Stop emotional eating
Are you ready to change the way you deal with your emotions?
Let me tell you my cheesecake story.
Like one of my favorite tv characters, Sophia Petrillo used to say, “Picture this!”
It’s February 2001, I’m at work having just lost my father 72 hours before, pushing through the feelings, putting my big girl panties on and doing what needs doing.
The phone rings.
It’s a colleague phoning in to let us know he won’t be coming to work today as his mother just died.
And just like that, I broke down.
Tears streaming down my face, lump in my throat, I probed out condolences before barely managing to get off the phone.
Somehow I made it to lunch time and then to Publix’s deli counter where when faced with many healthy options (a healthy salad, some delicious hummus, some sweet fruits), I purchased a whole cheesecake and promptly devoured the entirety of it sitting in the front seat of my car.
And you know what, I felt better for about 16 minutes.
Even at that time in my life I understood that good food choices have an impact particularly in times of stress and yet I was powerless to choose anything but that cheesecake.
The Cheesecake owned me
That’s the moment I realized that cheesecake owned me!
I thought of all the times I reached out for the cheesecake!
Coming home to discover my boyfriend changed the lock of the door to the apartment I paid rent on… Cheesecake.
Male boss suggesting that my moment of emotional breakdown means that I’m on my period… Cheesecake.
Getting a “not interested” text from the guy I was just on a date with, which I thought went well… CHEESECAKE!
I hope you’re either laughing or smiling at this point as I’m going to assume that’s because you can relate.
I feel pain, I eat some cheesecake.…where is the harm in this, right?
We are all either using or have used at some point food to manage unprocessed or difficult emotions!
We use food as a way to either control or distract ourselves from these emotions.
And that’s true whether we overindulge, like me with cheesecake, or restrict ourselves around food!
Our relationship with food expands way beyond food…
It sheds light on how we manage our emotions.
The Mayo Clinic’s 9 tips to gain control of emotional eating.
Practice self-inquiry to stop eating emotionally
But here’s the thing, we can either stay on the “hamster wheel” and continue trying to control our emotions with food…
…OR we can get off and practice what in Yoga philosophy we call, Self-Inquiry.
Self-inquiry or self-study is looking at the bigger picture.
That’s the beauty of Ayurveda; we’re not just looking at things as good or bad; we’re not just telling people to do this and not do that.
The Ayurvedic approach encourages a compassionate self-awareness that inspires a desire to change and ultimately leads to greater physical, mental and emotional health and wellness.
What about you? What’s your cheesecake story?
#ayurveda #ayurvediclifestyletips #wellness #cravings
You can start to change with my ebook, 3 Dieting Mistakes
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