Q What is emotional eating? How can one differentiate between real hunger and emotional hunger?
Emotional eating is when people use food as a way to deal with feelings instead of satisfying hunger. For e.g. we eat more when we are upset. Real hunger comes gradually and can be postponed, can be satisfied with any food, once full you are likely to stop eating, and it does not cause feeling of guilt. On the other hand, emotional hunger is sudden and urgent, causes specific cravings like pizza or ice cream, you tend to eat more than you normally would, and it causes feeling of guilt after eating.