This resource library is continually growing. I'll be adding new struggles and practical tools every week. My goal is to build a comprehensive library that helps you find support exactly when you need it most, so be sure to check back often.
What Are You Struggling With Today?
Every struggle has a place to begin. Click the ⭐ beside the topic you'd like to explore and take one small step forward today.
I Just Binged
Binging can leave you feeling disappointed, frustrated, and ashamed. This is when we tell ourselves, "I'll do better tomorrow," or "I've ruined everything." You need to understand that when you have a binge, it doesn’t erase the progress that you have already made.
If you find yourself binging, it isn’t because something is wrong with you. It is more about your nervous system trying to cope with stress the only way it knows how.
Why Do People Binge Eat?
Binge eating isn't about not having enough willpower. It's usually the result of several factors coming together over time. If you skip meals and restrict food for long periods, it will affect your health, both mentally and physically.
You may be feeling stressed, overwhelmed, anxious, lonely, or emotionally exhausted. Binge eating is a way to numb your emotions and avoid painful thoughts. Binge eating is a way to numb our emotions or escape painful thoughts. It also can fuel all-or-nothing thinking. One "bad" choice can make you feel like the whole day is ruined.
Food is a source of comfort because it gives temporary relief. When we are eating, the relief feels real, and that is why our brain learns to turn to food. The problem is that once the moment passes, we are filled with shame and guilt, and we are now discouraged and trapped in the same cycle.
There is good news. This is a learned behavior, and anything that is learned can be changed. This is where patience and learning new ways to react to life's challenges will help you break free of emotional eating.
Take the time to pause,
Don't Judge Yourself
Take Three Slow Breaths
Be Kind to Yourself
Drink a Glass of Water
Don't Start Over Tomorrow
Remember This
Binging is not a character flaw. You learn to break the cycle when you are curious about why you eat. Healing happens when you give yourself grace and choose to move one step at a time.
I'm afraid I'll never change
Have you tried countless times to diet and lose weight? Every time, you promised yourself, “This time will be different.” But every time you promise yourself this, a few weeks later you are back to your old habits. The problem is that every time you do not meet your goals, it takes another piece of your confidence away. You fear that you will never change.
If you plant an oak tree in your backyard, you would have to water it every day to get the roots to take hold. A month goes by, and the tree looks the same as the day it was planted. It looks like it isn’t growing, but under the surface, something cool is happening. The tree's roots are growing deeper into the soil, so it will be able to someday support itself through storms, strong winds, and changing seasons.
Lasting change works the same way. Before you can change your habits, you have to change your thoughts. Your awareness of why you eat creates behavior changes. Your brain is quietly building new pathways, and because of this, you have gained your confidence back. The roots came first. Just because you can’t see progress doesn't mean that it isn't happening.
Things you can become aware of:
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Learning to pause before reacting.
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Becoming more aware of your triggers.
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Speaking to yourself with more compassion.
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Choosing curiosity instead of shame.
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Recovering more quickly after setbacks.
These are roots. And strong roots create lasting change.
It is very common for people to measure progress by whether they were able to refrain from emotional eating. The problem is, it isn’t that simple. You can think back and see that six months ago, when you emotionally ate, it lasted a week before you got back on track. Now, when you slip, it is only one meal, maybe one day. Now that is progress.
Your progress is not only measured by eating differently. It is also about thinking differently and responding to your stress differently.
I feel guilty after eating
Have you ever finished eating and immediately asked yourself, “Why did I eat that?” You now feel as if you ruined all the progress that you worked on for the past four days. Feeling out of control, you start to feel guilty.
Guilt doesn’t create change. It creates shame, self-criticism, and another promise to "be better" tomorrow. The feeling of guilt is there because you did something that you thought was “bad.”
The Wrong Turn
If you’re driving in a place you have never been before and at some point take a wrong turn. Your GPS doesn’t say, "Well, you've messed up now. You might as well keep driving in the wrong direction."
It instead says: "Recalculating." There is no judgment or criticism; instead, there is another path to take. We are our worst critics after we emotionally eat. There is a lot of time spent thinking about what we ate and believing we will never be able to control ourselves.
Why Do We Feel Guilty After Eating?
Food guilt has little to do with food, but a lot to do with the meaning we attach to the food. If we spend years believing that certain foods are "good" or "bad," Then that teaches us to judge our worth when we consume them. What we tell ourselves is usually what causes the deepest pain.
