Unravelling the Habit of Emotional Eating

Emotional Eating Triggers

What are the triggers for emotional eating for you? I bumped into a few of my triggers this past week. I have blocked fear and pain with food for as long as I can remember. (Most often sweet foods).  I actually eat my emotions much less now.  When I do eat to block my fear, I make healthier choices, but it is still a bad habit I fall back on. When I started I know I didn’t have a better way to handle the feelings. But I am stronger now and I can do better.

How does this pulsing fear that can take your breath away exist below my radar? I really work to keep it at bay most of the time. I talk myself into thinking it has left the building, but then I get a sharp reminder. When I touch that pain center, accidentally in a memory or on purpose in therapy, the intense and physical nature of my response astonishes me. A tough exploration in therapy, family stress over the Thanksgiving holiday in combination with illness and work problems all piled on to the self protection structure that I have in place. It cracked and fear came bubbling to the surface. One at a time I have learned to handle triggers in a healthy way but all together they threw me a little.

Emotional Eating Alternatives

I have been working on my relationship to fear in my meditation practice for several years. Yoga, grounding self care practices and my daily routine calm fear in my constitution. I have studied anxiety fear and my responses to them.

Then I began to read on the topic of emotional eating to unravel this destructive aspect of my behavior. Geneen Roth writes on emotional eating with tremendous insight. Her books have helped me in my examination. http://geneenroth.com

I know I flow with the uncertainty of life with far fewer bumps. Just now, I am working on following some advice from Pema Chodrin.  I caught her on a recent Super Soul Sunday. She said fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.  She was talking and teaching for me.

Uncertainty Is Normal In Body and Mind

So I need to get over thinking that the security of the known is a boon. Constant known is just going to make me bored sometime very soon. What is going to provide happiness growth, and opportunities for spiritual development? This is what I say I want in my life. Growth and spiritual development are not known or static in nature.  So I need to embrace the uncertainty, as an opportunity to expand and flow a little with the universe. Breathe into the understanding that as Pema says “Shaky ground is fertile ground for spiritual growth and awakening.”

Feel the feeling and then step back and observe the feeling in the present moment. Breathe back and forth. Write examine and learn. I actually don’t want to focus on fear, but rather notice it when in crops up, feel it and learn from it. Garner security from my understanding that as my meditation teacher Ellen Tadd says “I am spirit and I am safe”. http://ellentadd.com/

Fear below the radar, unconsciously drives me to act in ways and eat in ways that are not aligned and do not address the feeling or the cause. Knowing Fear and engaging with it at least gives me a conscious choice.  For me emotional eating is very dis-empowering.

The signs of Physical & Emotional Hunger Are Different

Here is a link with a list of the differences between emotional hunger and physical hunger. http://www.helpguide.org/articles/diet-weight-loss/emotional-eating.htm. Now I know the symptoms, I recognize when I am engaging in emotional eating.  So I can jump on it much quicker. I can begin the process of examining my feelings and find the cause. Now I can take action to address the issue in a proactive way. I can use self care to help me ground and connect. Develop and strengthen the habit of presence and direct emotional engagement. Eat to feed and celebrate my body and play with taste.

The information provided on this website is not a substitute for professional medical care, treatment or advice. All the material here is for information purposes only. Always share strategy and work with your health care team.