Dr. Phil - Emotional Eater

Are You an Emotional Eater?

Chapter 5, page 83.

Look through the following questions. Check off the reasons you eat on various occasions, according to whether the statement is a frequent cause for you to eat, it serves as an occasional reason; or it never serves as a cause to eat. Answer all 25 questions.

Reason Frequently Occasionally Never

1. I munch when I get bored. () () ()

2. I like to eat with my friends, even if I am not hungry. () () ()

3. I eat so the cook will not be offended. () () ()

4. I eat when I get depressed. () () ()

5. I eat when I am lonely. () () ()

6. I eat when I get anxious about something. () () ()

7. There are times when my eating is out of control. () () ()

8. I like to nurture other people with food. () () ()

9. I will eat my way through a difficult time (divorce, job loss, illness, broken dream). () () ()

10. I eat when I feel my energy go down. () () ()

11. I crave some foods. () () ()

12. I just like to have something in my mouth. () () ()

13. I eat even if I am not hungry. () () ()

14. I like to celebrate with food. () () ()

15. I think about food a good deal of the time. () () ()

16. I have a tendency to binge. () () ()

17. I eat to be polite. () () ()

18. I am embarrassed sometimes by how much I eat. () () ()

19. I eat to relax myself and relieve stress. () () ()

20. I get upset if I overeat. () () ()

21. I eat because I get angry. () () ()

22. I am displeased with my weight, but I overeat anyway. () () ()

23. I eat everything that is placed in front of me and always clean my plate, so as not to waste food. () () ()

24. I need high levels of sugar in my system. () () ()

25. Eating is my main enjoyment in life. () () ()

Scoring:
For each "frequently" you checked, you are given 2 points; for each "occasionally," you are given 1 point; and for each "never," you are given 0 points. The total of your points gives a score in the range of 0 to 50. This is your "emotional eating" score.

Interpretation
This audit is designed to give you a quick snapshot of whether or not you are an emotional eater. If your overall score (your emotional eating score) is more than 35, it is likely that you have serious trouble with emotional eating, and regardless of what else is working, you must get the self-defeating nature of your emotions under control. If your score is between 15 and 35, you struggle with emotional eating at times, and you have room for improvement. There may be isolated areas, such as stress or depression, in which you can change.

Reason	Frequently	Occasionally	Never
1. I munch when I get bored.	()	()	()
2. I like to eat with my friends, even if I am not hungry.	()	()	()
3. I eat so the cook will not be offended.	()	()	()
4. I eat when I get depressed.	()	()	()
5. I eat when I am lonely.	()	()	()
6. I eat when I get anxious about something.	()	()	()
7. There are times when my eating is out of control.	()	()	()
8. I like to nurture other people with food.	()	()	()
9. I will eat my way through a difficult time (divorce, job loss, illness, broken dream).	()	()	()
10. I eat when I feel my energy go down.	()	()	()
11. I crave some foods.	()	()	()
12. I just like to have something in my mouth.	()	()	()
13. I eat even if I am not hungry.	()	()	()
14. I like to celebrate with food.	()	()	()
15. I think about food a good deal of the time.	()	()	()
16. I have a tendency to binge.	()	()	()
17. I eat to be polite.	()	()	()
18. I am embarrassed sometimes by how much I eat.	()	()	()
19. I eat to relax myself and relieve stress.	()	()	()
20. I get upset if I overeat.	()	()	()
21. I eat because I get angry.	()	()	()
22. I am displeased with my weight, but I overeat anyway.	()	()	()
23. I eat everything that is placed in front of me and always clean my plate, so as not to waste food.	()	()	()
24. I need high levels of sugar in my system.	()	()	()
25. Eating is my main enjoyment in life.	()	()	()