Emotional Eating:

Getting In Touch with What Motivates YouDr. Kelly Schoonaert

Health Promotion and Human Development UWSP

Agenda for the EveningBackground (20 minutes)

What Are Emotions? How Do They Work? Film Clip Can You Teach Yourself to Respond to Them in a More

Positive Way?

Competition for Prizes!!!!! (10 minutes)Competition for Fun (25 minutes)How Do You See Yourself? (20 minutes)

Yo-Yo Dieter What Do I WANT?

Leave with: A commitment to feel, acknowledge and express what you’re feeling in some way—answer the question WHAT DO I WANT?

I am consciously aware of my motivations, intentions, and daily choices at least 80% of the time….

20% 20% 20%20%20%1. Strongly Agree2. Agree3. Neutral4. Disagree5. Strongly Disagree

I believe that when I do make conscientious choices, they are usually more healthful…

20% 20% 20%20%20%1. Strongly Agree2. Agree3. Neutral4. Disagree5. Strongly

Disagree

1. I tend to graze all day long, rarely allowing myself to get hungry.

True     False

2. Sometimes when I'm alone, I eat in ways I

wouldn’t want anyone else to seeTrue     False

3. I feel guilty when I eat foods thought of as “fattening”. I don’t feel I have the right

True     False

4. I feel like there are two of me - I'm constantly arguing with myself about food

True     False 5. I sometimes eat so far past full that it hurts, and I can’t seem to stop myself

True     False 6. I eat for reasons other than hunger (e.g. anxiety, loneliness, boredom, etc.) 7. I've been on a million diets. If I lose weight, I gain it all back

True False

What is Emotional Eating? “Emotional eating is eating for reasons other than hunger. Instead of physical symptoms of hunger initiating the eating, an emotion triggers it. Food does more than fill our stomachs—it also can satisfy feelings, and when you quench feelings with specific foods, that is emotional eating.

How can you tell the difference? 1. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly; physical

hunger occurs gradually2. When eating to fill an emotional void you crave a

specific food or food type and only that food will meet your need. When you eat for hunger you have typically have many options.

3. Emotional hunger needs to be satisfied instantly with the food you want. Physical hunger can wait and is satiated with non specific variety.

4. If you are eating to fill an emotional need, even when you are full you will keep eating. Eating when hungry you are more likely to stop when full.

5. Eating emotionally can leave behind feelings of guilt and shame…..actually satisfying hunger does not.

Jane Jakubczak, R. D. University of Maryland

Emotional eating is tied to specific foods “comfort foods” that sometimes have a specific molecular structure but more often a molecular MEMORY associated with feelings, time frames, experiences that we want to recreate. What you reach for when eating to satisfy emotions is dependant on the emotion, it’s molecular structure, it’s history in your brain.

Good Times/Bad Times We use “comfort foods” both to sooth negative moods but also to sustain or motivate good moods

Do you reach for the same “types” of food to “celebrate” as to “commiserate”?

50%50%1. Yes2. No, different

25%

25%

25%

25% 1. Steak2. Pizza3. Ice Cream and/or cookies4. Chips

What do you reach for when you’re sad, angry or depressed?

Celebrating?People reach for Steak or Pizza

Ice Cream and Complex DessertsCommiserating? People reach for Ice Cream and Cookies

Bored?People open a bag of chips

Show Movie Clip

How Do Your Thoughts Create Your Behaviors? Two Stories

Yo-Yo DieterTwo Wolves

Books recommended by “the experts”

Good sources for healthy food

choices

Guidance on weight loss