Do you feel trapped in a vicious cycle of emotional eating and dieting? You are not alone; there are some common themes we hear from others who struggle with emotional eating.
Most people who binge eat do so alone, in secret. They feel guilty and ashamed and go to great lengths to hide their behaviors from others. They feel out of control and know they need help, yet the secretive nature of the problem just might prevent them from getting it!
Over the years, the habit of eating forbidden foods in secrecy became more and more engrained. Every time I unconsciously ate in solitude and hid the evidence, I built layers of shame over one of my basic human needs: eating for enjoyment.
it can be hard to ignore the call of those brightly colored bags of candy. This is especially true if you trick yourself, saying it’s for the kids when it’s really for you. If you’ve deprived yourself of all things sweet, cravings for candy only grow stronger.
Trying to be free from emotions that might trigger unwanted behaviors rather than mindfully experiencing them may actually strip of us the potential to discover valuable information our emotions can give us about ourselves and our lives.
Getting a truer picture of the association between weight and BED can help us challenge misinformation that we come across. More important, it helps us focus on treating the underlying binge eating disorder without being distracted by one’s weight.
There are many proven strategies for overcoming the inertia of the familiar that we’ve incorporated into our books and mindful eating programs. Perhaps one or two of these strategies will help you get unstuck too!