Emotional Eating!
What Can We do About It?
By: Dina Levi
President/Founder LuxeHealthCoaching.com
I’m an emotional eater. I know this to be true. And I know that I’m not alone. Some people eat when they’re stressed. Others eat out of boredom. Some eat when they’re upset or sad and many people rejoice in eating when they are happy! The interesting thing about this is that food does not satisfy ANY of these or other emotions! We think it does. And arguably maybe in the minute it might make us feel a little bit better, or less stressed, or happier etc. But inevitably if you find yourself eating in an effort to satiate an emotion, you simply are always going to come up short! In fact, more often than not if you are someone who struggles to lose weight and finds that you are eating or snacking when you are “feeling” certain ways, you almost always feel worse afterwards for having eaten in that heightened emotional state!
Trying to make changes with your relationship to food is not an easy endeavor. But, you most certainly can do it! It takes awareness, mindfulness, consistency, and patience. Chances are good that you have been behaving this way for a very long time. In order to change that, it’s going to take some time, too.
You can’t simply want things to be different without making them different! There is always an awkwardness to this as it feels uncomfortable to do things differently. Most of us can appreciate this idea. But in order for things to really BE different you must be willing to succumb to new ideas and new patterns of behavior. The reason for this? Things aren’t working the way you are doing it! If you continue with the same recycled thinking you will always have the same recycled experiences with the same recycled results! As I often like to say: “I’m going nowhere fast!”
Obviously, if you are an emotional eater then you are someone who really “feels” things. For sure, being a “feely” kind of person has its benefits: sensitive to others, kind, caring, supportive, and people tend to like you. But being a “feely” type can also have its downsides: you are sensitive and reactive to people and circumstances and not as good at letting things roll off your back. So you take on your problems, other people’s problems, and the problems of the world, and you sometimes suffer in the pain of whatever it is. Adopting awareness that you are this kind of person is tantamount to mastering how you manage your emotions. You can’t manage anything until you recognize it first and accept it. This is BIG. And it’s the first step towards change.
Second to awareness is mindfulness: the idea of experiencing the experience while you are in it and recognizing it for all that it is. This is another BIG idea and one that takes some work. Meditation is a practice that is very helpful for the enhancement of mindfulness. Many people dismiss meditation and mindfulness as frivolous behavior for which they don’t have the time. But again, if things aren’t working then perhaps being open to ideas that may really be helpful might be worthwhile exploring!
Consistency. If you’re looking to make changes, you simply can’t do it without consistency. The yo-yo behavior of losing and gaining weight is an excellent example of this. You can be good for a period of time but then you fall off the rails! Often this stems from making too many changes at once. That’s not sustainable. So you are almost set up for the yo-yo effect. You need to go slowly. But you must be consistent. It is key to having positive outcomes that are sustainable.
Lastly: patience. Whenever anyone comes to me to address any aspect of their health and wellness we always talk about patience. You have to have patience for the process. We all want overnight success and results. That’s why the diet industry is a billion dollar business with all the quick fix promises out there. Nobody wants to put in the work! But any smart person knows: most often you do get out what you put in and so if you are willing to do the work, to open your mind to new ideas, to stay consistent in these new ideas and behaviors and willing to be patient in the process-you will succeed! And the best part of all is that your relationship with food will shift. It really will! You will hold the reins in a new and most incredible way and that’s empowering and rewarding and awesome!
Dina Levi is the President and Founder of Luxe Health Coaching. Luxe Health Coaching works one on one with clients to address their health and wellness goals. Dina is a strong believer that working on your wellness in times of good health is the proactive piece of the puzzle that people need to do more of if they want to maintain a lifetime of good health. Follow Dina and Luxe Health Coaching on Instagram for more daily good health advice and tips at: @LuxeHealthCoaching.