Healthy Mood Lifestyle  Mood & Food

Are You an Emotional Eater?

Do you eat to influence your mood? Do you eat when you're sad, lonely, or even when you feel great? Many people eat for emotional reasons and often this leads to overeating or making poor choices. Changing this habit starts with knowing if you eat because of emotions.

• Do you eat when you're not hungry?
• Do you eat when faced with a difficult task?
• Do you eat when you're tired?
• Do you splurge on favorite foods when you're alone?

If you answered yes to these questions, emotions drive your eating. The next step in changing this habit is to keep a food diary and write down when you eat, what you eat and why you're eating. Seeing what is happening can help you learn other ways to deal with emotions and to switch eating to-when you're hungry. And don't forget to congratulate yourself when you do well.

Source: American Dietetic Association