Do you find yourself feeling stressed and overwhelmed as you move through your day?
Does the idea of some chips, chocolate or even some ice cream bring comfort and distract you from these feelings?
This is all fine and well until you finish eating the food: the feelings are still there but now you have the addition of feeling physically bloated and tired.
In this post/ video I will share with you 5 steps to take in order to stop letting feelings of stress/overwhelm turn into emotional eating.
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In “3 steps to overcoming restrictive dieting and emotional eating” you will learn the 3 most important steps in healing your relationship with food.
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How To Stop Letting Feelings of Stress/ Overwhelm Turn Into Emotional Eating in 5 Steps
1) Recognise why you are turning towards food.
It is important to first make sure that you know WHY you are turning towards food in the first place. Is it purely to avoid/ numb the way you are feeling or are you hungry? Or is it a mixture?
This is a great place to start. If you are a little bit hungry, reach for something nutritious so that you are not making breaking this habit harder than it needs to be.
2) Recognise the avoidance habit that has been formed
It is important to understand what it is in particular you are avoiding by eating.
What is causing you to feel stressed/ overwhelmed in the first place and why? How could you improve this?
By asking yourself these questions – you are becoming aware of the underlying causes of the way you are feeling and this gives you the chance to change this.
Now you can see exactly what you are avoiding – it is important to understand that avoidance habits take time to unlearn since they have become automatic responses over the years. Be kind, be patient and don’t beat yourself up if these coping mechanisms come back sometimes, just keep moving forward.
Step 3) Stop the habit in its tracks. Make yourself think first and ask yourself questions.
In the moment that you are about to grab the food and forget about your worries, get yourself to stop. To do this I recommend having a physical reminder (for example a post-it note in the pantry saying “think” or with your WHY on it) to stop you in your tracks.
In this moment, don’t tell yourself you won’t eat the food, instead commit to 1, 2 or maybe 5 minutes of sitting with your feelings. Ask yourself what you are trying to avoid? How will eating help? Will you feel different afterwards? Bring awareness to your thoughts and feelings.
Step 4) Find a healthier habit to take its place.
Now you can make the decision to find something else to do first to try an improve the way you are feeling; this could be doing something you enjoy, journalling, meditating etc.
Step 5) Sit with your emotions – don’t run
Or you can sit with your feelings. I recommend you do this at least some of the time. Recognise that by sitting with your thoughts and feelings… nothing actually happens to you. The feelings do not harm you and they do pass.
In Closing:
I hope that you try these steps out, understanding why we are trying to avoid certain feelings can be very empowering as it gives us the opportunity to make changes. It allows us to stop letting feelings such as stress/overwhelm turn into emotional eating.
Remember to claim your free guide “3 steps to overcoming restrictive dieting and emotional eating” to get you started on your healing journey.
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1 Response to "How To Stop Letting Feelings Of Stress/overwhelm Turn Into Emotional Eating In 5 Steps"
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular post! It is the little changes which will make the largest changes. Thanks for sharing!