Are You An Emotional Eater?

Could you describe exactly how you are feeling in this moment?

How many different words do you know to describe your emotional state?

Have you ever been taught how to check in with and make sense of your emotions?

Many of us go through life suppressing or ignoring how we are feeling. We may have a slight niggle of something feeling "off" but we don't quite know why or how exactly we feel - so we just suppress that feeling with a few glasses of wine, some pieces of chocolate, a shopping trip or some escapist TV. Very few of us are taught or encouraged to actually sit with, acknowledge and process our emotions. If anything, we are actually just made to feel as though we should be feeling positive all of the time and shouldn't wallow in our negative feelings. However, suppressing and ignoring emotions can be very unhelpful. Firstly, suppressing emotions can be harmful as it can lead us to turn to unhelpful coping mechanisms such as alcohol, drugs, food, shopping, smoking or gambling. Secondly, suppressing emotions can mean that we don't take action to make changes in our life and to acknowledge, think through and then possibly shift those things that are driving how we feel.

Here is a simple journalling exercise to help you to start checking in with your emotions and how you feel. Every day ask yourself (and write down the answers to):

1. How am I feeling today? (You can use the emotions wheel below to help you to identify as many words as possible to describe your emotional state)

2. What am I thinking about that is making me feel this way?

3. Is there anything that I can practically do about this situation/ thing I am thinking about?

4. What do I really need right now that will help me long-term? e.g. is it food or is to talk this through with someone, to sleep and process it etc...

5. Can I change the way I think about this or re-write the narrative around this so that I feel better?

If you think that you may be dealing with your emotions by turning to food and would like some support to manage emotional eating, please reach out to us at info@thefoodtherapyclinic.com to book in a free consultation.

“In order to understand the behaviour of emotional eating, you have to tune in to and explore your inner world. Getting clear on what you feel is the first step in determining what you truly need and resolving your emotional eating.” – Julie M. Simon