Intuitive Eating Principle #7: Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness
We are emotional beings living in a very emotional world, and more often than not, we turn to food to distract and comfort us when everything feels overwhelming. Rather than using food as a primary way to manage emotions or suppress them, intuitive eating encourages you to develop healthier coping strategies. By nurturing a kind and compassionate relationship with oneself, you can reduce emotional eating tendencies and cultivate a more balanced approach to both emotions and eating habits.
The Continuum of Emotional Eating
There are a variety of reasons why we seek out food as a coping mechanism, ranging from neutral and pleasing, to destructive and self-sabotaging:
Sensory gratification
Enjoy your food, please your palate and appreciate eating so that you will feel satisfied when you are biologically hungry.
Comfort
Comfort foods help to warm us on a chilly day or soothe us when we are not feeling well, but it’s important to not associate these types of foods with any kind of guilt. Additionally, if your first source of comfort is food when you are sad or lonely, it will make it more difficult to get to the root of your feelings.
Distraction
Feeling our feelings 24 hours a day can be exhausting, so a little distraction is ok. But if you are constantly using food to distract you from thinking about an impending, anxiety-inducing event (exam, presentation at work), you may need help to find a more beneficial way to address your emotions.
Sedation
A more severe manifestation of utilizing food for emotional comfort involves consuming it with the intention of dulling or numbing sensations, preventing you from experiencing any feelings for extended periods of time. When sedation occurs more frequently, self-blame and punishing behaviors may be triggered, leading to loss of self-esteem and self-hatred. Oftentimes such behaviors include binge eating.
Coping with Emotional Eating - Making Food Less Important in Your Life
“Am I biologically hungry?”
Just as we discussed in Principle #2: Honor Your Hunger, if you are hungry: EAT! But if you are not hungry, ask yourself the following questions:
“What am I feeling?”
Bribery and Reward
Excitement
Soothing
Love
Frustration, Anger, Rage
Stress
Anxiety
Mild Depression
Being Connected
Loosening the Reins
“What do I need?”
Once you have acknowledged that you are not biologically hungry, take a pause and see what your body really needs. If you’re working non-stop and mindlessly seeking out food, maybe you need sleep or some other type of self-care? (For more on self-care, see list below or check out this blog post)
“Would you please…?”
Busy schedules leave little time for “me time”. Rather than using food as a means to take a break, ask a partner or colleague for help so that you can carve out time to practice some self-care and take a pause.
Meeting Your Needs with Kindness
Seek Nurturance (aka Self-Care)
When we engage in self-care, we are taking intentional and purposeful actions to prioritize our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. The goal of self-care is to nurture a positive relationship with yourself and to maintain a balanced and fulfilling lifestyle that supports overall health and happiness.
Rest and relax
Watch a sunset
Take a relaxing walk
Listen to soothing music
Meditate
Play with your dog or cat
Deal with Your Feelings
Confronting your emotions might feel daunting, but embracing them in a positive manner can help diminish the urge to turn to food for solace.
Write your feelings in a journal
Call a friend
Confront the person who is triggering your feelings
Let yourself cry
Find a Different Distractor
Using food as a distractor to escape your feelings is a common approach for many, but there are alternatives. Whether you are avoiding a boring task at home or need to take a break at work, take a mental break, and distance yourself in an emotionally satisfying way.
Take a short walk
Put on some music and dance it out
Talk to a friend, in-person or on the phone
Read a favorite magazine
As you acquire fresh coping strategies, consider how food can continue to provide nourishment in a beneficial manner. You deserve to experience well-being, which entails not only avoiding extremes of overeating or extreme hunger but also finding contentment in your dietary decisions. Embracing a healthier relationship with food involves moving away from using it solely as a coping mechanism and integrating it into your life as an enjoyable and fulfilling aspect.
