An Example of an Emotional Eater
Eating in response to anxiety and other emotions occurs more often than it might seem.
Consider a person who is working on a major job assignment. She comes to a point at which she must make a decision that will set the direction for the whole project. There is no easy answer.
At that moment she begins to lose concentration, and an internal voice says, "I need a break." She leaves her desk and walks to a cabinet where she has stored a bag of small chocolate bars. After taking two bars out of the bag, she returns to her desk and unwraps the first bar. She stares at her computer screen while eating, but she can't focus, and she eventually just moves on to the other chocolate bar. Again, no work gets done as she eats.
She tosses the wrappers in the trash and turns back to the screen. This lasts for fifteen seconds. Her mind drifts back to chocolate, and she leaves her desk to head to the cupboard again.
This process of trying to work and instead going to the cupboard for chocolate might repeat five times or more. The person may not stop getting up until she can't really taste the chocolate at all. Since it isn't triggering her senses as much, it can't provide the same distraction from work, so it loses its usefulness.
Our chocolate lover may have anxiety around the thought of her project failing. Perhaps she is under financial stress and fears being fired. If she does not make a big decision, the project doesn't get done, and it can’t yet be called a failure. Of course, if time becomes limited, the fear of failure will become more of a motivating factor, and she may speed up her pace.
Am I an Emotional Eater?
Most of the time, we have no idea that we are avoiding negative emotions with food. It can take a major effort to be conscious enough when we eat to know what we are feeling. Here are some questions that can provide some clues.
- Do you eat when you aren't hungry? (what eating without hunger may mean)
- Do you eat in secret? (how secret eating links to emotions)
- Do you eat a lot of food in a short time? (emotions and binge eating)
- Does eating feel out of control sometimes? (when emotions override control)
- Do you find that you eat more when your day (or your life) has more stress? (emotions underlying stress and eating)
- Do you eat more when you are sad, or angry, or lonely, or anxious? (why increasing food when you're emotional matters)
- Do you ever wish you were hungry when you aren't, because you'd rather be eating? (what wishing for hunger may mean)
If you answer yes to any of these, you'll want to be assessed by a qualified professional who can help you to get on a path toward more conscious eating. This may be hard to do, because it will involve learning new ways to deal with negative emotions and stressors. Be prepared to experience some discomfort while you learn to manage your emotions differently.
