There are a few different types of emotional eaters and this is because different people experience different emotions due to having different experiences, beliefs and lives.
A good starting point to stop emotionally eating is to find out what type of emotional eater you are. It’s not black and white. Some people are just one type of emotional eater, whereas other people are a combination of a few.
Here are the main five types. Do you recognise yourself?
1) The Overwhelmed Eater
This eater feels overwhelmed and tired as a result of what is going in on their lives. They have too much going on. They take on too much and they eat to make themselves feel better. A very common situation that overwhelmed eaters find themselves in is what I call the “triangle of responsibilities” situation. This is where they have three areas of responsibilities; they are working, they are looking after children and they are looking after aging parents. Overwhelmed eaters eat because they feel tired, want a boost of energy, feel that they need to be comforted by food, or they believe that they deserve a reward for what they have done during the day.
2) The Angry Eater
Angry eaters are people that are either angry about something that is happening in their lives right now or they are angry about something that has happened in the past and they are still holding onto it.
Anger is caused by two things:
1) An expectation of someone that hasn’t been met
2) The person who is angry believes that they have lost out or been hurt as a result of this persons behaviour
The angry eater will eat due to the tension caused by the anger. The food also acts as a form of comfort
3) The Sad Eater
The sad eater will often eat because they associate food with comfort and love. Sadness is usually caused by feeling that someone has lost something and when someone loses something they often understandably look for some comfort, as losing anything or anyone can be painful and distressing. It can often be associated with a loss of a person. Sad eaters sometimes eat because they feel that there is a hole in their heart or lives.
4) The Bored Eater
The bored eater usually eats because they don’t have enough stimulation and fun in their lives. When we are younger, we often associated eating with celebrations, fun and spending time with loved ones. This is why some people will eat foods associated with these feelings when they are lacking fun and connection in their lives.
5) The Lonely Eater
The lonely eater usually eats when they are on their own. They eat because they feel lonely and this is because they are not connecting with others in the way that they want. This means that they are either not spending time with enough people or they aren’t spending enough time with the right people for them.
So, do you recognise yourself in this article?
The good news is that I there are two fabulous techniques that can help to change the emotions and beliefs that lead to overeating!
Those techniques are EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and Matrix Reimprinting (an advanced from of EFT). Both techniques help to get to the subconscious root cause of the overeating, so that people can change their relationship with food, eat less/differently and lose weight……and all without suffering the pain of using the willpower method, as the change happens at the subconscious level!
If you are interested to hear more, I offer a free 20 minute call to see how I can help you. If you’re interested in finding out more email me at emma@themindmermaid.com or call 07870 843875.
I hope this article helps
Until next time…..
Emma x