Emotional Eating and Bariatric Success?
We don’t always eat just to satisfy physical hunger. Many of us also turn to food for comfort, stress relief, or to reward ourselves. And when we do, we tend to reach for junk food, sweets, and other comforting but unhealthy foods. You might reach for a pint of ice cream when you’re feeling down, order a pizza if you’re bored or lonely, or swing by the drive-through after a stressful day at work.
Emotional eating is using food to make yourself feel better—to fill emotional needs, rather than your stomach. Unfortunately, emotional eating doesn’t fix emotional problems. In fact, it usually makes you feel worse. Afterward, not only does the original emotional issue remain, but you also feel guilty for overeating.
Comfort Foods in Emotional Eating
Emotional eating tends to rely on comfort foods as its primary food group. These are typically high in sugar, fat, or salt and provide a temporary emotional relief whilst leading to unhealthy eating patterns and behaviours.
Some of the most common comfort foods include:
- Sugary Snacks: Biscuits, cakes, and sweets
- High-Fat Foods: Ice cream, pizza, and fried foods
- Salty Snacks: Crisps and pretzels
- Carb-Heavy Foods: Pasta and bread
- Rich, Cheesy Dishes: Mac and cheese, and cheesy pasta bakes
These foods often provide immediate comfort but can contribute to weight gain and poor nutrition over time.
Emotional eating and bariatric surgery
If you were an emotional eater pre-surgery you will remain a comfort eater post-surgery if you do not tackle your disordered relationships with food. The surgery only provides a tool to support with weight loss it cannot irradicate beliefs and behaviours associated with the psychological connection with food. Many dysfunctional eating habits that play a role in obesity can be caused by emotional eating and therefore if not dealt with can remain a risk for weight regain post bariatric surgery.
Are you an emotional eater?
Through journalling or self-reflection ask yourself these questions:
- Do you eat more when you’re feeling stressed?
- Do you eat when you’re not hungry or when you’re full?
- Do you eat to feel better (to calm and soothe yourself when you’re sad, mad, bored, anxious, etc.)?
- Do you reward yourself with food?
- Do you regularly eat until you’ve stuffed yourself?
- Does food make you feel safe?
- Do you feel like food is a friend?
- Do you feel powerless or out of control around food?
Next Steps
If you can answer yes to these questions it’s a strong indicator that you are an emotional eater and would benefit from accessing some additional support to help you develop a healthier relationship with food to enhance your chances of weight loss success after having bariatric surgery.
Please contact us at [email protected] for more information on how to access that support or head over to the Directory for a list of therapists who can provide you with one to one personal sessions. Click link here to access the directory. Or become a member of the Centre for Bariatric Support membership portal, and access all the archived videos of past support groups providing advice and guidance on topics like this one and many, many more. Click here for link to membership page.
