eat one's feelings

present singular third person eats one's feelings · participle present eating one's feelings · past ate one's feelings · participle past eaten one's feelings

1. idiomaticTo turn to comfort food in order to deal with one's emotional problems.

   The way I eat my feelings now is much different from how I ate my feelings when I was growing up. I used to use “bad food” as a reward system. If I went to the gym, I deserved a pizza, […]

   2017, Lindsey Smith, Eat Your Feelings

   1 more example

   When I got home, I knew I needed to eat so I could sober up, but that led to a massive binge as I ate my feelings. Potato chips, cookies, ice cream — everything I could find in our cabinet or fridge, I ate.

   2018, Mary Kesinger, Run My World: How I Empowered Myself Through Fitness

   Synonyms: eat one's emotions