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emotional eater

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

– 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?

– 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

Happy International No Diet Day

– 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?

– 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

Setting Limits Means Delaying Gratification

– Posted in: delaying gratification emotional eating overeating, dieting, weight loss overwhelm procrastination resolving emotional eating self-love stress and overeating stress eating weight loss

M. Scott Peck, MD, author of The Road Less Traveled,defines delaying gratification as "a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life in such a way as to enhance the pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with." Most children learn the skill of delaying gratification early in life,

Is Wheat Making You Fat, Sick and Tired?

– Posted in: brain chemistry imbalances dieting Elimination Diet emotional eating food addiction food allergies overeating, dieting, weight loss recovery resolving emotional eating Rotation Diet stress and overeating weight loss

I have always had a love-affair with flour products, the doughier the better. Especially bread, the staff of life, right? Feed me anything made from wheat, like pasta, tortillas, scones, pretzels, crackers, cookies, croutons, and even licorice, and I’m in heaven. I feel immediate bliss. Well, at least my brain does. My body, on the

Do you feel worthy of self-love?

– Posted in: adjusting expectations compassion depression emotional eating forgiveness gratitude greiving overeating, dieting, weight loss perfectionism resolving emotional eating self-acceptance self-love self-worth weight loss worthiness

We've all heard it said that you can't love anyone else until you love yourself. And although we know there's truth to this old adage, most of us persist in looking for love outside of ourselves, often in all the wrong places. In one of my emotional eating groups this week, we discussed the concept

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

– 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

Gain Self-Care Skills, Lose the Weight

– Posted in: dieting embracing emotions emotional eating exercising hope identifying emotions and needs Uncategorized

It makes me crazy when I hear supposed weight loss experts preach that the road to weight loss begins and ends with calorie counting, daily weigh-ins and intense workout regimens. This kind of advice couldn't be farther from the truth and, in fact, it encourages us not to listen to the wisdom of our bodies. You were

Are you eating to rebel against someone or something?

– Posted in: disappointment emotional eating forgiveness greiving grieving hurts losses and disappointments old pain overeating, dieting, weight loss painful childhood memories rebellion resentments resolving emotional eating unmourned losses

Do you find that you sometimes grab food (and eat even though you're not hungry) because you're angry at someone or about something?  Or maybe because you're resenting some situation and feeling powerless to change it? You're mad or frustrated at these times and you certainly need something. In the moment, the food tastes good, calms you down and