Want to lose weight? Stop emotional eating

Those who want to lose weight quickly need to stop emotional eating, an expert has claimed.

Alice Lesch Kelly, a freelance health journalist and medical writer, wrote in a piece for Shape magazine that most emotional eating takes place subtly – it does not just occur when people lose their jobs or break up with their partners.

“About 75 per cent of the people who come to see me for weight loss advice eat to deal with their feelings,” Jane Jakubczak, coordinator of nutrition services at the University of Maryland, told Ms Kelly.

She said that it is an extremely unconscious act so people often do not even realise they are doing it.

Ms Kelly advised people to seek to understand why their emotions are making them indulge in the first place before denying themselves the foods they crave.

According to the NHS, increased weight is sometimes a symptom of depression. It advised eating regularly and having a balanced diet as this improves general health, which is closely linked to mental wellbeing.

Are you prone to comfort eating?