Freedom From Emotional Eatingনমুনা

Emotional eaters often say they feel powerless over food, but when we dig deeper the real issue is about feeling powerless over our emotions. We can’t change the circumstances and fear the stress, anxiety, or depression we are feeling will never go away. We blame the overeating on our circumstances and since we can’t change where we are, we think we will never find freedom.

This mindset is a big part of what is keeping us on the roller coaster ride of emotional eating. A victim mentality can be a trap that we convince ourselves to stay in, and often contributes to feelings of helplessness. While the solution can be simple, it does require first understanding that these negative thoughts are holding you back. The good news is that this “victim” mindset is learned and acquired behavior and therefore can be changed.

Here are some signs that you may have a victim mindset:

1. You always have an excuse for why you can’t stop the emotional eating.

2. You blame others for your emotional eating. It is always someone else’s fault that you have overindulged.

3. You are just too busy to take care of yourself. There is not enough time to exercise or cook healthy meals.

Do you recognize yourself in any of these excuses? Having a victim mentality is a way to avoid taking responsibility for yourself and your decisions. By believing you don’t have power, you don’t have to take any action. For many of us, we want to blame others for the situation we are in instead of taking responsibility for our role. If we feel we didn’t play a role in getting ourselves into a situation, we won’t believe we can play a role in getting out of the situation.

Once you recognize some of these “excuses” in yourself, you can start to accept your responsibility for your decisions. Until you take responsibility for where you are, no amount of healing is going to happen.

If anyone had the right to have a victim mentality and blame others for their suffering, it was Jesus. But according to scripture, Jesus didn’t come up with excuses, he was a humble servant and he trusted God through all adversity and ordeals. We can trust God too. The New Testament commands Christians to be like Jesus. As children of God, we are to act responsibly. According to a quote by Blaise Pascal, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ."

How are you filling your God-shaped vacuum?

Watch this video that goes deeper into how you can gain the power to find freedom.

To do:

1. Continue to journal your eating and emotions each day.

2. Be aware of your internal voice. Are you using “victim” language? Are you finding excuses to avoid changing your habits?