How to Use Your Emotions to Not Eat

They call it emotional eating for a reason and yet everyone thinks they need a new diet. 

What if the diet is part of the reason you’re “feeling” the need to eat this way. 

If emotional eating is the “problem” a new diet must be the solution- right?

How about we try this from another angle.

I’ve spent enough time learning about addictions to know that more control is almost never the answer.

Sure it will “stop” the symptoms but it will never heal the underlying reason you’re behaving this way. 

The only way to do that is to re-empower that part of you that is crying out. 

So often it seems that the food is the enemy but what if the food is just the way you learned to soothe. 

A natural impulse.

It makes sense to me- it’s a “safe”, socially acceptable option.

You’re “not hurting anyone else”, or “everyone has their vice” is what I hear most often. 

But just because something is acceptable doesn’t mean you have to accept it. 

You deserve to feel nurtured and nourished.

There’s part of you that knows this- the part of you that you’ve been at war with. 

This is the childlike part of you. 

The reason control and restriction don’t work is when demands are made, humans have two options- resist or submit. 

Objectively, these seem like viable options but they actually create more distance when what you’re looking for is more connection.

You “submit” when you’re “on the diet”....

And for most people I speak with, this can last for about…. One month. Tops. 

Then there’s a huge swing to the other end of the pendulum- resist.
This is the rebellious part of you that loves to bring it’s complaints to the table, and on some level (I believe) still hopes to be heard. 

Knowing this, you can start to see your behavior as a natural response instead of a moral failing and have some compassion.

This is the benefit of exploring your inner landscape.

When we can take the pressure off of being “on” or “off”, we actually open up all kinds of ways we can move forward that actually feel more useful. 

You start to see the pattern for what it is and, as your awareness increases, so do your creative solutions(!). 

Naturally. 

You don’t have to force yourself to do anything- you will start to instinctively make different choices when you use your behavior as “feedback” instead of a “problem”.

You get to respond from a place of awareness instead of shaming yourself- the very thing that keeps you swinging back and forth.

The more you do this, the more neutral you become to the behavioral outburst and the more skillfully you can choose a different route. 

This isn’t to say you give up or throw in the towel on healthy eating, but simply identifying where you are in the emotional pendulum seems to correlate to how quickly you will get back on track. 

Try it and let me know what you discover!