Emotional Eating

Emotional eating is not bad or wrong! 🤗 It’s normal and OK.

Your body is sending you a message that something is going on.

It’s OK to have this as an option.

🚩 But there can be negative consequences if food is your one and only way to respond to your emotions.

➡️ If you want to break “emotional eating” you need to practice the PAUSE.

This pause between the stimulus (emotion) and response (eating) is where you’ll find your freedom to choose:

1. Notice what you are feeling. Identify it. Feel it. 😟

2. Take a few deep breaths and PAUSE. ⏸️

3. Think about what you need right now and CHOOSE your response. 🤔

❣️ Maybe you choose to just feel whatever you’re feeling, knowing that it will pass.

❣️ Maybe you choose to turn to food. Here’s how: Be intentional about what you want to eat. Put an amount that you feel will satisfy you on a plate or in a bowl, sit down with it and slowly enjoy it, allowing it to soothe you. This is completely the opposite of mindlessly grabbing a bag or box of whatever and zoning out in front of the TV. Instead, it becomes a conscious choice.

❣️Maybe you decide that food isn’t going to help you feel better so you choose an alternative response. This is where knowing what you like to do and having a list of options comes in handy.

🌟 A lot of people identify as “emotional eaters” when in fact, they haven’t eaten enough or the right types of foods earlier in the day. So, when stress arises and the urge to eat hits, it’s easy to believe that it’s because of the emotion…. When it’s really got more to do with undernourishment.

💗 At Be the Change Nutrition, I help you untangle your unwanted eating behaviors and come up with a strategy to change them and get you feeling back in control of food again. 💗