7 Signs you’re an Emotional Eater

We need to eat food to survive physically, but some men and women are eating to survive emotionally.

Some may assume these people are weak because they ‘should’ have more control over their relationship with food. However, I believe people who eat food for emotional reasons have an Inner Saboteur, that can hinder the best-made plans to becoming healthier.

I don’t think anybody enjoys struggling with their weight and I think most people don’t enjoy being on a diet.

Some people can seemingly hide their emotional relationship but they suffer with bulimia. I’ve met many clients who on the outside are slim and fit but secretly binge and purge behind closed doors.  

Then there is the ‘all or nothing’ eater, who is either on a very strict diet or overeating, which causes a lot of emotional grief.

Below is a list of signs of being an emotional eater

1. You eat when you are not hungry.
2. You eat when you stressed, anxious, scared or bored.
3. You eat quickly.
4. You don’t realise how much you have eaten.
5. You eat in secret to hide how much you eat.
6. Maintaining a healthy weight range is challenging.
7. You feel guilty about when and how much you eat.

The next ‘miracle’ pill is always around the corner and those who subscribe to these products sign up with the hope that this time it will work. 

But what if the miracle pill was not in a capsule but was actually sitting inside your head all this time, just waiting to be discovered?

What many people are not aware of is that eating food when you are not hungry is normally a symptom of negative thinking and most often self-loathing.

Self-esteem can be the missing link

Low self-worth is at the very centre of this issue, which is driven by a little voice in our heads which I call the ‘Inner Critic.’ This voice is very loud with people who emotionally overeat.

This negative voice says things like ‘Your boyfriend dumped you because you aren’t smart enough or slim enough, or blonde enough!’ It also says ‘Why did you eat so much!’ ‘You’re going to get fat!’

The irony of this negative voice is that we tend to fall into the trap of its ultimate statements and play its game, believing it to be the truth.

But is not the truth at all, and in fact, will never be the truth. The Inner Critic can become a habit of thinking, and before we know it, we can start to feel it seeping into our psyche. 

It becomes just easier to agree.

But what if you could outsmart this Inner Critic?

What if you could switch your brain from its current state of self-loathing to a much calmer space, so you can eat freely without frenzy, the regret or the guilt?

Becoming Intuitive to your relationship with food

There is the opposite part that I call the Intuitive Eater, that wants to be more present, but because of years of being shouted down by the Inner Critic, it finds itself always on the outer. However, it does have the right and ability to be available to you more, but it needs to know it is safe to vocalise itself.  

This supportive inner voice needs to be rehearsed so you, your mind and body can start to become familiar being in this space.

The good news is the Inner Critic is just one voice and cannot harm you in anyway.

5 Top Tips for becoming more a healthier Intuitive Eater

• Keep an emotional diary of what your Inner Critic says to you. Writing it down will help you understand how cruel this voice is to you.
• Wake up in the morning and plan your day in your mind first. With your eyes closed, imagine going through your day feeling calm, centered, and grounded.  
• Each time you think about food as a way to escape an emotion, recall something that makes you feel happy or laugh. Each time you do this, your mind will be learning how to distract to a better space within you.
• The Inner Critic loves you being on a diet, so stop using the word diet and start speaking to yourself in a language that supports you to feel safe such as healthy eating or mindful eating.
• Any unhelpful memories that trigger you to eat remember that is your past. Imagine drawing a line in the sand and say to yourself ‘I am moving on!’ ‘I have the right to move on, and I am each day by being kinder to myself!’

Daily dialoguing with your Intuitive self is key to moving out of emotional overeating. Remember ‘It’s the Thinking before the Eating’ that is driving you to eat when you are not hungry.  

These simple but very important strategies will make a massive difference to you, your self-esteem, and your relationship with food.

Georgia Foster

Clinical Hypnotherapist

Georgia is very passionate about her work and feels very strongly that everybody has the ability and resources to improve their emotional wellbeing. They just need to learn how!  Georgia is the creator of the on-line program ‘The Weight Less Mind’.

Web: Georgia Foster