Nutrition and Emotions

Both emotions and eating are two things in life that we cannot avoid, and so often they end up negatively influencing each other. Although emotions and eating can complement each other well, oftentimes the relationship between the two becomes unhealthy and causes damage to our bodies in the process. Below are three ways emotions tend to negatively influence our eating patterns, along with three ways emotions can healthily influence our eating patterns. 

Unhealthy Emotional Eating

1. Eating as a way to punish ourselves. 

Oftentimes, without even noticing it, people run to food as a way to stuff emotions and punish themselves. It is easy to turn to food as a distraction and allows us to avoid the discomfort of a behavior, emotion, or moment. But, since emotions do not resolve as a result of us eating or not-eating, people often repeat the same behavior around food over and over again hoping for continual distractions. This may look like binge eating or food restriction. 

Although in the moment feelings of being overly full or feeling hungry may provide relief from the present emotions, in the long run controlling food will never allow you to fully cope with and move past something. The only way to truly handle a negative emotion or situation is to face it head on, not turn to our stomach as a way to handle it. 

2. Eating as a way to control our body image. 

Another damaging way people treat food is as a way to control body image. Our culture has us convinced that how we look, the way we are built, and what we weigh defines us as a person. As a result, body image becomes increasingly emotional and food feels like the primary way to express how you feel about your body. People often try to unhealthy lose weight or gain weight in order to feel better about themselves or reflect the disdain they feel for themselves. 

However ,just as emotions don’t go away based on how we eat, neither does body image. Our relationship with our identity and self-image is so much deeper and greater than what we weigh. Our bodies were made uniquely and the only way to accept that is to honor its needs, learn more about who you are on the inside, and provide yourself with consistent affirmation. 

3. Eating as a way to reflect our successes and failures. 

Eating can often become a way to define ourselves. If we feel successful and fulfilled, then food often becomes secondary and we may neglect to fuel ourselves properly. The opposite can also be true, when we fail, food often becomes a way to avoid our feelings of discontentment. Both extremes are unhelpful. Food should never be a way to reflect our success or failure in life, but instead be treated the same no matter what we feel about our performance or success. 

Healthy emotional eating

1.Eating as a way to honor our bodies needs. 

Whether we want to admit it or not, our bodies have a lot of physical needs we need to meet with food. Instead of manipulating our bodies and denying our needs, food can be a powerful way we acknowledge our weakness and celebrate the way our body works. Denying what we need only elongates unhappiness and discontentment. Instead, focus on meeting your bodies hunger levels and nutrient needs and learn to accept your body for whatever it looks like. Accepting yourself and using food as a way to intentionally honor yourself is the first step towards having a healthy relationship with food and emotions.

2. Eating as a way to celebrate life. 

Food is an incredible way to celebrate ourselves and the life we get to live. There is an important difference between allowing our emotions about success to dictate how we feel about food, versus seeing food as a way to genuinely enjoy the life and moments around you. Food is a mechanism through which we can enjoy things, not the determinant of whether or not life is going well. So the next time cake is offered at work or your husband asks for mac and cheese for his birthday, give yourself permission to enjoy those foods in a controlled portion size and taste how great food can be as a way to celebrate the things around us. 

3. Eating as a way to enjoy moments and make memories. 

Food is such a precious way to make memories. Whether it's baking cookies with your kids, serving up mashed potatoes to friends at the holidays, or savoring pie at a neighbors house, food is a way we can create memories and savor the things around us. Too often people get caught up in scrutinizing food and beating themselves up over what they may or may not have eaten that day. Instead, take your focus off of food and be present in the moment and with the people around you. As a result of focusing on memories, you will find that not only can our emotions come into check, but food also becomes less emotional and easier to enjoy in moderation. 

Remember: no matter what you are feeling, your body still deserves adequate sources of calories, fats, protein, and fiber. Even when life is going wrong and emotions feel heavy, food is a way we can remember to honor ourselves, celebrate life, and treasure any memories being made. Emotions should never dictate how much or what type of food we “deserve.” You “deserve” to enjoy food and experience the flavors available to you no matter what you are feeling. 

The relationship between food and emotions is complex, and this only scratches the surface. Reach out to us by emailing natalie.nutrition502@gmail.com or going to nutrition502.com to schedule a FREE discovery phone call today!