How do you recognize and stop a teenager's emotional hunger?

We don’t always eat simply to satisfy hunger. We often eat for comfort, to relieve stress, or to actively consume something tasty as a reward. Unfortunately, emotional hunger does not solve emotional problems. A teenager often resorts to food as the easiest way to relieve stress. And then, having overeaten, he only feels worse. Emotional problems remain, and then comes the feeling of guilt for overeating. We will teach a teenager to recognize emotional hunger and distinguish it from real hunger. These are important steps in freeing yourself from the power of a brutal appetite.

What is emotional hunger?

Emotional hunger is when you don't want to eat, but you want to experience the pleasure of the taste of food. Chocolate, a candy bar, a cake, chips - products that give pleasant taste associations, but at the same time enrich the body with complex, or bad carbohydrates, which do not saturate for a long time, but give extra folds on the sides.

Eating a tasty meal every now and then to reward yourself for something is not a bad thing for a teenager. Emotional hunger every day is a problem for weight, shape and self-esteem. When food becomes the primary emotional coping mechanism, when your first impulse when upset is to open the refrigerator, then you are stuck in an unhealthy cycle of eating habits.

Emotional hunger cannot be satisfied with food. Food may make you feel good in the moment, but the feelings that caused the need for food are still there. And the teen often feels worse than before because of the unnecessary calories he or she has taken in. The problem is made worse by the fact that the teen stops learning healthy ways to cope with their emotions, finds it harder and harder to control their weight, and feels even more helpless.

Tip #1: Identify the causes of emotional hunger

People eat for different reasons. The first step to stopping emotional eating is to identify your eating problem. What situations, places, or feelings make you reach for food?

Keep in mind that while most cases of emotional satiation involve unpleasant feelings afterwards, eating can also trigger positive emotions, such as rewarding yourself or when a teen is celebrating a holiday or happy event.

Causes of emotional hunger in a teenager

Stress. Have you ever noticed how stress makes you hungry? It’s not just in your brain. When stress becomes chronic, as it often is in our chaotic, fast-paced world, it leads to high levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol causes cravings for salty, sweet, and fatty foods, foods that provide a boost of energy and a sense of pleasure. The more unmanageable stress a teen has in their life, the more likely they are to turn to food for emotional relief.

Emotional Response: Eating can be a way to temporarily turn off or escape from unpleasant emotions, including anger, fear, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, hurt, and shame. While a teen distracts themselves with food, they can avoid emotions they don’t want to feel.

Boredom or a feeling of emptiness. Have you ever eaten just to do something, to relieve boredom, or as a way to fill a void in your life? When a teenager feels empty, they may use food as a way to occupy their mouth and their time. This distracts them from feeling aimless and dissatisfied with their life.

Childhood Habits. When parents rewarded good behavior with ice cream or pizza or candy, it was nice, wasn't it? These emotional foundations of childhood food are often carried over into adulthood by the teenager.

Social influence. Hanging out with friends at a restaurant or cafe is a great way to relieve stress, but it can lead to overeating. It’s easy to overindulge in this method simply because it’s available and because everyone else is eating – so what’s wrong with that? Overeating is always easier when you’re in a group – it gives your teen a sense of entitlement.

How to Know if You're an Emotional Eater?

1. Do you eat more when you feel stressed?
2. Do you eat when you are not hungry or when you are completely full?
3. Do you have other ways besides food to feel better (when you are sad, bored, anxious, etc.)?
4. Do you often feel the urge to reward yourself with food?
5. Do you ever find that food makes you feel safe?
6. Do you feel powerless if you can't eat well?

The difference between emotional and physical hunger

Before you can free yourself from emotional hunger, you first need to learn to differentiate between emotional and physical hunger. This can be harder than it sounds, especially if you regularly use delicious food to combat your feelings.

Emotional hunger can be very powerful. As a result, it can easily be mistaken for physical hunger. These tips can help you figure it out.

Emotional hunger comes on suddenly. It hits the teenager in an instant and makes him feel depressed. Physical hunger comes on gradually. The desire to eat does not make the teenager feel guilty after he has eaten.

Emotional hunger requires specific foods. When you're physically hungry, almost anything is good for satisfying your hunger, including healthy foods like vegetables. Emotional hunger, on the other hand, is a craving for fatty foods or sugary snacks that provide instant gratification.

Emotional hunger is eating a ton of high-calorie food for no purpose. Before you realize you weren't really hungry, you've eaten an entire bag of chips or a triple scoop of ice cream. When you're physically hungry, you're more aware of what you're doing.

Emotional hunger does not give you a feeling of satiety. You want to eat more and more, but the feeling of satiety does not come. Physical hunger, on the contrary, gives you a feeling of satiety. You feel satisfied when your stomach is full.

