You can handle anything that comes your way despite having thoughts that it just may be too much.
Have you ever had a stressful day at work; your boss yells at you, your client is demanding, or you spill your coffee all of the papers on your desk? The next thing you know, you walk in the door, head straight to the kitchen looking for something that will take the edge off, to make you feel better? Or do you end up on the couch after that long stressful day binge-watching Netflix, eating out of the ice cream carton and drinking wine?
I know I have done that. That stressed feeling was so uncomfortable, I didn’t know how to deal with it, and all I wanted was for it not to be there, to go away. But of course, it never did, so I tried to eat my feelings away.
That all changed for me when I found out that it was not the situation; the boss, the clients, the coffee; that that had me feeling stressed out, but my thoughts about the situation.
What?!!!
Yup, it was the way I was thinking about what happened caused me to feel stressed, so if that is the case then what is it we need to do so that we don’t end up eating everything we had not planned on eating.
What I want you to start with is knowing that any feelings you have, you can handle. Yup, that’s possible, and how you do that is by allowing them to be there.
AND guess what they will NOT kill you!
I know for me when I had those stressed out, anxiety-ridden, overwhelming feelings come up for me, I would have a heaviness in my chest. The only thing in my head at that moment was, “What can I eat!” All I wanted to do was eat and guess what I did eat. I ate all the foods I could find that I thought would make me feel better and, of course, those where the foods that didn’t help me to lose weight.
In the process of losing 100 pounds I have learnt how to let those feelings bubbling up inside of me, be there, knowing they won’t harm me. I became aware that turning to food to deal with that feel only caused more pain because I still felt stressed out AND I had the beating myself up and bloated stomach on top of it to deal with.
So what I want you to know is no matter what feeling you have going on inside of you, just let it be there. Don’t try to fight it, resist it or push it down. Just let it be there because it won’t harm you, it won’t kill you.
Yes, it feels crappy, but it feels worse when you add overeating to it!
Once you are aware that the feeling you are having is bringing up the need for you to want to eat, you can start to get curious about the thoughts that are there. Are they serving you? Probably not if you are turning to food to cope. If they are not serving you, then you have a choice to change them.
Changing your thoughts is not about telling yourself some amazing positive thoughts that you don’t believe. The thought you decide to change it too has to believable to you.
I work with my clients on first processing the emotions and then changing the thoughts they are having by using a tool called the thought ladder. It is a process where you work up to a thought that is believable that does not have the reaction of feeling stressed.
If you have been struggling with emotional eating and you are ready to end it, I can help you. Book a Free Break the Cycle call here with me so that your feelings no longer contol your eating.
You are worth it!
Karen
P.S. Join my Facebook community here of Successful Women losing weight for the Last time where you can get more information and support.
