Most people do some emotional eating … under stress or when celebrating.
But occasional emotional eating can become a hard-to-break habit, lead to binge-eating, bulimia or food addiction — and difficult to change.
How many of these top 20 emotional eating symptoms apply to you?
1. You eat for comfort
2. You eat when you’re bored
3. You eat when you’re stressed out
4. You use food as reward
5. You eat to stop what you don’t want to feel
6. You use food to squelch anger, frustration, or fear
7. You eat to avoid any sadness or grief
8. You eat when confused, to get some relief
9. You use food when faced with a lack of hope
10. You eat as a way to help you cope
11. You eat to get calm if you make a mistake
12. You use food when you’ve got a decision to make
13. You eat even when you’re not hungry
14. You eat even when you feel full
15. You use food as a friend, when you feel alone
16. You love shopping for goodies to savor at home
17. You eat for the pleasure and for the food-fun
18. You use food to wind down when your day is done
19. You think about food and eating a lot
20. Food helps you pretend all is fine, when it’s not