Many of us know what it feels like to eat our emotions. It can be supportive in the moment, but it does not always feel great in the long term.

To shift the way we relate to food, it can be helpful to address the emotions surrounding the times when we reach for food. I have found myself using food as a transition tool. I have replaced that habit with a new practice of taking three deep breaths when I get home or between activities.

However, replacing the habit is not enough. I started with exploring why I was using food as a transition tool and realized that it was a way to reduce stress. Chewing releases endorphins from the pituitary and hypothalamus glands. The endorphins promote a feeling of well being in the moment. But they don’t support nervous system regulation in the long term, though.

Creating Affirmations

I have been able to support my long term nervous system regulation by re-patterning my emotional response to transition with these affirmations:

I am feeling a feeling right now.

I am a person who can handle transition with grace and ease.

These affirmations have helped me to change my subconscious response to the stress of transition and get to the root of what’s happening for me in the moment. Life’s experiences, whether small or large, can be activating and triggering to the nervous system. If you experience triggers and reach for food, you are not alone.

Break the Cycle

How do we interrupt patterns?

Pick a time when it’s easy to stray away from comfort eating and lean into another habit like a deep breath. Perhaps it’s with after lunch cravings or with nighttime cravings. Lean into this moment and start re-directing your behavior.

You can also focus on spending time in an environment where it feels harder to reach for snacks. I started going into the living room instead of the kitchen when I got home. Then, I would sit on the couch and breathe instead of heading for the fridge or the pantry.

This pause has allowed me to check in and see how I am doing in the moment and what I need to transition in to the home world.

I ask myself: what do I really need right now?

It might be nourishment as food. It might be nourishment as a hug, a breath, a glass of water, or a moment of movement or rest.

Steps to Breaking the Cycle of Emotional Eating

What would help you break the cycle of emotional eating?

Step One: without judgement, recognize emotion as it is coming up. Awareness is essential to change.

Step Two: see if you can tolerate the discomfort of being with your emotion instead of distracting with food.

Step Three: tend to your emotion and get curious about the subconscious patterns that might have triggered that emotion.

Step Four: repeat an affirmation and celebrate yourself for re-directing. Congratulations!

Each time you break and old pattern, give yourself with a smile or a high five in the mirror (nod to Mel Robbins for this one), and honor yourself for listening to your embodied emotions.

Instructive or Destructive?

Please be kind with yourself.

You may notice that you are tired or undernourished when you have cravings. Honor those truths. Remember that gut bacteria produce the majority of our mood modulating hormones. Changing the gut microbiome by eating more protein, greens, and whole grains throughout the day can have an effect on emotional eating.

Cravings can feel destructive. Eating when we are not hungry can be destructive and can be symbolic of an inherited pattern. I call this pattern the Hungry Ghost pattern, one where we engage in behavior either created by ourselves because of trauma or learned from others who modeled it for us. The more we become aware of patterns, whether acquired or self created, the more we can accept them, embrace them, and let them go.

Cravings can also be instructive. After I eat birthday cake and crave cinnamon, I know my body is asking me for support with blood glucose balance.

No matter what is coming up for you, pausing is powerful. Celebrate each time you pause before you reach for food from a triggered place. Even if you still eat that food, you are re-wiring your nervous system to pause. The more you bring in this new behavior into your days, the more you can find yourself letting go on a habit.

Reach out to talk more about emotional eating, non judgement, and nervous system re-patterning:

lisa@harmonized-living.com