Emotional Eating Treatment That Works
Emotional eating is a more common problem than many people realize.
If you are an emotional eater, don’t feel bad, this misunderstood eating disorder can be controlled.
This simple action plan should help you quit comfort eating once and for all:
- Admit You Need Help: Just by reading this article, you are admitting that you have a problem turning to food when dealing with certain emotions. Now, make that admission more public. Start opening up to the people in your life that you trust to help you overcome your emotional eating habits. Tell them that you are determined to change things and ask for their support. This is the hardest step, so get it done and then the rest of the process will seem easier once you’re eating al fresco!
- Realize that it’s not about the food: Eating comfortably has little or nothing to do with food. It’s actually about trying to avoid feeling certain emotions, either because they’re too painful (for negative emotions) or because you don’t think you deserve to experience them (for positive emotions). The foods you’re reaching for are just a way to numb yourself from emotional pain or pleasure. Many people choose cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, gambling, or sexual addictions; yours is food. Food is just the means he has chosen. Once you realize this, it becomes much easier to break the emotional eating cycle and allow yourself to heal from the pain you’re hiding from.
- Give yourself permission to feel; perhaps you were raised to believe that experiencing feelings was weak or forgiving. Now is the time to give yourself permission to feel the full range of emotions possible, from the best to the worst, without looking for food to hide.
- Seek professional help: If you feel that your comfort eating is too complex for you to deal with alone, seek the advice of an emotional eating specialist to help you address the problem.
