is it worth it..?
I don’t want to do it yet I just did it again…
Can you relate?
Have you ever consciously, or perhaps unconsciously, asked this question to yourself? And by this I mean, is it really worth it to pour so much of my time and energy in trying to “conquer” this behavior of emotional eating? Trying to figure it out, to understand, to resolve it, to make it stop, to leave it in the past, to learn whatever lessons were meant to be learned, to transcend it..?
The majority of the people I know who have struggled with emotional eating for a long time, have reflected on this question, and likely more than once. When the frustration sets in, and once again we realize we were not able to find a way, or an avenue, to manage our eating in a way that feels satisfactory, we may deeply consider if this work is worth it. If our efforts are worth it. If continuing to try to find a way is worth it. If we will EVER be able to succeed in leaving emotional eating behind.
The cycle of looking for answers, finding a method, a way, a system that supposedly would be effective, believing in its promise only to a few days or weeks later feel defeated again, is brutal. Not only is it draining, but it truly wears us down and even makes us wonder what is it about ourselves that results in us being unable to conquer or overcome this behavior.
I may be flawed..
Some women even wonder if there is a fatal flaw within them that they will never ever be able to allow this behavior of emotional eating to rest and transform their relationship with food.
At our darkest moments, we feel broken and unable to “put” ourselves back together.
Sometimes we lose hope. I get it.
So, in today’s blog I want to remind you that—
it is always worth it BECAUSE you are worth it.
You are worth a life in which you are not a prisoner of your cravings and your triggers. A life in which you have peace around food, a life where there is less fighting with yourself, less shame, and less guilt about your behavior around food.
A life in which you can dream again of things that are completely unrelated to food, and that nourish you in a different way. In a long-lasting way.
Would you like a mini-structured path for your work in this area?
Download my free workbook! In this workbook, you’ll have the opportunity to:
Become more aware of your triggers and their sources
Feel more clarity about what is going on in your inner world in what respects to food
Be less on automatic pilot
Feel more confident in your ability to be intentional in all what relates to decisions about food
Is it truly, always worth it?
For me the answer to this question is a resounding yes.
You are worth the life you aspire, the life you dream of, the life you want to create for yourself. The fact that, at least at times, you have had an image of yourself having been able to overcome this behavior tells me that deep down there is a strong desire to put yourself on a different path permanently in what respects to your relationship with food.
And because we know that it is almost impossible to feel realized in our lives if we are still struggling with feeling out of control around food, we know this is an area that has to be taken care of before we can truly shine fully in other realms.
You are ALWAYS worth it. It does not matter AT ALL if this is the 60th time that you are trying to start or re-start in this journey. All that these results tell us is that what you have done so far is likely not for you as evidenced by you not getting fully (or at all) the results you were intending to have.
As someone who devoted the majority of her professional life to study and work with emotions and what lies beneath the surface, meaning what is not always fully clear or apparent, or the thoughts or feelings that we are not fully aware of, I can say confidently that that is the way to go if you are trying to heal your relationship with food.
If you want to break free from the chains that tie you to food, it is essential that we look beyond the fully conscious thoughts and feelings.
And what are those chains?
They are the ingrained ways of feeling at a somatic level (in the body) and at an emotional level, as well as the thoughts we think at a cognitive level. Those chains are breakable. We did not ALWAYS have them. And we can certainly undo them if we work beneath the surface level “symptom.”
What are the symptoms of emotional eating, anyway?
The behavior of emotional eating is a complex one and it may present itself in a variety of ways. Here are some examples—
Not being able to stop once we start eating, not being able to stop when we are full (perhaps not even realizing when we are full), eating when we are not hungry, or really need to eat to replenish our source of energy. Eating as a way to numb emotions. Eating to drown with food or drinks some type of pain, or discomfort, or insecurity, or fear. Most of the time, we do not do this consciously. We do not say, let me eat that bag of chips even when I am not hungry because I am so angry at the argument I had with my teenage son this morning (you fill in the blanks). We don’t say that. We are not truly fully aware of that. And if we are, we may not know what to do about it.
So, back to the beginning: I invite you to dream
To have a vision of how would your life look like if this “issue” would be solved. If much, much less time and energy were to be poured into this area of your life. What else could you do with that energy? What are the goals you would truly like to pursue if this one was taken care of? Right? There is so much that we want to do with life that we are not being able to, because this “dark cloud” is following us around, fueling self-doubt, and shattering our self-esteem.
I fully trust there is a path out of being hijacked by this behavior forever. That there are systems, pathways, methods that lead you from exactly where you are now to having peace in your relationship with food.
Curious to know more?
Take the quiz to begin your journey!
It will help you identify your main emotional eating triggers as well as provide opportunities for insights, resources, and tips to come your way. This quiz will help you to continue deepening your understanding of your emotional eating, which is an essential part of this journey. See you there!
What is your #1 emotional eating trigger?
Cheering you on as you courageously walk this path,
Claudia