Hi Reader,
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In one of our previous newsletters, we talked about stress and eating. A very interesting fact emerged from the survey: a whopping 80% of respondents admitted to eating more when they're stressed.

I believe that emotional eating is a topic worth exploring further as it significantly impacts both our physical and mental well-being. As always, I'll share some practical tips to help you manage it 😊

Let's start by understanding its impact on our health.

What are the implications of emotional eating for you?

Emotional eating can have various consequences for both the body and mind.

Physically, stress eating often leads to choosing foods high in sugar or fat, contributing to unwanted weight gain and potential health problems like diabetes or high cholesterol.

Mentally, emotional eating creates a vicious cycle: feeling guilty about eating when you didn't need to generates more stress, which ultimately makes you seek comfort in food again. It’s a never-ending cycle that can have serious consequences.

It's definitely a problem to solve, and becoming aware of it can help.

How can you recognize emotional eating?

When I decided to start the Weekly Menu newsletter (almost a year ago now), I wanted to provide useful, practical, and accessible advice to improve everyone's well-being. For this reason, I want to suggest some strategies to recognize this much-hated "urge".
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The next time you feel the need to go to the kitchen and snack on something, try asking yourself these questions:

• Do I crave something specific? Emotional hunger is very specific and appears suddenly, creating a sense of urgency: it's often associated with the desire for very particular foods, such as chocolate, sweets, or salty snacks. Where does this sense of "hunger" come from?
• Try to focus on whether it starts from your stomach (is it growling? Do you feel empty?) or from your head (is it linked to emotions and/or states like boredom, anger, anxiety?).
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I assure you that stopping and thinking about the sensations you feel is a great way to combat emotional eating. (Spoiler) In the next newsletter, I'll tell you about some other strategies to defeat it

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Silvia
Eating Coach & Co-founder of Weekly Menu