I’ve been moving through some very uncomfortable emotions lately, relating to matters of the heart, so eating habits shall be today’s hot topic discussion. Our food habits are one of the most challenging to change because we can’t live without food and we are surrounded by food ALWAYS .. it’s not like a smoking habit because we can’t avoid it, it’s not like a booze habit because we have to buy it, and it’s not like a sex habit because we can’t live without it.

Comfort eating has been one of my hardest habits to change, but after years of exploration at least I understand it a little more … WHY do we over eat, emotional eat and binge eat ??? … I found a great resource while tapping comfort eating into GOOGLE search …“Growing human(kind)ness” blog by Karly Randolph Pitmans, who after experiencing eating disorders and addictions herself, created a supportive space to help others … check it out !!!

In regards to the habit formation of over eating, emotional eating and binge eating, we eat to fullfill a NEED. So to understand WHY we do it, we first need to identify the need that drives the habit itself. Karly breaks it down beautifully and highlights the main reasons WHY we abuse food …

• Fight / Flight … eating to cope with increased energy caused by anxiety, stress, tension, fear or panic
• Comfort … eating to soothe and nurture an unmet need or feeling
• Numbing … eating to cope with excessive emotions
• Self Attack … eating to punish ourselves

So … the first step in changing our bad eating habits is to understand why we are heading for the fridge in the first place and identify what it is we ACTUALLY need ?