Retrain Your Brain: Finding Happiness Outside of Food

There are many reasons people emotionally eat: to distract themselves, to feel numb, to have something to control. But one of the common reasons I hear from clients is that food brings them a sense of happiness that they feel doesn’t compare to any other experience currently in their life. This makes emotional eating incredibly difficult to stop relying on when you don’t have others ways of accessing this feel-good emotion. Does any of this sound familiar?

• A snack feels like an only acceptable break from grinding away at work or your to do list. Your brain makes the connection that not working = food.
• You only feel your body relax once the kids are in bed and you can eat alone in the evening. The connection your brain makes here is alone time = food time.
• You only allow yourself to have foods like cake or popcorn at events like parties or at the movie theatre. Here your brain connects special events (happy times) and specific foods.Our brains love to work on auto-pilot because it means they can focus on other actions, so once these connections are made between happiness and food your brain comes to rely on those specific foods for that feeling. You might even start to believe that nothing else could give you the same sense of peace and happiness. That simply isn’t true! You just need to start bringing some awareness to how you want to feel and where you get that feeling.

Here’s how to start retraining your brain to find a sense of joy in other areas of your life:

First, think about what those first few bites of food feel like to you. Does it loosen tightness in your body? Bring a soft smile on your lips? Quiet thoughts running in your brain? Make you feel present or grateful? Do you release a contented sigh? There is no wrong answer!

Now that you know how pleasure and joy show up in your body, start to recognize where you get those same glimmers elsewhere. This doesn’t have to be big! Here are just a few examples:

• You share a joke with the person making your drink at a café and feel a zing of connection as you share a laugh.
• A tight hug from a family member makes you feel calm and safe.
• You feel accomplished and proud after giving a great presentation at work.
• While on a walk, you notice a colourful bird or beautiful flower that makes you feel connected to the wider world.
• The excitement your dog shows you when you open the door makes your house feel like a home.

When you find yourself in these moments—big or small—try and acknowledge them. 

It can be challenging to start trusting that life can be good, but the more you tell yourself “That felt good!” or “I want more of that!” will train your brain to keep looking for ways other than food to tap into more of that feeling.

💛 Your peace awaits.