Feelings of loneliness, anger, frustration, and anxiety often trigger emotional eating. However, there are at least five other reasons that cause you to overeat, leading to weight gain.
1) Eating when you’re bored
Sometimes, eating makes the most sense when you have nothing else to do. During downtime, eating is often a go-to activity for distraction. However, free time is also great for engaging in hobbies or doing things around the house unrelated to food.
If it’s a nice day, walk or sit outside with a coffee and read something uplifting. If you need to finish something around the house, that’s the time to do it. Do something to keep you busy instead of eating when you’re not hungry.
2) Eating when you’re sleep-deprived
Frequent snacking is a way of getting quick jolts of energy when trying to meet a work deadline or finish a project.
You’re so busy focusing on your work that you may not notice you ate more than one bag of chips or three times the amount of cookies per serving.
Other times, when you sleep a few hours at night, it can be challenging to function and stay focused throughout the day.
As a result, your body produces more of a hormone called ghrelin, which can increase your hunger levels between meals.
Craving high-sugar foods usually gives you a quick burst of energy. But it doesn’t last long and ultimately leads to a crash, making you feel more tired. This often leads to consuming as many as 300 extra calories in refined sugary foods.
Washing your face with cold water, staying hydrated, and doing stretches can get the blood flowing and energize the mind until you get a restful sleep.
3) Eating in the middle of the night
If you turn to food for comfort due to work stress or worry, finding ways to relax can help you avoid extra calories.
Listening to soft music or natural sounds, such as rain or ocean waves, can help to relax the mind. Learning a deep breathing routine and drinking herbal teas from your favorite mug are great alternatives that benefit both the body and mind.
4) Eating when overly medicated
Certain medications can affect how hungry you feel between meals. If you notice your hunger levels increasing after a few days of taking a new drug, increased hunger is most likely one of its side effects.
If it becomes a problem and stops you from maintaining your ideal weight or achieving your weight loss goals, a different approach needs to be explored. Working with a nutrition professional who can help plan balanced meals is beneficial at this point.
Individual lifestyle changes, such as spending more time at the gym or increasing the minutes of your daily walks, can also help manage the shift in hunger levels caused by medications.
5) Social snacking and drinking
This one is the most common. Sometimes, after you’ve finished a meal, you’ll get a text from a friend inviting you to a quick bite or to meet somewhere for coffee. You agree to meet and catch up, but you have already eaten.
Once you’re there, giving in to that creamy chocolate dessert or the season-flavored latte can make it part of that bonding time between friends.
To avoid the extra calories and feeling guilty on your way home, decide before you get there to choose a lighter option such as bottled water, regular coffee, tea, or a low-sugar snack before getting to the place.
Other times, Happy Hour turns into Fried Food Hour! Watching others across the bar bite into mouth-watering crunchy appetizers during Happy Hour can be challenging.
If you consume these snacks and alcoholic drinks more than twice a week, you will see changes in your waistline and how your clothes fit much sooner than later.
Takeaways: When watching your weight, conscious indulgence now and then keeps you from feeling deprived.
It eliminates the idea of lacking willpower or being bad when having a treat. But not overdoing it by choosing more nutritious foods throughout the week is key to maintaining your ideal weight.
Being aware of this balance requires paying attention to those times and situations that can trigger unexpected overeating and throw you off track.
It’s important to remember that food provides essential nutrients and energy to help your body function at its best.
The first step to a healthier lifestyle is developing healthy habits, such as avoiding using food as a substitute for other activities.