Find support not just for emotional eating, but all aspects of your well-being.
One of the interesting (and powerful!) things of becoming an adult is realizing that you can continue to evolve as you age. It is through discovering new parts of ourselvesâlikes/dislikes, values, and desiresâwe start to grow into a new version of our identity.
The more time you can spend doing things that make you feel goodâwork that is fulfilling, friendships that support you, movement that revitalizes you, clothing that reflects your aestheticâthe less you are likely to reach for food to fill those needs. Youâll never be able to do away with all the unpleasantness of life (bills need to be paid), but having things you look forward to can help ease emotional eating when these stressors do come up because you have something positive to rely on.
But all this personal growth, leaning more into and learning more about yourself, can feel both comforting (youâre not stuck!) and destabilizing (it feels new and overwhelming). You might notice feelings of sadness or grief crop up as who you...
When it comes to supporting our mental health, we tend to start with the big things: the quality of our sleep, what we eat, going to therapy, taking medication. This can lead to more confidence and awareness which are powerful tools! But you might also begin to notice that working on yourself has shifted your relationships with others in ways you didnât expect.
As you implement changes in your life and your perspective shifts, you might find you grow annoyed or feel critical towards others you usually have felt ok around. You might even feel like you canât show or talk about who it is youâre becoming. Your immediate reaction might be to blame yourself, piling on the guilt that youâre a âbad friendâ or a âbad personâ because youâre thinking about others differently, even critically.
If you dig past those uncomfortable feelings, youâll notice that it isnât about them, but that getting clearer on your values (and setting boundaries that go along with them) means you no longer align with...
Being on the other side of a challenging life changing event can feel destabilizing. After a period of new levels of anxiety or depression symptoms, you donât trust feeling good. The truth is that youâre no longer used to feeling positive.
You might feel foolish for not immediately embracing the good, but this lack of trust is much more common than you think! Below weâve outlined the three stages you can expect when youâve done the work to move through big emotions and negative experiences.
Step One: You Canât Believe It
At some point in your recovery, you will notice a subtle shift. It might be in a therapy session when you realize youâre talking about your experiences differently or it might be a moment during your day where you think or react differently than you would in the past. This might be accompanied by a rush of gratitude: youâve made a change and are âon the other side.â
This will likely be immediately followed by mentally shutting down recognizing (or celebrating!) thi...
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. Weâre 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 youâve developed a new food allergy or heartburn after eating certain foods. Maybe a bout of food poisoning or the flu means you just canât face eating a specific item again. And did you know our taste buds change as we age? The meals and foods youâve 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 youâve been on the diet wagon a lot in your life, you might feel like removing specific foods feels a lot like new restrictive rules.
Weâre here to help! Try these two steps to navigate your changing tastes without feeling like youâre slogging through new dietin...
The restrictions from the pandemic has left many looking for a renewed sense of connection. Online get togethers got us through social distancing, but there seems to be a growing desire to meet up again in person.
You might be reading that and thinking âNot me! I thrived with more alone timeâ, and while that might be true (we all need opportunities to recharge) even introverts need a community they can tap into just as much as extroverts!
Weâve written before about how creating connection can help with feelings of loneliness (a major trigger for emotional eating), but getting a feeling of connection doesnât have to mean a filled-to-the-brim calendar of social events. It is true that you can have a small circle of friends that you feel close to or be surrounded by many people and feel lonely. Connecting with others isnât about the number of people you interact with or events you attend, itâs how it makes you feel! So, here are some ideas for you to try out in your own life to create c...
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? Weâve got a number of concrete examples below to help guide you!
We want to be clear: you donât 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 food, that ...
We recently asked our followers what time of day they feel is the worst for their emotional eating. And an overwhelming number of you said night time. Know that you are not alone! It is incredibly common to have the evenings be a time where emotional or binge eating ramps up. And there are very good reasons why you overeat late at night, and none of them are because youâre âcrazyâ or âlack willpower.â Here are 5 common reasons emotional eating comes up at night and what you can do to address each one.
You ate how you âshouldâ during the day. Restricting what and how much you eat throughout the day will ultimately lead to binge eating (even if you are trying to âresetâ from your last binge!). Not only is your body asking for more food, it is asking for food that is pleasurable. At the end of the day, youâre left feeling hungry and unfulfilled.
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.Â
While you might expect the day to be difficult, you might find engaging in some sort of memorialâbig or smallâcan 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, hereâs a list of 10 things you can do to remember your person. You can either choose to do something by yourself or with othersâthe choice is completely up to you and there is no right or wrong way to mourn.
There are so many different types of therapy, it can be overwhelming when youâre starting out. While there are definitely things to consider when choosing a therapist, identifying when a method of therapy isnât working is a powerful way to make progress on your mental health journey.
What does it look like when therapy isnât working for you? It is important to remember that your âaimâ 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 shouldnât be leaving your sessions feeling frustrated. While a therapy âhangoverâ 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 your progress and new coping tools youâve learnt...
A non-diet approach can mean freedom from:
⌠food rules.
⌠an obsession with weight and body measurements.
⌠grueling workouts you hate.
⌠guilt and shame around what you choose to eat.
Sounds pretty good, right?! Our bodies are so much more than calories in/calories out. Even if you worked out and ate the exact same as your friend, you both would still look and feel different. In fact, a non-diet approach acknowledges that every personâs body is different and there is no one-size-fits-all way of eating or looking (the opposite of what diet culture wants you to think!).
A non-diet approach believes that every person is unique and that your body knows what it best for itâthis goes for eating and movement. You might have come across terminology like âintuitive eatingâ or âmindful movementâ, which is just a way of saying that you turn inwards to be aware of your own needs and bodily cues. For example, your cravings could reveal vitamin deficiencies or you might find certain movement...
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