I quit dieting and started living – You Should Too
May 1, 2018
Have you ever sworn up and down that you were going to eat clean and stick to it? Even really wanted to? More than anything?
and then…. god forbid, you’d go a little “off plan.” It the beginning of a slippery slope. You try not to but you feel the guilt, the failure, the “what’s wrong with me”, you just want to quit dieting. But there is always tomorrow and you make another promise. This time it will be different. But tomorrow comes and work and/or mom life pulls at you from every direction.
You may have even hit the gym and eaten perfectly on plan, but somehow you are once again raiding the fridge and cupboards eating and eating and eating, way past the point of fullness.
You are not alone in turning to food to provide temporary relief from stress, anxiety, depression or many other emotions. You’re also not alone in the feeling of guilt that comes afterwards.
So, What’s the definition of an Emotional Eater?
According to the Mayo Clinic, Emotional eating is eating as a way to suppress or soothe negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness. Major life events or, more commonly, the hassles of daily life can trigger negative emotions that lead to emotional eating and disrupt your weight-loss efforts. Now let me explain a little more. I was in therapy for many years for disordered eating, and often asked if I was an emotional eater. I scoffed at the idea because I wasn’t crying about my life whir eating a tub of ice cream. I was just eating a tub of ice cream:). But then one of my wonderful therapists, made me look at it differently. She said, “most of us are emotional eaters. If you ever eat when you’re not hungry, you’re an emotional eater.” Wow. There is a wide spectrum for sure and we also tend to move around on it.
How common is Emotional Eating?
Emotional Eating or Binge Eating is a lot more common than you might think. In fact, statistics from The National Eating Disorders association found that 3.5% of Women and 2.0% of men had binge eating during their life. (My guess is that its actually WAY higher because who out there is actually admitting to it??) What does that mean? It means that Binge eating disorder is 3 times more common than Anorexia and Bulimia combined – Eating disorders that are spoken of much more.
Some of you may know, I’ve dealt with addiction throughout my life. Food was by far the trickiest one to deal with because. unlike drugs and alcohol, you have to still eat to live.
I tried every diet out there, low fat, low carb, the south beach diet, juice cleanses, The carbohydrate addicts diet, weight loss pills. I went to overeaters anonymous meetings, I went to speak to a therapist about the way I ate – and honestly – they didn’t help. It all made me want to quit dieting.
For me, anytime I’ve tried to follow a super strict plan– it made me crazy, and it put me in a place worse than when I started. I felt lost, and hopeless, trapped… The more effort I put into the battle, the more I struggled. I know some of you can relate to that feeling. But then one day – a couple of years ago I learned to eat intuitively, and honestly, learning how to eat in that way has been liberating for me and forever life changing!
So, what is Intuitive Eating? (Hint – Quit Dieting)
Intuitive eating helps us overcome the negative feelings that come with overeating, but also helps us rebuild a healthy relationship with our bodies and teaches us to listen to what our body wants and needs.
What I personally have found is that it was following a diet, with its strict rules and regulations that stopped me from picking up the signals from my body.
For me, Intuitive eating has taught me that I can eat whatever I want, but by listening to my body, I’ve learned that I WANT to eat things that make me feel better, whether that be physically or emotionally. Nothing is off limits. It’s been total freedom!
I’ve changed my relationship with food – and you can too. It’s time to Quit Dieting for once and for all.
If you want to join a group of people looking to quit dieting and learning to eat intuitively – feel free to join my group using the link below:
