Are your emotions eating at you?

Here is what we can do to help.

Do you find yourself running to the pantry when you’re feeling sad, stressed, lonely or depressed? Finding comfort in food is common and it’s part of a practice called emotional eating. Emotional eating is eating in response to your emotions or out of boredom. Emotional eaters reach for food to suppress or soothe negative feelings. They eat for comfort rather than physical hunger. Emotional eating can interfere with making healthy food choices and it can lead to eating more than you need or want making it difficult to achieve or maintain a healthy weight.

What are signs of emotional eating? Everyone eats for reasons other than hunger occasionally. If you notice that you often reach for food out of boredom or for comfort, you may be eating for emotional reasons. Identify and name the emotions you are feeling, and look for positive ways to respond to them. Common signs of emotional eating are: • Changing your eating habits when you • Eating to avoid dealing with a stressful or have more stress in your life emotional situation • Eating when you are not physically hungry • Eating to soothe your feelings or when you are full

What are some ways to deal with emotional eating? Many of us turn to food to relieve stress or to cope with emotions such as sadness, loneliness or boredom. When we use food to enhance our moods, it can set us up for possible weight gain. The first step to stop emotional eating is to understand where you’re starting from and your personal triggers. One way to determine what triggers emotional eating is to keep a food journal. Write down when and what you eat. Also write down what you were doing and feeling before you started eating. You can use this information to find patterns in your eating habits. When you start to recognize your emotional eating triggers, you can seek other ways to respond to them. As you find other strategies to respond to emotions during difficult times, it will help you create healthier options. Instead of distracting yourself from the emotion by reaching for a candy bar or a bag of chips, try these ideas: • Take a short relaxation break • Change what you’re doing • Take time to stop and think about what is • Call, write or text a friend to stay really bothering you and how you can deal connected with it • Journal your thoughts and feelings • Take a short walk down the hall or • Read a good book around the block Use a hunger scale. A hunger scale can help you learn how to identify the difference between true, physical hunger and psychological hunger that’s really just in your head. Psychological hunger is a desire to eat caused by emotions, like stress, boredom, sadness or happiness. If you feel hungry even though you recently ate, check to see if what you’re feeling is really a craving brought on by something psychological. When you start feeling like you want something to eat, rate your hunger on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being starving and 10 being so full you feel physically uncomfortable or sick. A rating of 5 or 6 means you’re comfortable ---- neither too hungry nor too full. Levels: 1 Starving, weak, dizzy 6 A little full, pleasantly full 2 Very hungry, cranky, low energy, 7 Stomach a little uncomfortable lots of stomach growling 8 Feeling stuffed 3 Pretty hungry, stomach is growling a little 9 Stomach very uncomfortable 4 Starting to feel a little hungry 10 So full you feel sick 5 Satisfied, neither hungry nor full Eat when your hunger is at a level three or four rather than waiting to reach a level one or two. Getting too hungry can lead to overeating. When you sit down to a scheduled meal, stop and think about how hungry you are. If you feel less hungry than usual, make a conscious effort to eat less food than usual. Stop eating when you reach a level five or six on the scale. Genuine physical hunger guides us to what we are hungry for ---- hot versus cold, savory versus sweet, crunchy versus soft, salty versus creamy, etc. Mouth hunger or emotional hunger is non-hunger eating. Eating outside of hunger cues such as repeatedly ignoring feelings of hunger or eating without physical hunger can cause overeating. Remember that reaching for food when you’re not hungry can become an opportunity to learn more about yourself. Being attuned to your hunger and emotions can free your preoccupation with thoughts of why am I doing this, eating that or what is wrong with me. If you are truly hungry, reach for a healthy meal or snack. Focus on the experience of eating and enjoy your food.

To help yourself follow through, write your plan using a simple if/then statement. If I feel ______(emotional trigger) then I will ______(insert distraction activity). Writing a plan using an if/then statement can help you recognize when the triggers occur so that you can respond to them quicker.

HPM50 lew emotions hunger scale dev 5/20 Discrimination is against the law

Geisinger Health Plan complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, creed, religious affiliation, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Geisinger Health Plan does not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability, creed, religious affiliation, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity or expression or sexual orientation. Geisinger Health Plan provides free aids and services to people with disabilities to communicate effectively with us, such as: • Qualified sign language interpreters • Written information in other formats ( large print, audio, accessible electronic formats, other formats ) Geisinger Health Plan provides free language services to people whose primary language is not English, such as: • Qualified interpreters • Information written in other languages If you need these services, contact Geisinger Health Plan at 800-447-4000. If you believe that Geisinger Health Plan has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, creed, religious affiliation, ancestry, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation, you can file a complaint with:

Civil Rights Grievance Coordinator The Bureau of Equal Opportunity Geisinger Health Plan Appeals Department Room 223, Health and Welfare Building 100 North Academy Avenue P.O. Box 2675 Danville, PA 17822-3220 Harrisburg, PA 17105-2675 Phone: 866-577-7733, PA Relay 711 Phone: 717-787-1127, PA Relay 711 Fax: 570-271-7225 Fax: 717-772-4366 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

You can file a complaint in person or by mail, fax, or email. If you need help filing a complaint, Geisinger Health Plan and the Bureau of Equal Opportunity are available to help you.

You can also file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights electronically through the Office for Civil Rights Complaintortal, P available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf, or by mail or phone at:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue SW Room 509F, HHH Building Washington, DC 20201 Phone: 1-800–368–1019, 800–537–7697 (TDD)

Complaint forms are available at http:// www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html.

HPM50 lew dicrimination policy 5/20