The thematic analysis of the data resulted in the following nine themes (summarized in Fig. 1) delineating the diachronic dimension of the participants’ emotional eating phenomenology: “negative emotions”, “reasons for emotions”, “psychological needs”, “reactions to emotions”, “helping myself with something other than food”, “urge to eat”, “eating”, “what food or eating is doing for me”, and “how food or eating is helping me”. The core findings of this study are contained within the sub-themes, which describe the synchronic details of participants’ experiences during emotional eating. The study themes, sub-themes, sample quotes, and the number of participants who shared each sub-theme are summarized in Table 2. Additionally, Table 2 identifies the sub-themes that emerged in relation to the questioning used in this study (identified with an “*”) and ones that emerged from participants independently sharing details of their experiences. The core findings are outlined below.

Fig. 1

Study themes: diachronic unfolding of the phenomenology of emotional eating

Table 2 Study themes, sub-themes, number of participants, and sample quotesNegative emotions

All participants were guided to describe their experience of negative emotions that lead to emotional eating. The EI methodology enabled several participants to access layers of their emotional experiences that they were previously unaware of. Stephanie exemplified this in saying the following:

It just came to me now. Maybe I wasn't fully aware of it last night, but just saying it now that, you know, ‘how did I feel at that moment when I was going to get more food?’ Now I feel like I'm starting to feel teary eyed. Yeah, sadness.

Participants described the different types of aspects of their experience of negative emotions in the sub-themes below.

Lingering emotions

Four participants described their negative emotions as lingering for a while. For example, Raj stated: “There is no end of that moment. That stress stayed with me I think … for one and a half days”. Sofia stated that she didn’t think her emotion “went away at any moment” and that “… it's definitely an emotion that happened throughout the course of the day until it was actually the time of the exam. I don't think it went away at any moment.

Reasons for emotions

Participants described different aspects of their lives that caused the negative emotions. Some participants described some reasons for experiencing negative emotions that they were previously unaware of. For example, Ross shared the following:

I think for me, now that I sit with it a bit more and I'm being asked these questions, restlessness [comes from] this pushback or want[ing] not to default into old unhealthy tendencies of going back out to that living room.

These different reasons for experiencing negative emotions that led to emotional eating are discussed in the sub-themes below.

Psychological processes

Six participants in this study elaborated on internal psychological processes that caused their negative emotions. For example, Ross described his experience of feeling uncertain about his career choices in stating that “… it's easy to eat and stay within that moment of fulfillment, that feeling of control. I maybe didn't get the ability to dictate what I was going to do coming out of high school or university”. Similarly, Adam described the stress he felt due to a work-related change by saying that “It was the stress of having to start working from home, you know, figuring that out. It was a lot of new things as well so that was stressful for me”.

Ways of relating to myself

All participants in this study were guided to describe their experience of ‘self’ in relation to their negative emotions. In response, four participants described feeling like they were “not good enough” and seven participants described wanting more from themselves. For example, in describing a sense of frustration with himself, Ross shared the following:

I sort of waste time. Now that I’m older, I went through it once. I went through it again. And I'm a little like ‘I'm older now and I shouldn't waste my time with these sorts of things,’ you know? Why do I do this?

Similarly, in describing that she wanted more from herself, Ruth stated “So there's a feeling of me wanting to perform as well as to finish it. I just don't want to complete whatever task I'm doing. I want to be good at whatever I've done too. So, there's that”.

Psychological needs

Following a description of their negative emotional experience, all participants in this study were asked about their psychological needs in these moments. Some participants described needs that they had not been aware of in the past. For example, Ruth stated that “I think I need to do something more active. So, I think that would be maybe the realization here”. The psychological needs of participants in the moments of experiencing negative emotions are described in the sub-themes below.

