Why do I turn to food when I'm stressed or upset?

Think about the last time you ate not because your body needed fuel, but because you were stressed, upset, lonely, or even celebrating something good. If you can think of a moment like that, you've experienced emotional eating.

And here's the important thing: emotional eating is not a disorder, a weakness, or a sign that something is fundamentally wrong with you. Food has been tied to comfort, celebration and connection for as long as people have gathered around a table.

Using food for comfort now and then is perfectly normal. It becomes harder when food is the main, or only, way we have of coping with difficult feelings. The relief is real, but it's short-lived, and it's often followed by guilt, which can lead to more eating. Many people find themselves stuck in that cycle for years.

When people think of emotional eating, they often picture someone reaching for ice cream after a difficult day. But emotional eating can be triggered by a whole range of feelings: boredom, loneliness, anxiety, frustration, tiredness, and even happiness, excitement and celebration.

Recognising which emotions are most linked to your eating is an important first step. Many people are surprised to discover that their biggest trigger isn't the one they expected.

You might recognise some of these patterns:

• You find yourself eating after a stressful phone call or a difficult day
• You eat when you're bored, even when you're not hungry
• Food feels like the quickest way to switch off or reward yourself
• You often feel guilty or frustrated after eating
• You eat more when you're alone or late in the evening

Many people describe a cycle that goes something like this. A difficult feeling arises. Food brings quick relief. Then guilt or frustration sets in, which brings up more difficult feelings, and the urge to eat returns. Over time, the cycle can feel automatic, and breaking it can feel impossible.

Understanding this cycle is the first step to changing it. Week 8 helps you map out your own patterns, recognise the points where you have a choice, and find gentle ways to step out of the loop.

Stress affects us both physically and emotionally. When we're under pressure, we tend to reach for quick, comforting, energy-dense foods, and we're often too busy or tired to notice we're doing it. Understanding your own stress patterns is a key step in breaking the link.

Many people respond to an episode of emotional eating with harsh self-criticism. Yet research suggests that self-compassion, treating yourself with the same kindness you'd show a friend, is far more effective in helping people get back on track. It isn't about letting yourself off the hook; it's about creating the conditions where change is possible.

This course doesn't ask you to give up food as a source of comfort. It helps you build a wider range of ways to cope, so food becomes one option among many rather than the only one.

The aim of Week 8 isn't to remove food as a source of comfort. That would be unrealistic, and probably unhelpful. Instead, the course helps you build a wider range of ways to manage difficult emotions, so that you have more choices in the moment.

You'll learn practical emotional regulation skills, alternative coping strategies that fit into real life, and ways to build resilience over time. Many of these approaches draw on well-established psychological therapies, adapted into short, accessible sessions.

For most people, emotional eating is a common and manageable part of life. But if you feel your eating is out of control, if you regularly eat very large amounts in a short space of time, or if food and weight are causing you significant distress, it's important to speak to your GP. There's support available, and you deserve to get the right help.

Many approaches to emotional eating focus on avoiding difficult feelings or getting rid of them as quickly as possible. But feelings are a natural part of life, and trying to push them away often makes them stronger. The approach in this course draws on acceptance-based therapies, which help people make room for difficult emotions without needing to act on them automatically.

This doesn't mean ignoring how you feel. It means being able to notice a feeling, understand what it's telling you, and choose a response that genuinely meets your needs, which may or may not involve food.

When we eat in a way we're not happy with, our first response is often harsh self-criticism. We tell ourselves we're weak, hopeless or a failure. It can feel as though being tough on ourselves is what will make us do better next time.

In reality, the evidence suggests the opposite. Self-criticism tends to increase stress and low mood, which are two of the most common triggers for emotional eating in the first place. Self-compassion, on the other hand, helps people recover from setbacks more quickly and stay committed to their goals.

Self-compassion isn't about making excuses or lowering your standards. It's about responding to difficulties with understanding, so you can learn from them and move on. Week 8 includes a dedicated session on how to do this, even if it doesn't come naturally to you.

Life will always bring stress, setbacks and difficult days. Emotional resilience isn't about never struggling; it's about being able to recover and keep going. The final session of Week 8 helps you build that resilience, so that difficult times are less likely to derail your progress.

Emotional Eating is one of 12 weekly courses in the Raiys Weight Management Programme. Each course is broken down into short sessions of around five minutes, one for each day of the week, so you can fit them around work, family and everything else. Each session ends with a short reflection, something to think about, and a simple action, something to try that day.

You can work through the programme in order, building each week on the last, or, if emotional eating is the area you most want to work on, you can go straight to it. Either way, the sessions are designed to be used alongside the BeChange app, which helps you put what you learn into practice in everyday life.

In Week 8 of the programme, you'll learn:

• What emotional eating really is, and why it's so common
• How to tell emotional hunger from physical hunger
• How stress affects your eating
• Practical emotional regulation skills
• Alternative coping strategies that genuinely help
• How self-compassion and emotional resilience support lasting change

Is emotional eating an eating disorder?

No. Emotional eating is a very common, normal behaviour. However, if your eating feels out of control or is causing you distress, please speak to your GP.

Will I have to stop eating for comfort?

No. The course helps you add other ways of coping, so food is one option among many rather than the only one.

Will this course make me feel worse?

The course is designed to be gentle and supportive. If difficult feelings come up that you'd like help with, your GP can point you towards further support.

Is it normal to eat when I'm happy too?

Yes, completely. Celebrations, treats and sharing food with people we love are some of the most natural forms of emotional eating. The course helps you recognise all of your triggers, positive and negative, so you can enjoy food for comfort and celebration in a way that still supports your goals.

The Raiys Weight Management Programme is a 12-week, clinician-led digital programme designed to be used alongside the BeChange app. Each week focuses on one course, broken into short five-minute daily sessions, each with a reflection and a simple action to take into your day. It's built on current NICE and SIGN guidance and on proven behaviour-change approaches, and it's written to support you, never to judge you.

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for personal medical advice. If you have a health condition, take regular medication, are pregnant, or have concerns about your weight or eating, please speak to your GP or healthcare professional before making significant changes. If you have had, or are preparing for, weight loss surgery, please follow the advice of your specialist team.

Dr Laura Coia is a GP Partner in NHS Scotland with over 25 years of clinical experience, and Co-founder and Medical Director of Raiys Digital Health.

Dr Izzy Howat is a Consultant Endocrinologist and NHS Weight Management Specialist, and Weight Management Lead at Raiys Digital Health. She is the author of the Raiys Weight Management Programme.

• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (2025). Overweight and obesity management (NG246). London: NICE. (Replaces CG189.)
• National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) (2014). Behaviour change: individual approaches (PH49). London: NICE.
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) evidence base for weight-related thinking patterns, consistent with NICE's approach to individual behaviour change (PH49).
• Hayes SC, et al. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and values-based behaviour change literature, consistent with the behaviour-change approaches referenced in NICE PH49.
• Adams CE, Leary MR. (2007). Promoting self-compassionate attitudes toward eating among restrictive and guilty eaters. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 26(10), 1120–1144.
• Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) (2010). Management of obesity (SIGN 115). Edinburgh: SIGN. (Some recommendations may since have been superseded; read alongside NICE NG246.)
• British Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS). Clinical guidance for patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Relevant only to readers who have had, or are preparing for, weight loss surgery; this programme is a non-surgical behavioural programme.