Jul '24 • Nutrition
Breaking the emotional eating cycle
I recently had a call with a couple who both feel stuck in a rut. They're struggling to lose weight and find themselves in the cycle of emotional eating.
They try so hard to eat good, over restricting themselves then inevitably end up overeating (spoiler: they're not overeating chicken n rice) 'bad' foods - you know crisps, chocolate, sweets, biscuits, cakes... well they said the first 3, the last 3 are actually me lol.
But after eating the 'bad' foods they feel guilty. Ashamed that they're unable to stay disciplined with their eating and eat 'clean' good foods in order to lose weight.
These feelings of guilt and shame cause stress which causes them to continue overeating as a way to try and make themselves feel better.
Maybe you can relate to this?
To break the emotional eating cycle here's what I suggest you do:
You first must understand why you're overeating in the first place.
What unconscious benefits are you getting from it?
Second, understand that if you're feeling unfulfilled you're more likely to fill yourself full with food.
Unfulfillment comes from your voids. Your voids drive your highest values. Your highest values are the most effective and efficient pathway to fulfilling the greatest amount of voids with the greatest amount of value.
Following me?
So basically when you can't perceive how whatever is happening right now, or how the actions you're taking are fulfilling your highest values (and so deepest voids) - in other words the things that are most important and meaningful to you in your life right now - then the result is unfulfillment
The feeling of unfulfillment comes from unfulfilled highest values. Understanding this is key to breaking the cycle.
So what'd you do?
Fill your day with high priority challenges that inspire you,
so that it doesn't fill up with low value distractions that don't.
It's the law of entropy.
Can't you see that when you're present, focused and fully engaged in an activity you enjoy you don't tend to overeat?
You tend to eat just enough for you to perform your task/activity/duty at hand.
So fill your day with high priority challenges that align with your 3 highest values. Idle time is the devils workshop. Idle time will keep you fat. I challenge you to go a walk in nature or get up n prep a healthy meal lol
The guilt and shame piece is interesting. This can be self or other directed. Simply put guilt is assuming you've done something bad/wrong. Shame is assuming you've done someone else bad/wrong.
Let me be the first to tell you that your emotional eating isn't bad or wrong. Perceiving / labelling it as so is a judgement. Judgements are incomplete awareness; illusions, lies.
The truth is that you are getting something good from it. Hence the first question - what benefits are you getting from it?
Once you have a more complete view on the behaviour; a balance of +/-'s you will have more adaptability to change it.
You can't change what you don't love. So step one is to love what you judge in yourself.
In a nutshell, this is what I'd start with when it comes to breaking the emotional eating cycle.
Understand that emotions are energy in motion. Your energy being in motion is value driven.
You're likely trying to avoid pain and seek pleasure. But the more pleasure you seek, the more pain you'll inevitably get.
Immediate pleasure, delayed pain.
Immediate pain, delayed pleasure.
That's how I see it.
Hard choices, easy life,
easy choices, hard life.
To make the hard choices easy and the easy choices hard, stack the benefits of doing the hard choice (the healthy alternative) and drawbacks of doing the easy choice (the unhealthy option).
It's all a game of ratios of perception. Change the ratios of your perceptions and your decisions and actions will follow.
If you fill your diet with nutritious whole foods then it won't full up with innutritious junk foods. Again, the law of entropy.
Nutritious whole foods such as high protein meals (steak, fish, chicken, etc.) with plenty of plants (veg, fruits, nuts, seeds, etc.). If you base your diet on these there won't be as much room or desire for the junk foods than if you're just not eating.
Destress. Stress will contribute to emotional eating. Don't stress to eat less. Get to the gym, prepare healthy meals, go a walk, breathe, journal, ask how this is serving you, get a good nights sleep.
If you need help with this or have any questions comment below
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Breaking the emotional eating cycle
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