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Emotional Eating

Emotional Eating

Many of us might have been at a period in our lives, or maybe only me, where we would have used food as our coping mechanism. Emotional eating is the habit of using food to cope with emotions rather than to satisfy physical hunger. It is important to address because it can lead to unhealthy eating patterns, weight gain, and increased risk of conditions like obesity and diabetes. Emotional eating often stems from stress, boredom, loneliness, or anxiety, creating a cycle of guilt and dependence on food for comfort. Ignoring it can worsen mental health and prevent individuals from developing healthier coping mechanisms.

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In response to: Emotional Eating

Re: Emotional Eating

hey @Ruby61 welcome to the forums!

i can relate to having some unhealthy habits around emotional eating too, i'm so sorry you've had to deal with this on your own. when we feel low, unworthy, etc., we might turn to food for comfort, it can help boost our mood in that moment - but the feeling afterwards - the guilt and shame that follows is what makes this harmful. personally for me, changing my entire relationship with food and my body helped me making healthier choices. viewing my body as something that helps me walk, run, climb, carry things, throw things, catch things, see things, hear things, etc., rather than an aesthetic vessel helped change the way i treated it. i viewed food as 'fuel' to help me move and do things, which slowly helped me get rid of the guilt i felt.

another thing that helped was changing what i ate when i felt overwhelmed - sometimes junk food or sweet food tends to be the 'go to' when we're stressed. instead i replaced them with fruits, nuts, water, dark chocolate, etc. remember that you are ALWAYS worthy, no matter what.

please know that there's no shame/guilt in feeling overwhelmed, we're all humans after all. there's also these services that can be helpful:

you're not alone here. we hear you 💙

p.s. i've added in a content warning to your post as some of the details might be triggering/upsetting to vulnerable members. so if you're wondering why your post was edited and where the tag came from - it was me!

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