Comfort Food: What Is It And How Can You Stop It?

You know that scene where a sad girl is crying on the couch in front of the TV with a big tub of ice cream for comfort food? That doesn’t just happen in the movie.

The situation may look a little different in your case. Perhaps you opt for a different type of food. The environment may also be different, perhaps outdoors.

But it’s true that when you’re feeling depressed, sad, or overwhelmed, it’s easy to reach for something to eat. How can you avoid those moments of comfort food? In this article we tell you how.

emotional eating

When you’re stressed, you eat. When you feel sad, you eat. Even when you are anxious or worried, you reach for something to eat. Why is this happening?

Human beings usually take refuge in food when something goes wrong. Eventually this will become a bad habit. Unfortunately, this habit is very difficult to break.

Relying on a comfort food to satisfy your emotional needs is not healthy. In fact, you should only eat when your body needs it.

That is, of course, from a physiological standpoint, not from a psychological standpoint.

Sometimes you think you are hungry because your stomach is growling and hurting. As a result, you think you have to eat. But often it is your thoughts or emotions that give this signal. That’s because they’re both used to being rewarded quickly.

Immediate relief through comfort food is a double-edged sword,  as you will have to eat more each time to get the same result.

That is actually the same as what happens with drug use. Eating as an act should be influenced only by your appetite and not by your feelings or by your mood.

Is comfort food a physical or an emotional need?

The problem is that you can’t always make a difference. Is it a physiological need now? Or is your brain causing you to feel the urge to eat something that makes you feel pleasure? You can experience this pleasant feeling especially after eating certain types of food.

As a result, your mind will always look for the same reward. And when you find something to eat, you will eat it. It does not matter whether or not you are hungry or whether you have just had your lunch.

When you experience negative feelings, you eat. For example, you eat chocolate when you are sad. Or if you’re nervous, eat cookies, because then your brain feels satisfied…

This is where the habit starts to form and will be harder to break.

How can you avoid comfort food?

Each of us has our own ‘comfort food’. That’s a term psychologists use. This is the food you prefer at certain times or when you experience certain feelings.

We give some examples. Maybe you eat chocolate when you argue with your partner. Or eat fries when you feel anxious or bored. You may reach for ice cream and cookies when you’re feeling depressed.

Isn’t it strange that no one comforts themselves with a carrot, a tomato or an apple? This is a result of the fact that fruits and vegetables are low in fat.

Therefore, they will not make you feel full enough (or rather, they will not make your brain feel full!).

This is the first alarm signal. See it and realize that you must avoid eating only through your feelings.

Here are the steps that will help you break this habit:

Determine if you are really hungry

This is the hardest step. But once you’ve done it, the rest of the steps will seem very easy.

Watch what you do. Then you will find that sadness makes you eat. At other times of the day or at other times in your life you would never have these thoughts.

Physical hunger comes gradually, but it can wait. This hunger is open to different types of food. This feeling of hunger does not cause negative feelings. All that matters is to satisfy the hunger.

Emotional hunger is different: it overwhelms you and is urgent. With this kind of hunger you want specific food. This urge gives you a sense of guilt and shame. Plus, it never gets saturated.

Another way to determine whether it is true hunger or not relies on the amounts. 

If your appetite is physical, you will probably feel full with less food. If it is an emotional hunger, it seems like a ‘bottomless pit’. You will probably also have stomach pain.

You may also experience vomiting or want to sleep for a few hours.

Check when you eat ‘for pleasure’

It is very important that you pay attention to how you feel. This way you can discover whether your desire to eat is a result of a physical need or not.

For example, you can pay attention to certain things: a bad exam, making a mistake at work, arguing with your family and so on.

If you start gorging every time these things happen, then it’s very likely that your sadness and not your stomach is deciding you need to eat.

Try to investigate as objectively as possible when you are more prone to eating. This can help you decide to stay out of the kitchen or out of the fridge after such specific events.

Hide the temptations

This may sound very extreme advice. However, it is very effective in the beginning. It will help you get through those first few moments of trying to avoid emotional eating.

If you go in the kitchen looking for a piece of chocolate and you only find an orange, you have two options: either eat the orange or continue what you were doing.

When you feel like something and fries are the first thing you see, what do you do? You eat fries, of course. But if you open the kitchen cupboard and you only find a pack of rice cakes, you will eventually eat the rice cakes.

This may not break the habit, but it will still stop your binge eating. In addition, it will prevent you from gaining weight as a result of unhealthy food.

Take control into your own hands

So you have already been able to determine that you eat in an emotional way and when you do it. In the next step, you need to focus on other things. Take matters into your own hands.

The urge to eat when you are sad will be very intense. You will have to be very strict and exert yourself to win this battle.

Try to do activities that make you happy. Or you can do things that make you feel good. For example, read a book, watch an episode of your favorite series or a movie, listen to some uplifting music, go for a walk or go shopping.

There are so many possibilities. We cannot list them all in this article. You know better than anyone else what makes you happy right now (and food isn’t an option).