Are you battling emotional eating? This guide includes 10 tips to help you lose more fat... especially if you are prone to emotional eating. Being emotionally hungry can lead to people mistaking it for actual hunger. Inside are... - 6 ways to tell if you're emotionally eating. - 6 known causes and triggers for emotional eating - 10 actionable tips and strategies you can start using today to help overcome emotional eating without suffering from cravings.

1. Netflix + Ice Cream = ?
Are you battling emotional eating?
cs@liposcilabs.com

2. Are you battling emotional eating?
This guide includes 10 tips to help you lose more fat
...especially if you are prone to emotional eating

3. What is
emotional
eating?
When you eat despite not
being hungry, and you do
this frequently, that's what
we’ll call emotional eating.

4. Why is it dangerous?
Emotional eating is considered a potential health risk because
studies have linked it to unnecessary weight gain, binge
eating, and even depression [1-4].
While it was defined as eating based on solely on negative
emotions (loneliness, fear, anxiety, helplessness, etc.), recent
findings also suggest positive emotions are factors too.

5. Is It Really Emotional Hunger?
Being emotionally hungry can lead to people mistaking it for
actual hunger.
Here are some ways to tell if you're emotionally eating...

6. Your hunger comes out of nowhere.
Whether you're working in front of the computer or watching
T.V., you suddenly feel the need to eat something.
It's as if you have a void you need to fill and your body thinks
you can fill it with food.

7. You crave specific comfort foods.
You don't crave for vegetables or fruits. You want to stuff your
mouth with food you know can be bad for you: Sugary and
salty snacks, creamy cakes, and even that expensive frappe
from Starbucks loaded with all the flavors and extra whip
cream.

8. You often find yourself eating uncontrollably.
It all starts with a handful of chips or a small bite and before
you know it, you've eaten half of tomorrow's worth of calories
in one sitting. To make it worse, you may not have even
enjoyed the food, you just stuffed them right in one after the
other.

9. You want more food despite being full.
There's full and there's stuffed. You know you shouldn't eat
more, but you also know you can. As long as your eyes see
food, you have to keep chewing on something.

10. You feel sad or guilty afterwards.
The rush of guilt that comes right after an emotional eating
episode makes you swear not to repeat the same thing
tomorrow, but you know deep down you're not mentally
strong enough to hold yourself accountable.
And the cycle goes on...

11. What Causes
Emotional Eating?
Here are some of the factors that
may influence and trigger
emotional eating.
● Stress
● Avoiding bad emotions
● Boredom
● Upbringing
● Socializing
● Psysiology

12. Cause #1: Stress
Stress is one of the leading causes of emotional eating. [6]
The feeling of being overwhelmed with problems around you
can lead to the body producing excess cortisol, the stress
hormone. Cortisol just so happens to contribute to salty,
sweet, and fried food cravings-foods that provide a quick burst
of energy and instant gratification. [6-8]

13. Cause #2: Avoiding bad emotions
No one likes to feel bad and if you don't have the ability to
tolerate painful and sad feelings, you're susceptible to
emotional eating.

14. Cause #3: Boredom
This is a common behavior for those who are overweight or
live a sedentary lifestyle, especially those who like to watch
TV.
One study cites watching unappealing or boring programs on
TV encourages excessive eating. [9]

15. Cause #4: Upbringing
Maybe when you were throwing tantrums your parents bought
you ice cream and it made you feel better, or perhaps they
rewarded good grades with pizza or a bucket of fried chicken
and fries. These innocent habits don't exactly translate well
into adulthood, especially when you're conditioned to reward
yourself with food even with the simplest of achievements i.e.
the "I deserve this" mindset.

16. Cause #5: Socializing
Getting together with old friends or going out with colleagues
is a brilliant way to stay happy and feel needed, but it can lead
to overeating. When you're out with friends and having fun, it's
all too easy to overindulge because there's a lot of food and
everyone else is eating a lot of food. Sometime being too
nervous during a social event can cause overeating too. [10]

17. Cause #6: Physiology
Sometimes being too hungry leads to overindulgence.
Allowing yourself to feel too tired or deprived of food will
make you think of eating buffet's worth of food. When you're
hungry, it makes you extra vulnerable to emotional eating
specially because your body is literally screaming at your brain
to eat something.

18. Are you
an emotional eater?

19. Try these
tips to develop a healthier
relationship with food...

20. Keep a food diary
Sometimes all you need is
awareness of the food you eat.
After all, keeping a food diary helps
with weight loss and restrained
eating so perhaps it could work for
something like emotional eating. [11]

21. Manage your stress
Stress makes you want to feel good
instantly and food is the easiest and
most convenient stress reliever
available today.
Simple ideas such as doing things
ahead of schedule or looking up
people you’re about to meet can
reduce the stress in both activities.

22. Think twice before
you eat.
When you have the urge to eat,
always ask yourself if you want to
eat out of hunger or if your hunger is
triggered by something not related
to your stomach at all. Pausing for a
moment and double-checking
yourself helps prevent unnecessary
eating activities.

