Do you ever wonder why you turn to food when you’re stressed, bored, or lonely—even when you’re not hungry? Chances are, the roots of emotional eating go all the way back to childhood.

In this episode, we dive deep into:

• How childhood food rewards (cookies for good behavior, ice cream for comfort) wire the brain for emotional eating.

• Why stress and negative emotions trigger food cravings in adulthood.

• The difference between emotional hunger vs. physical hunger (and how to tell them apart).

• The role of cortisol, dopamine, and serotonin in emotional eating.

• Research insights (Birch et al., 1987 & Michels et al., 2012) showing how early feeding patterns and stress affect eating behaviors.

• Practical, compassionate strategies to break the cycle of emotional eating—without restrictive dieting or guilt.

Emotional eating isn’t about willpower—it’s about conditioning. By understanding where these patterns come from, you can finally start to change them. This episode offers both science-backed insights and real-life strategies to help you shift from automatic eating to intentional choices.

• Emotional eating often starts in childhood reward-based feeding.

• These patterns can persist into adulthood—especially during stress or loneliness.

• You can break free by learning to pause, identify triggers, and use non-food coping strategies.

For 1:1 Coaching, send me a message for a free discovery call to eugenia@unloxu.nz.

Free Resources:

Why we binge - 13 underlying and hidden reasons