A lot of people ask, "How do I know if I am overeating for emotional reasons?"

Luckily, figuring this out is one of the easiest things to do. There are very specific symptoms and signs that you can look for. If any of the following statements sound like they could apply to you, then it's likely you are struggling with emotional eating.

1. My hunger comes on suddenly.
Physical hunger comes on slowly. Hunger from emotional eating often comes on quickly and suddenly.

2. I crave specific foods—generally not carrot sticks or steamed broccoli.
Cravings for specific, usually unhealthy foods is a sign of emotional eating. Often people like the rush they get from satisfying their cravings. That rush is fulfilling emotional hunger.

3. My hunger feels urgent—I need a particular food right away and I'm willing to walk out of my way, or get in your car late at night, or raid my kid's Halloween candy to get it.
Physical hunger, unless you haven't eaten for a very long time, is usually pretty patient. It will wait for food. Emotional hunger demands to be satisfied immediately.

4. My hunger is often paired with an upsetting emotion—if I backtrack a few hours or a few days I'll usually find an upsetting event and feeling that triggered the urge.
Hunger that's connected to an upsetting emotion or situation is definitely emotional hunger. Physical hunger is not typically triggered by emotions.

5. My eating habits involve unconscious eating—all of a sudden I'm eating ice-cream and I find the whole container is gone.
When you're eating for physical reasons, you are usually mindful of what you're doing. If you catch yourself eating "just because," then it's likely you're eating for emotional reasons.

6. I don't stop eating in response to being full—I keep wanting more of the taste of the food.
Physical hunger doesn't need to be stuffed in order to be satisfied. Emotional hunger on the other hand often demands more and more food to feel satisfied.

7. My hunger isn't located in belly—I crave the taste of a certain food in my mouth or I can't stop thinking of a certain food.
Feeling hungry in this way is usually a sign of emotional hunger. Physical hunger is happy to get what it can, while emotional hunger usually focuses on specific tastes and textures.

8. After I satisfy my hunger, I am often filled with a sense of regret or guilt.
Feeding your body what it needs is not something to feel guilty about. If you feel guilty after you eat, it's likely because part of you knows you're not eating just to satisfy physical hunger.

If you don't experience any of the preceding statements, it's likely that you're struggling with simple biological hunger.

有很多人問：“我怎么能知道是否我是因為情緒的原因而暴食？”

幸運的是，估計出這種情況是一件很容易做的事情。有一些你可以找到的非常具體的癥候和體征。如果聽起來下面陳述的任何情況像是能夠適用于你，那你就可能是無法抵擋情緒進食的人。

1. 我的饑餓突然來臨。
生理饑餓是緩慢到來的。情緒進食的饑餓常常是很快和突然來臨的。

2. 我渴望具體的食物——一般不是胡蘿卜或清蒸花椰菜。
對于具體的、通常是不健康的食品有癮，是情緒進食的一個跡象。人們往往喜歡匆忙行事，從中獲得滿足他們的渴望。這樣的繁忙使情緒饑餓能夠結束。

3. 我覺得饑餓難忍——我立刻需要特殊的食品，我愿意放下我的事情出去，或者在深夜搭上你的汽車，或者搜索我的孩子的萬圣節糖果來獲取它。
生理饑餓，除非你很長時間沒有吃東西，通常是相當有忍耐性的。它會等待食物。而情緒饑餓則要求立即得到滿足。

4. 我的饑餓往往和心煩意亂的情緒成雙出現——如果回溯數小時或數天前，我通常會找到一個令人心煩意亂的事件，并且感覺是它引發了這種急促要求。
聯系到心煩意亂情緒或狀況的饑餓肯定是情緒饑餓。生理饑餓通常不是由情緒所引發。

5. 我的飲食習慣涉及無意識的進食——突然我吃雪榚，而且我覺得整個貨柜都沒了。
當因為生理原因進食時，你常常能知道你正在做什么。如果你發現自己吃東西“沒有特別原因”，那么有可能你是因為情緒的原因進食。

6. 我在感到飽了時還不停止進食——我一直想要更多的食品滋味。
生理饑餓為了得到滿足不必要把肚皮塞滿。情緒饑餓則往往要求更多更多的食物才感到滿意。

7. 我的饑餓不是位于腹部——我渴望在我嘴里有某種食品的味道，或者我不能停止去想某種食品。
以這種方式感到饑餓通常是情緒饑餓的跡象。生理饑餓很高興得到可以得到的東西，而情緒饑餓通常側重于具體的口味和材料。

8. 當我的饑餓得到滿足之后，我常常充滿遺憾或內疚。
喂養你身體所需要的食品并不是感到內疚的事情。如果你在吃后感到內疚，很可能是部分了解你吃東西不僅僅是滿足生理饑餓。

如果你沒有經歷過任何前面陳述過的情況，則很可能你忍受的只是簡單的生物饑餓。