Are you dealing with emotional overeating? Anyone….Anyone….? I wanted to share a bit of my struggle with emotional overeating. I am 100% percent positive that I am not alone in this. My husband and I have moved back to eating a ketogenic diet the last few weeks. I am starting to feel like my old self again, physically! Mentally, I am still struggling with overeating!
The last 7 months I’ve been dealing with chronic pain and trying to figure out where that pain is coming from and how to find a resolution. I was so focused on it that the goal of losing weight went to the back burner. I was still eating mostly organic food and usually lower carb but there were so many binges. Binges on things I have no business eating, can you relate?
Back in November, after my surgery, I started eating organic, gluten free, dairy free and soy free in hopes that it would help my pain level. It did, I saw an improvement in the level of pain and I attribute it to changing my diet and adding in new supplements or increasing the dosage on stuff I was already taking. Eating this way helped me maintain my weight, but I was not losing and I wasn’t feeling well at the weight I was at.
So here we are at the end of February and I am getting back to my happy place in ketosis but I have been struggling a LOT with over eating….
The wonderful thing about keto is that I am full most of the time. The amount of healthy fats that I am consuming fills me up! Despite how full I am I still find myself wanting to snack when I am not hungry at all!!
My stomach says “Hannah, I’m full right now and I don’t require any more food.” My brain/emotions say “Hannah, let’s have some chocolate, or pizza, or chips….we could even go get those awesome non gmo chips that only have potatoes, salt and avocado oil! That’s good for us, right?!?” (yes, my stomach and brain talk to me quite often)
There is a constant battle going on in my mind and in my body. It’s mentally exhausting.
A few weeks ago one of my favorite bloggers, Leanne of Healthfulpursuit.com did a Periscope about overeating. That periscope saved me in a moment of weakness! I was literally about to get up and go to the kitchen to find something else to mindlessly snack on when I heard the little Periscope alert on my phone. Leanne talked about redirecting yourself when you feel like overeating. I typically redirect by crocheting or reading. That has been a strategy that has worked for me in the past.
She also spoke about exploring it! Taking a deeper look and asking yourself why you’re doing it? That one is a bit more tricky! So I’ve been trying to do this during the week and I need to commit to doing it more! I have a small journal and I’m going to try and write down what I think is going on in my head when I feel the need to overeat!
Sometimes the easiest part of fixing a problem can be identifying it! I’ve known about this problem for many, many years. Now is the time to put my big girl pants on and start to deal with it. I’m going to be reporting back here on the insights I learn about myself and keep you updated with my journey. If you’d like to join me or need a safe place to discuss your own overeating issues, you’ve find it!
Emotional overeating is a tricky little subject and a complicated one. I know that one day I will be free from it!
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