When it comes to weight loss, there are several emotional factors that can greatly impact your results, and anger is one of the bigger ones. “Anger eating” means eating food in an attempt to soothe feelings of anger.

Sometimes there is an obvious connection between anger and eating – like when you have an argument with your spouse and you immediately start craving sweets. It’s no big secret why this happens; anger makes you feel bad, so you crave something that you believe will make you feel better.

However, sometimes we can carry a continuous, low-level feeling of anger within that we may not even realize is there. It may be related to old traumas, injustices, arguments, and betrayals from the past. Sometimes it can be caused by a chronic dissatisfaction with our current life circumstances. Whatever the cause, if we don’t do something to process and release anger, it will continue to cause uncontrollable cravings for food.

If anger eating has become a problem for you, take a look at the strategies below. Use one or more of them daily to work through anger in healthy ways so you no longer have to “swallow” it.

1 – Express it.

Expressing your anger in the moment you realize you are angry is powerful! Simply by writing it out in a journal, or painting a picture of how you feel, you will work through the feelings and move past them. Verbalizing your anger is also a powerful form of “venting” – just speak out loud about how angry you are, and why, until you feel the pressure within you lessening. Anger eating fades away when you no longer have the anger inside of you urging you to eat to feel better.

2 – Learn better communication skills.

Anger is often triggered when you feel misunderstood by other people. When you learn how to communicate effectively, you can solve many misunderstandings easily and swiftly, minimizing or eliminating feelings of anger. Remember that communicating on an ongoing basis is important – don’t allow feelings of anger to fester while you keep your mouth closed! If something bothers you, speak up. Talk daily to the people you know and love and work through any problems so they won’t continue to “eat at you” and you won’t be tempted to go on an anger eating binge in response.

3 – Burn it off.

Anger is really just pent-up energy when you think about it. Very often, just doing something physical can burn off feelings of anger, and leave you feeling centered and peaceful when you’re done. Good activities are: physical exercise, cleaning and organizing, dancing, brisk walking or jogging, and swimming.

Anger eating is usually a spontaneous act, so be sure to pause and consider how you feel before you put anything in your mouth. If you feel angry – or upset in any way – work through those feelings before you eat, and you’ll be much more likely to avoid the damaging effects of anger eating.