In my last post about Transformation Stage 2: Eat Without Guilt or Loss of Control, I shared a video about Fearless Eating. You learned the three questions to ask yourself for deciding what to eat without restriction and deprivation. Next in Stage 3: Master Your Triggers for Emotional Eating, you’ll learn why emotional eating sometimes feels so persistent and insistent and why it is important to meet your true needs in more effective ways than eating.
When you learn to make your eating decisions mindfully and fearlessly, food begins to lose its power over you. Guilt and deprivation no longer contribute to the emotional drive to eat. Before you know it, you’ll be able to eat what you love without being afraid of losing control!
It’s so exciting to work with people who are applying these lessons and solving eating problems they’ve had for years!
Now let’s talk about another issue that commonly keeps people stuck and unable to have a peaceful relationship with food: Emotional eating.
Stage 3: Master Your Triggers for Emotional Eating
Emotional eating sometimes feels persistent and insistent!
In this video, we begin to talk about emotional eating. I say begin because emotional eating is a complex topic with many layers for most of us.
I find metaphors very helpful when I teach, so I hope the image of the two buckets was helpful for understanding why your cravings sometimes feel so powerful, persistent, and insistent—and why it is so important to get a handle on them! (See what I did there?)
The point is, your needs are valid and important! When your other needs are not being met, you will continue to crave food.
Emotional eating keeps you stuck!
The complexity arises because you also need to also learn the language of emotions and how to decipher what they are trying to tell you about your underlying needs.
Ultimately, learning to manage emotional eating isn’t really about the food. It’s about learning to regulate your emotions and meet your true needs in more effective ways than eating.
Ready to build a joyful, confident, peaceful relationship with food? Join us for the Eat Mindfully, Live Vibrantly Program! Click here to learn more!
4 thoughts on “Why emotional eating can be so persistent”
This totally explains the mindless eating and strong pull the cravings have on me. I know I’m not hungry but I keep going back to the fridge/cupboard. I realize that I am tired and stressed a lot, but am stuck in a cycle of acknowledging it and then not pausing to treat the symptoms. There is always so much to do! I love this visual and explanation, I am really going to try to keep it in mind throughout the day. Thank you, Michelle.
I’m really glad it was helpful Nerissa!
If I’m working on a deadline, I eat bc of stress. I also eat when I’m bored, lonely, or angry.
Sometimes, it’s hard to stop & deal with my needs Eating seems more efficient.
Eating IS more efficient if your intention is simply to not feel your feelings temporarily (and sometimes that is OK!). However, over the long run, you miss an opportunity to meet your true needs and take care of yourself. Ultimately, you still feel stressed, bored, lonely, or angry and haven’t addressed the underlying causes. Make sense?