Emotional Eating
What is emotional eating? It's when you use food to handle stress, leading to overweight and binge eating. Food becomes a drug to soothe your hurts and numb you out. People who are slim follow their natural hunger. They eat slowly, and stop when they have had enough. They may occasionally overeat, like at Thanksgiving, but the next day they automatically eat less. And when they do overeat, they don't hate themselves! Emotional eating is when you can't control when you start or stop eating. your eating feels out of control, and you feel guilty before and after eating. So you can see the difference in these two eaters. One eats to get nutrition, the other eats with guilt, pain, and self hatred! If you have emotional eating, please be kind to yourself. We were simply not taught how to handle pain and stress. Most of us have addictions, whether to TV or shopping or food. But we can learn new ways to handle stress. Here's an Affirmation: Even though I have this challenge, I love and accept myself now, and I am open to new insights. I'm a good person. The Cycle of Emotional Eating Energy healer Gloria Arneson, who specializes in food addictions, says every binge has 6 steps. 1. A trigger. something creates the craving. Something happens, and we tell ourselves a story about it, we give it meaning. 2. The decision. We decide to binge. It can be immediately, or we can plan to binge later in the day. 3. The action. we eat and eat. 4. The hang over. we feel bad, both physically anad emotionally. 6. The shame. we blame ourselves, feeling guilt and shame. The cycle begins again. So how can you Break the Emotional Eating Pattern? You can keep a food and emotions diary. Write down what you eat. Rate your urge to binge, how strong it was or is, on a scale of 1 to 10. One is weak and 10 is a strong urge. Now look at your life. What in your life in the last few days was a "10" stressor? An Example: your daughter was expelled from school. What did you tell yourself about what happened? Are you judging your parenting skills, feeling overwhelmed, feeling unworthy, abandoned, etc. What is the story?. What do you tell yourself that leads to overeating? Emotional Eating and the Inner Child When we overeat, We think we can't handle the present moment. We replay childhood hurts, subconsciously. The pain is still a child, abandoned, alone and hurt. As a child, our little bodies could not process certain painful events. They were beyond our comprehension. But now, as adults, we have more understanding of the world. And we have resources. We can feel, we can breathe, we can ask for help. We can be there for the child in us, and use new tools to deal with stress, rather than falling into hopelessness and just eating. Tools to Feel and Heal: Journaling. Write out your feelings, let it flow, uncensored. Often you will find an answer after you write. You have moved the energy, and the new way of seeing appears. Deep Breathing This calms your nerves so your emotions don't take over and you can think clearly Meditation and Prayer: Do this as a habit before a trigger happens, and you can be more objective and resourceful when stress comes. Inner child work Give love and reassurance to the emotional part of you. Be the loving mother to your painful parts. To heal, they need your love. Energy Healing Techniques: This is like acupressure for your emotions. You hold points and energy moves. I like emotional freedom technique (EFT) and Tapas acupressure technique.(TAT) See links below. Move, Dance, and Sing Emotion is energy in motion, and your movement helps it move. Use the Power of Language. Talk to yourself in gentle and empowering words. Reassure yourself as a good mother would. Acceptance. Say: it's okay to feel---. Let it be okay to have the feeling; don't resist. Let it flow through you and move out. Welcome the feeling, send it love. Take Back your Power: If you feel like a victim, say the power words: I can, I will, I have, I choose, I am, I enjoy. These words raise your vibes! Kindness is the Healer. say: I honor how hard this has been for me. I am ready to accept healing for this. Time to Reflect: talk walks in nature. There's something about walking that brings peace and new view of things. Biology: food sensitivities can contribute to emotional eating. Here's a quote to consider: "wheat and sugar so pervasively spark compulsive eating that many members of overeating anonymous make abstinence from them their turning point in overcoming addiction" --O magazine, August 2005.
Geneen Roth and Emotional Eating I heard Geneen Roth, a healer and author on emotional eating, interviewed on Oprah. Her latest book is "Women food and God. "You can't keep gaining weight if you are listening to your body," Says Geneen Roth. Geneen says our disconnection from God, goodness, love, joy and wonder is the reason for all our addictions. We have forgotten our power, our love our wonderment, mystery and hope, We are hungry for a divine connection. Our fear, stress and pain are old, often from childhood. But here is the truth: as adults, we have resources we didn't have as children. You will never be that small again. You are old enough now to take care of yourself. Kindness is the healer. Look into a mirror and look into your eyes to your soul. Learn to love your soul. Geneen advises us to listen to your body and stop when you've had enough. Eat slowly. See what you are feeling right in that moment. What do you really want? Use your relationship with food as the doorway to yourself. This is your sacred work. What are you really hungry for? Our relationship to the present moment is what counts. Can you stay with the present moment, with the feelings? When you surrender and stop resisting then healing can occur. Be in the moment as it is. This reminds me of Eckard Tolle, who advises us to be open to the present and quit arguing with it. Acceptance and Kindness is healing for emotional eating. It takes strength to stay present, to not go numb. The present moment is where healing happens with acceptance, compassion, kindness. As I see it, These are qualities of the divine feminine or the divine Mother. We all need a loving mother. Ask: what do I need in this moment? A nap, to talk to someone about an issue, a hug, some deep breathing, nurturing, time to think, time to act, or just to feel and cry. Practice kindness toward yourself. It's a spiritual practice. When you are filled with kindness, then you can give from a place of love and wholeness. Kindness creates wholeness within so we are able to be our authentic selves and share with others. Self kindness is our foundation, a well of deep love we can dip into and share. It's a habit we can learn. Mindfulness + kindness= healing. Resources for Emotional Eating
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