Books About Emotional Eating

Last Updated on October 5, 2025 by Kayla

As a Registered Dietitian, I’m frequently asked for my top book recommendations on emotional eating. Today, I’m sharing my favorite emotional eating books to help you soothe without food, so you can start seeing results for good.

Emotional eating is one of the number one roadblocks for losing weight and keeping it off for good. My online women’s community emphasizes building a solid nutrition foundation and fostering a healthy relationship with food. This includes learning how to balance blood sugar and overcome habits like emotional eating.

Everyone is an emotional eater

If you struggle with emotional eating, you’re far from alone. In fact, research suggests that up to 75% of eating is driven by emotions rather than hunger. We eat when we’re happy, sad, stressed, or bored—using food to feel better and sometimes eating to keep the good feelings going.

Isolation, anxiety, and a lack of connection can make this even harder, and the COVID-19 pandemic amplified it all. During lockdown, many people turned to food for comfort, with 42% reporting unwanted weight gain averaging 29 pounds—nearly double the so-called “Quarantine 15.”

Awareness is the first step toward change. If you’re ready to understand your relationship with food on a deeper level, here are a few powerful reads that can help you start breaking free from emotional eating.

Books on Emotional Eating

If you’re looking for healthy coping mechanisms that don’t involve food, I’ve rounded up my top books on emotional eating, including a few member favorite reads.

For more on how to distinguish and satisfy emotional cravings, check out my blog post on emotional eating: Emotional vs. Physical Hunger. 

First up is the very first book I ever read about emotional eating. A college professor introduced me to Michelle May’s work, and it completely changed how I viewed food. Her approach sparked my passion for helping women break free from the mental tug-of-war with eating and conflicting nutrition recommendations.

Eat What You Love Love What You Eat
by Michelle May, MD

Dr. May does an excellent job of providing actionable advice to break free from the Eat–Repent–Repeat cycle. She also has an adapted version for binge eating.

When Food Is Comfort: Nurture Yourself Mindfully, Rewire Your Brain, and End Emotional Eating
by Julie M. Simon

In the Sugar + Strength Academy, we read this as one of our book club selections, and it sparked some powerful discussions. It’s an enlightening read that invites deep self-reflection—especially around how childhood experiences shape our relationship with food.

Many members found it incredibly thought-provoking, though fair warning: it can feel emotionally “heavy” at times. This type of headwork isn’t easy, but it’s worth it!

Weight Loss Surgery Does Not Treat Food Addiction
by Connie Stapleton, PhD

For a bariatric surgery-specific read, Stapleton offers a unique perspective on food compulsions, weaving in her personal encounters with addiction and experience working with bariatric patients.

The Intuitive Eating Workbook
by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN and Elyse Resch, MS, RDN

If you like a hands-on reading experience, this workbook is a fantastic way to explore and improve your relationship with food.

Filled with activities, worksheets, and self-discovery exercises, this book is therapist-recommended and provides an interactive way to work through Tribole & Resch’s 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating. 

Member Favorites

One of my favorite parts about nutrition coaching is swapping book recommendations with my members! Here are two client favorites on emotional eating.

Hungry for More
by Adrienne Youdim, MD

This book combines stories and science to help inspire weight loss from the inside out. Dr. Youdim also has a podcast, Health Bites, which is highly recommended by my bariatric therapist friend, Lora Grabow, LMSW.

I’ll Start Again Monday
by Lysa TerKeurst

For a spiritual spin on healing your relationship with food. TerKeurst shares how your walk with God can help close the door on emotional eating. Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food is another highly recommended, religion-based book on emotional eating from TerKeurst.

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Words from the Wise

Emotional eating is like double-dipping on bad mood.

Glenn Mackintosh, psychologist and author of Thinsanity

This is one of my favorite quotes about emotional eating. As a Registered Dietitian, emotional eating is a topic that comes up almost every day.

Food is deeply intertwined with our social lives, emotions, and how we navigate the world around us. I often hear clients say, “I know you’re not a therapist, but…” before opening up about their struggles with food.

Eating out of emotion is inevitable. What gets a person into trouble, though, is chronically eating to cope with stress, loneliness, or joy—to name a few.

My personal crutch is what I like to call ‘procrasti-snacking,’ or eating instead of doing something productive… Delaying the inevitable work that needs to be done, as if eating will make me feel better. But this feeling is only temporary.

Regardless of your emotional eating triggers, I know one or more of the books shared here can help! For more of my favorite nutrition-related and self-development books, check out my Amazon storefront.  

If emotional eating has felt like an uphill battle, know that you don’t have to face it alone. With the right tools and support, you can rebuild trust with your body and food.

For me, using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) was a powerful way to reconnect what I eat to how I feel—it completely transformed my relationship with food.

If you’re ready to do the same, apply today for private coaching—with or without CGM—and start finding peace, clarity, and confidence in your eating again.