because there are a lot of foods out there. it is often hard for many people not to reach for something to eat to help them cope.

There are a variety of reasons that people use for emotional eating. They may do it because it is available or because they are bored. They may stress eat because they are in pain or searching for a temporary solution for their broken spirit. Perhaps they are even overeating to avoid a craving for something else.

Emotional eating acts as a cushion. It provides comfort when bad things happen. It is a way for the people eating to deal with their problems and pacify themselves. In truth, it is just a far too convenient method.

Emotional or stress eating may falsely solve one problem but it brings a multitude of other problems to deal with. If a person stress eats, he is probably not taking time to read labels and make healthy choices. He is likely to gain weight and could even develop health issues. In the end, a temporary fix such as emotional eating just isn't worth it.

Once individuals gets used to stress eating, they often do it without giving it a second thought. Dealing with stress eating is very important. If a person gets too used to emotional eating, the outcome may not always be a desirable one. People can become addicted to food but no matter how delicious it tastes, very few people would want to make the world record book as fattest emotional eater.

The first step to get past this lack of impulse control is to work towards pinpointing the actual problem. If you are able to realize and understand

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