Emotional eating part 4: Three key steps to heal and transform
2 June 2023
This is Part 4 of the Emotional Eating Blog Series.
STEP ONE: Get curious and lean in…
The first step to getting to the core of your emotional eating issues is to be curious about them and bring awareness to the patterns. It’s common to immediately go into judging ourselves and feeling guilty about what we ate, or the binge we had.
Studies have shown that as humans, we are wired for negativity and it’s easy to spiral down into a well of negative thoughts. Judging yourself will never help anything and it will continue to ingrain the pattern even further.
When you get strong cravings or find yourself obsessing about food, take the time to pause, take a breath and then check in with yourself. Once you pause, you can ask the following questions to bring awareness to your patterns:
- What am I really craving right now?
- What is that I am looking for food to give me other than nourishment? What am I avoiding?
- Why do I want to binge?
- What would a binge solve at this moment?
Start here and see what comes up. You might want to spend a few minutes writing it out and just dumping these thoughts on paper to interrupt the pattern.
Remember, awareness is the first step.
STEP TWO: Let go of dieting and restriction + Listen to the body
Dieting is the number one culprit to binge eating AND emotional eating. Any time you restrict yourself, there will be a pendulum swing to the other side, guaranteed.
I know we are taught that in order to lose weight, we must diet, but what that does is keeps us stuck in the dieting mindset, which will keep us in a food prison.
I understand that the idea of letting go of dieting can bring about feelings of being out of control, but what it also does is sends the message to our body that we trust it.
Your body has its own innate wisdom, and wants to be balanced and healthy. Unfortunately, our society doesn’t support that and it’s almost the cultural norm to be on a diet these days.
I believe that whatever we control, ends up controlling us. Control is an illusion, pure and simple.
One thing to always remember is that you have a CHOICE. When you can start to let go of dieting, and remember that you have a choice, then you will begin to heal even further.
There is no ONE perfect diet for anyone, and that mindset will keep you spiraling. Constantly searching for the perfect way of eating will keep you on edge, and in continued obsessive food thoughts.
Instead start to tune in to your body to see what feels good for it. After you eat, notice any physical sensations you have, or emotional reactions. Make a note of these, as they will start to give you information on why you struggle and binge.
STEP THREE: Get honest and show your true self
One thing I learned about myself in the journey of healing my binge eating was that I wore many masks. I was constantly hiding who I was, worrying about what others thought of me and trying to please everyone.
This resulted in major feelings of resentment, loneliness and NEVER feeling good enough. Which ultimately led me to a box of chocolates and a bag of oreos.
I wanted people to see me in a certain light, and to think that I had it all together when in truth I was struggling inside. I look back on photos of myself when I was deep in my food struggles, and I have a big old fake smile on my face.
But no one knew it was fake, I was pretending everything was A-OK but the truth was, I was in a world of pain and battling internally with myself, my body and food on a daily basis.
When I started to get real, to say what I felt, and to stop worrying about what others thought of me, my food issues started to wane. The pull toward food became less powerful and I started to feel more empowered and aligned in my life.
Showing ourselves to the world can be scary, because we are taught that vulnerability is weak. But what I have learned through my journey is that vulnerability is strength.
Vulnerability is strength when fighting with emotional eating
Being vulnerable, speaking my truth and standing in my power has resulted in so much richness in my life. I have zero desire to hide anymore, and because of that, I no longer find myself wanting to binge, mindlessly eat or numb out with food.
Start small, and share with people you trust that are in your inner circle. Get honest about your struggles, and let people know you need their support. I guarantee a HUGE weight will be lifted off your shoulders.
Binge eating is something many people are faced with daily, and the feelings of shame, disappointment and self-criticism can be overwhelming.
By implementing these 3 keys, you will be taking steps toward your deeper healing, and getting to the core of what is beneath your binge.
The key is to practice patience and be consistent with taking action in the moment to break old patterns.
This is the end of part 4 of The Emotional Eating Blog Series. Part 1: The spiritual explanation and the connection with karma Part 2: The symbolic meaning of food Part 3: Using mindfulness meditation - A scientific approach Part 4: How to overcome the bondage of binge (you are here) Stay tuned for more interesting facts and strategies to help you gradually overcome these life-long patterns and behaviors.
Let me help you stop emotional eating…
You can now order the new Guided Meditation that helps break these patterns of binging and slowly and steadily bring a new Mindset into your life…. “Guided meditation on over indulgence and substance abuse”.
If you too are wondering how to pursue a more mindful lifestyle, change your karma, and thus change your Mindset…
Might it be time you… book your appointment now online or visit me at Sacred Space here in Athens and begin your healing journey towards the inside…
Give your body, spirit, soul and mind the opportunity to finally embrace all its finest qualities… the ones blessed with from Spirit…
Always here, always yours,
KC The Greek Shaman
