22 Mar Your Pain, Is Served.
Emotional eating is a component in most everyone’s life. However, with a little self-inflection you can start to strengthen the mechanisms which stop this before it gets out of control. I help people with their internal dialogue and mindset all the time through their course that helps set them free from this cycle.
The psychology of food and all the triggers and traumas that go with it can really mess a person up. Especially when they start to get on the weight loss and healthier lifestyle train.
Know what I mean? Hmm hmm, exactly. Don’t leave me hanging here all by myself!
It doesn’t matter which – either foods or alcohol – of your ‘personal coping ball and chain’ it is. They both will try to grab onto you and pull you down in a hot second in a time of stress or angst.
Most people are emotional eaters and/or drinkers. By that I do not mean alcoholism, or true eating disorders.
However, both these responses are normally based in subconscious blocks that have triggers that set them off based on emotion.
Feeling:
Happy? Yay! Reward is food!
Need to feel safe? Eat.
Is food your friend? Hello old friend.
Stressed? Let’s chow!
Angry. I need a drink (or two to unwind)
Bored? Hmmm, fridge time!
When either eating or drinking is your primary coping tool you can get stuck in an unhealthy cycle that leads only to more self-loathing and feelings of shame.
Learning what sets you off, you can start to find internal thoughts and language to use to be more kind to yourself. I love helping people with this! The key is to strengthen this ability to stop it in its tracks before it can rear its ugly head.
The emotional eating/drinking cycle looks a bit like this:
It’s a constant spin of “emotion -> shame/guilt -> self-loathing/deprecation.”
It is exhausting living this way and creates negative brain patterns that literally change who you are.
Most people don’t know what simply being a healthy hungry means. They go from starving to stuffed instead of finding that smooth, gentle rhythm of metabolism.
Your body is a constant state of ‘fight or flight’ survival mode if you go about your day like this. This actually will reduce brain function, logical thoughts, ruin cells and will hurt you if it goes on for too long.
The difference between emotional hunger and physical hunger is that emotional hunger comes on very strong and very abruptly, making you crave certain foods/drinks and it leaves you wanting more. These feelings are more like a strong craving in your head rather than belly.
Physical hunger comes on gradually and can wait a bit until you’re ready. You’re more open to different kinds of food ideas, you can calmly think about portions and stop before becoming too full, and it won’t make you feel defeated.
Some things you can do to make better choices is to rid your kitchen of ALL the unhealthy stuff. Yep. All of it. Go through pantry, freezer, fridge and say bye bye to it.
Until you strengthen this ability – get rid of the junk.
Then make a grocery list of live, nutrient dense, real foods: clean meats (from a farm grassfed/finished farm is best, but no hormones/antibiotics, gorgeous green leafy mixes you chop, wash and put together for the week, delicious veggies (even if you only like two or three), and a fruit or two to choose from for the week, some eggs, avacados, nuts, seeds and spices for a little kick! Get everything made and put in fridge so you are able to make decisions quickly and calmly because you have healthy foods ready to go.
If your fridge, foods and meals are ready and prepared, you will make better choices throughout your day – guaranteed!
EAT YOUR FOODS! Do NOT drink any calories. It will give you zero energy – the kind your metabolism/digestion – needs. Processed powders laden with chemicals added to unhealthy fats, massive amounts of fruit sugars/fake sugars are destructive to your body and it has no way to process them as an energy source for metabolic boosting.
Energy creates energy and if your body doesn’t have to work to digest it, guess what? You are shutting down your metabolic processes. In other words, you will lack true vibrant energy, crash quickly and starve your body of needed nutrient breakdown.
We weren’t meant to eat fake, processed foods – ever!
Our bodies are made to consume live foods during the day, consistently timed without holding onto to excess calories that lead to fat stores.
Most people are stuffing empty calories filled with fake filler foods.. WHERE ARE THE NUTRIENTS that will feed your cells, blood and organs?
Our bodies are amazing and are made to age beautifully. What you put in it, how much and when you put it in matters a great deal more than most realize (and most are doing it incorrectly for health, weight maintenance and longevity).
Some things you can start to do is make your meals in advance for the week or a few days at least.
Make DAILY exercise a priority. Physical movement and activity does amazing things for energy levels and boosts your happy hormones – endorphins!
Take a brisk, stretch of the legs and walk with head held high and chest breathing deeply in and out to oxygenate your blood and brain. Stretch afterwards while those muscles are warmed to gain some flexibility in hips, ligaments and tendons and muscles around those hips and hammies!
Drink a LOT of water. Most are dehydrated. This will give you brain fog, slow all organ functions, make you feel hungry, and have no energy. Yuck! Drink water.
You’ll literally DIE without it. You are mostly made of water and your organs slow down and don’t get used as they need to be and can completely shut down (hello, that means dead), if not given enough. Drink up for goodness sakes!
Give your body a break and go to bed at a healthy hour and wake up around the same time. This creates a more rested, rejuvenated, healthier mind and body. Seven to eight hours is key.
For instance, I go to bed at 9 p.m. and wake up at 4:30 a.m. – every day. (give or take a little on a Saturday or Sunday – but not much!) Now, that’s my schedule, but you can figure out yours based on what your body needs. Nothing really needs to be done at ten at night! Go to sleep.
If you’re tired the next day because you stuffed yourself past 6 p.m. the night before it’s because your body didn’t have a remote chance to rest, repair cells, purge and eliminate dead cells, and rejuvenate during sleep. It was going through processes of digestion instead. Trust me. It’s not supposed to be doing that during sleepy time. You’ll store all those calories as fat and never feel rested and vibrant.
It takes an exorbitant amount of energy to digest foods. The only way to have energy is to create energy – again, this means your digestive processes. This should be going on during the day time, not evening and sleep time.
The healthier foods you eat, the happier your intestines and digestive system will be. That is where our emotions lie. Clean, heal and restore your insides and your hormones will level out, you’ll sleep better and you won’t spin out of control so easily. Being hung over or defeated with foods will make it severely difficult to have a happy, healthy, positive mindset to keep and stay on track each day.
I tell my clients to try and get into a healthier pattern Sunday through Thursday. These are just days of the week where we have things going on and need to be on point for the next day with a good mental state of clarity! Friday and Saturday: make it fun, relaxing, playful and create healthier patterns with foods and drinking.
And please remember to be kind to yourself. You’re only human and I always tell my clients that none of us will be 100% on this all the time. So learning how to change thoughts and emotions behind those times we slip will help release the next day butt kicking we like to give ourselves.
Relax, stretch, breathe! We hold all our stresses in and forget to do these things throughout the day. My goodness – NOTHING is that important.
Healthy connections with friends are great. Take a walk, laugh, swing on a swing, go swimming, play pickleball, volleyball, heck bocce ball for that matter, lay by the pool or sit on the porch and just connect and relax.
There is so much more to the psychology of foods and mental blocks and triggers that I haven’t mentioned here, but it’s a start!
It fascinates me to no end the human behaviors we all have.
If you need help to empower yourself with a healthier mindset and the skills and tools to make your life healthier and just plain better, I’m only a phone call away. I’m always good for a positive mindset, laugh, great information and a hug. Want to change your game in the aging, healthy, weight loss struggles – get on board with one of my awesome courses that will set you on the right path.
Until then, pass on the pain and pull up a chair to joy and vibrancy!
Big hugs and blue skies,
Cindy
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