Late on this but my close friend and I have had these types of eating patterns. Ultimately from my perspective you’re using the food like a drug addict would use their drug of choice. You want to feel better, or distracted so you go to hyper-palatable foods to get a “fix”. Clearing trauma is going to help, discipline will also help in changing the pattern of behavior. It can be an addictive cycle. Also having been a drug addict when I was younger, I can make the comparison. Your brain will sometimes find a place where it knows you’ll reach for your drug. Sometimes it isn’t even real, it’s just your brain reorganizing itself in a particular way that you’ve previously used that drug before. For me this trigger used to be anger, or deep sadness. Sometimes I’d feel fine, and find myself getting angry or sad, focusing on things for seemingly no reason. It would make me want to get a “fix”. The discipline comes in at this point, you have to change the pattern of behavior. When I feel XYZ, I DONT eat. But there are deeper reasons why you want the “easy” dopamine of food. Clearing the trauma will help, and also build the purpose and meaning in your life. Get positive chemicals from living your life, not substances. You got this!

I think it’s two part, you have to clear the trauma but you also have to exercise discipline. If you clear everything out and feel great it might be easier to follow through on things but you still have to use the “discipline” muscle to start moving the ball in a positive direction. You got this!