What Can You Do Right Now?
1. Pause Before You Judge Yourself
2. Remember That One Choice Doesn't Define You
3. Speak to Yourself Like Someone You Love
4. Learn Instead of Punish
Remember This
You can’t grow if you are punishing yourself. The goal isn’t to be perfect. The goal is to become someone who is learning to respond to mistakes with compassion and to have the courage to keep moving forward. There will be wrong turns, but the people who reach their destination are not the ones who never get lost. They're the ones who keep recalculating.
I eat when I am stressed
Our brain isn’t thinking about long-term results.
It wants to feel relief as soon as possible. Food that is high in sugar, fat, or salt will temporarily activate the brain's reward system. This gives you a brief sense of comfort or relief.
It's not that your brain is trying to sabotage you. It is trying to help you cope with tools that have worked in the past. It needs to be taught new tools for coping so that you can feel relief more healthily.
What Can You Do Right Now?
1. Check Your Bucket
2. Lower the Water Level
3. Ask What You Really Need
4. Remember That Stress Isn't the Enemy
Please remember that you don't stress eat because you're broken. You do it because it has always been the go-to, and your brain learned that it is the quickest way to comfort. Creating new habits that are small and doable is easier to fit into your life than large plans that will only cause disappointment when not met.
I'm emotionally exhausted
Have you ever felt that you have nothing else to give? You are not alone. Maybe you are helping care for loved ones, carrying responsibilities, overloaded with difficult emotions, or having to make decisions all day.
By the time you get home from work, you feel that food is the only thing not asking anything from you. You allow yourself to indulge in your favorite foods. Being emotionally exhausted is not a lack of willpower. It happens when you give more than you have to give.
You leave home in the morning with your phone fully charged. As the day goes on, all the texts, calls, and GPS directions drain the battery a little more each time. By the time you get home, your phone is flashing that it needs to be recharged.
You would never expect your phone to keep going without recharging it. So why do we expect to be able to keep going without recharging? Eventually you won't be able to keep going. When your emotional battery is low, your brain naturally looks for the quickest way to recharge.
For many of us the fastest way to relief is food. The relief may only be temporary, but it is still relief. Real recovery comes from giving yourself the kind of rest your mind and body actually need.
What Can You Do Right Now?
1. Check Your Emotional Battery
2. Recharge Instead of Just Refuel
3. Stop Expecting Yourself to Be Everything for Everyone
4. Give Yourself Permission to Do Less
When we learn to recharge before we are completely depleted, the less we will turn to food
I'm overwhelmed
Are you overwhelmed by juggling work, family, finances, health concerns, relationships, or simply trying to keep up with everyday life? This is not you failing. You are carrying more than your mind and body were meant to carry.
Being overwhelmed can make small tasks feel big. You find your body tensing up, and your mind won't stop replaying everything. This is when most of us will turn to food. It is a fast escape from the world. Knowing that it only gives a few moments of peace doesn’t stop us, because we need it.
If I handed you one ball and told you to juggle it, you probably could do it. I toss another ball in, and you're still able to do it. But by the time I get to ball three, four, five, you would feel overwhelmed and annoyed. The point is we can all handle a few things at once, but when we have too much to deal with, we can’t keep up.
When we feel overwhelmed, it feels comforting to turn to food. Your brain is designed to protect you. So when it is overloaded, it looks for the fastest and easiest route to calm. Food gives us a quick distraction from our busy lives. Your brain is not trying to sabotage you. It is trying to reduce your mental and emotional overload.
When we turn to food, it doesn’t solve any problems. It only gives you a short break from your emotions. Real relief comes from reducing the load, not just escaping it.
What Can You Do Right Now?
1. Allow yourself to put problems down.
Ask yourself: "What is one thing that doesn't have to be done today?"
2. Focus on the Next Step
When we're overwhelmed, we tend to think about everything at once.
Instead, ask:
"What's the next small step I can take?"
3. Take a Five-Minute Reset
Sometimes your mind needs a pause before it needs a solution.
4. Ask for Help
You don't have to carry every responsibility by yourself.
Being overwhelmed is not a sign that you are incapable of running your life day-to-day. It is a sign that you are taking on too much and need to stop juggling so much at once.
