“Overeating is always an attempt to care for yourself.” -Geneen Roth
These words hit home during a global pandemic. When everything is interrupted and replaced by anxiety (and way too much time indoors), emotional eating is practically guaranteed to occur.
But we can weather the storm together.
Each time you want to eat when you’re not hungry, first recognize that you’re trying to care for yourself. Then, see if you can get curious with another form of self-care.
Notice I used the words ‘get curious and another’, not replace or instead of… This is because the way we speak to ourselves and the language we use is soooo important. If I use the word replace or instead of, that’s a form of restriction. And you know what restriction leads to…
Rebellion/ Doing the exact opposite of the rule you’ve just put in place. Feeling like something is being taken away from you which only ignites your mental, emotional and biological reaction to EAT EAT EAT!
So to reiterate, do this with utmost curiosity, not restriction.
Check-in with yourself and be like, ‘Hey sweetheart how you feeling?’
Are you tired? – Try taking a nap with some gentle relaxation music or a guided sleep meditation.
Are you bored? – Go for a walk with your favourite audiobook or podcast… Cough – Victoria’s Secrets To Helth & Happiness anyone…
In one of those ‘meh’ moods…? (and that’s meh not meth!) – Turn on your favourite Netflix show. Write in a journal. Find a motivational talk on YouTube…I’ve heard Victoria Kleinsman has good videos, ya know, just saying 😜.
Are you bored but being mardy at the same time so you don’t want to do anything apart from eat…? Well then eat!
It. is. ok.
Do your thing.
Find something that makes you feel taken care of. The desire to eat when you’re not hungry is one way that your soul begs for attention. Feed it.
Not just with food, but with self-care. And again, try not to turn this into a form of restriction.
And most importantly of all…Promise yourself that you can have the snacks if that’s still what you really want after you’ve explored another way to take care of yourself.
But first, take care of yourself. Take a long hot shower if that’s your jam. And if you still want to eat snacks when you’re done, even though you’re not hungry, eat the snacks.
And give yourself full permission to have as much as you want. The consequences of attempting to restrict your diet are always higher than just eating exactly what you want in the first place.
If that still feels too restricting for you, try incorporating eating your favorite thing WHILST doing another form of self care.
For example, if the idea of a bath makes you feel cared for, take some chocolate into the bath with you. Light some candles (who cares if it’s in the middle of the day!). Put some relaxing music on. Enjoy every bite of that delicious chocolate.
If the idea of a walk appeals to you, how about taking your favorite snack with you and finding a quiet spot to sit down and enjoy it?
Have a brainstorm now on a piece of paper, what else sounds good to you at the times when you would normally reach for the food when you know you’re not hungry?
Now, look at the things you’ve written down. Can you incorporate some of these as well as eating?
Or can you try doing one or two of them and THEN seeing if you still want the snacks afterwards?
100% unadulterated permission is key to stopping binge eating long-term.
In the meantime, be kind to yourself. All this interruption and time indoors is enough to make anyone go crazy.
If you want to take this opportunity to work on your relationship with food and your body, then have a nosey at my food freedom and body confidence program.
There are three different options to work through my 5-month program and we can always chat together to arrange a payment plan that you’re happy with and that suits your circumstances.
Keep calm, practice checking in with yourself. With lots and lots of self-care.
We’re in this together,
Victoria x
