Summary
- Emotional eating is often triggered by stress, boredom, and negative emotions rather than physical hunger, making weight loss efforts more challenging.
- Understanding the brain food connection can help you recognize when you're eating due to emotions versus genuine hunger.
- Keeping a food mood journal is one of the most effective strategies for identifying your personal emotional eating patterns.
- Mindful eating techniques can reduce emotional eating episodes by 70% according to recent research.
- Creating sustainable habits rather than relying on willpower is the key to overcoming emotional eating for good.
You’ve had a long, stressful day, and before you know it, you’re standing in front of the fridge or pantry, looking for something to eat. You’re not really hungry, but something else is driving you to eat your emotions. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Emotional eating affects up to 75% of people trying to lose weight, and it’s one of the biggest obstacles to successful weight loss.
Emotional eating isn't just about lack of willpower or discipline. It's a complex psychological response that has deep roots in how our brains and bodies respond to stress, emotions, and environmental cues. At Fitness Healthcare Solutions, we see countless individuals struggling with this pattern, often without understanding the powerful forces at work behind their food decisions.
Understanding Emotional Eating: Why It's So Hard to Quit (And What's Really Going On)
- Cravings for high calorie, high fat “comfort foods” are driven by stress hormones
- Emotional eating provides a temporary boost to feel good brain chemicals
- Powerful neural pathways are created by past experiences and associations with food
- Emotional eating urges can actually be intensified by restriction and dieting
- Eating can be triggered by environmental cues, even when you're not actually hungry
The best way to lose belly fat and understand what's really going on in your brain and body is the first step to breaking the cycle of emotional eating. Emotional eating isn't a sign of weakness, it's your body's way of trying to self regulate and feel better. When you're stressed or upset, your body releases cortisol, a stress hormone that not only increases your appetite, but specifically drives cravings for high calorie, high fat foods. These foods give a temporary boost to dopamine and serotonin neurotransmitters that make you feel good. This creates a powerful reinforcement loop that your brain doesn't forget.
The Mind Nutrition Link That Ruins Your Eating Plan
Your mind is programmed to pursue joy and evade discomfort. When you consume delectable foods, those high in sugar, salt, and fat, your mind's pleasure hub becomes a whirlwind of activity, akin to what occurs with habit forming substances. This isn't merely about delight, it's about your mind establishing potent connections between specific foods and emotional solace. The University of Michigan has conducted research that indicates these pleasure routes can become overly sensitive over time, making emotional eating habits more and more challenging to overcome without addressing the root psychological processes.
Emotional Triggers That Cause Overeating
The first step to overcoming emotional eating is to understand what triggers it for you. Stress is the most common trigger, with studies showing that approximately 80% of people eat more when they are stressed. However, many other emotions can drive us to eat when we are not physically hungry. Boredom often leads to mindless snacking as we look for something to do. Sadness or loneliness can create a void that we try to fill with food. Even positive emotions like happiness and celebration are often associated with eating more in many cultures. Understanding which specific emotions trigger your eating can help you develop coping strategies that are targeted to those emotions.
Why Stress Hormones Make You Want Junk Food
When you're stressed out, your body goes into “fight or flight” mode, releasing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. Cortisol in particular increases your appetite and makes you crave high calorie foods, this is your body's ancient way of preparing for ongoing stress by storing up energy. This biological response was great for our ancestors who were dealing with physical threats, but in our modern world of constant mental stress, it's not exactly conducive to our health goals. A 2021 study published in the Journal of Health Psychology found that participants who were put under experimental stress conditions chose foods that were 40% higher in calories than those who were relaxed. What's more, they specifically went for foods that were higher in sugar and fat rather than protein or complex carbs.
Escape the Cycle of Emotional Eating
The best way to lose belly fat and escape the cycle of emotional eating is about more than sheer willpower it’s about implementing a strategic approach that tackles both psychological triggers and behavioural patterns. The good news is that with the right tools and techniques, you can reprogram your brain’s response to emotions and develop healthier coping mechanisms. The secret is to become aware before automatic behaviours kick in, and then systematically replace old habits with new ones that better support your physical and emotional health.
Research published in the Journal of Behavioural Medicine states that people who are able to conquer emotional eating do not just resist their cravings. They come up with different responses to emotional triggers. This change from resisting to replacing is what makes a lasting difference. Let's look at some proven methods that can help you stop emotional eating for good.
