Overcome Emotional Night Eating: Causes, Solutions & Breaking the Cycle

Emotional eating is a person's response to some sort of negative emotion, such as depression or sadness. When a person falls into a pattern of emotional eating, such as eating at night, it can be very difficult to break. Eating at night can lead to an eating disorder such as night eating syndrome, a stress-linked condition that affects the body's hormone levels. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 1.5 percent of men and women suffer from night-eating syndrome.

Instructions

• 1

  Reduce the stress in your daily activities. If something bothers you, address the issue as soon as possible instead of letting it build up throughout the day. These built-up stresses are more likely to plague you at night, when you have a chance to relax.

• 2

  Balance your day by planning something you know you will enjoy doing in the evenings. This could be a bubble bath, a date with your significant other, or going to a movie with friends. If you are experiencing positive emotions, you will be less likely to eat at night.

• 3

  Eat healthy, satisfying meals during the day. If you skip breakfast and rush through lunch, you are more likely to try to feed your hunger at night.

• 4

  Remove unhealthy foods from your house. If you have developed a habit of binging on ice cream at night, stop keeping ice cream in the freezer.

• 5

  Change your routine. If you are in an emotional rut and feel bored, do something different or out of the ordinary, even if it is simply going for a walk after dinner or reading a book instead of watching television.

• 6

  Substitute another cathartic activity, such as writing in a journal, for emotional eating. Before you eat at night, stop and ask yourself why you are doing it. Are you actually hungry?