What Do I Do About My Emotional Eating?
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First things First:
Emotional eating is not a bad thing.
Eating is emotional- the goal cannot be to disconnect our emotions from eating completely. It is not possible! Instead, we need to become aware of our emotions and how eating is not the only thing we turn to when we are feeling strong emotions.
Food is inherently soothing. As humans, we naturally turn to food for comfort, and that is not necessarily a bad thing or a thing we need to change.
Do not mistake this for something that feels out of control and chaotic. Of course, out of control eating is something to address but with realistic expectations. You cannot turn robotic and expect yourself to have zero emotional attachment to eating.
Practical Tips
Set the scene: You have a huge deadline at work. It’s a work-from-home day. You keep going back to the fridge, eating and eating and eating all day. You feel out of control.
Right away, you need to ask yourself, “Did I eat enough?”
This is the most important question for emotional eating and, truly, any disordered eating.
To help you answer this: think about the last time you ate. If it has been several hours, you are probably hungry. If this is the case, eat something substantial, and eat the whole thing, not just grazing a handful here and there.
Even if you have eaten, portion yourself a FULL snack or meal. Put it on a plate. Eat it. Reassess.
If you are positive you are not hungry, then what?
Get away.
Create space between yourself and whatever else is going on. Either creating physical space or waiting a bit can be really helpful.
Feel like you cannot handle this on your own?
Shameless plug: Go see a clinician or a dietician who specializes in disordered eating.
Now for the deep part
If a person isn’t physically hungry, they are probably hungry for something else. The key is to identify what the hunger is about.
Ask yourself these questions:
What am I craving right now?
What am I craving in my life in general? What is missing in my life right now?
Does it feel okay for me to miss this?
Biggest question: Is there a way to get this without food?
Or: Is there a way I can work toward an acceptance that I cannot have this thing?
Turning to food when hunger is not physical will never satisfy us. The only way to satisfy that hunger is to identify what it really is and work towards getting it or accepting that you can’t get it. This takes time. The answers to these questions will not come to you after one time of thinking about them. But you can start. And you can start now.
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Tweetable Quotes
“Turning to food when hunger is not physical will never satisfy us.” - Rachelle Heinemann
“Eating is emotional- the goal cannot be to disconnect our emotions from eating completely.” -Rachelle Heinemann
Resources
Related Episodes:
13. Stop Dieting, Start Living with Allie Landry, MPPD, RD, LDN
51. Overeaters Anonymous Thoughts
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