Khloe Kardashian Says She Was a ‘Severe Emotional Eater’: What You Need to Know About the Behavior

Khloe Kardashian is opening up about her weight journey, including how she used to turn to food to cope with her emotions.

Kardashian, 39, revealed in a new interview that during her years of struggling with her weight, she says she was an emotional eater.

“I certainly used to be a very emotional eater,” Kardashian said on the May 7 episode of SHE MD, a podcast hosted by her own physician, Dr. Thais Aliabadi. “I felt so good from eating, and then I felt so bad. And then I cried and probably did it again because I was sad so I needed ice cream again. It was this crazy repeating cycle.”

The reality TV star and Good American founder described herself as “overweight” for most of her life and said she always struggled more with food than exercise.

“I used to diet, not necessarily diet, but make lifestyle changes,” she said. “I would, let’s say, give up soda. Little by little I would cut everything out. I did this for a week and then cut out one more thing. “When I was younger, I did every diet under the sun.”

According to Kardashian, as she got older, she began to focus on the mind-body connection and worked on “retraining” her thinking about food in the same way she worked on training her body.

“It’s retraining your brain. If your brain isn’t training along with your body, then it doesn’t matter,” she said, adding, “I showed myself a lot of patience and just took my time. “Tomorrow is the first day, six days a week, and I’m giving up all sugar.” It’s so extreme. It’s not sustainable.”

Kardashian, a mother of two, said she worked “really hard” to get where she is now.

After giving birth to daughter True six years ago, Kardashian said she was proud of herself for being able to lose weight in a healthy and sustainable way.

“Because I had all the tools in my toolbox, I knew what to do,” she said, adding, “I was so proud of myself.”

What you need to know about emotional eating

According to Samantha Dieras, a registered dietitian and director of outpatient nutrition services at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, emotional eating is when a person consumes food in response to emotions or feelings.

“If someone is stressed, if they’re angry, depressed, resentful, if they have a trigger for something that’s going on in their life, if it’s a certain type of day and they haven’t eaten or prepared, it can cause emotional distress.” food,” Dieras said on “Good Morning America.” “Because it’s kind of an automatic reaction, people may not know they’re doing it.”

According to Dieras, emotional eating is a behavior that can affect anyone at any time.

This behavior is not classified as an eating disorder, but if not properly treated, it can lead to overeating.

“It really takes someone to sit back, observe their behavior, observe their emotions, to really understand what exactly is going on and take a step toward change,” Dieras said about identifying emotional eating. “But there is absolutely help available.”

Dr. Jennifer Ashton, chief medical correspondent for ABC News and a board-certified OB/GYN and obesity physician, said symptoms of emotional eating only include craving certain foods when you’re upset or tired or experiencing another emotion, or feelings of shame or guilt. while eating.

“It’s a very, very common thing,” Ashton said of emotional eating on “GMA3.” “I think the first step is to observe it, acknowledge it, and then try to change it without judgment and be patient and kind to yourself.”

People suffering from emotional eating should seek help from a mental health professional, Dieras said, who said a dietitian can also be a secondary source of support.

Dieras said ways to deal with emotional eating on your own include using a variety of stress management techniques, such as meditation, journaling and exercise.

She said making social connections can also help a person express emotions instead of turning to food.

“There are many different ways to help in the moment, and it’s about finding what works for you as an individual,” Dieras said, adding that dealing with emotional eating can often be a lifelong process. “What works for you today may not work for you tomorrow, and different stressors will come into your life at different times.”

Dieras also supported Ashton and said that one of the most important things in dealing with emotional eating is to be patient with yourself.

“It’s very difficult to manage your emotions at this point, but try to take it more as an acknowledgment of what happened and use it as an opportunity to do things differently next time and help yourself break the cycle rather than shaming yourself,” Dieras said. , adding: “If a pattern develops, help yourself break out of it again, or even just acknowledge that it’s happening and say, ‘When I’m ready, I’ll try again.’

She continued, “Just try to be mindful, be kind to yourself, and give yourself grace.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or NationalEatingDisorders.org.