Before You Emotionally Eat, Ask This Question

For many of us with weight challenges and emotional eating tendencies, when the thought hits to eat something, there’s very little that stops us.  We go for it.

What about if you could pause?  Give yourself just a moment of pause.  Before you emotionally eat, ask yourself the question of “Will eating this (insert food here) make it better?”  Also, what are your goals?  Is your goal to wear a certain size, weigh a particular number on the scale or even wear a special outfit?  If so, you could ask yourself if eating the unhealthy food choice will get you closer to reaching your goal that is so important to you.

While figuring out your food that works best for you and your body after weight loss surgery is important, in my strong opinion, the real success from weight loss surgery occurs after your surgery and when you know what dietary food choices work for you.

We didn’t need weight loss surgery because we were physically hungry.  We ignored and turned off the physical cues and responded to the emotional emptiness and uncomfortable emotions we felt by turning to food.  Food is a fix all – it doesn’t talk back, it doesn’t let us down, it is always there and available to numb and take the edge off of life.  Once we’ve had surgery, we focus on our bodies and the physical components of losing weight.  We may even have plastic surgery.  Then what?  Many post-ops think they are finished.  Done.

Just because our physical body has changed, the inside hasn’t.  The issues and reasons we turn to emotional eating are still there.  They may be put aside from the high and excitement of losing weight but they are still there.  Losing weight doesn’t erase the history of why we became morbidly obese.  The surgery isn’t brain surgery.  The emotional reasons we turn to food are still there.  After we focus on our bodies and losing weight, you aren’t finished.  Avoid weight regain by dealing with the insides.  Why do you have food triggers?  Why do you turn to food or want to use food to cope with emotions and situations?  These are the reasons that eventually will cause weight regain or white knuckling it which is a miserable way to live your life.

When you deal with the issues that causes us to crave food to help us cope, you change your insides and develop strategies so you don’t have to have the strong drive to food.  You are in the driver’s seat of your life, you are in charge rather than food in charge of you.  When you deal with the inside, the outside (your body and weight loss) will take care of itself without the weight regain and food issues resurfacing and in your face.  I know for me, when I regained my weight after years of easily maintaining my weight, it was due to a transition that came up in my life.  I worked with my own coach to deal with my issues so that food wasn’t that source of comfort that we turn to when times are difficult.

When you eat over emotions, the situation or emotions are still there.  Does eating make it better?  Emotional eating truly does not make anything better.  On top of what you ate over, you now feel guilty, shame and other negative emotions.  Emotional eating only complicates the emotions causing you to feel worse.

So, the next time you find yourself wanting to emotionally eat, ask yourself “Will eating make it better?”  Weight loss success is being able to answer a resounding NO!

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, CLC
Certified Life Coach, Weight Loss Surgery Coach
Back On Track Facilitator