I'm Not and Emotional Eater
Recently I reached out to some women to learn more about their struggles with eating healthy.
Common themes that came out of those discussions include: lack of willpower, eating when not hungry, stress, and being an emotional eater.
Can you relate?
I used that information to dig a little deeper. Of special interest to me were the comments about emotional eating. Therefore, I asked more questions about that particular struggle.
One woman responded that she did not believe that emotional eating was her issue. For her, that was likely true.
Nevertheless, I was still curious. Are there people who are emotional eaters in denial?
Therefore, let me start by talking about the meaning of emotional.
What Does Emotional Mean?
A look up of the word emotional returns:
relating to a person's emotions
Um, k. Let's dig a little deeper.
Emotion means…
a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.
Now we are getting somewhere. Emotions are natural and instinctive.
But…what are examples of emotions?
Well, as you recall I mentioned I reached out to women.
In describing women for certain roles, they are said to be too emotional. That is to say women are prone to crying or crumbling under pressure.
Cleary that belief has a negative connotation.
That aside, other examples of negative emotions include sadness, stress, frustration, and tiredness.
Why do I bring this up?
I do it because we need not forget that not all emotions are negative (and not all women are overly emotional).
Not All Emotions are Negative
Here is why that is important. You could be an emotional eater and not know it.
To be an emotional eater goes beyond tears, stress, frustration, sadness, confusion or overwhelm.
There are common emotions where you may be eating your emotional eating heart away.
Celebration eating: For example, what did you eat at the last celebratory event you attended? I am talking about a graduation, wedding, or birthday.
Celebrations are positive. And if you walked away knowing you ate too much, you enacted your emotional eating trigger.
Accomplishment eating: You've never heard of accomplishment eating? I bet you have. More than likely that is not what you called it.
Accomplishment eating is kin to celebration eating, but where it differs is that you reward yourself with food for your accomplishment.
That accomplishment invokes a natural instinct derived from your circumstance. Where did you see that phrase before? (psst… scroll up) In this case, your accomplishment.
Are You an Emotional Eater in Denial?
Above I shared a small set of examples. I hope you now recognize that emotional eating is also associated with positive emotions. Therefore, emotional eating can also occur with feelings of joy, happiness, gratitude, and thankfulness.
So the next time you go celebrate or want to reward yourself for an accomplishment, do not be an emotional eater in denial. Celebrate and reward yourself, but remember to be mindful of emotional eating.
Let's hear from you. Before this post, were you an emotional eater in denial? Share in the post comments.