Emotional eating is when you eat food to cope with difficult emotions. Because emotional eating has nothing to do with hunger, it is typical to eat a lot more calories than your body needs or will use because foods high in fat, sugar, and salt can become more appealing when you are under stress, are in a bad mood, or feel bad about yourself.
Emotional eating often becomes a habit. If you have used food to soothe yourself in the past, you may crave candy or potato chips anytime you feel bad. The next time you are upset, it becomes even harder to say no to unhealthy food.
Everyone has bad days, but not everyone uses food to get through them. Some behaviors and thought patterns can increase your chance of becoming an emotional eater. If you have trouble managing your emotions, you may be more likely to use food for that purpose. Being unhappy with your body may make you more prone to emotional eating. This goes for both men and women.

What can you do to curb emotional eating?

• Plan healthy meals. Chop vegetables for salad or make a pot of broth-based soup ahead of time so you have hassle-free, filling meals waiting for you.
• Do not go hungry. When you are both hungry and stressed, pizza and other fast foods become much more tempting.
• Stock your kitchen with healthy snacks like hummus and carrot sticks.
• Make comfort food healthier. Look for ways to prepare your favorite dishes with fewer calories.
• You often lose control of your eating
• You often eat to the point of discomfort
• You have intense feelings of shame about your body or your eating
• You make yourself vomit after eating.
• Dieting can also put you at risk. If you feel deprived of food, you may be frustrated and tempted to emotionally eat.

The problem may be serious. Talk to your health care provider if you have any of these symptoms of binge eating disorder:

Source: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/0...

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• Emotional Health