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When the Feeling Needs Somewhere to Go Not all emotional cravings are asking for food. Sometimes you are looking for somewhere to put your stress that you have been carrying. Food can give you a temporary outlet, by giving you something to do and something to focus on. It could help you turn what is happening inside you into something you can see, hear, touch, or shape. Things like writing, working on a puzzle, knitting, sewing, gardening, making a scrapbook, or building or r

Energizing Tools Not every urge to eat is driven by stress. Sometimes it is driven by feeling tired, bored, restless, unmotivated, or mentally drained. Sometimes the most helpful energizing tool is giving yourself permission to rest. Your mind has learned that your favorite comfort foods help change your mood, even if it is short-lived. There is definitely nothing wrong with enjoying your food. But it is important to learn what your nervous system really needs, like movement

Soothing Tools Stress, anxiety, anger, or overwhelm can make the urge to reach for food feel especially strong. Soothing tools can help calm your body and give you a few moments to pause before deciding how you want to respond. This will be very helpful when your nervous system is overloaded and food feels like the fastest way to relieve stress. It is hard to think clearly when you are stressed. The soothing tool helps create another way to communicate what you need. Below ar

Connection Tools We are not always craving food; sometimes we are looking for a connection. When we feel lonely or disconnected, we sometimes rely on food to give us temporary comfort. We can learn to recognize our need for connection and start responding in different ways. When we pull away from others, our isolation grows; this makes food feel like a safer and easier place to find comfort. When we recognize what we are truly looking for, we can respond to our needs instead

Does your energy, schedule, mood, or cravings for certain foods change when the weather starts to feel colder? Are you drawn to a warm bowl of pasta, or the smell of cinnamon baking in a dessert? Do the large candy displays for Halloween tempt you as you walk by? When you are tired or stressed, comfort food grabs your attention, even when you try to ignore the craving. Why comfort food may feel especially appealing in the fall For some people, shorter days can be linked to c

Do you push through your day? Handle what needs to be handled. Reassure yourself that everything is okay. But when evening comes, you find yourself looking for something to eat. You're not physically hungry, but you're looking for some comfort. For some people, emotional eating starts in those moments. Not in overwhelming moments, but with years of putting your feelings aside and expecting yourself to push through. It is easy to lose touch with what you truly need when you pu

Giving up on a goal is very different from changing the way you try to reach it. Sometimes when we are committed to a certain plan, we start to believe it is the only way to move forward. We try to follow the plan, and when it doesn’t work, we assume it is our fault. It could be because the plan you are using doesn’t meet your needs. You can be committed to your goals without being committed to a plan that repeatedly leaves you disappointed and discouraged. The Wile E Coyote

We have spent the past three weeks learning how to guard the door to our minds, recognize the thoughts that quietly steal our peace, and replace those thoughts with ones that help us grow. Today is the final step in the Positive Thoughts Series. We learned that removing negative thoughts is important, but now what? If we don’t replace the negative thoughts with something positive, then they will work their way back into your life. If you have a garden and you spend a day clea

A chameleon can be a powerful analogy for emotional eating because it changes color in response to its surroundings. Just like our eating can change in response to what is happening around us and inside us. The Chameleon Effect of Emotional Eating. A chameleon adapts to its environment. It can change its color depending on light, temperature, environment, or stress. Emotional eating can work in a similar way. Emotional eating may “change color” if we eat too quickly without n

Week 4: Protect Your Peace We have spent the past three weeks learning how to guard the door to our minds, recognize the thoughts that quietly steal our peace, and replace those thoughts with ones that help us grow. Today is the final step in the Positive Thoughts Series. We learned that removing negative thoughts is important, but now what? If we don’t replace the negative thoughts with something positive, then they will work their way back into your life. If you have a gard

Mini series, week 3: So far, we have talked about guarding the door to your mind and identifying the thoughts that quietly steal your confidence, peace, and joy. What do you do once you've recognized those thoughts? We tend to believe all our thoughts are true. But this is definitely not the case. We have thousands of thoughts every day. Some are helpful, and some are not. We do have a choice; we don’t have to believe every thought we have. Your Brain Can Learn New Patterns I

Last week, we talked about guarding the door to your mind. We learned that not every thought we have deserves our attention. Just because the thought is there doesn’t make it true. This week, we are talking about how to identify the "thought thieves." These are the negative thoughts that steal our peace, confidence, hope, and joy. These thoughts have played over in our heads so many times that there is no questioning if it is true anymore. The negative thoughts change how we

Welcome to the 4-week mini-series on how our thoughts affect how we eat. One of the last things we do before we go to bed is lock our doors to make sure our families stay safe. Why don’t we take this kind of care with our thoughts? We allow fear, self-doubt, and criticism to take over our lives. Thoughts can be helpful and encouraging, but some thoughts can fill us with fear and doubt. If we allow destructive thoughts to take over, they quietly reshape how we feel about ours

We start out full of motivation but find ourselves slipping back into old habits when life feels stressful and overwhelming. It's because lasting change is hard to achieve when you're trying to do it alone. We are more likely to reach our health goals and maintain them if we have people encourage us and celebrate our victories. COMMUNITY REMINDS US THAT WE ARE NOT ALONE. It offers encouragement on the days when our motivation is low and celebrates the small victories that oft

Over the past five weeks, we've explored the deeper reasons behind emotional eating. We've learned that emotional eating isn't a lack of willpower; it is a learned behavior. It is often our nervous system searching for relief from stress and overwhelm. We've also discovered that meeting our emotional needs in healthier ways can reduce the urge to turn to food for comfort. This week we will bring it all together. The goal isn’t to eat perfectly, it is to build a healthier rela

Over the past four weeks, we have learned that emotional eating isn’t a lack of willpower. We now understand that emotional eating follows patterns and is influenced by our triggers. Imagine the engine check light came on. You might be tempted to cover it with duct tape and ignore it. The light would disappear, but the problem is still there. Our emotions work the same way. Your emotions are not the problem; they are signals trying to get your attention. Using food to calm y

The past three weeks, we have learned that emotional eating isn't about a lack of willpower. We also learned that emotional eating isn’t random; it follows a pattern. Triggers such as stress, loneliness, and exhaustion can create a strong urge to eat. This week, we are going to talk about your nervous system. Your Brain Is Trying to Protect You When our life is going smoothly, our body is in a relaxed state. Your brain is able to think clearly and make thoughtful decisions. B

When you walk into a movie theater and smell that fresh popcorn, do you suddenly want some? Even though you are not physically hungry. Over the years, your brain learned to associate the smell of popcorn with the movie experience. The smell of popcorn becomes a trigger. It activates memories, emotions, expectations, and habits that have been repeated many times before. Emotional eating works the same way. Our emotions, situations, places, and people can trigger the urge to e

Last week, we talked about what emotional eating is and that it often has deeper roots than eating when you're not hungry. This week, we are talking about one of the biggest myths around emotional eating. We need more willpower. Take a moment and think about all the times you promised yourself that “This time would be different.” Or how many times have you started over on Monday? Even though you are trying, you find yourself in the familiar place of frustration and wondering

It is often thought that emotional eating is eating when you're not hungry. Speaking from personal experience, this is not true. It goes deeper than that. The reason why emotional eating happens is that we use food to calm our anxiety, soothe our stress, cope with loneliness, and as a reward after a hard day. By doing this, we create a comfort that gives us a sense of calm, even though it is only temporary. The struggle not to blame yourself is common; you often feel that