This morning I wanted dark chocolate. And nuts. And to make chocolate chip cookies. I wanted to eat to feel better.This was after I had had a perfectly lovely breakfast.
Why did I want to snack on my favorite go-to’s?
I was worried about a family member who is depressed. I’m concerned and sad that she is sad. I am not in a position that I can do much but offer support. I also find that sad and frustrating.
Can you relate? I bet you can.
Since I was a girl, my method of dealing with uncomfortable feelings has been to eat. It was almost always something sweet. There were things in my childhood that were uncomfortable, sad, embarrassing, you name it. Something sweet always temporarily solved the feelings problem.
Unfortunately, another problem popped up. Gaining weight.
Fast forward through teen, young adult, and adulthood and that way of dealing with feelings continued. Cookies and ice cream were my go-to for dealing with unpleasant feelings.
Have you had a favorite go-to food to help you feel better? Most of us do. We are human and the chemicals that go to our brain from sugar and processed food condition us to want more., more, more.
We want that “feel better” feeling, right?
Well, fast forward to 2016 and I found out that I had prediabetes. All that sweet stuff caught up to me and now my body was rebelling.
That was a call to action for me.
I changed my diet and lifestyle. Using the tools I learned as a life coach, I have been able to reverse the prediabetes. But that didn’t solve the problem of dealing with feeling by eating sweets.
I knew I needed help with all this. I hired my own life coach to help me learn how to ride the wave of an urge without acting.
She helped me learn about and put into practice ways of identifying what the feelings and thoughts are that are driving my action of eating sweets. One of the most difficult one I have learned to implement is to just feel the feelings. With not eating to feel better.
I learned about other things to do when feeling emotional. Now I have a whole toolbox to go to when I have the urge to eat sweets. when I feel sad.
The bonus of all these changes I made was weight loss, too.
Would you like some help in learning how to avoid weight gain and handle difficult emotions without eating? Contact me here and I’ll get right back to you. If I can do it after having such an ingrained way of making myself feel better, you can, too!
Jane Springer is a certified Life, Wellness and Style Coach who assists women in taking care of themselves, in body, mind and spirit. She coaches women who want to lose weight, avoid diabetes, and feel great. She also helps them thrive after divorce. She also helps them to clear their closets of old clothes and outdated attitudes, so they can shine and feel confident.