1. Recognize Your Own Eating Triggers
The initial step in conquering emotional eating is understanding your unique triggers. While stress is a universal trigger, your personal emotional eating patterns might be triggered by specific situations, work deadlines, family conflicts, financial worries, or even certain environments. Pay attention to when and where your emotional eating usually happens. Do you grab for snacks when feeling overwhelmed at work? Do you find yourself unconsciously eating in front of the TV after a tough day? The more specific you can be about recognizing your triggers, the more effectively you can create targeted strategies to address them.
2. Start a Food Mood Diary
A food mood diary is one of the most effective ways to break the cycle of emotional eating. It's not about counting calories, but about understanding the relationship between your emotions and your eating habits. Before each meal or snack, rate your physical hunger from 1 to 10, write down your current emotions, and note what's going on around you. After a few weeks, you'll start to see patterns that show your emotional eating triggers. You might find that you snack when you're bored, or that you crave sweets in the afternoon when you're stressed at work. This knowledge is priceless for creating targeted interventions that address your specific patterns.
Several customers have said that just keeping this diary lessens emotional eating because it creates a brief interlude between feeling and eating. sufficient time to make a deliberate decision rather than responding instinctively. The act of recording makes what was once unconscious behaviour mindful.
3. Create Beneficial Coping Strategies
After you've pinpointed your emotional eating triggers, the next step is to create coping strategies that don't involve food. The goal isn't to never feel negative emotions, that's impossible, but rather to develop healthier ways to respond when those emotions arise.</p>
Rewrite the following human content into human content:
- For stress: Attempt a
two minute breathing exercise, physical activity, or progressive relaxation
- For boredom: Part
icipate in a brief hobby, call a friend, or complete a small task from your to do list
- For sadness: Try jou
rnaling, self compassion exercises, or seek social support
- For anxiety: Utilize grounding techniques, mindfulness practices, or brief meditation
- For celebration: Discover non-food rewards like experiences, self care activities, or small treats
4. Apply Mindful Eating Techniques
The best way to lose belly fat and your mindful eating is a potent practice that can revolutionize your relationship with food and significantly reduce emotional eating episodes. This method involves bringing full attention to the eating experience, observing colours, smells, textures, and flavours while eating slowly and without distraction. Research published in the Journal of Obesity found that participants who practiced mindful eating experienced a 70% reduction in emotional eating episodes. The practice helps create a pause between emotion and action, allowing you to make conscious choices rather than reacting automatically to emotional triggers.
When you want to eat mindfully, make sure to remove any distractions. This means no TV, phone, or computer. Take three deep breaths before you start eating and check how hungry you are. While you eat, chew your food thoroughly and pause between bites. This will help you notice the sensations and satisfaction that food gives you. This simple practice can help you tell the difference between emotional and physical hunger. This can help reduce the number of times you overeat because of your emotions.
5. Implement a Hunger Scale
Recognizing the difference between physical and emotional hunger is key to conquering emotional eating. A hunger scale can be a valuable tool in developing this understanding, as it allows you to rate your hunger levels before, during, and after meals. Picture a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being famished and 10 being uncomfortably full. Physical hunger tends to develop gradually, can be satiated with any type of food, and results in a feeling of satisfaction rather than guilt. Emotional hunger, on the other hand, tends to appear suddenly, craves specific comfort foods, and often results in feelings of guilt. Aim to begin eating when you're at a 3 or 4 on the hunger scale and stop when you're at a 6 or 7, feeling comfortable but not overly full.
Understanding the Psychological Aspects of Successful Weight Loss
It is important to understand the psychological factors that can influence the success of weight loss. Weight management is not as simple as the “calories in, calories out” model suggests. The National Weight Control Registry's research, which tracks over 10,000 individuals who have successfully maintained significant weight loss, shows that psychological factors often determine who is successful in the long run. These factors include developing consistent habits, addressing emotional eating, building self efficacy, and creating environmental supports for healthy choices. Let's take a look at the key psychological principles that can make or break your weight loss journey.
