Emotional Eating 101: Wrap Up
True confession: I’ve been feeling a little like Debbie Downer lately, talking about the dark side of emotional eating all month. This is tough stuff that requires serious examination to unravel. But all this introspection can feel overwhelming, so we’re gonna take a break from it in March and move on.
Before we do, here’s a recap of my emotional eating blogs and videos, just in case you missed one:
At its core, emotional eating is denial. In “Emotional Eating 101: Denial” I looked at my own pattern of denial and examples I hear from others. “Denial vs. Acceptance” was a reality check suggesting perhaps we should ignore what the diet experts say we “should” do and just do what actually works.
Remember: play to your strengths, manage your weaknesses.
“Emotional Eating 101: Fear” is pretty basic stuff when it comes to understanding the behavior at work here; I described the vicious cycle I was in for years, being driven by fear of disapproval, derision and disappointing others. “Fear vs. Contentment” laid out what I practice: simply, you may always be inclined toward the feelings, but you’re not condemned to the behavior.
In “Emotional Eating: Cinnabon or Bust” we walked through the “food carnival” at the mall food court and I described how hopelessness and futility undermined even my tiniest efforts to make better choices. But in “The Clarion Call: Hope” I illustrated how hope can come from the rubble of many dreams broken. The hope I found came when I seized control and ran with it.
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And finally we talked about shame. In “Shame on You!” I defined shame as a self-inflicted wound that runs along a spectrum, starting with shyness at the low end and humiliation at the high end. “Hard-earned Confidence” revealed how I turned back shame by focusing on what I CAN do rather than what I CAN’T do. By testing myself I learned that I am made of some seriously tough stuff. The resilience I found there has made all the difference in sticking to my healthy lifestyle habits.
The first 3 videos of the month dealt with emotional eating topics: denial, fear andhopelessness. In this week’s video, “Spicy Black Bean Soup” I headed into the kitchen to replicate my favorite ready-made soup. I ate this low-fat, organic black bean soup for several years nearly every day for lunch (I’m a creature of habit) until it was recently discontinued. But now I think I’ve found my new favorite soup!
Speaking of soup, on Monday there will be a new eBook available on the website! It’s called “Soup’s On!” and you will be able to download it for free! It’ll include a half dozen of my favorite healthy soup recipes. Try some or all of them and let me know which one becomes your new favorite!
– Marilyn