In my last post, I shared 10 reasons you might be eating emotionally. Discovering all of the ways you’ve used food to cope with your emotions can be overwhelming, and it can feel hard to know where to even start when it comes to working through emotional eating. But if there’s anything I’ve learned in working with women on balanced eating over the past three years is that just as the ways we eat emotionally are different- the way we work through emotional eating is also going to be different, because each of us has different needs. But there are actually some very practical ways we can begin to work through emotional eating, even before we dig into the nitty gritty.
Tool #1: Take care of yourself, sister!Before you scroll along… I’m serious. I want you to ask yourself (be honest)…
- How much water have you had today (is it more than the amount of coffee you’ve drank)?
- How balanced were your last three meals (were they sitting down, did they have veggies and/or fruit, protein, fat, maybe some type of carb)?
- When is the last time you did some intentional movement (doesn’t need to be intense, this could be a walk around the block or some gentle yoga- the key here is intentional)?
- Are you getting 7-9 hours of sleep?
- How are you currently feeling about your space? Does it feel cluttered and overwhelming or calm and peaceful?
Not taking care of ourselves on a BASELINE level is the first way we set ourselves up for overwhelm- which can be a major trigger to emotional eating.
Tool #2: Find ways to feel nurtured and comforted.
What makes you feel nurtured and taken care of? What feels like a way to feel soothed?
This could be something like a massage or a bath, but it could also be calling a friend for advice, reading a great book, drinking a hot mug of tea, knitting… anything that feels comforting (think of a big hug from one of your favorite people kind of comfort).
Tool #3: Start to identify (and deal with your feelings).
This is so much more than I could put in one point– but identifying and finding ways to deal with what you’re feeling is essential to getting to the ROOT cause of emotional eating, which is how you’re going to tackle it head-on and work THROUGH it, instead of just dealing with it. I’ll be talking more about this in the bonus Supermama Society masterclass, in February.
Tool #4: Find a healthy distraction.
We don’t have to feel our feelings 100% of the time- that would be overwhelming! As much as we want to identify and work through our feelings, it’s ok to need a distraction sometimes, we just don’t want the distraction to consistently be food. Make a list of some healthy distractions to move you from a place of feeling the urge to eat, to feeling comforted, cared for, entertained or empowered.
If you’re struggling with working through emotional eating and want more practical tools to overcome emotional eating (including more steps to work on these four tools)? This February in the Supermama Society, I’m sharing a special Emotional Eating Masterclass exclusively for Society members. This will be a full video lesson explaining how to identify emotional eating, triggers to emotional eating (they might not always be what you think!), types of emotional eating and how to find your unique ways to work through with your emotions without using food. It’s going to be a good one, mama! I can’t wait to share it with you. Learn more + join for only $37.
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