2ND ELEMENT OF

TRANSFORMATION

EMOTIONAL EATING

THE ROLE OF FOOD/WEIGHT

Does food control your life? Are you tired of obsessing about food all day and letting what you eat and what the scale says determine your mood or how you feel about yourself? You can heal emotional eating and change the role that food plays in your life.

The real issue of disordered eating is not food, although food, eating and body image have enormous symbolic value. Worrying about food and weight may be a smokescreen to avoid dealing with other issues, as dieting is a culturally channeled outlet. Obsessing about food and weight is a way to defocus off other issues. Recovery means discovering the purpose of the symptom. Compulsive eating is the symptom, not the problem. But in order to let it go, there needs to be something to fill the void or take its place.

Hunger may be symbolic and represent a number of other unsatisfied needs. As you explore other issues, you will gain more awareness of the purpose the symptoms might serve. Increasing awareness means listening to your “hunger”, your inner voice. When you have an urge to eat, begin to differentiate between physical and psychological (emotional) hunger. You need to be willing to feel, stop and reflect: What are you feeling? What do you need? What do you expect this food to do for you? What are you trying to avoid or numb out? What else might your body need – water, rest, physical release, connection?​

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The Glow Approach will help you explore underlying issues that may be connected to the emotional eating and also rule out whether or not there is an actual disordered eating pattern present. Other issues that can be addressed include:

  • Create Your Bridge Between Mood and Food 
    • Awareness Record
    • “Recipe Cards” for Alternative Behaviors
  • Self-Esteem/Self-Identity (Finding Value in Your Inner Beauty)
  • Personality Type (and Impact on Weight Loss Success)
  • Feeding Body–Mind–Soul (Is there a void?)
    • Nourishing Relationships
    • Connecting to Community, Career and Spirituality
  • Family of Origin and Other Childhood Issues
    • Adult Children of Alcoholics
    • History of Abuse and Neglect
  • Unresolved Grief and Loss
  • Current Stressors
  • Recovering from an Overeating Episode/Binge
  • ​Stress Management Strategies and Restorative Practices

“My child, eat honey for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to the taste.
In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul.”  – Proverbs 24:13-14a