Eat, Repent, Repeat

Emotional Eating is no joke. It is something that I have suffered with for as long as I can remember. Food is ALWAYS on my mind. When I wake up I think of what I'll eat for breakfast, while I'm eating breakfast I'll think of when I'm going to have a snack, and so on. I am literally thinking about food the entire time I am awake.

Then I start to punish myself. For example, I workout for a week and I'm so proud of myself, then I skip a few days, and start eating the garbage that I had been depriving myself of, and I spiral out of control. About a week later, I'm not comfortable in my clothes, I weight myself and am baffled at the number on the scale. How did it go up THAT much, how is that even possible?! So I punish myself, I force myself to workout, I eat better, I start to see results, and then I start to think of all the foods I'm not allowing myself to eat and I start the cycle over.

Sound familiar? This cycle is referred to as Eat, Repent, Repeat by Dr. Michelle May. Often referred to as yo-yo dieting so many people don't understand why they go through this cycle. We need to get better at looking into the reasons WHY we get stuck in these cycles and what other things we can do to keep ourselves out of them.

For example, what if you didn't deprive yourself of food? What if you allowed yourself to eat WHATEVER you wanted, but you did so MINDFULLY? What if you started eating only when you were hungry and not because you were bored, tired, angry, excited, happy, celebrating? So many things would shift for you. You'd stop punishing yourself for the foods you are eating because you would be doing so mindfully. You'd be asking yourself WHY am I eating this food? Is there something else I could be doing instead of eating this food if I am not hungry?

I am slowly but surely pulling myself out of this vicious cycle. I've had many slips along the way, and I know that I will continue to slip, but I'm much more aware of WHY I am going for something to eat. I do a body-mind-soul check to see what's all going on with me and to better understand my decisions.

If this is something you struggle with, what do you feel like is the hardest part?