COPE WITH EMOTIONS WITHOUT USING FOOD
It may surprise you that emotional eating is actually a part of normal eating. Most of us have all eaten for comfort at some point. Eating in response to emotions only becomes problematic when we are relying on it as our primary way of dealing with feelings. When food is our go-to coping mechanism, we may wind up overeating and not solving the underlying issues we have going on.
Anxiety, loneliness, boredom, & anger are emotions we all experience throughout life. Each has its own trigger, and each has its own way to deal. Food won’t fix any of these feelings. It may comfort for the short term, distract from the pain, or even numb us for a bit. But food won’t solve the problem. You’ll ultimately have to deal with the source of the emotion.
I feel like it is important to remind you that : We all eat for comfort from time to time. That does not make you a failure, it’s part of normal eating. The purpose of this principle is to help you expand your toolbox of coping mechanisms to help you better care for mind and body in sustainable and effective ways.
Reawakening your inner Intuitive Eater means that you are more connected and aware of your feelings—recognizing them is the first step!
Take a moment now or the next time you feel an intense emotion and ask yourself:
What am I feeling right now? Perhaps you are feeling calm, happy, peaceful, or stressed? Or maybe you are feeling wary, irritable, delighted, or sad?
What is the quality of the emotion that you are experiencing: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral?
When you find yourself turning toward food in order to self-soothe or distract, ask yourself 2 questions:
What am I feeling, right now?
What do I need, right now, that relates to my feeling? (It’s okay, if you don’t know, but it’s important to ask. In time you’ll get clarity). How might you meet that need in a compassionate, effective way?
It’s important that we have a variety of coping mechanisms to turn to because food won’t change our underlying emotions. It may distract and comfort us momentarily, but we need to develop other practices for dealing with emotions if we want to learn how to manage emotions in a healthy way.
Reflect on your favorite ways to self-nurture. Perhaps it’s yoga (and if you need a class please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for free Yoga classes), playing with pets, meditating, reading, or taking a walk in nature? How often do you allow time for these activities?
There are a few things that can put us at higher risk of eating emotionally:
Lack of Sleep
Inadequate nourishment
Overexercising
Lack of Work-Life Balance
Poor stress management
Specific emotional triggers
What are some things we can do to start tackling recurrent emotional eating?
Check in with yourself regularly and ask whether you are meeting most of your basic needs. Are you getting enough sleep every night? Are you finding time for your relationships and hobbies? Are you eating enough throughout the day? Do you often feel overwhelmed and stressed? It’s helpful to regularly evaluate these things to find out where you can increase self-care.
Seek support. Lots of people struggle with emotional eating. If you find yourself in a pattern of emotional eating, don’t be afraid to ask for help and support. We are here to help.
Identify your emotions specifically. Often when we feel emotions we try to push them away or we identify them very broadly as “sad,” “mad,” “happy,” etc. There are so many different types of emotions though, sometimes we are not accustomed really analyzing them and identifying them beyond the general label. For example, when you are sad you may be grieving or you may be disappointed, or depressed, though all sad emotions are different and indicate different needs not being met. When we identify emotions specifically, and the root cause of them, we can make sure to choose a coping mechanism that will be effective rather than just turning to food or other vices that won’t be as helpful.
Emotional eating is not a crime or a disease. It’s a normal, and sometimes even effective, coping skill! If we want to feel our best physically and mentally, it’s important to look at our relationship with food and make sure we are using a variety of healthy coping skills to work through our stress and emotions.
Some people may eat when they are anxious to try and calm themselves down. Others might eat when bored or lonely to fill the time. Some may eat when frustrated, stressed after work, or depressed. If you find yourself eating emotionally often, notice if its triggered by the same emotions and take note of that as you continue on your journey.
At PELWELL, we can help you feel free to pick the foods that honor both your health and emotions. So feel free to reach out and work with us.
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