Now You Know: Stress Eating 101

Stress eating is defined as consuming food in response to your feelings. Another term for it is called emotional eating. It occurs when people eat as an emotional coping mechanism even though they are not hungry. People do this because eating food releases endorphins that comfort us. These comfort foods are generally not very healthy. People like to indulge in junk food as a tool to escape from their issues. A few reasons people stress eat is because they are confused or sad and because they do not want to think about their problems.

Signs Of Stress Eating

1. Do you feel guilty after eating?

2. Do you ever eat without thinking?

3. Do you often eat alone or in odd locations?

4. Do you get hungry after unpleasant situations?

5. Do you crave specific foods when you are upset? (Such as chocolate or other candies)

6. Do outside cues such as television advertisements cause you to get hungry and eat?

7. Do you eat because you are bored or have nothing better to do?

8. Does eating make you feel better and distract you from your problems?