Moving away from emotional eating

I have to say I didn't realize my true struggles with emotional eating until about a month ago, May 2017. The reality of it came after text messaging a gal I went to high school with, who I haven't seen in years. She messaged me after being concerned with a post I made on social media. As I sat there and discussed with her back and forth, I realized how unhealthy my relationship with food is and that this is something that I not only need to change, but that I WANT to change.

I am the type of person who thinks about food every waking minute of the day. When I wake up I think of what I'll have for breakfast, when I finish breakfast I think about what I am going to have for a snack and so on. I've gotten to the point where when I eat something that I know will literally HURT my stomach, I will hide that I ate it. For example, I'll go grocery shopping and I'll end up buying some type of treat that contains a heck of a lot of sugar (an item that I actually have a food allergy to). I will then eat it as quickly as possible on the way home so that I don't end up eating it in front of anyone...but here's the truth...NO ONE IS GOING TO CARE THAT I AM EATING IT. Doesn't that sound ridiculous hat I feel I have to hide this, or that I can't control my thoughts around food? Or maybe it doesn't sound ridiculous to you, because maybe you know exactly what I am talking about.

So I've made the commitment to myself that I've got to work on finding other things that will bring me pleasure instead of food. I've got to stop thinking of food all day long. Its NOT healthy. This change is not going to happen over night...heck its probably going to take several months to make this shift, but I've got to keep working at it consistently.

Here are the steps that I am taking to begin this journey:

1. When I go to grab food out of the fridge or cupboard, I ask myself if I am truly hungry.

2. If I do decide I am hungry, I ask myself if what I am reaching for is the right choice. For example am I reaching for a snack when I should be making my lunch.

3. I try to start prepping food BEFORE I am starving. Otherwise I grab everything in sight while I am cooking the food and then I'm not actually hungry for the meal I prepared...but I eat it anyway.

4. When I go to grab food, I also ask myself if I am getting the food out of habit (i.e. its noon so its lunch time, or its after dinner so time for dessert), or if I am actually still hungry.

I am going to continue to share on this journey, because it helps me to document it and make it more conscious for myself, but also because I know there are other people out there that feel the same way. Or maybe you can't understand how people feel this way, but someone you love/care for has the same struggles, so you are looking for an answer on how to help them. Follow along and I'll share my highs and lows throughout this journey.

xoxo - Sarah