Are you an emotional eater? Here are a few tips to help break the cycle

Healing Emotional Eating - 5 Helpful Tips

How often do we use food to numb difficult emotions?

Some people use cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, shopping or sex. Others use food. Over time snacking to give ourselves a temporary happy hit can develop into a habit. How can we increase our general happiness to a level, where this emotional crutch is no longer necessary?

Rather than being something we rely on to pick us up, food can be a 'condiment to contentment'. This means we already feel happy and at ease, and eating adds to the pleasure. We can enjoy the food for what it is, and then let it go. We can start and finish a meal feeling content, free of any craving for a little more. 
 

Food will not replace contentment. Food, and sharing food with those we love, instills a sense of fulfillment within us. This is wonderful!  However it is not the food that has done this, but our response to the dining situation. Certainly hunger has been satisfied, but any emotional attachments are purely self-created. There is no issue with enjoying our food, however the difficulties arise when we rely upon food to make us feel better. We have an addiction to the pleasure, rather than enjoying the meal and then moving on to the next thing.
 

I know what it is like to reach for food to numb my experience of a difficult emotion. In recent years I've been able to identify triggers; and deflect those urges by nurturing my mind and body with an activity rather than something edible.  

My ability to stop before I reach the pantry is improving. I try not to bring foods that I do not deem as nutritional into the house. If it's there your more likely to eat it...no matter how strong your resolve is!

 

It doesn’t matter if the food we eat is deemed healthy, if our attitude is not. 

If we are thinking about a slice of delicious cake going to our hips when eating it, where is the pleasure? How stressful it can be for the digestive system to be worrying about what we’re eating?  

The psychological damage of self-judgement is real, and we cannot underestimate its role in hindering our search for balance and wellness.

How thoughts about food affect us

If you are eating something, stop and listen. It will take just a moment. Are you happy to be enjoying it, the flavours,  textures, colours?  Or are you thinking about summer on the beach and how this mouthful will lead to hip and thigh misery. If you think it will, IT WILL. We create our lives by the thoughts we invest our energy in. Loving thoughts are the most important staple in your diet. Not everyone experiences these issues with food. For many, food is merely a fuel, to top up energy levels when required. For others over interest in diet, food preparation and health is avoiding looking at the real issues. Like: do I love and accept myself and my body exactly as I am? I have been there, to extremes, and am now finding a middle path, listening, really listening to my inner teacher, and being kinder to myself. 
 

We are all finding a balance between merely fulfilling energy requirements and eating addiction (in its many forms and shades). We all have mental and physical habits to varying degrees, and aural pleasures tend to top the list. 
 

Feeding ourselves kindness is the answer. When we eat, do we feel beautiful, strong and vibrant by the food? It’s that simple. If there are underlying emotional rapids, do we have the courage to look at them. YES! We have a choice, and awareness is the first step to freedom. 
 

What is beauty nourishment? Beyond fad diets, we want food that looks, tastes and feels beauty-full. We may realise that feeding ourselves what we call ‘junk’ food, is telling ourselves that we deserve junk, that we are junk. We can learn how to gift ourselves food that heals, food that feeds our soul, to rejuvenate the skin from within, and assist the digestive system so that we may be as vital and energized as possible, whatever our age.

Here are my 5 Helpful Tips for improving our emotional relationship with food.

 

1) Before you eat: Make space clutter free. Beautify the table. Put on some music. Sit down. Any of the above will aid digestion due to their calming effect on the body and allow you to truly enjoy your meal.

 

2) Breathing out three times is a simple effective means of grounding and settling your whole being. This allows you to shake off the business that has stressed you out during the day.

 

3) Say a prayer of gratitude. Even if you are not religious. Even if you are not religious it is a good habit to be thankful for all the simple essentials in our lives. Shelter. Food. Family. Friends. By doing this you are putting in perspective all the positive things in your life and not dwelling on the negative.

 

4) Visualise the food as healing medicine. Each mouthful will bring you greater strength and vitality. At this moment, if you intuitively feel that your choice in food will not assist you to health, then eat something that will. This does not mean that there are forbidden foods, rather that we choose that which will serve us best. Listen to your inner voice.

 

5) Chew well. Savour. Try chewing the first mouthful 30 times. It will amaze you how quickly you may drift back into unconscious eating, shoveling it in. Apart from the emotional benefits, chewing is the number one digestion aid… remembers the stomach has no teeth!  Like any worthy improvement, it takes practice. Gulping your food down includes air which can cause bloating. Moreover, eating to quickly can cause you to over eat, because your brain hasn't had the opportunity to catch up and send the message that you are full!

In General, learn to be kind to yourself in all actions, and enjoy your food thoroughly. You can do it!

If you feel like sharing your story, write me an email or comment below.