Have you ever wondered: Am I binge eating? Or is it overeating? Or am I just emotional eating? Ahhh *cue spiraling into the peanut butter jar because whatever I did, it made me feel like š©*
Understanding where the chaos around food comes from starts with understanding what you are doing with food in the first place. Let's get clear:
Binge eating is a biological reaction to unmet physical and/or emotional needs.
This is not about the amount you eat but rather the way you eat:
- rapid eating, usually while standing
- not tasting the food
- feeling out of body
- unable to stop until physically ill
- followed by IMMENSE shame and guilt
How to overcome binge eating: look for the unmet physical and/or emotional needs and prioritize meeting those (or healing why those aren't being met in the first place)
Emotional eating is a response to a positive and/or negative emotion.
This can be a coping mechanism when experiencing a negative emotion (a way to calm yourself down (or distract) when feeling an intense emotion), OR this can be responding to experiencing a positive emotion; ex: celebrating (think bday & wedding cake)
How to overcome emotional eating: focus on managing and regulating the emotion in other ways
Overeating is a part of being human because food is delicious, and sometimes we eat more than is comfortable in our stomachs.
This is an element of being human
- food is delicious
- Sometimes we allow ourselves to get too hungry, and then our bodies want to get full
- it just happens
How to overcome overeating: reconnect with your body's innate hunger and fullness cues
Takeaway: Your eating is not the problem, and the food is not the problem. It is your mindset around food, unmet needs, poor body image, and demonizing food. Let go of focusing on the food and begin to focus on what you are eating!
View this post on Instagram