Behavioral, interpersonal, or self-related needs

All participants were guided to describe various things they needed to do to help themselves in moments of experiencing negative emotions. For example, Stephanie described needing to leave her physical location and write about her emotions in saying that “I think that would be very beneficial to actually physically remove myself and go downstairs, here in my office and write”. Four participants described the need for social connection to help themselves in response to their negative emotions. For example, Steve stated that “If I were to do work with other people in person. If I were to talk about my work with other people, then that would definitely help”. Three participants described needing to relate to themselves in a certain way. For example, Sofia described needing self-assurance in stating that she needed “… confidence in my work. I think just trust in it. I think that's, that's what I needed at the moment”.

What meeting needs would do for me

Participants were then guided to describe what meeting their needs would do for them. Participants descriptions within this theme varied. For example, Stephanie stated that journaling would help her feel that she was “addressing the issue” and that she would not “feel this this pit in [her] stomach anymore”. Adam stated that talking to someone would help him organize his thoughts by stating that “… just because it’s talking about it, helps you in organizing and just realizing it”. Finally, Fatima shared that she would feel “free and alive” if she was able to move to a city that she liked to be in.

Feelings, beliefs, and self-related reasons for not helping myself

All participants were also guided to describe what kept them from meeting their needs following their experience of negative emotions. In response, they described different feelings, beliefs, and self-related reasons for not responding to their needs. For example, Ruth stated that “… if I don’t perform, I feel guilt… So maybe my eating behavior, it might be related to guilt”. Similarly, Ruth stated that “[Helping myself] is not an option. I’m at work. I am busy with things so it’s just not something that occurs to me”. Finally, Sofia described being hard on herself, which kept her from helping herself. She stated that “I’m tough myself, I’m a critic of my work. And I’m trying to be myself while being the judge at the same time”.

Reactions to emotions

Participants in this study also described various psychological reactions to their negative emotions. These are outlined in the sub-themes below.

Thinking a lot

Five participants described thinking a lot in response to their negative emotions. For example, Raj shared that “I’m waiting for the response for a job or something, some job responses or something like that. But these are the things that going on in my head and it makes me want to nibble on something”. Similarly, Adam stated that “I definitely really feel that way, just revisiting it. I'm just going over it again”.

Helping myself with something other than food

Participants in this study also shared that they engaged in activities other than eating to try to help themselves during moments of negative emotions. These methods are described below.

Behavioral ways

Seven participants in this study described distracting themselves in response to their negative emotions. For example, Stephanie stated that “I would try to watch something maybe on Netflix or something, eat something… do something around the house. Yeah, keeping myself busy”. Participants also described taking a break to cope with emotions. For example, Sofia shared that “I had to step away from it a little bit. And I’m like ‘okay, I’ll leave it in the living room. I’ll go to my other class and then I’ll see you back.’”.

Interpersonal ways

Three participants described talking to either a therapist or with close others about their negative emotions to help themselves. For example, Ross shared that speaking with a therapist has helped him better cope with difficult situations. Similarly, Adam stated that “I did call EAP about counseling too… because I felt I needed to… just to talk to people about it”.

Mental ways

Six participants described helping themselves by reminding themselves of similar past experiences or thinking of a greater context of their situation. For example, Ross described reminding himself of a moment in the past and reasoning to himself by saying that “Hey, you’ve been here before. You know what’s going on. You know what this is derived from and what this comes from. Take a moment to acknowledge that”. Participants also described trying to accept their situations to feel better. For example, Steve stated that “… just like in this current building. I know that I’m not able to change it. So, I kind of accept it”.

Positively relating to myself

Four participants described utilizing methods that were self-directed such as encouraging, reassuring, validating, and empowering themselves. For example, Steve described dealing with his school-related stress by encouraging himself by saying to himself, “Okay, time to get this done because it’s due at midnight”. Additionally, Ross described validating his feelings of incompetence after an argument with his parents by telling himself that “Screw them, they don’t deserve you. You know what you’re worth and you know what you bring to the table and those relationships. Go make yourself feel better by doing something for yourself”.

