Stop Eating for Comfort by Recognizing Your Triggers and Habits

The longer I work with clients the more I realise that most of us who have issues with food are simply hurting in some way and are looking for love/comfort. We may have a very loving relationship with someone else but if we don’t love ourselves there is something missing and we use food to fill the gap. For others it could be alcohol, drugs, gambling or smoking.

However food seems to be the most common as it is quick and easy, not hurting anyone else and can be easily hidden. Unfortunately however, we only feel good for a split second with the initial taste, then the guilt sets in, we feel uncomfortable and start to beat ourselves up which simply leads to more eating or bingeing. Unfortunately eating food only keeps the emotion inside of us. Instead of facing our issues, we over eat which only creates further problems.

The only time our body actually wants food is when it is physically hungry. So when we eat for emotional reasons, it doesn’t work, because our body doesn’t want food, it wants comfort in some other way. So we keep eating waiting for that magic fix that never comes.

By learning how to eat “naturally” we are reconnecting with our body’s natural instincts of hunger and satisfaction. This will then fill the physical need and enable us to find positive, empowering things that will serve the emotional need. The wonderful thing about natural eating is that it is based on awareness. Once you are aware of your habits/triggers around food you can make a different choice.

The key is to honour your emotions, notice that you are sad or lonely or stressed out. Sometimes a good cry is the answer as this enables you to get the emotion out of your body. Other ways of doing this is to laugh, sing, scream or do something physical like running, biking or martial arts. Then you can think clearly and find that positive thing that will comfort you and move forward.

I encourage you to start thinking about the times that you overeat or binge and look to see if you can see a pattern. You will find it is based around certain activities and events which have led to negative habits. Because once you are aware of what you are doing you can find a way to avoid those triggers and make different positive choices.