by Heather Russell

Created on: August 01, 2007   Last Updated: March 16, 2010

Most of us have experienced emotional eating at some point or another. It's almost impossible not to; from commercials suggesting that serving Hamburger Helper is enough to make your family want to sit down and be friends for a night, to "lite" products that claim to save you from the guilt of eating full-fat foods, we are surrounded by a culture that links food to feelings. While eating emotionally has become almost normative in our society, like any behavior, it can be harmful if taken to any kind of extreme. If you've noticed that you tend to show binge eating tendencies, take a minute to examine your motivations to see if you could be an emotional eater.

First, think about your relationship to food. While it may seem silly to think about having a "relationship" with an inanimate object, food definitely tends to represent more than just physical nourishment. Think back to your childhood; was food used as a reward or punishment? Were you taken out for ice cream after a good report card or sent to bed without supper for breaking a rule? In your family, was love demonstrated through food? Did your mother or other caregivers take any rejection of food as a rejection of their affections? Answering "yes" to any of these questions may indicate that you subconsciously associate food with love, shame, or guilt, and that you may be at a higher risk for emotional eating.

Second, think about your current eating behaviors. Do you find yourself turning to food for comfort or celebration? Keep in mind, while many of the associated behaviors may overlap, emotional eating and binge eating are not identical. For instance, mindlessly eating a bag of cookies while watching a movie may not have the emotional motivations as eating a bag of cookies after a painful breakup. Do you find yourself feeling numb as you eat, and/or do you get a feeling of being outside of your body, as if it's someone else doing the eating?

If, after examining your behaviors, you determine that you may have a problem with emotional eating, there are several steps you can take. First, being aware of the problem may help you regain some control over it. Second, there are on-line support groups and resources that can help you understand and work on your behaviors. Also, as with any health-related issue, you can speak to your doctor to get more information and advice.

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