Understanding Your Emotional Food Triggers for Bariatric Success
There are three key factors in emotional eating and in this blog we are going to be focussing in the first one: Emotional triggers
Emotional Triggers
Emotional eating is driven by various triggers, including stress, anxiety, sadness, and even boredom. These emotions can prompt individuals to seek comfort in food, often choosing high-calorie, sugary, or fatty foods that provide temporary relief.
Stress
Turning to food for a sense of relief and distraction.
Example: reaching for chocolate when deadlines pile up. The temporary relief from stress leads to seeking sugary foods, providing a brief distraction but ultimately not addressing the root cause of the anxiety.
Sadness
Seeking comfort and a temporary mood boost.
Example: After a tough day turning to a tub of ice cream to lift spirits. The sweetness and creaminess give a momentary mood boost, but this habit can lead to overeating and weight gain, exacerbating feelings of sadness.
Boredom
Eating to fill time and create stimulation.
Example: Snacking on crisps and popcorn while watching TV, especially when feeling bored. Eating gives something to do, but it often results in consuming more calories than needed, contributing to unhealthy eating patterns.
Loneliness
Using food to feel a sense of connection and satisfaction.
Example: Finding comfort in pizza and fast food when feeling lonely. The act of eating provides a sense of fulfilment and companionship, even though it doesn’t address the underlying feelings of isolation, leading to a cycle of emotional eating and dissatisfaction.
Other common causes of emotional eating
Stuffing emotions. Eating can be a way to temporarily silence or “stuff down” uncomfortable emotions, including anger, fear, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, resentment, and shame. While you’re numbing yourself with food, you can avoid the difficult emotions you’d rather not feel.
Feelings of emptiness. Do you ever eat simply to give yourself something as a way to fill a void in your life? You feel unfulfilled and empty, and food is a way to occupy your mouth and your time. In the moment, it fills you up and distracts you from underlying feelings of purposelessness and dissatisfaction with your life.
Childhood habits. Think back to your childhood memories of food. Did your parents reward good behaviour with ice cream, take you out for pizza when you got a good report card, or serve you sweets when you were feeling sad? These habits can often carry over into adulthood. Or your eating may be driven by nostalgia—for cherished memories of grilling burgers in the backyard with your dad or baking and eating cookies with your mom.
Stuffing emotions. Eating can be a way to temporarily silence or “stuff down” uncomfortable emotions, including anger, fear, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, resentment, and shame. While you’re numbing yourself with food, you can avoid the difficult emotions you’d rather not feel.
Social influences. Getting together with other people for a meal is a great way to relieve stress, but it can also lead to overeating. It’s easy to overindulge simply because the food is there or because everyone else is eating. You may also overeat in social situations out of nervousness. Or perhaps your family or circle of friends encourages you to overeat, and it’s easier to go along with the group.
Identify your emotional eating triggers
The first step in putting a stop to emotional eating is identifying your personal triggers. What situations, places, or feelings make you reach for the comfort of food? Most emotional eating is linked to unpleasant feelings, but it can also be triggered by positive emotions, such as rewarding yourself for achieving a goal or celebrating a holiday or happy event.
Next Steps
If you are struggling to identify your emotional eating trigger and feel you 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.
