If you feel like you are broken, or something is wrong with you because you just can’t figure out the food – I am here to tell you otherwise. In this episode, I want to tell you what is going on with your brain, why you are NOT broken, and why you can’t figure out this foodstuff.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “I know how I ‘should’ eat, and I know what is ‘healthy,’ BUT I can't seem to get myself to eat that way!” I know that was the forever battle I had in my head when I struggled with food. This I know how I should eat, and I do well eating like that until I don't. In this cycle (the diet/binge cycle), it is easy to feel like something is wrong with you because you can't seem to align your behaviors with what you know you logically ‘should’ do. This is all mindset, my friend. In this episode, I will tell you why that is happening and how to take hold of your food behaviors once and for all!
To put it simply, your emotions outweigh logic EVERY SINGLE TIME. It does not matter what you logically know is the ‘right thing to do. If you are emotionally charged, you will always do what your emotions tell you to do. So getting control of your food behaviors starts with getting control of your emotions.
TIP ONE: BE AWARE OF YOUR TRIGGERS
..and get to know them WELL. Use the acronym H.A.L.T. to remind yourself of the leading 4 things that typically cause us to throw logic out the window and act on emotions: hungry, angry, lonely, and tired.
TIP TWO: HAVE YOUR EMOTIONAL TOOLBOX READY
When we are emotionally charged, the last thing we'll do is rationally think to ourselves, “what can I do to calm down.” We typically just go to what we know works, which is usually food. However, if you have a box of things you can do ready for when you feel this way, you can just go to the box. This takes the thought process out of it.
TIP THREE: WATCH YOUR THOUGHTS
What nobody ever teaches us is that emotions don't come from events. They come from our interpretation of the event. Therefore, getting a hold of our emotions comes from looking at what we are interpreting/assuming something that happened to us to mean. When we can reframe, we can begin to calm ourselves down without doing anything!
TLDR;
Emotions outweigh logic EVERY TIME. If you know how you ‘should’ eat but can't seem to align your logic to your actions… odds are you are emotionally dysregulated.
