Have You Fallen Into An Unhealthy Relationship With Food?

by | Jan 4, 2017 | All or nothing thinking, Emotional Eating, Feelings & Food, Uncategorized |

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Learn 3 Steps to Heal Your Relationship With Food WITHOUT Dieting

 

You know the one I mean – that relationship you just can’t stop thinking about.

It brings out the worst in you, yet you feel powerless every single time.

It gives you so much comfort but it causes so much pain.
 
Sometimes you try to resist.
 
Other times you don’t even try.
 
That’s when the guilt and shame kicks in and you tell yourself, you’re done.
 
Tomorrow will be different.
 
But then soon enough you’re back there again.
 
You just can’t seem to break free… for long anyway.
 
It’s time to kick this bad boy to the curb.

 

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3 Steps To End Your Emotional Eating

You are eating for a reason.

This is because emotional eating is the most efficient way for you to deal with your uncomfortable feelings.     

We often believe that dieting will help us to control our emotional eating, but it doesn’t work in the longer term and leaves us feeling like a failure (and gaining more weight!).  Let me share with you a new way of thinking that is far more sustainable and empowering. 

Step 1: Ditch the Diet. Lacking willpower is NOT the issue.

Did you know that the number 1 way to put on weight is to start dieting?
 
I spent years of my life either in control of my eating (dieting, detoxing or intensive exercise) only to end up out of control (I was eating anything and everything in sight).
 
I felt like I was either a ‘success’ (and virtuous when I stuck to the diet and lost weight!) or a ‘failure’ (and deeply embarrassed about ANOTHER failed attempt at a diet). 

 

Control is seductive.

 

We want more and more of it.

 

We think that if only we had more control and willpower, we could stuck to the diet and lose weight (and keep it off).

 

But this goes against our basic biology and psychology. This is why 98% of dieters put back the weight and more within a 12 month period.  But every time we start a new diet, we are convinced that we are the 2% who will succeed. 

 

 Did you know that the more you try to be in control (think dieting and restriction) you are setting yourself up for a binge and to be out of control with your eating?
 
The secret is the opposite of what you think, which is relaxing our in control side and ditching the diets. This has been a game changer for me and it’s healed my relationship with food & my body. 
Eating in a more intuitive way (we are born with these internal strategies) is a far more empowering and sustainable approach.

 

Step 2: Ditch The Scales
 
I used to dread the weigh ins, but I thought it was the only way to stay in control of my weight.
 
Then I discovered that weighing yourself is a HUGE trigger, that will lead you back to the fridge.
 
When we weigh ourselves, we give away our personal power to a number.
 
You are worth so much more than a number on a scale.
 
Whichever way you look at it, weighing yourself will lead you to emotionally eat.

I used to dread the weigh ins, but I thought it was the only way to stay in control of my weight. 

Then I discovered, that weighing yourself is a huge trigger that will lead you to the fridge.

When we weigh ourselves we give away our personal power to a number.

You are worth so much more than a number on a scale.

Whichever way you look at it, weighing yourself will lead you to emotionally eat.

If you weigh yourself and you haven’t lost weight, guess what? You feel pretty crap about yourself….and you eat to feel better.

Conversely, if you are feeling ‘good’ and you weigh yourself, chances are you will reward yourself with….food!!

Bottom line: toss the scales out immediately & start to define yourself by your amazing qualities, not the number on the scale.

Step 3: Go To The Feelings Before Food

We are all wired to seek pleasure and avoid pain.

When we experience uncomfortable emotions such as anxiety, stress, boredom, sadness etc.  we’ve been conditioned to look outside of ourselves to distract ourselves and avoid our feelings in an attempt to make ourselves feel better.  Cue food!!

Emotional eating is an avoidance strategy, but so is dieting. Because when we diet we are controlling our food (and our life around it) as a strategy to avoid our emotions.

The key is to build up your internal resources to manage your internal discomfort, rather than continuing to look outside of yourself for a ‘quick fix’.

The first way to do this is to delay a craving, tune in and see what uncomfortable feelings might be lurking underneath the surface that you are using food to avoid, suppress or numb. 

Then go to the feeling before the food.

Once you have this awareness and make this connection between your emotional eating and uncomfortable feelings you can start to heal your relationship with food.

I hope this has helped show you a new way that is far more empowering and sustainable, 

 

Love Georgie xx

 

PS If this approach resonates with you and you want to learn more, I invite you to join my FREE 5 Day Food Freedom Mini Course starting January 22nd where I will equip you with the tools to get started.  Click here to join >> https://georgiebeames.com/challenge