Laura SHAMMAH MS, RDN
Do you comfort yourself with food? Emotional eating is a tendency to overeat or eat unhealthy foods in response to strong negative emotions. While occasional emotional eating isn’t necessarily problematic, too much can interfere with health goals and worsen self-esteem. Assess your emotional eating habits here. Answer the questions based on how strongly you agree or disagree with the statement.
1. When I’m distressed, I tend to make poor food choices.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
2. I crave specific foods when I’m feeling upset.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
3. I find myself eating when there’s nothing else to do.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
4. When I’m having a bad day, I’m more likely to grab unhealthy food.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
5. I eat less healthily when I’m alone than I do with other people.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
6. Certain foods completely override my self-control.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
7. My eating patterns stay relatively stable, regardless of my mood.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
8. I reach for processed snacks when I’m frustrated.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
9. If I made better eating choices, I would like myself more.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
10. When I’m trying to eat healthy but fall off the wagon, I feel so bad that I just stop trying.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
11. After a tiring day, I feel like I have no control over what I eat.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
12. During stressful periods of my life, I eat much more than normal.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
13. After I eat something I know I shouldn’t, I feel guilty.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
14. Eating comfort food is a coping strategy for me.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
15. I often feel like food controls me instead of the other way around.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
16. When I’m sad, I cheer myself up with a sweet treat.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
17. I eat mindlessly when I’m bored.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
18. Eating comfort food helps calm my nerves when I’m anxious.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
19. When I’m upset, I have no desire to eat.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
20. Feeling badly about what I’m eating leads me to eat more.
¨ DISAGREE ¨ AGREE
Did you agree or disagree to most of the questions? If you agreed with the majority of these questions you may be suffering from emotional eating. If you are concerned about unhealthy eating habits and interested in building healthier coping skills, make an appointment with a licensed mental health provider or/and a dietitian that specializes in emotional eating who can help you find peace of mind and food freedom.
Laura Shammah MS, RDN specializes in eating disorders but has clientele that run the gamut from people dealing with PCOS, infertility hypertension, high cholesterol, Crohn’s disease, diabetes and cancer. She also helps clients who run in marathons, are pregnant and those who would like to lose or gain weight in a healthy way.