The Downfall of Relying Solely on Willpower for Weight Loss
Many people mistakenly believe that willpower is the main ingredient for successful weight loss. This misconception has led to many feeling a sense of self-failure when their diet doesn't work. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, willpower is a finite resource that can be used up as we make choices and resist desires throughout the day. This is why emotional eating in the evening is so prevalent, by the time night falls, your willpower is often exhausted. By understanding this, you can stop blaming yourself and start developing methods that don't depend entirely on willpower.
Instead of relying on motivation, which can come and go, the key to successful weight management is to build an environment and habits that make it easy to make healthy choices. A Cornell University study found that people make an average of 226 food related decisions each day, most of them without even realizing it. By setting up your environment to support your goals, you can reduce the need for constant willpower. This could involve not keeping foods that trigger overeating in the house, preparing healthy foods in advance, or establishing specific guidelines for emotional situations that usually lead to overeating.
How Building Habits Contributes to Sustained Success
The best way to lose belly fat is to realize the habits we form, not the big, dramatic efforts, that make the difference in long term weight management. Research in the European Journal of Social Psychology shows that it takes from 18 to 254 days to form a new habit, with an average of 66 days. This highlights the need for consistency and patience in creating healthier eating habits. The great thing about habits is that once they're in place, they don't take much conscious effort or willpower, they become your automatic way of doing things.
Creating new habits is a three-step process: cue, routine, reward. To overcome emotional eating, you need to pinpoint what triggers your emotional eating (stress, boredom, etc.), create a new routine to replace eating (deep breathing, walking, etc.), and make sure there's a reward that reinforces your new behaviour (feeling calmer, proud of yourself, etc.). With enough repetition, this new loop becomes more and more automatic, slowly replacing emotional eating as your default reaction to emotional triggers.
The Influence of Your Surroundings on Your Eating Choices
Without you even realizing it, your surroundings have a significant impact on your eating habits. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research revealed that people who use smaller plates can eat up to 22% less without feeling like they're missing out. Also, if you keep unhealthy foods hidden or don't keep them in your home at all, you're much less likely to eat them. On the other hand, if you keep healthy foods in plain sight, you're more likely to eat them.
Your social environment, or the people you spend time with, can also have a significant impact on your eating habits. A ground breaking study in the New England Journal of Medicine discovered that obesity can spread through social networks. However, there is a silver lining. If you spend time with people who prioritize healthy eating, you can create strong social norms that encourage healthier choices. This doesn't mean you should abandon friends who don't share your eating habits. Instead, be aware of how your social environment can influence your eating habits. You may also want to consider expanding your social network to include more people who share your health goals.
Establish Long Lasting Healthy Habits
To make lasting change, you need to move away from the unsustainable cycle of restriction and emotional eating and towards building consistent, sustainable habits. The most successful approach focuses on what you're gaining, better energy, improved mood stability, and a healthier relationship with food, not what you're giving up. This section will explore practical strategies for establishing habits that become second nature, not constant struggles.
Big Results from Small Changes
Stanford University's Behaviour Design Lab research shows that starting with “tiny habits” or changes so small they're almost trivial, leads to higher success rates than attempting dramatic overhauls. This is true for emotional eating as well. For example, creating a simple rule to drink a full glass of water before deciding whether to eat when you're not physically hungry, or taking three deep breaths before opening the refrigerator or pantry. These micro habits create small pauses that interrupt automatic emotional eating behaviours and give you the opportunity to make conscious choices.
Once these minor habits are ingrained, you can slowly expand upon them, forming a base of healthy activities that assist in achieving your weight loss objectives. The secret is regularity, not intensity, a small adjustment that you keep up with daily has a much greater effect than a grand scheme that rapidly becomes too much to handle.
The 21-Day Habit Formation Strategy
Although it is a bit of an oversimplification to say that habits form in exactly 21 days, this timeframe is a good benchmark for establishing new behaviours. By committing to a specific change for three weeks, you create enough repetition to start building neural pathways that make the behaviour increasingly automatic. Choose one specific emotional eating habit to transform during this period, maybe your afternoon stress snacking or night time boredom eating, and consistently apply your alternative coping strategy whenever that trigger arises.
Keep a record of your journey throughout the 21 days, making note of your victories and struggles. Give yourself a pat on the back for your triumphs, no matter how small they might seem, as this will help to reinforce your neural pathways. Keep in mind that stumbling blocks are a normal part of forming a new habit, they offer lessons rather than signs of failure. If you find that a certain situation continually throws you off track, you can come up with a plan to tackle that issue in the next stage of habit formation.
