Grateful for the Balance 365 Community

For the past two years, I have been working with Balance 365, an amazing woman led company dedicated to helping women break free of diet culture and find a better relationship with food, exercise and themselves. Every month I facilitate group coaching calls with 20+ women around body image and emotional eating with members of the Balance 365 community. Specializing in body image, trauma and women’s health, I also do one-to-one counselling with women around these issues. In light of getting back to this work, I wanted to share a few tips for managing emotional eating and eating habits.

Emotional Attachments to Food

As I spend my days with my 3-month old son, I am reminded several times a day how food is one of the first and basic ways we are nurtured and comforted by our caregivers. It makes sense why some of us choose to cope by using food to comfort ourselves. It was one of the first ways we were nurtured as little humans. Although at times it is normal to comfort with food, the ongoing habit of using food to comfort oneself to the point where it creates discomfort or negative consequences is called emotional eating.

The thing about food is that it has always been about more than just nutrients. Food, culturally, has been used for celebration, ritual, as gifts, socialization and more. Understanding this is helpful when trying to find a better balance with food. Knowing how food is embedded in our culture and society, it may not be realistic to stop emotional eating altogether. However, if eating food is your first go-to when you are feeling emotional, stressed or uncomfortable and it feels out of control, it may be time to focus on diversifying your coping skills.

Creating Better Balance With Eating Habits

Generally, I like to focus on adding in new habits instead to create better balance as opposed to trying to eliminate less healthy habits. For example, if you find you are emotionally eating often, you could start to think about other things you can do when you feel uncomfortable. Have a cup of something warm like tea, a glass of water, sit down and breathe for a few minutes; lay down on the floor or bed and take a few breaths, go outside, call a friend, move your body, journal, the list goes on. This is truly about building new skills, so this can take time! Be gentle with yourself. At first some of these things may not feel as comforting as food but over time you will start to find things that feel good for you.

Next it is important to start building awareness of when you are emotionally eating. This can start with simple mindfulness practices around food and eating overall. Before you follow a craving or go to eat a meal, take a moment, close your eyes, take a deep breath and ask yourself, am I hungry? Am I using food for some other reason other than hunger right now? If so, is there something else that can fill this need?

Over time it will become easier and easier to choose other ways of coping instead of eating.

And here is the thing… sometimes you may choose to eat food to fill a need other than hunger, and this is a normal part of having more freedom with food.

What I think is most important is to be very honest with yourself about it or even be intentional when you are using food in this way. You can try to do this without judgement. Though I acknowledge this is tough work if you have some diet culture baggage. Start first by naming the situation for what it is.

For example, “I am eating this ice cream right now because I want to enjoy it with my children on the beach.” “I am eating this chocolate right now because I am feeling low in energy.” “I am snacking on these chips because I am stressed and unsettled.” Without judgment means not making meaning out of it when you do this like, “I am eating this ice cream right now and that means I am weak/bad/failing.”

Next, when you do use food to cope, try and be present with how it feels in your body.

Notice the physical sensations.

Some things to ask yourself:

“How does my stomach feel?”
“What are my energy levels like?”
“Do I feel different emotionally?”

Four Steps to Deal With Emotional Eating

Put more simply, here are four steps to deal with emotional eating:

Preparation

Develop and practise new ways of coping with stress and emotional overwhelm.

Take a Pause and Check In

Before you follow a craving or go to eat a meal, take a moment, close your eyes, take a deep breath and ask yourself, am I hungry? Am I using food for some other reason other than hunger right now? If so, is there something else that can fill this need?

Name What is Without Self Judgement

Start first by naming the situation for what it is. For example, “I am eating this ice cream right now because I want to enjoy it with my children on the beach.” “I am eating this chocolate right now because I am feeling low in energy.” “I am snacking on these chips because I am stressed and unsettled.”Doing this without judgment means not making meaning out of it when you do this like, “I am eating this ice cream right now and that means I am weak/bad/failing.”

Take Pause and Check In

When you do use food to cope, try and be present with how it feels in your body. Notice the physical sensations. Some things to get curious about: “How does my stomach feel?” “What are my energy levels like?”

Reach Out to Grit & Growth

Thank you for reading my thoughts. I encourage you to share this with a friend or family member who may need to read it as well. For more information on counselling with Grit & Growth Wellness, please visit our main website.

xo Deandra