Step One - Understand the situations or emotions that trigger emotional eating for you.

They can be major life events or daily challenges like:

• Financial problems or stress
• Health issues – your own or someone close to you
• Conflicts with a relationship
• Work pressure
• Unemployment
• Fatigue
• Boredom
• Chores

Emotions can become so tied to your eating habits that you automatically reach for a treat whenever you're angry or stressed without stopping to think about what you're doing. It can also be a distraction that you use to avoid a conflict or stressful situation.

Step Two – Know the difference between emotional and physical hunger.

1. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly. Physical hunger comes on more gradually. 

2. Emotional hunger craves specific foods for comfort, but physical hunger can be satisfied with almost anything—including healthy fruits and vegetables. 

3. Emotional hunger can lead to eating larger quantities. When you are physically hungry, you are more aware of what and how much you are consuming. 

4. Emotional hunger isn’t satisfied when you’re full. Physical hunger is satisfied when your stomach is full. 

5. Emotional hunger may result in regret, guilt, or shame. Alternatively, you feel good about satisfying physical hunger because you are doing exactly what your body needs. 

6. Emotional hunger needs to be satisfied immediately. Physical hunger can wait a bit.
    

Step Three – Try these tips to help stop emotional eating.

1. If stress is part of the problem, try relaxation techniques or yoga. 

2. If you ate in the last few hours and your stomach isn’t growling, set a timer and wait just 5-10 minutes. 

3. Keep a food diary where you write down what you eat, how much, when, how you're feeling and how hungry you are. You may begin to see patterns emerge that you can address. 

4. Get support from family and friends. If that isn’t an option, consider joining a support group. 

5. Distract yourself. Take a walk, watch TV, listen to music, read, call a friend or play a game.

6. Remove temptation. If you can’t resist it, don't keep comfort food handy.

7. Stay away from the grocery store when you feel angry or sad.

8. Don't deprive yourself completely. When you limit calories too much, eat the same foods every day or eliminate the treats you like, you might actually increase your cravings. Diet-to-Go provides variety with 5 weeks of meals.

9. Choose healthy snacks like fresh fruit, vegetables with low-fat dip, unbuttered popcorn or try lower calorie versions of your favorite foods.

10. Forgive yourself and start fresh. If you do give in to emotional eating, try to learn from the experience to prevent a repeat in the future. Focus on the positive and give yourself credit for the changes you have made.

11. Accept your feelings—even the bad ones. When we are able to let things go, they subside relatively quickly and lose their power.

12. Adopt healthy lifestyle habits. When you eat well, are strong physically, and are rested and relaxed, you are able to handle curveballs that are thrown your way.

13. Make daily exercise a habit. In addition to helping you lose weight, it does wonders for your mood and energy level.

14. Sleep about 8 hours every night. When you don’t get the sleep you need, certain hormone levels increase which can stimulate your appetite to want more food than you need. At the same time, other hormone levels decrease which stop you from feeling satisfied. Both work to make you keep eating!