Three Week Plan to Reset Emotional Eating
Week 1: Awareness – Track your food and mood to identify patterns
Week 2: Alternatives – Implement your chosen non-food coping strategies
Week 3: Automation – Reinforce new habits and celebrate your progress
Formulating Effective Implementation Intentions
Implementation intentions, which are specific if, then plans for dealing with difficult situations, can significantly increase your chances of sticking to healthy habits when emotions risk triggering old eating behaviours. A study in the British Journal of Health Psychology found that individuals who formulated implementation intentions were nearly three times more likely to act on their intentions than those who merely had good intentions without specific plans. In the case of emotional eating, this means formulating explicit plans like, “If I feel stressed after work, then I will take a 10-minute walk before deciding whether to eat” or “If I feel bored in the evening, then I will call a friend or work on my hobby project instead of snacking.”
When you take the time to write down your strategies and review them often, especially before you find yourself in a situation where you might be tempted to eat emotionally, you'll find these plans are most successful. By deciding beforehand how you'll deal with tough situations, you'll reduce the amount of mental effort you'll need to exert in the moment and increase the likelihood that you'll opt for healthier alternatives to emotional eating.
Conquer Psychological Obstacles to Weight Loss
The best way to lose belly fat, no matter how well you've planned, psychological obstacles can throw a wrench in your plans to conquer emotional eating. These barriers can include negative self talk, a perfectionist mindset, all or nothing thinking, and unrealistic goals. Tackling these mental roadblocks is crucial for lasting change. In this section, we'll delve into common psychological obstacles and provide actionable tips for conquering them.
Overcoming Negative Self Talk
The conversations you have with yourself in your mind can significantly impact your eating habits and your success in managing your weight. When you engage in negative self talk, such as “I have no self control” or “I will always have weight issues”, you set yourself up for failure and make it more likely that you will engage in emotional eating. A study conducted at Ohio State University discovered that criticizing oneself can cause stress responses in the body, which can then potentially lead to the emotional eating habits you're trying to break.
Start by becoming aware of your negative thoughts without judging them. Then, question these thoughts by asking yourself if you would speak to a friend in the same way if they were going through the same thing. Replace your critical thoughts with more understanding, realistic ones: “I am learning new ways to handle emotional eating” or “Every day I am getting better at identifying what triggers me.” This approach of self compassion is not just kinder, studies show it results in better eating habits and weight management outcomes than severe self criticism.
Overcoming Weight Loss Stagnation
Weight loss stagnation, times when it feels like you’re not making any progress despite your continued efforts, can often lead to emotional eating relapses due to feelings of frustration and discouragement. Recognizing that these periods of stagnation are a normal, physiological response can help lessen the emotional toll they take. As you lose weight, your body naturally adjusts by changing your metabolic rate and the hormone levels that control hunger and fullness. Understanding this as a natural part of the process instead of a failure can help you keep a level head during these tough times.
When you hit a plateau, concentrate on victories that don't involve the scale, like having more energy, sleeping better, fewer emotional eating episodes, or being more physically able. These significant improvements continue even when your weight temporarily stays the same. Also, consider whether your emotional eating patterns have changed during the plateau, sometimes old habits sneak back in subtle ways that impact progress. Looking over your food mood journal and habit tracking can provide useful insights about changes that might help you progress.
Dealing with Hurdles Without Throwing in the Towel
When it comes to conquering emotional eating, stumbling blocks aren't defeats, they're instructive moments that bolster your overall triumph. The National Weight Control Registry's research indicates that individuals who effectively sustain weight loss don't completely sidestep obstacles, their reactions to them are just different from those who put the weight back on. Rather than interpreting a slip up as disastrous proof of personal inadequacy, successful people view it as a momentary detour that offers beneficial insight.
When you find yourself emotionally eating, try the “3 Rs” method: Recognize the situation without judgment, Reflect on what triggered it and the circumstances, and Recommit to your goals without being too hard on yourself. This resilient way of thinking prevents the “what the hell effect”, which is the tendency to give up all restraint after a small slip-up, something research has identified as a main predictor of relapse in changes in eating behaviour.
