Freedom From Emotional Eatingনমুনা

When stress, anxiety, anger, or sadness enters your life, do you race to the kitchen and devour a brownie? The cycle of emotional eating starts with emotions that trigger us to eat even if we aren’t hungry. Our hope is that the food will comfort us but most often it does just the opposite. After consuming large amounts of food, the shame and guilt start to bubble up which leads to more negative emotions and the cycle starts all over again.

So many of us turn to food when we are emotional because we believe the lie that says food will make us feel better. When we are sad a brownie will make us happy, when we are angry a bag of chips will take the anger away. The truth is, God did not create food to comfort us, and it will not heal emotional pain.

One of the challenges we face when seeking freedom from emotional eating is that it's not an option to just quit eating, so we have to learn how to have a healthier mindset when it comes to food. God created food to nourish us, and we can’t survive without it. Food is fuel for our body, and it can also be a source of enjoyment, but it should NEVER be where we turn for comfort. God is the only one that can truly fill the void we experience during stressful moments in our lives. God is there to walk us through disappointments, failures, and regrets.

Changing how we react to our emotions isn’t easy. Our brain forms neuropathways, or ruts. These pathways are helpful because they allow us to do certain activities without having to think too hard, but they also make it challenging to change. Your brain may have formed neuropathways so that when you feel sad you automatically turn to food. We are going to help you get rid of this rut so when you feel emotional it doesn’t trigger you to turn to food.

It’s time to stop the emotional eating cycle and take your life back!

In the next several days, we will go through steps that you can take to change your thinking and, with God’s help, learn a new way of dealing with your emotions. Do not feel overwhelmed with the task of overcoming this stronghold in your life. Invite God into your life and lean on Him to help end the temptations.

To do:

1. When you feel like eating, do you notice a physical hunger or are you feeling emotional?
2. Track and journal how you are feeling each time you eat.