Emotional Eating

Emotional Eating Treatment & Medical Nutrition Therapy in the St. Louis Area, Missouri, and Illinois

Get Strategies to Overcome Emotional Eating with Dietitian Nutritionists in the St. Louis Area, Restore your Relationship with Food and Body

What is emotional eating?

Emotional eating refers to the use of food to cope or regulate emotions rather than to satisfy a physical hunger. 

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guilt eating – food cravings – dieting – eating until uncomfortably full – eating while bored – eating when sad, stressed, upset – being rigid with food choices – eating faster than normal – feeling urgency when it comes to eating

If you or someone you love is struggling with unhealthy eating behaviors and a difficult relationship with food and body, we can help. We provide online and in-person nutrition therapy, giving you the tools you need to heal. Achieve food freedom. 

Is there treatment for emotional eating?

As dietitian nutritionists, we adhere to a HAES® , weight-inclusive framework of nutrition therapy. What can you expect while working with a dietitian from our team?

  • Individual Therapy: To address the underlying issues contributing to the use of food as a coping mechanism. This may stem from anxiety, stress, depression, trauma, unexpected life events, etc. These things often feel out of control for the individual affected, so they turn to food as a way to suppress the emotions they are experiencing.

  • Developing Coping Strategies: We will assist in helping you develop coping mechanisms to manage emotions without turning to food.

  • Creating Balanced Meal Plans: Some patients work better with more structure, so we can develop meal plans that provide all necessary nutrients.

  • Helping with Mindful and Intuitive Eating: Learning to trust your body is key to healing your relationship with food. We give you mindful eating tools and lead you to intuitive eating practices.  

  • Nutrition Education is the cornerstone of our practice, empowering you to make the best food choices for your wellness.

  • Monitoring Progress with recovery coaching or follow-up sessions can help you sustain changes, address challenges, and make necessary adjustments to your eating plan.

What is the theory of stress eating?

The theory is that one turns to food in the face of stress, fear, anxiety, depression, or other emotional feelings. Using food to numb them out to “forget” about a certain incident that made them feel icky inside (think: “My boyfriend broke up with me, so I’m ordering pizza and eating a pint of ice cream in return!”)  BUT will the pizza and pint of ice cream make your ex-boyfriend want to get back together with you? Probably not, BUT it pushed the negative feelings associated with it out of the way for a short period of time only for the vicious cycle to continue again.

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It’s important to understand everyone enjoys a scoop of ice cream or chocolate every now and again, often with friends, when they need a little boost. This isn’t a problem. The problem arises when there is a failure of emotional regulation. This can lead to maladaptive eating behaviors and “stress eating”. When the “stress eating” becomes the norm, the go-to for tense situations, this becomes problematic.

Is emotional eating an eating disorder?

It’s not a diagnosable eating disorder in the DSM-5, however if symptoms are not addressed, it can turn into a more serious eating disorder.

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It’s important to understand that eating disorders aren’t only about body weight or image. Often, people resort to food consumption or restrictive behaviors as a way to regain control over their lives. This can spiral into an eating disorder. Here are signs that your “stress eating” might be leading you down a path of disordered eating or eating disorders:​

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  • Regular episodes of binge eating. Escalating amounts of food.

  • Regularly eating beyond the point of fullness.

  • Eating in secrecy, hiding food for later consumption.

  • Developing rituals and rules about foods.

  • Adopting highly restrictive eating behaviors and compensatory behaviors. 

  • Experiencing feelings of shame or guilt after eating

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Get help from an experienced professional to access the treatment you need.  We want to work with you.

How to stop emotional eating?

One of the key ways to suppress emotional eating is to work with a multidisciplinary team to address the underlying issues contributing to food being used as a coping mechanism. A dietitian can assist in regulating food intake by assisting with meal and snack ideas and working to decrease underlying behaviors contributing to emotional eating. At Branz Nutrition, we do this through the lens of a Health at Every Size®, intuitive-eating approach.

Our Team of Dietitian Nutritionists in the Greater St. Louis Area

Branz Nutrition Counseling is a team of certified eating disorder dietitians who provide compassionate care to those struggling with their relationship to food. Our approach is weight-inclusive, LGBTQIA+, and social justice-oriented, which means that we believe that everyone deserves access to quality care. 

 

We can’t wait to meet you!

With locations in Illinois and Missouri, we offer both virtual and in-person counseling sessions. And, we are licensed to provide Telehealth nutrition therapy to  patients around the country.

​Arizona | Arkansas | California | Colorado | Delaware | Florida | Georgia | Illinois | Missouri | New York | Texas | Virginia

We see clients in person in the St. Louis area, Missouri, Illinois, and from around the country via Telehealth. Learn more here.

Scroll to see the whole team.

How It Works – An Easy Three-Step Process to Get You on the Road to Recovery

Make An Appointment

What service do you need? We offer a range of appointments of different durations to best fit your needs.

Meet with your Personal Dietitian

Be paired with the dietitian nutritionist on our team and get continued support with one of our online groups. One-on-one counseling, in-person, or virtual. WE TAKE INSURANCE!

Take Control of Your Life

Heal your relationship with food and your body. Choose the best foods for your unique needs. Get the tools you need to live a healthy life. Receive continued support.

Note: In order to secure a spot on a dietitian’s schedule, we need a valid payment method on file.

Our Testimonials

Thank you for choosing us as the Best Dietitian Practice in STL (2023)

  • There have been times where my daughter will eat 4 bowls of carrots and turn down a cookie, and there have been times where she will want all the fruit snacks and nothing else, but it doesn’t stress me out because I know now that it’s just what her body wants in the moment. The information provided in your course not only helps my kids, but also opened my eyes to some of my own internal struggles around sugar and meal times!"

  • My sister Gifted this program to me and I'm so glad she did! I've already gotten so much out of watching the modules and reading the PDFs."

  • Understanding and implementing the Division of Responsibility in Feeding really takes the pressure off meal times. I love sitting down to enjoy dinner with my family and I hope it’s a memory my kids enjoy when they’re older too."

  • Also, againg, thank you for being so kind to "A". She usually does not like seeing "doctor like people", but she actually enjoys coming to see you, so that says a lot.

    by Mother of a Patient, Saint Louis, MO

  • I can't thank you enough for all you have done for us. I know we will continue to deal with food issues but at least I see hope. I honestly don't know how L(or myself) could have got through the past year without you. You literally are a lifesaver!! You are an amazing dietitian!!.

    by Mother of a Patient

  • Thank you for the caring devoted service and gentle compassion you have shown "S" over the years.

    by Mother of a Patient, Saint Louis, MO

  • I am truly grateful we found you to be he nutritionist. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

    by Mother of a Patient, Saint Louis, MO

  • "For most of my life, I have correlated the size of my body to being loved and accepted. The smaller I am, the more lovable and acceptable I am. Giving up the dieting, the rules, and the noise has given me the freedom to trust, appreciate and accept love from others as well as myself".

    by

  • I truly appreciate the encouragement and hearfelt, genuine concern you have for me. Your counsel and empathy have meant a great deal and helped keep me going during difficult times.

    by C, Saint Louis, MO

  • Thanks for helping me think about food differently and providing guidance regarding how to select carbs. Also, thanks for helping me recognize that the evolution would take several months to come to a 'new normal'.

    by E, Saint Louis, MO

We Accept Insurance

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Nutrition Blog & Latest News

Our team of Dietitians offers online support as well as in-person appointments in MO and IL.