So this week I am doing something a little different. I'm eating whatever I want/crave and just tracking it. I'm not judging it. I'm not freaking out about it. I'm just tracking it and noticing my emotions about it.

Yesterday, was a particularly rough day for me emotionally. I'm guilty of emotional eating. BUT the problem is when I emotionally eat, then I feel guilt for doing it... and then I emotionally eat again. And the vicious cycle contineues.


Yesterday, I commited to logging everything I eat but eating whatever I wanted. Man did I feel guilty for eating what I wanted. Man did I feel like total sh!%. Until I read the numbers. 300kCal over my total burn. That's really not that bad in the grand scheme of things. Will it lead to more weight gain. Yup. If I do it everyday for a year will I'll gain 31lbs.

But here's the thing. I don't do it every day. I'm just coming off of a 4 day battle with food poisioning. I should probably cut myself some slack. Here's the other thing, If I get rid of my guilt when I perceive eating a "bad food" like candy, it's possible that Over eat moment might have actually ended in me not over eating at all. I am pretty sure guilt eating is responsible for at least 200 of those emotional calories.

We have to get a legitimate handle on emotionally linked eating before we can focus on eating healthfully. We will be yo yo-ing the rest of our lives if we don't find a better outlet for our emotions. WE don't think straight when we are emotional and using food is just a few notches better than using drugs to numb stress and hurt.

Start with cutting yourself some slack for having a "bad moment." I'm almost positive if you (and everyone around you) stop beating yourself up for making bad choices while you are learning to do better, you may be able to cut the net effect of the less than ideal choices in half. THEN you can begin making better choices. But as long as you beat yourself up for making poor choices, you're likely going to cope with more poor choices.

Cut yourself some slack. People keep saying "Oh it's just about making habit changes" as if it's an easy thing to do. Changing habits isn't easy. If it were, there wouldn't be a whole flipping industry/profession dedicated to helping people change their behaviors (Psychology) If it were easy, engaging these people would be inexpensive... It's not. Furthermore, it's easier to make a new habit than it is to break an bad one. "Bad" habits are more rewarding than good ones. And the older you are, the more reinforcement you've had. And you've likely inconsistently reinforced them with yo-yo dieting. Inconsistently rewarded habits are the hardest to break.

Stopping emotional eating is not easy... but it's possible. It's even probable. The first step is to recognize and accept it's what you are doing.