Freedom From Emotional Eating: Part 4

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Have you ever found yourself reaching for food while another part of you was saying,

“Don’t do it.”

You knew you weren’t physically hungry.  You knew eating would not solve what you were feeling.  Yet somehow, you ate anyway.

Afterward, maybe you asked yourself

“Why did I do that?”

Or perhaps an even harder question:

“What’s wrong with me?”

If you’ve ever wondered that, I want you to know that I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with you.  I believe you’re experiencing something almost everyone who struggles with emotional eating experiences.

Have you ever noticed the conversation that happens just before you eat?

“Just this once.”

“You’ve had a hard day.”

“You deserve it.”

“Tomorrow will be different.”

Those thoughts sound reasonable.  They sound familiar.  They sound like you.

That’s what makes them so convincing.

Over the years, I’ve come to think of those thoughts as a voice.  Not because there’s literally another person inside us.  But because that voice always argues for immediate comfort, even when it comes at the expense of the life we truly want.

One of the most important moments in recovery is realizing that you don’t have to obey every thought that enters your mind.  You can notice that voice without following it.  And in that moment, something powerful happens.

You have a choice.

Recovery doesn’t begin when that voice disappears.  It begins when it no longer gets to make your decisions.

You do.

The question then becomes:

If this pattern isn’t who you truly are… How did it become part of your life?

None of us are born using food to soothe sadness, calm anxiety, celebrate success, or cope with loneliness.

We learn it.

And if it can be learned…

It can also be unlearned.

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