Emotional eating (and how to stop)
Do you struggle with food cravings? I do. I’m an emotional eater but learning the neuroscience and psychology of emotional eating has helped me quit.
Photo by Rasmus Mikkelstrup on Unsplash
People always assume that a therapist totally has their act together, but we’re human beings just like you. If I’ve had a tough day ice cream soothes my worries away. Missing my family overseas? Chocolate brownies make me feel loved. Delicious, but not at all healthy and this emotional eating is the reason my jeans kept getting tighter. But I recently found an eating plan that is working – and it’s because it is based on the psychology and neuroscience of eating.
I say ‘eating plan’ because I don’t ‘do’ diets. I’ve only done two in my whole 47 years on the planet and every cell of my brain rebelled against the food restriction. “What do you mean I can’t eat cheese whenever I want?? FK YOU!” For me it was like DIE with a T on the end. I’d rather slog away in the gym for hours than restrict my source of pleasure. Whilst that may have somehow worked in 30’s, it no longer worked in my 40’s. Recently, however, a friend told me about Bright Line Eating Plan and so far I have lost weight, my emotional eating has reduced to ZERO and there’s no part of my brain that is rebelling. It’s not about willpower…… It’s about planning.
Bright Line Eating is the program run by Dr Susan Peirce Thompson. She has a Ph.D. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and was a psychology professor. Her expertise is the neuroscience and psychology of food addiction and sustainable weight loss and she has done heaps of research on why and how people loose weight (and why they don’t). I found out that I am a 7 (out of 10) in her susceptibility scale (gasp!), which helps me understand why I can consume the entire block of chocolate-covered marzipan without even blinking. It also means that Persian Love Cake is my own personal form of heroin.
I joined her 14 day challenge for $29 USD and those numbers on the scale decreased and made me dance around the kitchen like a lunatic. (I admit that I do this most days just for the sheer joy of being able to dance!) However, the most important thing is that I’ve stopped the emotional eating. Dr Thompson’s daily 5 minute videos helped me with my ‘food thoughts’ and and what to do to get through it.
I have absolutely no affiliation with the Bright Line Eating program other than my own participation. I’m sharing this info because it worked for me and maybe it might work for you. And I think this lady is amazing!
I still talk to my own therapist about the underlying issues – the things that are making me sad, lonely or exhausted.
If you want to ask me what Counselling or somatic psychotherapy is all about, I offer a FREE 15 minute discovery session by phone for new clients.
