Emotional hunger: what do you miss//why do you miss it?

We eat not only because we feel physically hungry. We often eat foods because it’s breakfast time, they smell delicious, or we’re next to a dish that looks nice. Another fairly common reason for eating is to try to fill stress and emotional voids.

How does emotional hunger manifest itself, how does it damage self-esteem and how to fight it? Read all this in today’s article.

Why does physical hunger occur?

When your stomach is empty and your body lacks nutrients, you start to feel physically hungry. This sensation appears unnoticed, but intensifies with time. Thoughts about food may be accompanied by feelings of weakness, headaches, and difficulty concentrating.

When you feel physically hungry, you don’t usually gravitate towards a particular food. Sure, you have regular habits and meals, but you can satisfy your hunger with almost anything.

Emotional hunger: why do we end up overeating under stress?

Emotional hunger, however, is completely different. It often appears suddenly and requires immediate satisfaction.

In other words, cases of emotional hunger are a signal that a person is facing an unusual or difficult situation in which the body believes it needs additional resources. All these sensations are subjective and may seem difficult only to you. Your spouse or girlfriend may say they don’t see a problem or that you’re overreacting.

Important: emotional hunger is directed towards the consumption of certain foods or dishes. Often it is a food that damages the figure but is associated with a special taste and pleasure.

Everyone knows that a slice of cake can sometimes cheer you up and even calm you down. But didn’t you realize that without realizing it you also ate half the cake? Psychologists say that food preferences can say a lot about a person’s state.

On the other hand, food does not always eliminate emotional hunger. You may not feel like you’ve satisfied your hunger even after eating chocolate or sushi. Instead, your conscience will begin to actively scold you.

The causes of emotional hunger

First of all, let’s analyze what a person feels when he eats: calm, security, pleasure. Food becomes an easily accessible source of pleasure.

The main problem is that the cause of emotional overeating remains the same. You feel joy, but it doesn’t last long and you start eating again.

Here’s what makes a person feel stressed and emotionally hungry:

• Lack of attention. Everyone needs attention. Its lack by a friend, girlfriend, relative or loved one becomes the main cause of insatiable psychological hunger. «A woman can last a whole day with a sandwich and two compliments» said the wise and flexible writer Françoise Sagan.
• Daily routine. No matter how much food you eat, it won’t be enough for everything to return to normal on its own. Problems should be solved, not compensated with food.
• The replacement of love. You may love to eat or certain foods. However, food can never replace, not even partially, the feeling of love. Eating too much will not only aggravate the situation, but also add extra pounds.
• «Nervous» hunger. This hunger can occur for many reasons. You start chewing anything to fill your belly. This is similar to the habit of biting your nails or twisting your hair. Food becomes a sort of sedative. It begins to be associated with security and a sense of peace.

Emotional hunger often comes from a lack of positive emotions in life. Lack of love and respect for oneself, work, daily routine, sleep deprivation, monotony of life, loneliness, insecurity can lead any person to depression. And even if he has not yet entered depression, the brain still tries to compensate for this deep dissatisfaction, and this can become a serious problem.

How to fight emotional hunger?

First, you need to understand the difference between emotional and physical hunger. Having a growling stomach means that you are physically hungry, and dreaming of a cake or an unusual dish is emotional hunger.

Satisfying physical hunger has nothing to do with emotions, it simply provides for the needs of the body. When you think of a dish and its original, unusual taste, you focus on the emotions that will arise from it.

If you feel bored and think food can improve your mood, try distracting yourself. Find an interesting book, call a friend or parents. You can listen to music or meditate.

Another option is a new hobby. It is a remedy for many diseases. Think about your dreams and what you like (except eating). Do something you’ve been putting off for a long time. There are so many activities that can give you more pleasure than food!

Find some popular blogs on your favorite topics. Whenever you feel tempted to eat, look at photos and posts from, for example, a travel blog. This has a calming effect.

To resist emotional hunger, it is important to understand that life is full of various surprises, bright colors and emotions. These are better and more vivid than the taste of food. Let new sensations bring you joy and pleasure! Eventually you will forget about emotional hunger and therefore most of the extra pounds.