How to stop emotional eating at night
- Laura Burkett
- Apr 12
- 3 min read
It's frustrating. You sit down to have something of a sensible dinner, and next thing you know, you find yourself reaching for seconds your meal, and grazing on treats through the evening,
even though you're not hungry. Or you perhaps you successfully eat your sensible dinner, then at some point in the evening, even though you swore you wouldn't, you find yourself scouring the pantry or fridge for snacks, mindlessly eating in front of the TV, or while scrolling through your phone. Why gives? Why do we go against ourselves when another side of us so strongly wants to eat well. Why the flip? Why the apathy or sudden prioritization of pleasure or comfort or distraction over health?
There's nothing wrong with you for emotional eating at night
It can feel brutally defeating to have certain goals with eating, only to run into regular eating habits at night that don't support them. You might assume there's simply something wrong with you, and try to soothe that feeling by promising yourself to have a perfect day of eating the next day. There's really nothing wrong with you. Here's a helpful perspective: Our unwanted eating habits are often placeholders for legitimate needs we have. As annoying as it may sound, our unwanted eating habits are our TEACHERS, offering us symptoms as a wake up call and invitation to continue our self-development.
If you want to stop emotional eating at night, makes sure you are developing these 3 skills
Make sure you're eating adequately earlier in the day. Women that have an "eat less is better" mindset, might be able to manage subsisting off of minimal food throughout the day, assuming this is the path to better health or weight loss, but come evening, when one's defenses and energy are lower, this is the time when justifying can creep in. "I barely ate today. I've earned this." Though this alone might not resolve emotional eating at night, NOT eating adequately during the day could certainly derail one's best efforts.
Do not push yourself beyond your actual capacity at night. Ideally, evenings are set aside for leisure time and relaxation. I've had a good number of clients with a running "to-do list" that they expect to make progress on after dinner. When they are simply too tired or would rather wind down, they feel guilt for not being able to push through. They can't meet their own expectations to keep pushing. Eating food, then, becomes a substitution for legitimate rest.
Set aside a bit of time to sit with how you REALLY feel about your day, who you interacted with, and how you're feeling about your life. If your general baseline is ignoring your inner world and your real feelings, then be warned - evening hours tend to "out" this, by way of the distractions we almost compulsively reach for. The more you're able to know yourself deeply, feel what you are feeling, and care for those feelings, the less eating will feel burdened. Many people think that Herculean willpower will save them. In this case, its actually becoming a Maestra/o of one's inner world that is the way through!
Start with these three suggestions. There's more they ask then meets the eye. Learning these skills actually helps you grow into an adult, who understands thier own needs, strengths, limitations, and deepest commitments. Stop assuming watching more influencers online is the answer.
With love & respect,
Laura
Need more support?
Locals friends looking for nutrition and eating psycholgy support, schedule your appointments in my Grand Rapids, MI office in Eastown. Those preferring remote work, Zoom/phone sessions are available.
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