8 Week Emotional Eating Programme

What is Emotional Eating?

Emotional eating is a totally normal human behaviour triggered in response to a distressing situation or underlying emotion such as stress, worry, boredom or excitement. Now, while emotional eating isn’t inherently a bad thing (we all eat for comfort and pleasure from time to time and that is okay), it can become problematic if this is the only coping tool we have available to deal with difficult emotions. Initially, engaging in this behaviour may feel soothing or even sedative, however, in the long-run this can result in intense feelings of shame, guilt and powerlessness rather than it being a pleasurable eating experience.

The difference between physical and emotional hunger

Biological or physical hunger is an internal cue that informs our body of the need for nourishment and fuel – a primary human need. The way we feel and experience hunger varies from person to person and can show up in a number of ways from very subtle to highly noticeable signs:

• Energy levels: tired, sluggish
• Head: faintish, lightheaded, difficulty concentrating
• Mood: irritable, grumpy
• Stomach: rumbling, gurgling, empty
• Mouth: salivating, dull ache

It is important to note that this type of hunger isn’t inherently bad nor does it mean that there must be something wrong with us if we experience it – even if diet culture tries to convince us that there is. However, if food becomes your only tool for dealing with difficult emotions it may be time to take a closer look and explore other ways to cope with emotions. If overeating has become your main way of coping, structured overeating therapy can help you understand the pattern and build healthier responses.

Emotional hunger is a sudden response triggered by a specific emotion such as stress, boredom or loneliness. This type of hunger is experienced as a crave-like feeling for high energy and high palatable foods and unlike physical hunger, it isn’t satisfied by the sensation of fullness which is why it can sometimes result in overeating or binging followed by guilt, shame and regret. Here are the main characteristics of emotional hunger:

• No physical hunger cues present
• Food doesn’t entirely satisfy you
• Disconnected eating (lack of attunement)
• Very specific cravings

It is important to note that this type of hunger isn’t inherently bad nor does it mean that there must be something wrong with us if we experience it – even if diet culture tries to convince us that there is. However, if food becomes your only tool for dealing with difficult emotions it may be time to take a closer look and explore other ways to cope with emotions.

Our 8 week emotional eating programme

Our 8 week emotional eating programme is a ‘therapy-light’ brief structured intervention aimed at introducing people to strategies to help them overcome emotional eating. It isn’t aimed at working on more severe underlying issues but rather to work in the ‘here and now’ and to provide useful strategies to improve someone’s relationship with food. After completing the 8 week programme people are invited to either end treatment and practice putting the suggested strategies in place, or to decide whether they would like to continue working on any underlying difficulties uncovered during the programme. These might include relationships, self esteem, trauma, perfectionism, low mood or anxiety.

Breakdown of the Programme

Week 1. Assessment

Prior to the start of the course, we will conduct a 60-minute assessment to ensure that this programme is a good fit for you. During this session we will gather information to understand your current lifestyle, eating patterns, and beliefs around food and your body. This will then help us tailor a treatment plan that is aligned to your unique needs.

Weeks 2-7. The course

If the course is a good fit for you, you will be attending 7 weekly 50-minute sessions. Here we will jointly establish very specific and realistic treatment goals, offer education around a range of topics to help you understand your eating patterns, and identify your emotional eating triggers. Together we will build up a unique coping toolkit to help you manage your emotions without always turning to food.

Week 8. Review

During the last session we will review your progress and together decide on the next steps moving forward. We will aim to provide you with a clear and specific maintenance plan and discuss possible options should further therapeutic work be required.

Who is it for?

This 8-week emotional eating programme is for you if:

• You are stuck in the restrict-binge cycle
• You want to break free from the food guilt and start truly enjoying your favourite foods
• You want to make peace with your body and feel comfortable in your own skin
• You want to enjoy eating in social situations without food worry
• You find yourself always turning to food to cope with difficult feelings
• You feel out of control around food when experiencing intense emotions
• You can’t stop thinking about food
• You are sick of jumping on and off the diet wagon
• You don’t have an active eating disorder

What you will learn

During the 8-week emotional eating programme you will:

• Build an in depth understanding of what emotional eating means
• Understand your eating patterns and recognise your emotional eating triggers
• Recognise your beliefs around food and explore whether or not these are impacting on your relationship with food
• Gain an in depth understanding around the range of different emotions to help you increase your emotional awareness
• Develop effective coping skills to navigate your emotions
• Learn about the practice of self-compassion in helping you build emotional resilience
• Explore your relationship with your body and body image beliefs and how these may be impacting on your eating patterns
• Explore other areas of your life that are meaningful to you and that might be lacking pleasure and satisfaction
• Devise a maintenance plan to feel confident and empowered around food

This specifically devised one to one programme will be tailored to you by your clinician, and will not only help you understand your eating patterns and identify your triggers, but will also supply you with the right toolkit to manage your emotions without turning to food.

Your clinician will be able to talk to you about your emotional eating therapy needs and the most appropriate treatment for you during your initial assessment.

If you are interested in our 8-week emotional eating programme, and either have further questions, or would like to book the initial assessment session, please do contact us at info@thelondoncentre.co.uk and we will gladly answer any of your questions.