Hello Moms,

Written By Christiana Stephen

“Eating crappy food isn’t a reward — it’s a punishment.”
― Drew Carey

Emotional eating also called comfort eating is when you find yourself  turning to food for comfort, stress relief, or as a reward rather than to satisfy hunger. Most emotional eaters feel powerless over their food cravings. When the urge to eat hits, it’s all you can think about (helpguide.org). On the otherhand,  mindful eating is a practice that develops your awareness of eating habits and allows you to pause between your triggers and your actions (helpguide.org). They are a lot of people who are emotional eaters this can sabotage your weight.

A little quiz to find out if you are a comfort eater

---

• Do you tend to eat more when you feel stressed?
• Do you find yourself eating even when you are not hungry?
• Do you eat when you’re full?
• Do you eat to feel better (to calm and soothe yourself when you’re sad, mad, bored, anxious, etc.)?
• Do you award yourself food when you feel you have achieved something?
• Do you regularly eat until you’ve stuffed yourself?
• Does food make you feel safe?
• Do you feel like food is a friend?
• Do you feel powerless or out of control around food?

---

Triggers of Emotional Eating 

1. Boredom
2. Stress
3. Long term food habits
4. Social Influences: being around people
5. Feeling Lonely
6. Emotions such as anger, anxiety etc

---

How To replace emotional eating with mindful eating 

1. Self Consciousness
2. Self Awareness of your physical and emotional cues
3. Eating the right kinds of food like vegetables and fruits
4. Learning to manage your emotions in different ways other than food
   

   ---

   Practical ways to mindful eating

1. Eat Slowly

2. Be Conscious of what you eat

3. Always have the right kinds of food around you.

Join Our Community: For Moms By Moms