How to Stop Emotional Eating in the Evenings

Emotional eaters try to control their moods with food. Emotional eaters seek food in response to an emotional trigger. Emotional eating is a method of coping with feelings such as fear, frustration and loneliness. Emotional eating may be more difficult to control in the evenings, during a time when many people are alone.

Things You'll Need

• Journal

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Instructions

• 1

  Recognize the difference between physical hunger and emotional hunger. Emotional hunger can be triggered suddenly or can result from an accumulation of stressful events. Emotional eaters do not wait for their bodies to signify hunger but instead eat mindlessly.

• 2

  Recognize the emotion. Many emotional eaters feel trapped and eat to regain a sense of control over their perceived powerlessness. Emotional eaters may also eat because they are angry. Loneliness is another reason emotional eaters seek solace in food. Many people may feel lonelier at night, when you are less likely to be around other people. Food provides comfort, and many emotional eaters seek to fill the void with food. If you come home from work and are feeling stressed, you may seek food for comfort or relaxation. Fear and uncertainty is another reason you may overeat. When you are fearful, you may see food as a "reliable" friend.

• 3

  Keep a food journal. Maintaining a food journal may be helpful. If you eat in the evenings, begin to write down the foods that you eat and your feelings at the time. With a journal, you may begin to notice a pattern of emotional eating. Identify these feelings and learn to cope with these feelings differently before reaching for food as a source of comfort.

• 4

  Make behavioral changes to curb emotional overeating in the evenings. When emotional eating results in imbalanced eating and regular overeating, begin to make behavioral changes. Emotional eaters should recognize the real reason behind their hunger. Knowledge and awareness is the first step to confront emotional eating. Identify these feelings and learn to cope with these feelings differently. If you are eating in response to a stressful situation, try to remove yourself from that situation or find different ways to handle the stress.

• 5

  Find other ways to occupy your time in the evening. If you are eating from boredom or loneliness, find other ways of occupying your time. Loneliness can lead to sadness, and sad people can withdraw and isolate themselves from other people. Call or visit a friend instead. Reaching out to friends or family is important to remind you of the people who care about you and that you are not alone. Read a book or find some other way of occupying your time. Take some deep breaths. Exercise has been shown to relieve stress and allay anger and frustration. It can also boost mood, because it releases endorphins. Go for a walk, play tennis or do some other form of exercise in the evening. Listen to music and create a playlist of calming music.

  Play with your pet, if you have one. Animals provide unconditional love and promote health and overall emotional well-being. If you do not have a pet, consider volunteering with an animal shelter. If you have extra time, volunteer for any organization and you will benefit from the feeling of helping others in need.