It’s true that we never really know what someone else is going through. We’ve covered in another post how not all emotional eaters are overweight, and sometimes emotional eating can lead to weight loss in an unexpected way.

For some clients, when emotions run high, they feel the need to control their eating as a way of trying to control their lives. For them it feels like the only thing they have power over is what they put in their mouth—not their kid’s tantrum, their boss’s feedback, or their partner’s attitude.

While in this scenario there is an absence of food, instead of a binge, it is still emotional eating because a person’s eating pattern has changed in response to emotional experiences. For example, this can look like telling yourself you’re too busy to eat, believing you’re not worthy of nourishment, not having motivation to cook and eat, or feeling a physical surge of anxiety that makes your stomach queasy....

There may come a time on your journey where you feel like you want to explain how and why you emotionally eat to those you trust. You might feel in your gut that you would benefit from opening up and sharing your experiences. But emotional eating is complex, where should you even begin? We’ve got a number of concrete examples below to help guide you!

We want to be clear: you don’t have to explain or justify your feelings or actions to others. This post is intended to support those who feel like speaking about their experiences to someone they trust will help support them on their journey. Remember: no one gets to comment on your body (even if it is weight loss).

A good first step is to check in with your person and see if they have capacity for you to share. This can set the tone of your interaction by encouraging limiting distractions, finding a quiet space, and making sure they are in a good mental place to support you.

Start by explaining the link between emotions and...

The anniversary of the death of a loved one comes with its own unique challenges. Unlike birthdays or weddings, the day your loved one passed is a focal point for your grief and can bring all the feelings of loss right back to the surface. 

While you might expect the day to be difficult, you might find engaging in some sort of memorial—big or small—can be a lovely way to honour their memory and support your own mental health.

There are so many ways you can honour your loved one! To get you thinking about what might be helpful for you, here’s a list of 10 things you can do to remember your person. You can either choose to do something by yourself or with others—the choice is completely up to you and there is no right or wrong way to mourn.

1. Hold space to let out the emotions—cry, rage, whatever! Sometimes a sad playlist or movie will allow the tears to flow, other times you might want to sweat it out at the gym.
2. Visit their final resting place....

There are so many different types of therapy, it can be overwhelming when you’re starting out. While there are definitely things to consider when choosing a therapist, identifying when a method of therapy isn’t working is a powerful way to make progress on your mental health journey.

What does it look like when therapy isn’t working for you? It is important to remember that your ‘aim’ in therapy can be a moving goal post. For example, you might start therapy to manage your depression but after dealing with the immediate symptoms you and your therapist might begin focusing on your childhood experiences that are informing your current behaviour. This is normal!

But you shouldn’t be leaving your sessions feeling frustrated. While a therapy ‘hangover’ is expected, you should feel at least slight relief at being heard and supported through a session. It can be helpful to journal or just jot down how you feel after a session to keep track of...

Going in to see your doctor might be something that fills you with dread. While you may be all-too familiar with this feeling, there is a name for what you might be experiencing when you step into a clinic: weight bias.

This is defined as negative views, usually based on serotypes or misconceptions, towards people who are overweight or obese.

Everyday people who are overweight face discrimination, from the size of seats on a plane to critical looks and comments from others. There are prominent beliefs that plus size or obese individuals are somehow lesser than, aren’t considered beautiful, and should be blamed (and shamed) for the size of their waistline. This bias also exists in healthcare. 

While there have been strides made in providing training to nurses and doctors that provide primary care, it can still be daunting to go to the doctor for something that *seems* simple like an annual checkup. Here are five things to keep in mind that might help you feel empowered...

As emotional eaters we often think about (and fear) weight gain being noticed by those around us. Even worse: we stress over if they will say anything about it! But emotional eating can also mean a loss of appetite too: stress, anxiety, and depression can feel so all-encompassing that our natural hunger signals are lost in the chaos.

Often, losing a pant size or two can lead to positive comments from family, friends, and even your doctor. But these comments can be just as problematic as ones on weight gain. As a society we uphold thin bodies as the ideal standard for beauty and health, but what is often missing from the discussion is the emotion or illness that can be behind the weight loss. We become torn between the positive comments and the negative feelings that have led to our body’s changes.

While we’ve got some tips for when someone says something about your weight, the added layer of social conditioning—of acceptance of thinness—can create a very...

Seeing old friends or getting together with extended family can be a cause for celebration—especially after two years of social distancing and lockdown measures. But these situations can also bring feelings of anxiety and failure, you may start thinking “What if they notice I’ve gained weight?”, or even worse “What if they say something about my weight gain?”

It often feels like one’s waistline is open for comment no matter if it has been a weight gain or loss. The problem is that we’re celebrated when we shrink and blamed when we put on weight. Here are a few tips to support your mental health when your faced with unwanted commentary on your body.

Come up with a game plan. Knowing body comments might come up is one thing but being mentally prepared to face them can give you a feeling of confidence. Try tucking affirmations in your wallet, go to the bathroom and text a friend who will support you, schedule a therapy session or alone...

We’ve got some more client insights for you! When it comes to working on your mental health in therapy many people have ideas about what it will be like based on what they see in movies and on TV… But it isn’t often like that at all! Therapy is personal and it can be challenging at times too. Often, clients are surprised by certain things that come up for them while working through traumatic experiences. Here are a few examples that hopefully you can relate to, or at the very least give you a more realistic idea of what others have been through.

My binge eating got worse before it got better. 

This is incredibly common! Being honest and open in therapy means that you are working through some very strong emotions and reliving some parts of your trauma. If eating has been the way you’ve chosen to sooth or distract yourself from these feelings in the past, you will absolutely use emotional eating again as a tool. And that is ok! The more you can...

This blog post is the one of a series where we’re giving advice on tools you can try and see if they are worth adding to your ‘toolkit’ when you’re faced with emotional eating. Some tools will work for you and others you won’t find as helpful—check out our previous posts here and give some of them a try!

Here at the Centre for Emotional Eating we are big fans of therapy! While that may be obvious, we are also big believers that support for your mental health doesn’t always have to be a formal in-person session. Below are a few myth-busting ideas around seeking support for your emotional eating:

Support doesn’t have to mean sitting on a therapist’s couch.

Over the past year we have seen more and more options available for different ways to access therapy. There are more virtual options than ever before! Video sessions and online courses have become more popular and can be done in the comfort of your own living room....

Today we’re sharing three common comments we hear from clients. Often, after we’ve been working with a client for a while, we begin to hear that being in therapy has proved positive in surprising ways!

1. I wish I had started taking care of my mental health sooner.

It is so easy to distract yourself from what you are really feeling—with work, your family, with food. Often it takes a big moment or event that is a tipping point for people to finally invest in supporting their mental health. It is scary to ask for help or admit that you’re not doing ok! While many wish they had started opening up sooner, you have to decide if you are ready to dig deep and start to make changes. Remember: support for your mental health doesn’t have to be formal in-person therapy; even taking small steps to support your mental health will be beneficial. You can start by setting boundaries with others, getting out for a walk regularly, or even just reading in the...