One of the tools I use with my clients is a special way of planning food every day. I know it’s a game-changer because I do it myself.

This morning I wrote my 700th consecutive food plan.

Those 700 plans represent 105 pounds lost. They represent maintaining my weight for longer than it took me to lose it. They represent a completely different relationship with food. And most importantly, they represent a completely different relationship with myself.

What’s the story you tell yourself about food and your eating habits?

Is it a tale of horror that creates feelings of fear, terror, or panic?

A comedy that has you using food for fun and entertainment?

Is it a trashy romance that allows you to check out and escape into a little guilty pleasure?

Every time you realize you’re eating today stop and ask yourself why?

Not in a judge-y way… that won’t take you anywhere good (have you noticed).

Just pause for a minute and check in with yourself and ask why.

If the answer is legit because you’re hungry (no bullsh!itting yourself), then rock on and keep scrolling. 

[INSERT POUTY TONES]

Yeah, I know.

I didn’t want to either. I’d eaten them for decades, why start now right?

It’s the answer though. Sorry not sorry.

Feeling your feelings is the answer to ending your emotional eating.

If you want to stop eating your face off you’re going to have to up your emotional health game.

Emotional health isn’t feeling good or being happy all the time. And it’s not about never experiencing negative emotions.

It’s about being able to experience, process, and respond to alllllllll the emotions that come with being a human.

The good, the bad, the ugly.

You won’t. Here’s why.

It’s a promise you try so hard to keep with yourself. SO HARD.

But tomorrow you end up eating something you vowed you wouldn’t eat. Then you talk to yourself like a d!ck about it and proceed to eat your face off.

You tell yourself you’ll start again tomorrow.

[SURE, BUT ALSO… BITE ME!!!]

Let me start by saying this is good advice… only eat when you’re hungry.

I totally agree. 100%

But it’s just not that useful by itself. And here’s why.

I used to find it almost impossible to say no to food. Not all food, but the stuff I was overeating regularly. There were times it just felt crushing.

Often I didn’t really want the food. Logically I knew it didn’t support my long-term goals.

But most of the time the pull was just so strong and I ended up face down in the ice cream tub.

[this is not the start of a lame joke]

Did you know your thinking creates your emotions? Including the emotions that drive you to eat (or not eat).

Let me demonstrate.

Let’s talk about feelings.

It’s a catch-all word used to talk about emotions, sensations, and sometimes thoughts.

You might be thinking who cares? If you overeat and want to stop, the answer is you.

Betcha you thought I was going to give you some weird diet tip about tea being an appetite suppressant or something like that.

Yeah… that’s a no.

But I do want to talk to you about Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions… or TEA if you prefer.

Are you actually hungry?

Many of us are so disconnected from our bodies that we have no clue what real hunger cues feel like.

Growing portion sizes have conditioned us to eat more than we need.

One of the things I’m really big on is helping women separate their eating habits from who they are as a person.

We have so much effing judgment around food and how we eat and it kinda pisses me off that we make it mean negative things about ourselves.

As kids, many of us were taught to manage our emotional lives with food.

We were taught that going for ice cream was the answer to feeling sad if we flunked out on a test.

Is emotional eating bad?

Nope. And it’s not good either.

All eating, emotional or otherwise, is 100% neutral.

Some people know if they’re emotionally eating, and some people don’t.

And you might be wondering who cares? Overeating is overeating, right? I just want it to stop.

Well here’s the thing…

Do you know what emotional eating is?

I didn’t really, which is why I didn’t think I was doing it as much as I actually was.