The Emotional Reasons Why People Eat

You have to eat to survive – it is as simple as that – and so when you find yourself needing to lose weight it can be a struggle to reduce the amount of food you eat. You can't simply cut food out of your life completely and forget all about it, and so you have to learn to control your eating habits. Unfortunately, people do not only eat for sustenance. If it was really that easy to eat only when you're hungry, obesity probably wouldn't be the problem it is. Many people find that their emotions interfere with their ability to make the right dietary choices.

If you're feeling depressed, you may be someone who eschews food, but for many people food is a source of comfort. You may be feeling down because of something specific going on in your life, such as a relationship breaking down, financial worries or health issues, or it may be a chemical imbalance or hormones that are leaving you in a negative state of mind. Whatever the cause of your depression, you may find that eating a bar of chocolate gives you a bit of a boost, since you get an endorphin rush. However, if weight is also something that is worrying you, you may well feel even worse after gorging on chocolate and other sweet treats, because of the guilt.

You may eat in secret, since if no one knows you're gorging on food, they can't think of you as a pig. Bingeing on food becomes a temporary way to distract yourself from your problems, even though it it doesn't actually resolve any of the issues driving your negative emotions. Indeed, if weight is one of your many worries, you could just end up exacerbating the problem. Even if weight isn't a problem for you, if you regularly turn to food you could find that it becomes one. It is very easy to turn to food when you're in need of a pick-me-up, because eating is more socially acceptable than smoking or drinking and doesn't carry as many harmful side effects.

It isn't only depression that can cause you to turn to food. It may be that you're lonely, anxious or bored and so find that food helps to preoccupy your mind. The trouble is you hardly ever gorge yourself on healthy foods; it is almost always the fattening, calorific treats that provide you with no nutritional benefit that you seek solace in. However, it is important to recognise that not everyone overindulges because they're unhappy. Some people eat because they're with family and friends, and feeling happy and carefree. They don't bother to think about the quantity of food they're eating, because they're having a good time.

Thus, some people tend to eat more when they're in a negative frame of mind, whilst for others it is being in an environment where they feel excited, happy or comfortable that leads them to overeat. Either way, emotional eating can be a problem if it gets out of control. Indeed, by its very nature emotional eating means that you're not in control, since your inclination to eat is being driven by your emotions. When this is the situation you find yourself, it can be tough to manage your weight and even tougher to lose weight, which is why you have to get a grip on your eating habits, so your weight doesn't become an issue that dominates your life.