Emotional Eating Definition – When Food Becomes Harmful

by Travis Sago on June 11, 2011

emotional overeating

There are many people that take a lot of comfort in being able to eat while they are stressed out or have run into an excessively emotional circumstance or situation in their life. However, the fact of the matter is that this type of behavior can actually be harmful to a person’s overall health and well-being. The emotional eating definition for someone that eats in this manner is as follows:

A person that allows their emotions to dictate how much and when they eat. This is a problem that both men and women can experience. A person that eats during times of stress and high emotions will pick up food in response to the feelings that they are experiencing, instead of eating when their body actually feels hungry.

There are quite a few people that can get away with consuming all sorts of food products when they experience stressful situations without noticing any harmful changes in their body. However, there are just as many or more people that over time will begin to find themselves actually living the emotional eating definition of a person that experiences several different damaging effects. This is a problem that can affect a person’s well-being and it can have a huge negative impact on the overall condition of their health. Some of the most common harmful problems a person may experience physically and emotionally include the following:

* Overeating from stressful situations can result in obesity and problems with being overweight

* When emotional eating leads to excessive weight, it can then cause a wide myriad of different health problems, including high blood pressure and many others

* Low feelings of self-worth

* Symptoms that are associated with depression

* The loss of desire to engage in activities and excursions with friends and family that used to provide a lot of excitement and fun

To many people it may seem harmless to eat during times of a person’s life that cause an excessive amount of stress. The exact opposite is true however, as there are numerous problems both emotionally and physically that this behavior can and often does lead to. This is when the typical emotional eating definition starts to turn into several different other problems that will affect the person’s entire life.

When a person finally realizes that they truly do have a serious problem with consuming an excessive amount of food while their emotions are running high or they face stress, there are several tips that can decrease this behavior. While the actual emotional eating definition involves a person that allows their emotions to trigger their eating, replacing this response can lead to a much healthier life. Below are just a few of the best and most effective steps to replace the old behaviors with ideas that are much healthier.

* Instantly begin cleansing breath exercises when stress is noticed

* Replace junk food in the home with healthy snacks like carrot sticks

* Make sure to drink a healthy amount of water every single day

* Grab a book, word puzzle, or other activity to keep the mind and hands busy when stressful situations occur unexpectedly

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