I don't know if I'm actually hungry
Most of us have stood with the refrigerator door open, wondering if you were really hungry. Even though the answer feels like it should be obvious, it isn’t. Sometimes you could be physically hungry, and other times you could be emotionally hungry.
There should be no shame in either way of thinking. Our goal isn’t to judge ourselves. The goal is to be aware of what your body and mind are asking for.
When you are driving and your gas light comes on it is telling you that you need to pay attention. But what if all your warning lights on the dashboard looked the same? How would you know what needed your attention?
You would need to pause and figure out what the real problem was. Our bodies work the same way. Sometimes the signal means we are hungry, and other times it is saying we need rest, comfort, connection, and maybe a break.
The feeling can feel the same at first. Learning to pause for a moment and ask, "What do I really need?" will help you learn to read your body's dashboard.
Physical Hunger
Builds gradually. Can be satisfied with a variety of foods. Comes with physical signs like a growling stomach, low energy, or difficulty concentrating. Goes away when you've eaten enough.
Emotional Hunger
Appears suddenly. Craves specific comfort foods. Feels urgent. Continues even after you're physically full. It is connected to emotions such as stress, loneliness, boredom, frustration, or sadness.
Remember, emotional hunger isn't "fake." It is hunger for something other than food.
What Can You Do Right Now?
1. Pause for One Minute
2. Check In With Your Body
3. If It's Emotional Hunger
4. If It's Physical Hunger
Every time you pause before eating, you're learning a little more about yourself.
Awareness always comes before change. And every moment of awareness is progress.
I Can't Stop Thinking About Food
Do you feel that all you think about is food? Do you think about what you are going to eat next? Or do you replay what you ate at lunch, telling yourself you ate too much? You promise yourself that you will make up for it at your next meal.
This kind of thinking can feel so exhausting.
Have you ever heard a song on the radio on the way to work that was stuck in your head all day? No matter how hard you tried to think of other things, it popped back into your thoughts and got louder.
Food can work the same way. You find yourself thinking, "Don't eat that.” "Don't think about food." "Be stronger." "Ignore the craving." Our goal isn’t to force the song to stop replaying in our head; it is to understand why it is playing in the first place. Same with your thoughts around food.
Understanding why we think about food at certain times or in certain situations is more helpful than criticizing yourself for having those thoughts.
What Can You Do Right Now?
1. Get Curious
Ask what is happening right now that is causing stress and making me turn to food?
2. Make Sure You're Nourishing Your Body
If you've skipped meals, under-eaten, or are trying to "be good," your brain will naturally think about food more often.
3. Fill Your Mind With More Than Food
Ask yourself:
"What else brings me joy, purpose, connection, or peace?" Even small moments have meaning.
Don't Fight Every Thought
Thoughts are just thoughts. You can notice the thought and choose another solution.
Don’t make it your goal to not think about food. First of all, it is important to make goals that you can keep. Saying you will stop thinking about food is setting yourself up to fail.
Instead, take time and understand why you feel the way you do.
I'm Lonely
When we feel lonely, it can also make us feel invisible. Even when we are surrounded by family and friends, we can still feel as if we are alone. That is why food can make a great companion. Even if it is only for a short time, food gives you comfort and also gives you something to focus on.
When you are home alone, you might notice how quiet the house can be when no one is there. The silence feels uncomfortable, so you turn on the T.V. Now the house feels less empty as the sounds of your favorite show fill the room. But when you turn the T.V. off, the house feels empty again.
Food can work the same way. It temporarily drowns out the feeling of loneliness, but when the eating is over, the loneliness is often still waiting.
Feeling lonely triggers your brain to look for comfort. Your brain looks for the fastest way to feel relief, and it has learned over time that food does the job.
The comfort is real. But it's temporary. The deeper need for connection and belonging is still there.
1. Name What You're Feeling
Pause and ask,
"Am I hungry, or am I longing to feel connected?"
Sometimes simply naming the emotion takes away some of its power.
2. Call or text Someone
Connection doesn't have to be a long conversation. Small moments of connection matter.
3. Be Kind to Yourself
Treat yourself with the same compassion you would give to your loved ones.
Loneliness is a reminder that your heart longs for connection. Connection with our loved ones and friends gives us lasting comfort. You deserve to feel connected. And you don't have to walk this journey alone.