It’s happens to all of us - the urge to eat food even though, deep down, you’re really not hungry.  It could happen anytime of the day (or night) when the green light comes on to go get something to eat.  Often our attempts to resist fail as the urge to seek food takes control.  Non-hunger eating is common but when it occurs frequently, excessive weight gain is likely possibly leading to chronic health conditions. 

Why do we get those cravings to eat when being hungry is not the answer?  If we could just ignore those impulses, we would be perfectly fine but that’s easier said than done. The root cause often stems from our emotions.  The book 50 More Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food written by clinical psychologist Susan Albers, addresses this issue by offering healthy solutions to relieve stress without turning to food.

Here are 6 reasons why you eat when you’re not really hungry – and how to counteract them:

1.     It makes us feel good.  Eating food is a whole sensory experience. Chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin, the feel-good hormones, are released when we eat rewarding us with immense pleasure.  This causes us to want to repeat that gratifying feeling over and over again.

One way to counteract this:  Slow down when eating savoring every bite.  Accept the fact eating is a pleasure and when we let ourselves enjoy the sensations it brings, we feel more gratified.

2.     Stress – All of us have stress in our lives but when we feel a lot of it, it can cause us to turn to food for its soothing effect.  When you feel overwhelmed, cortisol is released making you crave sugary, fatty and calorie-dense foods. This drives us to eat more without restricting our food intake making us vulnerable to eating when we’re not really hungry.

One way to counteract this: Feeling stressed out?  Exercise is one of the best ways to improve our mood and reduce anxiety.  Just simply recognizing stress eating is also an important step.  When we acknowledge we feel stressed out, this helps us gain the upper hand in not resorting to food to help deal with the pressures of life. 

 3.     Accessibility – We live in a 24/7 world where food is all around us.  The convenience of easy access to food makes it too hard to avoid and sets up a too uncomplicated method of soothing ourselves.

 One way to counteract this: Don’t leave food out on the kitchen counters, unless it’s a bowl of fruit.  Putting food away in cupboards or a pantry means out of sight, out of mind.

4.     We’re bored – Being bored can lead to seeking out food when we have nothing else to do.  Sometimes when we have nothing to do, we feel like we have to fill up space with something and eating is often a solution.  It’s okay to have downtime but learn how to enjoy that time without eating.

One way to counteract this: Make a list of things to do other than eating when bored.  Look at it often reminding yourself of all the positive ideas you can do instead. You’ll feel so much better doing something productive rather than eating when not hungry.

5.     Habit – Just like brushing your teeth before bedtime, you may have a habit of eating throughout the day because it has become a routine.  Maybe you get off work and on the way home you go through the drive-through at the fast food restaurant or stop by the convenience store to get a soft drink.  Habits can be broken and routines can be changed helping to break this cycle.

 One way to counteract this:  Be aware of food habits and make changes.  Take a different route home or have a healthy snack you bring with you to eat on the way home.

6.     Impulsivity and ignoring internal cues – We may find ourselves eating food without really thinking about why we are eating it. It’s there so why not eat it?  Or we tend to confuse emotional feelings with hunger when the real problem lies in not being tuned in to our internal cues.  We are more likely to eat emotionally when we have difficulty in expressing our feelings.

One way to counteract this:  Before you reach for food to soothe yourself, become mindful of what emotion you are feeling – sadness, anger, or maybe disappointment.  Name the emotion you are feeling– “I feel …..” and then work through the emotion without reaching for food. 

Understanding why we eat when we’re not hungry is a beginning step of taking charge of our emotions.  By not allowing our emotions to get the best of us, we can see eating for what it is – a necessary pleasurable experience meant to enhance our health and well-being as long as we make healthy food choices the majority of the time.  We all have emotions tending to ebb and flow like waves along the shoreline - don’t let them reflect themselves in your eating habits.