Is Emotional Eating Bad For Me?
Is Emotional Eating Bad For Me?
If so, how do I stay away from the fridge?
The pandemic has derailed many of us with our stress levels, our health, and our snacking.
You may have lost your job, and now you’re home.
You may be working from home, while caring for kids, who need feeding. ALL. DAY. LONG.
Feeding a family is WORK.
You are so stressed and busy, that making your OWN meal feels like too much, so you grab convenience foods when you take a daily break from the house.
You may be so worried about weight gain during the pandemic, you don’t eat all day, only to makeup for it at dinner AND all night long.
You go to bed conflicted and unsure.
Some of the conflict comes from the emotion or the personality traits we attach to food.
conflicted between broccoli and brownie?
We assign morals to food.
Broccoli: virtuous. Brownie: villain.
When we assign morals to food, we then assign labels to ourselves. Have you ever described yourself as “good” one day, and “bad” the next as far as eating?
Me too!
And if you find yourself wanting more food in this stressful time, you are normal.
Right now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, food may mean Security and SURVIVAL to you.
Survival in the sense feeding hunger, but also in the sense of social connection. The world is self-isolating. Let’s let that sink in.
Right now, sharing recipes and photos with hashtags like #quarantinecooking is part of daily living AND coping.
And, of course, #bakecorona.
These are fun things in a terrible time.
We connect through food. Food talks to us.
And right now, food is speaking volumes.
I am speaking to many women right now, finding themselves in food overwhelm. Hashtags like #coronapocalypse to the “dreaded” #quarantine15, are crating a lot of fear, and shame about ourselves.
We are currently faced with life changes, cravings, and stress.
Some days, food is just the thing that soothes us.
Cooking now, makes us feel safe. Or ordering in, relieves stress after a long day of managing work and family all at home, together:)
Some days it feels wrong to soothe with food.
We are told it is wrong.
But is it?
feeling guilt while reaching for the mac ‘n cheese?
you are not alone!
Well meaning health people, like myself, LOVE to give advice on food, health and lifestyle, without truly thinking about effects on YOU.
We are offering to help you ditch sugar, NOT gain the #quarantine15 — hello shame, nice to see you again. NOT. We help you “swap” for healthy choices, and go low carb.
While we are sharing advice about immunity, meal planning, supplements, spaghetti and spirulina, we may not be meeting you where you are at.
Which is everywhere and nowhere.
Our financial world is upside down. We wake up with one emotion, feel a hundred more before lunch, and go to bed confused. And let’s be honest: scared.
So you eat. And you think:
“My brain is wired wrong.”
“I’m addicted to cookies.”
“How can I not gain weight right now?”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“I’m out of control.”
“I have no willpower.”
We are trained to think emotional eating is a “bad thing”.
And then we equate this “bad thing” to us being a bad person.
Think of the internal language around guilt eating, WITHOUT A PANDEMIC:
“I’ve been bad today.”
“I shouldn’t have eaten that.”
Tomorrow, I’ll be better.”
We have no blueprint for what is happening to our world right now. We have no rehearsal. We are surviving as we face isolation from loved ones, and fear of the future.
What if we accepted right now that emotional eating is part of our human experience here?
And people, this is a BIG experience.
We eat emotionally as humans anyways.
We attach memories to meals, and food is so much more than fuel. It is parties, gatherings, connecting with friends, or relaxing in the kitchen. It’s generational, handed down, passed on and the building blocks of story.
We all find ways to cope. This is called being human.
At the biggest size of my life, I had just lost my partner and father of my 22 month old. I wandered the kitchen at night eating anything I could.
I needed to numb out. The trauma of his passing was too much. I also couldn’t sleep. Insomnia made me hungry, and grief made me hide: in food. I was in survival mode.
And eating reminded me of him.
My partner, the father of my child, loved to cook.
Eggs benedict and chocolate fudge. French onion soup and chocolate chip cookies. Mashed potatoes, and all kinds of sauces. His mom’s cabbage salad, that we can’t find the recipe to anymore.
You see, he was an emotional cook, and made things his mother and grandmother made. It made him feel connected.
Food is a universal connector, like a smile.
And right now we need this connection more than ever. So instead of telling yourself that you’re broken, try this, from my Fullness Guide.
Notice.
Stop and notice.
“When do I eat?”
“Am I hungry?”
”How do I eat? Fast, Medium, Slow?”
And …
”Do I enjoy all types of foods or are there some that are off limits?”
”What foods do I label good for me or bad for me?”
These are just some of the questions I ask clients.
When we do not pay attention to HOW we eat, we aren’t paying attention to what we eat.
When we are not paying attention to WHY we eat, it’s hard to sort emotional cravings come from physical and spiritual. And right now, cravings during the COVID-19 pandemic can be downright confusing.
We also believe that if we ALLOW ourselves a cookie, or whatever food feels forbidden to you, we won’t be able to stop.
The body DOES fight for homeostasis, or balance. When we engage in conversation with the body, without judgement, our body will not beg for cookies for the rest of it’s days. But it’s hard to believe that, isn’t it.
Using 4 steps, which I guide women through in my Fullness Method, we uncover our HOWs of eating.
Notice, Pause, Tune In, and Choose.
From here, you can make a decision to eat, or not. To choose one food, over another, based on feelings, your own desires, and most importantly, YOUR own body.
If you are struggling at this time, reach out to me and book a 30 minute chat here. No sales push, no pressure.
Life, and cake, were meant for savouring.
Even in a pandemic.
Enjoy every bite you have.
Be well, be happy, and be safe.
xo
Tanya