Boosting Your Self Esteem While On Your Weight Loss Journey
The best way to lose belly fat is by developing a positive attitude towards your body is a significant factor in successfully battling emotional eating. A lot of people only start to love their bodies once they've hit their target weight. However, studies have shown that appreciating your body more can actually lead to healthier eating habits and sustainable weight control. Research published in the Journal of Health Psychology revealed that those who appreciated their bodies more were more likely to adopt healthy behaviours and were less prone to emotional eating.
Your Personalized Weight Loss Journey
Having a well defined, tailored plan can significantly boost your odds of conquering emotional eating and maintaining a healthy weight in the long run. This journey isn't about adhering to strict regulations. Instead, it's about establishing a versatile structure that caters to your individual needs, likes, and life situation. The best method merges mental tactics with actionable steps, providing a holistic method for altering your connection with food and feelings.
Creating Achievable Goals to Keep You Inspired
When it comes to overcoming emotional eating, the goals you set can make a big difference. According to the American Psychological Association, setting goals that are specific, measurable, and achievable is more effective than having vague goals. Instead of saying you want to “stop emotional eating,” set specific goals like “I will practice deep breathing when I feel stressed at work before deciding whether to eat” or “I will portion out my evening snacks to encourage mindful eating.”
Setting process goals, which concentrate on actions you can control, can be more beneficial than setting outcome goals such as specific weight targets. For instance, “I will walk for 20 minutes three times per week” and “I will prepare healthy lunches every Sunday” are process goals that can help with weight management without creating the pressure that often triggers emotional eating. These goals keep you focused on the daily actions that lead to long-term success instead of obsessing over scale numbers that can vary for numerous reasons.
| Swap This Goal | For This Goal |
|---|---|
| “Shed 20 pounds before summer” | “Adopt mindful eating habits at dinner 5 times a week” |
| “Quit emotional eating for good” | “Utilize my stress relief tools before snacking when upset” |
| “Never touch junk food again” | “Relish planned treats mindfully without feeling guilty” |
Celebrate every bit of progress you make towards these goals. Each time you successfully form a new habit or manage an emotional trigger without resorting to food, you're strengthening neural pathways that make future success more likely. These victories deserve recognition, whether it's through tracking in a journal, sharing with a supportive friend, or giving yourself a non-food reward that reinforces your efforts.
Building a Nurturing Environment
The physical and social environments you inhabit play a significant role in your eating habits, often without you even realizing it. By creating an environment that nurtures rather than undermines your weight loss efforts, you can significantly increase your chances of overcoming emotional eating. Begin by adjusting your home environment. Eliminate or limit access to the foods that you usually turn to when you are emotionally eating. This doesn't mean you have to get rid of all your favourite snacks, but you should make them less accessible and less visible than healthier options.
Your social environment is just as important. A study from the Journal of Consumer Research found that we subconsciously mimic the eating habits of the people around us. By talking openly with your friends and family about your goals, you can create a supportive and understanding environment. You could say something like, “I'm trying to become more aware of what triggers emotional eating for me. I would really appreciate it if you could support me by not offering me food when I'm stressed.” You might also want to consider joining a support group, an online community, or a health coaching program. These can provide you with the accountability and encouragement you need.
Discover Your Personal “Why” For Long Term Motivation
The best way to lose belly fat is by linking with your deeper motivation, your individual “why” for wanting to beat emotional eating, offers lasting encouragement when obstacles occur. Studies from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology demonstrate that intrinsic motivations (personal beliefs and meaningful objectives) result in more long lasting behaviour modification than extrinsic factors like appearance or what others think. Take some time to think about how being free from emotional eating would better your life.
Pen down your personal reason and make sure it's visible in places where you'll come across it during your weak moments. Your reason could be: “I'm conquering emotional eating so I can be completely present and energetic with my family” or “I'm developing healthier coping skills so I can feel confident and in control of my choices.” This significant connection to your values provides motivation that lasts far longer than temporary inspiration from external sources.
Commonly Asked Questions
- How do I know if I'm experiencing emotional hunger or physical hunger?
- Is it possible to eat comfort foods without triggering emotional eating?
- What if I can't identify the emotions that are causing me to eat?
- How should I manage social situations where food is the main focus?
- Can certain medications influence emotional eating habits?
