The most common cause in my experience behind either getting or keeping an excess of body fat is emotional eating.
One way or another, and probably in a way you are totally unaware of, you have learned to use food to ease an emotional distress.
But, you may say, I am distressed because of my eating.
It does not make you happy or calm, but upsets you.
However, time after time after time, once I have released hidden emotional stress, the desire to overeat diminishes, often disappearing altogether for a day or even for much longer.
I find there are two main kinds of emotional over-eaters:
Tell yourself that you will go for a whole day without any overeating.
And when you feel the urge, totally deny it to yourself.
Instead, sit down with a pen and paper and write down any negative thoughts that come to you.
After a day, read these thoughts.
They are the emotions behind your emotional eating! And what is an emotion? Well, it could be said that an emotions is the mind´s signal that we need to pay attention to something.
For example, if we are near a fire and we feel fear, the fear keeps us a respectful distance away from the dangerous fire, and by heeding that emotion, we stay safe.
Once we have done the work needed to address the emotion and what it is telling us, it then safely goes away.
But when we soothe, anaesthetise or distract it away using food, the emotion returns again; and again.
No amount of food will ever satisfy an emotional hunger.
Because the cause has not been addressed.
This is why it is important to train yourself how to tell the difference between eating to ease an emotion and eating to satisfy a physical hunger.
One way to tell if you have an emotional or physical hunger is to tap with EFT for the food craving.
If you tap consistently for about 10 minutes and you feel hungrier, then chances are it is indeed a physical hunger.
If the hunger abates, then it was an emotional hunger.
Another neat trick to use is in the way the hunger manifests itself:
Just sit with it, calm yourself and go into yourself and observe it.
Does it arrive quickly and build to a sudden urgent demand, or does it come in slowly and build as a gently growing awareness? If your hunger is of the sudden and urgent kind, have the courage to sit with it, calm your mind and observe the feeling.
What does it feel like? Is it for example, a gnawing need in the pit of your stomach, a dark rock in your chest, a need to feel something in your mouth, or something else? Where is the feeling, and does it have a texture or color? Or is it just a tension that you feel all over? What is it saying to you? Whatever you come up with is a tappable emotion that you can simply tap for with EFT.
For example, if this was a need to feel something in your mouth, simply tap ¨Even though I need to feel something in my mouth...
¨; and continue tapping till the feeling goes.
I hope this helps you start to distinguish between the two kinds of hunger on your weight-loss journey.
My favorite tool is EFT, short for Emotional Freedom Techniques.
EFT is a great way to release negative emotions and food cravings.
You can download a free guide from many online resources and find out more for yourself.
Or you can dive right in and work with an experienced practitioner.
One way or another, and probably in a way you are totally unaware of, you have learned to use food to ease an emotional distress.
But, you may say, I am distressed because of my eating.
It does not make you happy or calm, but upsets you.
However, time after time after time, once I have released hidden emotional stress, the desire to overeat diminishes, often disappearing altogether for a day or even for much longer.
I find there are two main kinds of emotional over-eaters:
- The kind that know they are an emotional overeater and can probably name some emotions behind their eating
- Those who are totally perplexed about their emotional overeating and find themselves compelled to do it but cannot see how it soothes their emotions.
Tell yourself that you will go for a whole day without any overeating.
And when you feel the urge, totally deny it to yourself.
Instead, sit down with a pen and paper and write down any negative thoughts that come to you.
After a day, read these thoughts.
They are the emotions behind your emotional eating! And what is an emotion? Well, it could be said that an emotions is the mind´s signal that we need to pay attention to something.
For example, if we are near a fire and we feel fear, the fear keeps us a respectful distance away from the dangerous fire, and by heeding that emotion, we stay safe.
Once we have done the work needed to address the emotion and what it is telling us, it then safely goes away.
But when we soothe, anaesthetise or distract it away using food, the emotion returns again; and again.
No amount of food will ever satisfy an emotional hunger.
Because the cause has not been addressed.
This is why it is important to train yourself how to tell the difference between eating to ease an emotion and eating to satisfy a physical hunger.
One way to tell if you have an emotional or physical hunger is to tap with EFT for the food craving.
If you tap consistently for about 10 minutes and you feel hungrier, then chances are it is indeed a physical hunger.
If the hunger abates, then it was an emotional hunger.
Another neat trick to use is in the way the hunger manifests itself:
- Emotional hunger arises quickly and urgently.
- Physical hunger builds slowly as your food is digested.
If you are eating good meals with the right food for your body, your physical hunger will gradually start to build up a few hours after your last meal.
For example, you can more-or-less predict that a certain number of hours after breakfast you will be ready for lunch; similarly for your afternoon snack, and then for your supper.
Just sit with it, calm yourself and go into yourself and observe it.
Does it arrive quickly and build to a sudden urgent demand, or does it come in slowly and build as a gently growing awareness? If your hunger is of the sudden and urgent kind, have the courage to sit with it, calm your mind and observe the feeling.
What does it feel like? Is it for example, a gnawing need in the pit of your stomach, a dark rock in your chest, a need to feel something in your mouth, or something else? Where is the feeling, and does it have a texture or color? Or is it just a tension that you feel all over? What is it saying to you? Whatever you come up with is a tappable emotion that you can simply tap for with EFT.
For example, if this was a need to feel something in your mouth, simply tap ¨Even though I need to feel something in my mouth...
¨; and continue tapping till the feeling goes.
I hope this helps you start to distinguish between the two kinds of hunger on your weight-loss journey.
My favorite tool is EFT, short for Emotional Freedom Techniques.
EFT is a great way to release negative emotions and food cravings.
You can download a free guide from many online resources and find out more for yourself.
Or you can dive right in and work with an experienced practitioner.
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