Healthy Living Blog

Breaking Free from Emotional Eating

Struggling with emotional eating or binge eating can be incredibly stressful and demoralizing. Unfortunately, it’s common for people who suffer from these concerns to feel like the problem is a personal or moral failing.

In fact, unhealthy eating patterns are often the result of multiple factors that can be physical, environmental, and psychological. Learning how these factors affect you and developing helpful coping strategies can allow you to lead a happier and healthier life.

What Is Binge Eating?

Binge eating involves consuming large amounts of food in a short period of time while struggling to control food intake. If someone engages in binge eating one or more times a week for three months, they may be suffering from binge-eating disorder.

While many factors can contribute to binge eating, negative emotions like stress, guilt, and boredom are often involved. Dieting and struggling with a negative body image can also contribute.

Binge-eating disorder can lead to physical and emotional consequences that may affect someone’s health and well-being. The effects of binge-eating disorder can include lower quality of life, higher risk for illness, and increased risk for weight gain. Among individuals who have binge-eating disorder, up to two-thirds are obese, according to the National Eating Disorders Association.

What Is Emotional Eating?

Emotional eating can play a role in binge-eating disorder because negative emotional states often contribute to binge-eating episodes. However, emotional eating is also a distinct concern that can negatively impact someone’s physical and mental health. It involves eating in response to emotional triggers — stress, anger, fear, and more — instead of eating to satisfy true physical hunger.

Sometimes referred to as comfort eating, emotional eating can result in someone reaching for sugary or high-calorie foods that they feel will alleviate their stress. Like binge eating, emotional eating can make someone feel intense distress, as well as make it harder for them to stay physically healthy and achieve their weight loss goals.

An article in The New York Times explored how owning and accepting your food cravings rather than trying to avoid them may help you achieve better health and a more positive relationship with food. In one study from the Times article, participants who used acceptance and mindfulness strategies were twice as likely to maintain a 10% weight loss after three years compared with participants who avoided thinking about food.

Tips for Recovering from Emotional Eating

If you’re having trouble managing the amounts and types of food you eat and finding that emotional triggers often drive your eating behavior, there are many strategies you can try. Tips for reducing emotional eating include:

  • Engaging in healthy activities that can reduce stress, such as meditation
  • Eating regular, nutritious meals
  • Approaching eating in a well-rounded way that involves eating all kinds of foods
  • Accepting cravings without judgment
  • Being kind to yourself and remaining positive in the face of setbacks

You can also relieve eating-related stress by maintaining healthy habits and routines, including getting enough sleep. Research has found that insufficient sleep can stimulate cravings and contribute to less-than-healthy food choices. Other helpful lifestyle changes might include adding healthy exercise and increasing social support.

Structure House Can Help!

Both binge eating and emotional eating are treatable concerns. At Structure House, we offer personalized treatment programs in a comfortable setting with on-site lodging. Our programs can help people who are struggling with binge-eating disorder, obesity, diabetes, and other health concerns.

This year, from November 13-20, we’re inviting participants at Structure House to join staff members Keegan and Valerie as they deliver a series of workshops that focus on recovery from emotional eating. Contact our admissions team to learn more or sign up!

About Katie Rickel, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Katie Rickel graduated summa cum laude from Duke University with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Florida. She completed an APA-accredited clinical internship in health psychology at Duke University Medical Center, with advanced training in behavioral and bariatric obesity treatment as well as the psychological management of chronic pain and illness. Dr. Rickel also has expertise in treating anxiety disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and specific phobias. Her research has been presented at various professional conferences and published in scientific journals. Dr. Rickel has also appeared on “The Dr. Oz Show” and has been quoted in several popular media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Health magazine, Yahoo! Health, Women’s Health magazine, Weight Watchers magazine, and abcnews.com.

 

Digital publications:

Is Fear Making You Keep the Weight On? The Dr. Oz Show

The Lady on the Scooter: Think Twice Before You Judge, The Dr. Oz Show

The Feeding Tube Diet: A Magical Weight-Loss Solution?, The Dr. Oz Show

An All-Natural Antidepressant, The Dr. Oz Show

Refocusing Your Body Image, The Dr. Oz Show

Cut the Food, Keep Your Social Life, The Dr. Oz Show

Thanksgiving Survival Tips, The Dr. Oz Show

How to Stay Healthy, Even When You’re Traveling, Curvy Girl Health

“DNA Diets”: Miracle or Scam?, Curvy Girl Health

Conquering Your Gym Phobia, Curvy Girl Health

Taking the Scary Out of the Scale, Curvy Girl Health

 