These are some of the common questions people often ask when trying to overcome emotional eating. It's not always a straight path and having answers to these questions can help you tackle the bumps in the road with more confidence. It's important to remember that overcoming emotional eating is about learning new awareness and skills, not about having perfect eating habits. The aim is to make progress, not to be perfect, as you work towards a healthier relationship with food and your emotions.
Even after you've built a foundation of healthy habits, you may still emotionally eat from time to time, especially during stressful or difficult times. The difference is that with your newfound awareness and skills, these instances will become less frequent, less intense, and won't throw you off your overall progress. You'll bounce back faster and with more kindness towards yourself, keeping your forward momentum going even when you face setbacks.
How long does it take to stop eating emotionally?
It usually takes between two to six months of consistent practice with new coping strategies to stop eating emotionally. University College London conducted a study that found that it takes between 18 to 254 days to form a habit, depending on the complexity of the habit and individual differences. Instead of focusing on a specific timeline, measure progress by noticing increased awareness of your triggers, growing ability to pause before responding to emotions with food, and gradually decreasing frequency of emotional eating episodes. Each small improvement builds momentum toward lasting change.
Is therapy a good solution for emotional eating problems?
A therapist can assist in identifying unconscious habits, creating personalized coping mechanisms, and offering accountability and support throughout the change process.
Emotional eating concerns are best addressed by health psychologists, clinical psychologists who specialize in behavioural health, and therapists who have expertise in disordered eating. Many of these professionals offer specialized programs that combine individual therapy with practical skill building to address both the psychological roots and behavioural aspects of emotional eating.
Why do I feel the need to eat even when I'm not actually hungry?
Feeling the need to eat when you're not actually in need of food is usually due to conditioned associations between emotions and eating. Your brain has learned to interpret certain emotional states stress, boredom, loneliness, as cues to eat because you've repeatedly responded to these feelings by eating. This creates strong neural pathways that automatically generate the sensation of hunger in response to emotional triggers.
Our hormones have a big say in how hungry we feel. When we're stressed, hormones like cortisol can make us feel hungrier, especially for high calorie foods. This is part of our body's response to stress. If we're not sleeping well, not drinking enough water, or not eating regularly, it can mess with our hunger hormones. That can make us feel hungry even when we've had enough to eat.
Things like seeing or smelling food, food ads, or even what time it is can make you feel hungry. Your brain has learned to connect these things with eating, making you feel hungry when they happen even if you don't really need food. Knowing these things can help you tell the difference between when you're really hungry and when you just think you are.
How can you tell the difference between emotional and physical hunger?
Emotional hunger also involves mindless eating that continues despite fullness, while physical hunger leads to greater awareness of when you're full.
The consequences of these two types of hunger are also quite different. Emotional eating often leads to feelings of guilt, shame, or regret, creating a negative cycle that can trigger more emotional eating. Satisfying physical hunger, on the other hand, generally leaves you feeling content and energized, without any negative emotions. Learning to recognize these distinctions can help you respond appropriately to different types of hunger signals.
How do I stop eating when I'm stressed at night?
The best way to lose belly fat is to try and stop the emotional eating at night is a common problem because willpower is naturally low after a day of making decisions, and the evening hours often bring increased stress, fatigue, and boredom. You can break this cycle by creating a structured evening routine that provides other activities and coping strategies for the time when you're most likely to eat. Consider creating a specific post dinner routine that includes relaxation techniques, activities that keep your hands busy (crafting, puzzles, etc.), and a designated “kitchen closing time” when you don't go into the eating areas of your home.
Physical tactics can be used in combination with psychological techniques to combat late night emotional eating. Make sure you're consuming satisfying, well balanced meals throughout the day, as restricting your food intake often leads to overeating in the evening. Many people find that including a moderate amount of protein and fibre in their dinner helps them feel full throughout the evening. If you do get hungry before bedtime, have a pre-planned, portion controlled snack ready that will satisfy your hunger without causing you to overeat, like a small yogurt with fruit or a handful of nuts.
Don't forget that managing your sleep and stress levels are key to reducing emotional eating at night. Making sure you have a good sleep routine and using stress reduction techniques like meditation, gentle yoga, or journaling can significantly reduce the urges that lead to emotional eating at night. At Juniper Health, we've seen amazing improvements in emotional eating patterns when our clients address these basic wellness factors along with specific eating strategies.