23. Seek support
Maybe it’s not you, but the people
around you that’s forcing you to eat
whenever they like. Tell them about
your problem and ask them to help
you overcome your eating disorder.
Who knows? Maybe some of them
are emotional eaters too and you
can help each other out.

24. Escape boredom
without food
Food is not just the only way to treat
boredom. You can always take a
walk outside, solve math puzzles,
find a colleague or friend to talk to,
watch funny videos on the internet,
or just take a short nap. Reading
books or articles on the internet can
also help.

25. Out of sight, out of
mind, right?
If you consciously avoid stocking
your fridge or desk with foods you
know you’re weak against, you’re
one step ahead of treating emotional
eating and actually preventing it. If
you want to control your cravings,
using an appetite suppressant like
PhenterPro SR could help you think
about food less often.

26. Give in to healthier
foods first.
Stocking up on foods like nuts,
seeds, brewed coffee, and sweet
fruits will allow you to indulge on the
type of food that won’t harm you.
With that said, portion control still
matters especially since sweet fruits
still have sugar.

27. Think about the food
you’re eating.
Being mindful helps keep you in
control of how much you eat and lets
you stop when you know you’ve
eaten enough. Some ways of being
mindful include waiting a few
minutes before deciding if you’re
actually hungry and telling yourself
how many servings you’ve eaten
already each time you are about to
“go for one more”.

28. Sleep more or get
better sleep.
This is one of the best ways to curb
the cravings. As it turns out, quality
sleep helps regulate the hormones
in our body -especially those linked
to appetite. If you get quality sleep,
the less likely will you feel hungry
outside of proper meal times. [13,14]
Sleep can also help optimize your
body’s metabolism and can help you
burn more fat as energy efficiently.

29. References
[1] Cardi V, Leppanen J, Treasure J. The effects of negative and positive mood induction on eating behaviour: A meta-
analysis of laboratory studies in the healthy population and eating and weight disorders. Neurosci Biobehav Rev.
2015;57:299-309.
[2] Koenders PG, Van strien T. Emotional eating, rather than lifestyle behavior, drives weight gain in a prospective study in
1562 employees. J Occup Environ Med. 2011;53(11):1287-93.
[3] Ricca V, Castellini G, Lo sauro C, et al. Correlations between binge eating and emotional eating in a sample of overweight
subjects. Appetite. 2009;53(3):418-21.
[4] Konttinen H, Silventoinen K, Sarlio-lähteenkorva S, Männistö S, Haukkala A. Emotional eating and physical activity self-
efficacy as pathways in the association between depressive symptoms and adiposity indicators. Am J Clin Nutr.
2010;92(5):1031-9.
[5] Roberts CK, Hevener AL, Barnard RJ. Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance: Underlying Causes and Modification by
Exercise Training. Comprehensive Physiology. 2013;3(1):1-58. doi:10.1002/cphy.c110062.
[6] Yau YHC, Potenza MN. Stress and Eating Behaviors. Minerva endocrinologica. 2013;38(3):255-267.
[7] Al’ Absi M, Nakajima M, Hooker S, Wittmers L, Cragin T. Exposure to Acute Stress is Associated with Attenuated Sweet
Taste. Psychophysiology. 2012;49(1):96-103. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01289.x.

30. References (cont)
[8] Geer EB, Lalazar Y, Couto LM, et al. A prospective study of appetite and food craving in 30 patients with Cushing’s
disease. Pituitary. 2016;19(2):117-126. doi:10.1007/s11102-015-0690-1.
[9] Chapman CD, Nilsson VC, Thune HÅ, et al. Watching TV and Food Intake: The Role of Content. Tomé D, ed. PLoS ONE.
2014;9(7):e100602. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0100602.
[10] Salvy S-J, de la Haye K, Bowker JC, Hermans RCJ. Influence of Peers and Friends on Children’s and Adolescents’ Eating
and Activity Behaviors. Physiology & behavior. 2012;106(3):369-378. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2012.03.022.
[11] Burke LE, Wang J, Sevick MA. Self-Monitoring in Weight Loss: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Journal of the
American Dietetic Association. 2011;111(1):92-102. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2010.10.008.
[12] Moynihan AB, van Tilburg WAP, Igou ER, Wisman A, Donnelly AE, Mulcaire JB. Eaten up by boredom: consuming food to
escape awareness of the bored self. Frontiers in Psychology. 2015;6:369. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00369.
[13] Knutson KL. Impact of sleep and sleep loss on glucose homeostasis and appetite regulation. Sleep medicine clinics.
2007;2(2):187-197. doi:10.1016/j.jsmc.2007.03.004.
[14] Prinz P. Sleep, Appetite, and Obesity—What Is the Link? PLoS Medicine. 2004;1(3):e61. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0010061.

31. Recommended Resources
● Be sure to skim over our original guide with 10 Tips For
Relief From Emotional Eating over at PhenterPro.com.
● If you feel you’re overweight and believe you’re an
emotional eater, you also may suffer from carb sensitivity,
chronic fatigue and slow metabolism, so see our guides
linked respectively for helpful tips you can use today.
● An appetite suppressant like PhenterPro SR may help you
crave food less often.