Emotional hunger does not originate in the stomach. Instead of the stomach giving hunger signals by growling, as it does with physical hunger, the desire to eat cannot leave the teenager’s head. At the same time, he is focused on specific foods, tastes and smells.

Emotional hunger often leads to feelings of regret, guilt, or shame. When you eat to satisfy physical hunger, you're unlikely to feel guilty or ashamed because you're simply giving your body what it needs. If you feel guilty after you eat, you're probably not eating because you're hungry.

Emotional hunger vs. physical hunger

Emotional hunger occurs suddenly.	Physical hunger comes gradually.
With emotional hunger, a teenager feels that he must be satisfied immediately.	Physical hunger can wait.
Emotional hunger craves specific foods that provide a feeling of comfort.	Physical hunger is about many food options, not specific foods.
Emotional hunger does not give a feeling of satiety.	Physical hunger stops when the teenager has eaten his fill.
Emotional eating causes feelings of guilt, helplessness, and shame.	Eating to satisfy physical hunger will not make you feel bad about yourself.

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Keep an emotional eating diary

Many teenagers probably recognized themselves in at least some of the situations described. But even in this case, of course, it would be desirable to understand yourself even better. One of the best ways to identify the causes of emotional hunger is a diary.

Every time you overeat or reach for your favorite foods due to stress, take a moment to figure out what triggered the craving. Write down when, what foods, and in what mood you eat. Answer a few questions in your journal: what you ate (or wanted to eat), what upset you, what made you reach for your favorite food, how you felt before you ate, how you felt when you ate, and how you felt afterward.

Over time, you’ll start to see clear pictures of your eating habits. Maybe you eat a lot after spending time with a certain person. Or maybe you want to eat after tough tests or exams. Once you’ve identified your emotional triggers, the next step is to replace unhealthy foods with other ways to get pleasure.

Tip #2: Find other ways to treat yourself

If you don’t know how to manage your emotions without treats, you’ll soon find yourself unable to control your eating habits at all. Know that diets are practiced so often not because they offer logical nutritional advice, but to try to control the tendency to overeat. But diets only work if a teenager can consciously control his or her eating. They don’t work when emotions take over reason. To stop emotional hunger, you must find other ways to please yourself emotionally. This is a huge first step. You must find an alternative to food that is just as fast.

Alternatives to emotional eating

If you're feeling down or lonely, call someone who always makes you feel better, play with your dog or cat, or look at your favorite photos - or exercise.

If you've exhausted all other ways to lift your spirits, drink a cup of hot tea, take a bath, light some scented candles, or wrap yourself in a warm blanket.

If you are bored, read good books, watch comedies, go for a walk outdoors, or do something you enjoy (playing the guitar, hula hoop, scrapbooking, etc.).

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Tip #3: Take a break after a wild desire to eat

The most emotional teenagers feel powerless against the craving for tasty food. When the desire to eat prevails over other feelings, try to endure 10-15 minutes. Say to yourself: "I will eat this piece of cake, but only in 15 minutes. Very often with this approach, the desire to eat passes, and it is quite possible to do without cake. In this way, you will gradually learn to control your feeling of hunger, and not it you.

Learn to accept all your feelings, even the bad ones.

A teenager may think that the main problem is powerlessness over hunger, but this is not true. In fact, emotional hunger arises from a feeling of powerlessness over his emotions. He does not feel able to control his emotions, and escapes them by eating.

When you allow yourself to feel uncomfortable, your emotions can become uncontrollable. You may fear that it is like Pandora's box - once you open it, you can't close it. But the truth is that when we suppress our emotions, even the most painful feelings subside relatively quickly and lose their power. There is much evidence to support the fact that mindfulness is effective. Not only does it help a teenager learn to understand themselves, but it also helps them keep their feelings under control during times of stress.

Moreover, your life will be richer when you open yourself emotionally. Our feelings are the window to our inner world. They help us understand and discover our deepest desires and fears, our current disappointments, and what will make us happy.

Tip #4: How to maintain a healthy diet?

When you're physically strong, relaxed, and well-rested, you're better able to handle stress. But when you're exhausted and overwhelmed, it's easy to mindlessly run to the fridge. Exercise, sleep, and a healthy lifestyle can help you get through tough times without emotional food.

Exercise daily. Physical activity does wonders for your mood and energy levels, and it is also a powerful stress reducer.

Get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body craves sugary foods that will give you a quick burst of energy. Getting enough rest will help control your appetite and reduce cravings.

Make time for relaxation during the day. Allow yourself at least an hour after work to relax and unwind, every day. This is a time to take a break from your responsibilities and recharge your batteries.

Socialize with other people, but only positive ones. The importance of good friendships cannot be underestimated as a teenager. Spend time with positive people who, with their positive attitude, will help protect you from the negative effects of stress.

A teenager can cope with emotional hunger. You just need to regularly devote time to it, and the result - a good mood and success in everything - will not be long in coming.