Journal publications:

Selected published abstracts and conference presentations:

  • Rickel, K.A., Gibbons, L.M., Milsom, V.A., DeBraganza, N., Murawski, M.E., Nackers, L.M. & Perri, M. G. (2007). Racial/ethnic differences in the effectiveness of extended care following lifestyle intervention for obesity. Poster presented at the 28th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Washington, D.C. (Published Abstract).
  • Rickel, K.A., Durning, P.E., Debraganza, N., Milsom, V.A., Murawski, M.E., Gibbons, L.M., & Perri, M.G. (2006). Treatment of Obesity in Underserved Rural Settings (TOURS): Changes in physical activity and physical fitness in African-American and Caucasian women. Poster presented at the 27th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. San Francisco, CA.  (Published Abstract).
  • Rickel, K.A., Milsom, V.A., Murawski, M.E., DeBraganza, N., Fox, L.D. Durning, P.E., Janicke, D.M., & Perri, M.G. (2005). Do self-reported changes in diet or exercise predict weight loss in lifestyle treatment of obesity? Poster presented at the 18th Annual College of Public Health and Health Professions Research Day. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
  • Rickel, K.A., Durning, P.E., & Perri, M.G. (2004). Treatment Preference and Perceived Difficulty as Predictors of Exercise Adherence. Poster presented at the 25th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Baltimore, MD. (Published Abstract).
  • Milsom, V.A., Rickel, K.A., DeBraganza, N., Gibbons, L.M., Nackers, L.M., Durning, P.E., & Perri, M. G. (2007). Contributions of weight loss and physical activity to improvements in fitness and metabolic profile. Poster presented at the 28th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Washington, D.C. (Published Abstract).
  • Gibbons, L.M., DeBraganza, N., Milsom, V.A., Murawski, M.E., Nackers, L.M., Rickel, K.A., Durning, P.E., & Perri, M. G. (2007). Do the benefits of weight-loss treatment outweigh the risks for elderly, obese women? Poster presented at the 28th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Washington, D.C. (Published Abstract).
  • Nackers, L.M., Milsom, V.A., Gibbons, L.M., DeBraganza, N., Rickel, K.A., & Perri, M.G. (2007). Is it better to have lost and regained than to never have lost at all? The impact of weight regain on metabolic risk factors. Poster presented at the 28th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Washington, D.C. (Published Abstract).
  • Milsom, V.A., Gibbons, L.M., Debraganza, N., Rickel, K.A., Murawski, M.E., Durning, P.E., & Perri, M.G. (2006). What constitutes a successful weight-loss outcome? The impact of 5% and 10% weight reduction on metabolic risk factors for disease. Poster presented at the 27th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. San Francisco, CA. (Published Abstract).
  • Gibbons, L.M., Milsom, V.A., Murawski, M.E., Debraganza, N., Rickel, K.A., Durning, P.E., & Perri, M.G. (2006). Length of treatment and successful outcome in the management of obesity.  Poster presented at the 27th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. San Francisco, CA. (Published Abstract).
  • Lutes, L.D., Perri, M.G., Dale, M.S., Milsom, V.A., Debraganza, N., Rickel, K.A., Durning, P.E. & Bobroff, L.B. (2005). Treatment of Obesity in Underserved Rural Settings (TOURS): Changes in nutritional intake in African-American and Caucasian women. Poster presented at the 27th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. San Francisco, CA. (Published Abstract).
  • Fennell, E.B., Kelly, K.G. & Rickel, K.A. (2005). Pediatric case studies in neurocognitive sequelae of familial Myelomeningocele. Poster presented at the 33rd annual meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society. (Published Abstract).
  • Murawski, M.E., DeBraganza, N., Rickel, K.A., Milsom, V.A., Durning, P. E., Fox, L.D., Janicke, D. M., & Perri, M. G. (2005). Treatment of Obesity in Underserved Rural Settings (TOURS): Effects on quality of life. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Boston, MA. (Published Abstract).
  • Milsom, V.A., Rickel, K.A., Murawski, M.E., DeBraganza, N., & Perri, M.G. (2005). Weight loss improves functional mobility in older obese women. Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Boston, MA. (Published Abstract).
  • Aranda, M., Meisel, F., Bearn, L., Rickel, K., & Ferrante, F.M. (2001). The effect of ethnicity on the treatment of low back pain. Abstract presented at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. New Orleans, LA.

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