Urge to eat

Participants then elaborated on their experience of the urge to eat in the sub-themes below.

Reasons for wanting to eat

All participants in this study were guided to describe their urge to eat that they described as a tendency to want to escape their experiences or to replace their negative emotions with positive ones. For example, Ruth shared that “Ah, well, you know as you work your focused on your task. And I can be very focused has I work but when exhaustion sets in, I want to escape through food”. Raj shared that he ate to feel positive emotions by stating that “So I’m going to live my life and it doesn’t have to be completely disciplined. I have to enjoy it as well. It’s not a prison sentence. And that is whenever I try to eat food”.

Looking forward to the sensory experience

Five participants in this study described eating because they looked forward to the sensory experience of food. For example, Adam remarked that he looked forward to “… you know, the touch, the taste, the visual. It’s the whole thing for me”. Similarly, Stephanie described her excitement for food by sharing that “… you start to feel the smell of it and just the anticipation of it and again, how it’s going to taste when you eat it and like that feeling, you know the smell and the whole thing”.

Eating

Participants in this study then described their experiences during eating, which are elaborated in the sub-themes below.

Overeating

Six participants in this study described feeling physically full but going back for more food. For example, Steve stated that “I had a meal to the point where I’d say like I was content. By no means, I was walking away from the meal being like ‘I’m not full.’ There’s definitely a sufficient amount”. Similarly, Ross stated that “I am grabbing the chips and bringing them back with a glass of water to the couch… And then it was after the first episode that I went back to the pantry again, at the beginning of the next episode. Pause after the beginning credits, go back”.

Positive feelings while eating

All participants in this study were guided to describe their feelings while eating that they described as positive experiences. For example, Fatima shared that “Well, ramen is comforting. Whenever I order ramen, it’s because it’s cold. I need something soothing. It’s like kind of like comfort food”. Similarly, Sofia shared that “I’m enjoying my drink while do my homework. And I feel relaxed”.

Enjoying the sensory experience

Five participants in this study described enjoying the sensory experience of food. For example, Stephanie shared, “… sight, texture, taste. It’s nice couple of… two small tortillas with jalapenos on there and cheese and it’s all crispy and smells great. And I’m like ‘Oh, wow. That looks good.’” Similarly, Sofia described enjoying the sensory experience of her effervescent tea in stating that “It makes me feel warm. I love sparkling water and I love something that’s effervescent”.

How food or eating is helping me

In addition to describing what food or eating did for them (rewarding them and providing a coping mechanism; see Table 2), participants in this study also shared how food or eating helped them reward themselves or cope with difficult situations. These sub-themes are elaborated below.

Positively influencing my feelings

Six participants in this study shared that food or eating positively influenced their feelings. Some participants stated that eating enabled them to reduce their experiences of negative emotions. For example, Raj shared that “I would like to have two or three days, let’s say, in a month, where I can just eat and [get rid of] the stress”. Others stated that eating helped them to balance out their emotions. For example, Adam stated that “… it’s sort of balancing things out a middle, where the upset and the emotions… It’s just kind of leveling helping things level off a little”.

Not thinking about my stressors

Five participants described being able to not think about their stressors by eating. For example, Raj described the following while eating:

I’m not thinking about my life what will happen in the future or anything. Yeah. … That mental part, the cognitive part of what is going to happen in this… If I eat something, it will kind of engage that part. Maybe disguise that part.

Similarly, Steve shared that “And just like even sitting down eating food is kind of… I stopped pacing for a bit… or making food, definitely. And then eating it. I’ll stop pacing, because, again, I don’t just get intruded by thoughts”.

Being in the moment

Four participants also described being in the present moment while eating. For example, Steve stated that “I get like in the present moment [when] eating. It’s all very… I want to say passive but it’s not conscious. I just think about the texture, the flavour, what I’m eating…” Similarly, Raj shared that “It feels really good. I just want to close my eyes and enjoy that taste. Live in that moment”.