Decode Your Emotional Eating Triggers and Reclaim Control with Food (Without Guilt or Restriction)

Amy English
Jun 11
3 min read

If you’ve ever found yourself halfway through a sleeve of cookies or rolling into your favorite drive-thru thinking, “Why am I even doing this? I’m not even that hungry,” you’re not alone.

This was my life for over 30 years. Emotional eating wasn’t just a habit—it was my autopilot response to stress, sadness, overwhelm, boredom, and even celebration. If I had a feeling, food was my answer.

But here’s the good news: emotional eating is a habit. It’s not who you are. And that means it can be unlearned.

Enter: The Emotional Eating Trigger Decoder

I recently created a brand-new free guide called The Emotional Eating Trigger Decoder, and it’s for anyone who’s ever felt out of control around food. It’s not a diet. It’s not a meal plan. It’s a tool for awareness—because when you can name what’s happening, you can change it.

Let me break it down for you here and walk you through exactly how to use it.

Step One: Awareness Is Everything

Before you can change any pattern, you have to understand it.

In Step One of the guide, I ask you to track what you eat, when you eat, and—most importantly—how you feel before, during, and after. No calorie counting. No macros. Just noticing.

Are you stressed? Anxious? Lonely? Celebrating? What emotions are leading you to food?

This step isn’t about judgment. It’s about data collection. You’re the researcher of your own experience. And trust me—this kind of gentle noticing can be eye-opening.

Step Two: Spot Your Triggers

Once you’ve tracked for a few days, it’s time to decode the emotional patterns.

What feelings show up the most? What are you usually trying to fix or soothe with food? Is it stress? Boredom? Guilt? Maybe the desire to celebrate or feel joy?

The guide offers some powerful reflection questions, like:

What need was I trying to meet with food?
What did I hope the food would do for me at that moment?

These questions help shift you from “Why can’t I stop eating?” to “What am I needing right now?” That’s a radically different (and much more empowering) place to operate from.

Step Three: Practice Doing Something Different

This is where we identify alternative options when the feelings arise, besides automatically turning to food.

What else can you do when those emotions show up? This part is highly personal, but I share several go-to ideas:

Hand on heart + deep breaths
Journaling (including my favorite: the temper tantrum on paper)
Calling or texting a friend
Reading a few pages of a book
Just allowing yourself to feel bored

And yes, sometimes the thing you need is food—but you’ll know if it’s from physical hunger or emotional hunger. That distinction is powerful.

Step Four: Set Yourself Up for Success

Here’s something I wish someone had told me years ago: It’s okay to remove tempting food in the house when you’re learning new habits. That doesn’t make you weak—it makes you wise.

Early on, I removed my “trigger foods” from the house. Not forever. Just while I was building trust with myself.

Make your environment supportive. Stock satisfying, easy meals. Create space between the emotion and the eating. This is your process.

Bonus Practice: The Power of the Pause

This is one of the most life-changing tools I teach: the pause.

Before eating, stop and ask:

Am I physically hungry?
What am I really needing right now?
Will food fix this?

Sometimes the answer is yes. But more often, it’s no. And that awareness gives you the power to make a new choice. That’s where your freedom begins.

You Don’t Have to “Get It Right” Every Time

One thing I’ll always tell you: this is a practice. You’re not going to ace it every time. And that’s okay.

Just like building strength with a workout routine, changing how you relate to food takes time. It’s okay to stumble. The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is progress and self-trust.

The way you talk to yourself when you slip matters. So be kind. Talk to yourself like someone you love.

Ready to Get Started?

If any of this resonates, get The Emotional Eating Trigger Decoder here. You’ll get everything I mentioned above in a beautifully designed guide that you can start using today.

And if you want more support, I’ve got you