Emotional Eating Takes Time

When I reflect back on my life pre-op and sometimes post-op, I have wasted so much time, money, and most importantly, energy on emotional eating.  Worrying about my weight, what I look like, what I can hide behind jackets or sweaters, what I was going to wear that would hopefully fit.  What a waste of time and energy.  Food, eating, weight and my body size consumed my thoughts and energies.  Planning what I was going to eat, avoiding eating certain food items, worrying about my weight and body size, etc.  No way to live life.  Food controlled me rather than I controlled my life and what I ate.

I would stop on my way home from work and pick up snacks (also known as junk) to eat on the way home.  It is illegal to drive while drunk.  I was so mesmerized by eating my stash of junk that I was probably as dangerous as a drunk driver.  It takes a lot of time, skill and practice to maneuver the freeways at 5:00 rush hour while opening a ketchup packet and dipping my fries while driving with my knee.  Yikes!  That extra diversion to the convenience store or fast food drive-thru took up time that I could have been home preparing a meal to enjoy with my family.

Food has no power.  It is food.  We are the ones that give it power.  My weight and food wasn’t the problem, it was my emotional eating to control my emotions and cope with troublesome situations in my life. We use food to manage our emotions.  We use food to self-soothe. People who have struggled with it, and the professionals who treat it, call it by many different names; compulsive overeating, emotional eating, and food addiction. No matter what it’s called, people USE food because food works!  Problem is with other substances we abuse, it only works for a short period of time.  Then the behavior we used it for that temporarily helped becomes the problem itself.

In my opinion, it isn’t about the food.  It is about us.  Weight loss surgery success isn’t found in the perfect protein drink.  It is about learning to manage our emotions and cope with situations and our life without turning to food.  Live life on your own terms with your own strategies and life coping skills without leaning on food.  We turn our personal power over to food.

Rather than spending time searching for the perfect protein power, protein bar, recipe, search for a good mental health professional therapist or coach that can help you live your life free of the bonds of emotional eating.  It is not only possible for you but what you deserve for yourself.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, CLC
Certified Life Coach, Weight Loss Surgery Coach