Client Insight: “I got mad when I stopped emotional eating.”
One of the ways I have been supporting clients lately has been to add in nervous system regulation to the Attachment Therapy approach that usually takes place in a session. While I approach every client uniquely, I have noticed how powerful working on calming a nervous system is with clients who emotionally eat. Here’s why:
Emotional eating is all about the rush to cover up uncomfortable feelings. You get to focus on the food, embracing the automatic or numbing feeling of eating. But those exact uncomfortable feelings come up when you are triggered by stress, anxiety, anger, and more. We are taught that these are “ugly” emotions and should be stuffed down and not acted on. But by silencing these feelings, they only build and come to the surface in other ways (headaches and chronic pain for example).
When those hot, overwhelming, and uncomfortable feelings rush to the surface one of the most powerful things you can do is to pause. Check in and ask yourself why you feel this way and then listen. You will want to judge what comes up, but sitting with whatever it is can actually lessen the intensity to emotionally eat.
Other strategies to calm your nervous system can be to make use of cold, movement (like pushing against a wall or a brisk walk), watching something you’ve seen before (it’s predictable), or patterned breathing. All of these can help you stay in the moment, no matter how uncomfortable, and allow it to pass. You might still emotionally eat, but you’ll do so in a calmer place.
Many of my clients are surprised by how quickly this can diffuse their emotional state. But a common piece of feedback I get when clients begin implementing these strategies is that it can build resentment that emotional eating is no longer the quick fix it once was. This is incredibly normal! The messy middle is when you know emotional eating is no longer working for you, but the new strategies still feel strange and like they take more effort. Remember: emotional eating is a habit you’ve likely built over years; it takes time and practice to soothe yourself in new ways.
💛 Your peace awaits.
