Changing Your Eating Patterns (Without it feeling like restriction)

Here at the Center for Emotional Eating we know that a restrictive diet is not a solution to anything: weight loss, peace of mind, fitting in. We’re not about restricting, but embracing (and eating!) the foods we like and make us feel our best.

So, what happens when there is a need to change your eating? Maybe you’ve developed a new food allergy or heartburn after eating certain foods. Maybe a bout of food poisoning or the flu means you just can’t face eating a specific item again. And did you know our taste buds change as we age? The meals and foods you’ve always relied on might not be as satisfying anymore. And satisfaction is key to avoiding binge eating!

Wanting to avoid these negative outcomes is perfectly human! But if you’ve been on the diet wagon a lot in your life, you might feel like removing specific foods feels a lot like new restrictive rules.

We’re here to help! Try these two steps to navigate your changing tastes without feeling like you’re slogging through new dieting rules.

One: Use our Hunger Check Tool

This is a great strategy you can use no matter what you choose to eat!

We developed the Hunger Check Tool to help you get clear on if you’re experiencing physical or emotional hunger. From there, you can identify what it is your craving, with no self-criticism. It also gives you a chance to reflect on how you’re feeling before, during, and after you eat. This is key to understanding not only your motivation to eat but also your experience once your plate is empty.

Getting curious about what is driving you to eat and how it makes you feel is a powerful way to bring awareness to your eating patterns and your body’s response to all foods. Click here to access this tool.

Two: Consider how food makes you feel

While food is tied up with all kinds of emotions, at the end of the day what you eat should make you feel good.  After you’ve brought awareness to your body using the Hunger Check Tool and start seeing some patterns, now it’s time for some changes. This isn’t a diet plan! No restriction and deprivation to white-knuckle through. Instead, consider if you have to or want to avoid foods because of how they make you feel. Here are some examples:

• You’ve been outside much of the day and it’s a hot one! Eating an ice cream cone is the perfect solution to the temperature. Pleasure from the creamy texture and cooling food makes you feel good.
• You’ve noticed every time you eat onions you bloat and get uncomfortable gas. You experiment with have less or no onions in your next dish and get curious about if it makes you feel more comfortable.
• You’ve switched from a pastry to having eggs or Greek yogurt for breakfast and you notice your brain is much less foggy throughout the day, so you try adding a little more protein to each meal because it makes you feel balanced.

Making adjustments to how you eat based on your preferences, not on what you “should” be eating or your calorie quota for the day, can really help reframe how you feel about what you eat and give you more confidence.

💛 Your peace awaits.