Am I Just Eating Because I’m Bored?

Do you find yourself eating small amounts in public but indulging in full meals when alone? Do you find yourself daydreaming about your next meal while eating a meal? Do you find yourself reaching for food when you need comfort? If so, you may be experiencing emotional eating, a behavior often rooted in emotional distress rather than physical hunger. But rest assured, you are not alone. Many individuals struggle with this pattern, and there are steps you can take to regain control over your relationship with food.

This can be a sensitive topic for some, so if you feel this pertains to you, just know you are not alone. In this blog we will discuss some ways to help cope with this behavior and understand the root of our intentions.

1. Acknowledge Your Relationship with Food:

The first step in overcoming emotional over-eating is to acknowledge the emotional connection you have with food. The reason we are reaching for the chip bag can stem from many places. A lot of times when we are overwhelmed, stressed, mad or sad, food is the first place we turn.

Why?

 Because food is something we can control. Change in our relationships, work, living environment, etc. can also create a need to control other areas in our lives. When things are out of our hands, we look to an area that is familiar that we can control, and for many of us, a safe place is food. So, if you find yourself thinking “um yeah I do this sometimes I didn’t realize why” you’re not alone.

Health is more than just nutrition and fitness. There are several areas in our life that need nourishing, and if those needs aren’t being met, or we feel overwhelmed in a certain area of our life, we use food as the band aid.

Primary Foods: Health Outside of Food

When I was studying at IIN becoming health coach certified, one of the most important things we learned was called Primary Foods. Primary foods are the areas in life that are not food related, but directly affect our health and relationship with food. These primary foods include:

-      Finances

-      Relationships

-      Career

-      Home environment

-      Spirituality

-      Creativity

-      Movement

-      Joy

-      Social Life

-      Health

-      Home Cooking

-      New Learnings

When one or more of these areas in our life isn’t going our way, we can sometimes turn to food to fill the void that we are actually experiencing in our Primary Foods.

A lot of people don’t realize that Primary Foods are things that can affect health, I don’t think I knew their importance until I became a health coach.

This was one of the most powerful lessons I learned in the course, and really helped me look at my relationship with food differently. My hope in sharing this blog is that it might provide a shift in perspective towards how we view health, and create positive change for you too.

Side Note: It is completely normal to have multiple Primary Food areas lacking in fulfillment at one time. Nothing will be perfect all the time, but we all have personal thresholds for when it is time to make changes to improve those areas in our life.

2. Identify Triggers and Create Healthy Habits:

One of the first things to do to recognize this behavior is to ask yourself a question before you eat: “are you physically hungry, or are emotionally hungry”? This may seem silly, but it will bring awareness to the situation. Rather than mindlessly eating, it brings awareness to the moment to check in and see if you are actually hungry or seeking distraction and comfort from food. By recognizing the underlying reasons behind your eating habits, you can begin to address the root cause of this behavior.

Once you've identified that some of your eating habits are driven by emotional hunger rather than physical hunger, it's essential to pinpoint the triggers that lead to these episodes. Whether it's stress, sadness, or boredom, understanding your triggers allows you to develop alternative coping mechanisms.

Instead of turning to food for comfort, consider engaging in activities that nourish your soul, such as taking a walk, calling a friend, journaling about your feelings, or spending time outdoors.

Journaling is a powerful tool for emotional over-eating. Having something to reference for how you felt on a given day can make corelating your emotions easier.

Write down daily how you are feeling and what is on your mind. What happened that day, how it made you feel, and what you did about it. This will help you recognize how you are generally in your life and if there are certain recurring areas that are causing stress or discomfort in that given time.

When you stop to ask yourself “am I physically hungry, or am I emotionally hungry?” you can have something to reference back to in the journal if the answer was emotional.

Journaling can help narrow in on which Primary food is suffering causing you to go for the late-night pizza. From there, we know where we need to take action.

Meditation is another way we can sit with our thoughts to dig deeper on why we are emotionally eating. When we sit with our thoughts and calm the racing mind, it opens up space to see where the void could be we are trying to fill. For tips on meditation, reference the Happi Mind section of the website for meditation blogs.

3. Cultivate Holistic Health:

Once we get to the root of the emotional eating and identifying which Primary Foods need nourishing, we can take action. And may I say congrats for getting to this stage!!! It takes a lot of self-awareness and discipline to uncover uncomfortable habits within ourself and unearth the why.

While journaling and meditating - If you noticed you’re not as active with your friends, give them a text and set up a group dinner to nourish your relationships. If your career is making you more stressed or sad than usual, maybe it’s time to make a change. If you feel like you are in a rut with life, try a new hobby or a new activity to add some sparkle back into your routine.

Awareness of our primary foods will mend the relationship with food and lessen the need for emotional over-eating as a result. 

Recognize that food is just one aspect of nourishment and wellness. By nourishing all aspects of your life, you can achieve a sense of balance and fulfillment that goes beyond what food can provide.

This process can be hard, and the process might not be linear, and that is ok. But even bringing awareness to this habit is a step in itself.

By acknowledging your relationship with food, identifying triggers, and cultivating healthy habits, you can break free from the cycle of binge/emotional eating and foster a more balanced and nourished life. Remember, you are not alone on this journey, and with time and effort, positive change is possible. Your health journey is personal and should be done on your terms. Just know there are people you can talk to and resources to help mend relationships with food if you need.

Namaste Friends.