Jennie Belen

Is Food Filling a Void?

I have been reading a book called “Made to Crave” and it has given me a whole lot of food for thought.  I have been an emotional eater for most of my life but didn’t realize it until recently. 

What I mean is that I am a person who uses food to cope with comfort, boredom, stress, loneliness, anxiety, you name it. Food fills that void if I let it!

The issue with emotional eating is not the actual act of eating the food. We need food to nourish our body and to survive.  It’s that it doesn’t alleviate or fix whatever issue we have going on internally. So in turn we end up feeling worse after we eat the food versus better.

Here are 3 steps that have helped me with emotional eating.

 1. Recognize when it occurs. (ex. I crave donuts when I feel sad)

2. Be mindful of what our physical body needs vs. the emotional need. If I am tired I may crave carbs because my body needs more energy.

3. Replace the eating with a different activity that has a more positive outcome, such as:

*walking
*reading
*praying
*calling a friend
*watch a movie
*take a bath

Or whatever is going to give you what you’re needing at the moment.

Next time you have a hard day at work or with the kiddos at home be mindful of your reaction.

Will you reach for the wine or ice cream to feel better? Or do something different.

And here is where it gets tricky. There’s nothing wrong with having either one of those things. It only becomes an issue when we continue to use it in excess and as a coping mechanism or to fill the void so often that we are no longer taking care of ourselves but using it to numb our emotions. Instead, lets find a different outlet.

So Remember:
RECOGNIZE>ANALYZE>REPLACE = WIN