identifying emotions and needs

Does Your Eating Have an Emotional Component to It?

We all eat for emotional reasons some of the time. Let's face it: food is convenient, pleasurable and exciting. It can also be comforting and soothing. And eating is a way to distract ourselves from dealing with the things we don't want to deal with, right? Generally, we're not bothered by a little emotional eating

Do You Turn to Food When You’re In a Transition?

By: Julie.S July 28, 2017 – Posted in: embracing emotions emotional eating greiving identifying emotions and needs Late night eating loneliness and overeating losses and disappointments Making lifestyle changes motivation to change habits overeating, dieting, weight loss overwhelm procrastination reducing stress resolving emotional eating self connection self-defeating thinking stress and overeating stress eating transitions unrealistic expectations

The Random House College Dictionary defines a transition as "a change from one position, state, stage, subject or concept to another." Many emotional eaters have difficulty with transitions and turn to food as a way to comfort and soothe themselves during the transition process. Here are some examples of what I call "transition eating": --You

Are You Eating Over Unmet Expectations?

By: Julie.S June 28, 2017 – Posted in: adjusting expectations depression emotional eating greiving hopelessness identifying emotions and needs Late night eating loneliness and overeating losses and disappointments Making lifestyle changes overeating, dieting, weight loss personalizing procrastination resolving emotional eating self connection self-worth stress and overeating stress eating unrealistic expectations weight loss

Jackie baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies after spending Saturday afternoon with her close friend Carol. The time spent with Carol did not feel nourishing. The two dishes of ice cream and the plate of hot, freshly baked cookies did. Just baking the cookies felt more nurturing than spending time with Carol. Jackie was

Are You a Late Night Eater?

By: Julie.S August 26, 2015 – Posted in: blood sugar imbalances delaying gratification diabetes diet mentality embracing emotions emotional eating food addiction glycemic index high cortisol levels high insulin levels hope hopelessness identifying emotions and needs insulin resistance Late night eating loneliness and overeating Making lifestyle changes motivation to change habits overeating, dieting, weight loss reducing stress resolving emotional eating stress and overeating stress eating sugar addiction sugar cravings weight loss whole unprocessed plant foods

Alright, let's be honest. You eat dinner most nights at a reasonable hour, but then, later in the evening, you find yourself heading to the freezer for your nightly ice cream fix, or to the pantry to raid the cookies and chocolate stash. Truthfully, you're not even hungry, but you feel a craving for something sweet and fatty. Nothing to be ashamed of--late

Happy International No Diet Day

By: Julie.S May 6, 2015 – Posted in: diet mentality dieting Elimination Diet emotional eating gratitude hope identifying emotions and needs overeating, dieting, weight loss perfectionism recovery resolving emotional eating self connection self-acceptance self-compassion self-defeating thinking self-doubt self-love self-worth stress and overeating

I bet you didn't know that today is International No Diet Day. Well it is, and its observed annually on May 6th. It's a day dedicated to raise awareness regarding the dangers of dieting and to celebrate body acceptance and body shape diversity. Despite the entrenchment of the diet mentality in our culture, research demonstrates that diets don't

Self-Doubt and Overeating: What’s the Connection?

By: Julie.S April 25, 2015 – Posted in: adjusting expectations compassion depression embracing emotions emotional eating hopelessness identifying emotions and needs overeating, dieting, weight loss overwhelm perfectionism procrastination reducing stress resolving emotional eating self connection self-acceptance self-compassion self-defeating thinking self-doubt self-love self-worth stress and overeating stress eating unrealistic expectations

Everyone struggles with self-doubt occasionally. It's not only normal to experience self-doubt, it's actually healthy and a sign that you're open minded and questioning your choices, abilities and behaviors. A little self-doubt is humbling, keeping our self-confidence in check and reminding us that we're still mortals who make mistakes and have short-comings. The key is not

Is Your Eating an Act of Rebellion?

By: Julie.S October 7, 2014 – Posted in: compassion depression despair disappointment embracing emotions emotional eating forgiveness grief grieving hurts identifying emotions and needs loneliness and overeating losses and disappointments old pain overeating, dieting, weight loss painful childhood memories perfectionism rebellion reducing stress resentments resolving emotional eating self connection self-acceptance self-compassion self-love self-worth stress eating trauma Uncategorized unmourned losses weight loss worthiness wounds from childhood

Shirley, a 37-year-old wife and mother, looks forward to her nightly binges.They are the only time she feels totally free and in control of her life. She resents the fact that her husband doesn’t earn more money and that she has to work full-time while raising their three-year old. She’d like to have another child before time runs out, but can’t

Are you eating over losses and disappointments?

By: Julie.S September 30, 2014 – Posted in: depression despair embracing emotions emotional eating grief grieving identifying emotions and needs loneliness and overeating losses and disappointments old pain overeating, dieting, weight loss painful childhood memories resentments resolving emotional eating self-love stress eating unmourned losses weight loss worthiness wounds from childhood

Most of us don't like to spend much time thinking about our losses and disappointments or painful childhood experiences.Yet, without much effort, they are brought to the forefront of our minds when something in our environment triggers thoughts of them. We see a happy couple and think "Oh, yeah, I had a loving relationship with

Emotional Eater’s Don’t Just Eat when They’re Sad or Depressed

By: Julie.S June 15, 2012 – Posted in: compassion embracing emotions emotional eating identifying emotions and needs loneliness and overeating overeating, dieting, weight loss purpose of emotions resolving emotional eating self connection self-acceptance self-love

At a seminar I gave recently on emotional eating, Cyndie, an attractive, well-dressed woman in her late forties came up to me and shared: "Even though I'm obviously overweight, I don't think that I'm an emotional eater because I don't eat at all when I'm sad or depressed. In fact, I can't eat at those

Do you have an inner nurturing voice?

By: Julie.S April 28, 2012 – Posted in: compassion emotional eating identifying emotions and needs overeating, dieting, weight loss reducing stress self connection self-love stress and overeating Uncategorized weight loss

When the adult voices of our childhood are primarily warm, kind, encouraging, hopeful, validating, soothing and nurturing, we begin to develop a supportive voice within that can restore us to emotional balance when needed. As we mature into adulthood, this supportive voice becomes the voice of what I call our Inner Nurturer, our main source of validation, approval and

identifying emotions and needs

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