Emotional Eating: Breaking the Cycle
Ask any woman if she’s an emotional eater and she’ll probably say YES! #raiseshand
Recently, I posed the following question in social media:
After experiencing what emotions do you find your self turning to food?
The responses to my post poured in. Many women replied “All of the above” or “I can’t choose just one”. Emotional eating occurs after a whole host of emotions, not just after a surge of negative emotions. We seek food after experiencing positive emotions too. We eat for all kinds of reasons, and most of the time, it has absolutely nothing to do with hunger. NOT A THING.
You see our relationship with food is SO complex. Food is life, love, joy and comfort. Food is heritage. Food is connection. Our lives revolve around food and it’s quite normal to be an emotional eater.
In fact, the vast majority of women are emotional eaters and it’s not a problem, unless:
Food becomes your primary and only way of coping with how you feel
You feel guilt and shame about your food choices
You love food, but also hate the power it has over your everyday life
Let me set the record straight, the problem isn’t with food. The problem is that in order to stop emotional eating, most women go on diets, engaging in restrictive, all or nothing, behaviors in an effort to reach their health goals. Dieting will generally work for a short time, but ultimately you end up right back in the same place - feeling guilt, shame, embarrassment and failure. Restriction ultimately sets you up for more failure, and the cycle repeats itself. Trigger -> Eat -> Restrict -> Guilt -> Overeat -> Repeat
Food isn’t the problem, but it’s been your go-to to solve your emotional needs.
There is absolutely, positively, nothing wrong with wanting solve your emotional needs. That is after-all, part of self-care. However, if taking care of yourself with food is all you’ve ever known, then it’s time to take a different course to break that cycle. There’s a different path to care for yourself, and it in involves learning to trust your body again.
I want you to know that you don’t have to continue to suffer by yourself. Your friends and family probably don’t get it. They tell you it’s simple. Just keep your “trouble foods” out of the house. Just use some self-control. I know you’ve heard this WAY too many times and it isn’t helpful. In our modern world where food is everywhere, avoiding food can only last for so long. The moment someone suggests going out to eat, or you show up at a family gathering, or visit a friend’s house, or go on a trip, or vacation, you WILL encounter the foods that you struggle with, the foods that you crave.
Avoiding certain foods is simply another form of restriction. It won’t help and cannot solve your emotional needs.
Mindful eating is one of the most powerful tools to help you make peace with food and END emotional eating, binge eating and chronic overeating. Through mindful eating, you’ll learn to reconnect with your body’s own inner compass, to eat intuitively and trust that your body knows exactly what and how much it needs.
Mindful eating unlocks the power within you to:
Reduce overeating and emotional eating
Manage your weight
Appreciate your body
Have an overall better sense of inner balance around food
With mindful eating, you can shed the guilt and struggle around eating and finally savor the food you love! Starting October 10th, join me for an eye-opening 6-week course on mindful eating where you will:
Engage in weekly, interactive 1.5 - hour classes
Learn science-based mindful eating exercises and practices in mindfulness meditation
Explore and understand your food patterns – from those late night cravings to overeating
Reset your inner compass around food
Empower yourself with daily home practices to keep you focused and engaged
This is an opportunity to completely transform your relationship with food. I hope you’ll join me! Space is limited! So, register today at http://bit.ly/MEFall18
Eat Mindfully. Live Peacefully,
Basheerah