Emotional Eating-It’s not about self-discipline
A common myth is that what we call Emotional Eating is an excuse for lack of self-discipline. The truth is that Emotional Eating is a sensitive topic -and very frustrating for those who face it- which has nothing to do with food per se. It is rather about turning to food for comfort, stress relief, reward or punishment, rather than to satisfy hanger. Emotional eating can reflect/stem from:
🔷 Need for emotional nourishment: When we don’t feel hunger but still striving for food that means that we desire emotional nourishment, as for many people food is the easiest way to feel loved and comforted.
🔷 Difficulty managing unpleasant feelings: Food can temporarily smooth uncomfortable emotions, such as fear, sadness, anxiety, loneliness etc and distract us momentarily from highlighting feelings of dissatisfaction with our life.
🔷 Bad Relationship with our body: We usually convince ourselves that if we could lose those extra pounds then we would date more or have more confidence. While it seems like a nice “motivation” the only purpose it serves is to make us feel even worse and lower our self-esteem.