Eating our emotions is something we can all relate to. I’m sure if you are reading this, then eating your emotions is something you also struggle with. But what does emotional eating really mean?
Google says:
Emotional eating is when people use food as a way to deal with feelings instead of to satisfy hunger.
Does this ring true in your life? Do you eat to deal with your feelings rather than eat to satisfy your hunger?
Running to junk food when I’m angry gives me an intense feeling of satisfaction.
When I’m lonely or bored, food is my friend.
Junk food is my comfort when I’m sad or grieving,
When I’m excited or happy, I give myself pleasure or reward myself with treats.
I say that emotional eating is feeding your emotions rather than feeling your emotions.
Emotional Eating Is Feeding Your Emotions
Howard Farkas says, “Emotional eating is not a passive failure of self-control but an active impulse to reject the control of dieting.” This says a lot about how negative dieting really is. What this is saying to me is that we are protesting against dieting! This is very true in my life – I am so done with dieting because they are all either very restrictive, or they eliminate certain food groups, or a way of punishing myself and all those diets have such a negative input in my life that I feel I am not living the life I was meant to live – a happy, healthy life full of purpose!
So…how do we know when we are eating our emotions? And how do we learn to hear God’s voice when we are in the act of emotional eating?
The Two Voices In Emotional Eating
I like to talk about the two voices that are always in our heads…the mean voice and the kind voice. We have the mean voice that often says…
- You deserve that donut.
- You have worked so hard, so go ahead and eat that chocolate bar.
- You have deprived yourself of a cookie for so long, one small cookie won’t hurt you.
- One bite won’t make you fail.
- One treat is not going to cause you to gain weight.
- You can allow yourself to indulge just a little.
- You’ve done so well it’s time to give yourself a reward!
Does this resonate with you? Have you had thoughts like this before?
The Mean Voice
I call this the mean voice – it’s the one that is sabotaging your efforts to keep you from winning the race or to keep you stuck in a rut. It’s the prowling lion, seeking to devour you and your efforts of healthy eating and to hold you bound in the chains of discouragement.
All it takes to knock us down is giving in to the mean voice – that one bite that throws us off course for way too long and then it’s so hard to pick ourselves back up and dust ourselves off to start treating our bodies well again. This is where the father of Lies, the devil, wants to keep us. He wants us discouraged because discouragement is our greatest enemy. Discouragement makes us doubt and it causes us to spiral downwards and get depressed. It’s these 3 D’s that keep us from reaching our life goals and our weight loss goals: Discouragement, Doubt and Depression. These 3 D’s keep us in bondage and keep us from living a happy, healthy life filled with purpose.
The Kind Voice
On the flip side, we have the kind voice and we all have this voice in our heads too, only it is hidden behind the mean voice because the mean voice ROARS like a lion. The kind voice is like the bleating lamb, patiently waiting for us to hear it. The kind voice is gently calling saying things like:
- You can make a healthy choice.
- You can lean on me for strength.
- I will give you a way of escape from every temptation.
- I can help you with your sugar addiction.
- There is victory in Jesus.
- I will be with you every step of the way.
- You are loved and worthy of love.
- I will abide in you as you treat your body like a temple.
- I care about you and your health.
- You are an overcomer and you can reclaim your weight.
- You are more than a conqueror.
- You are a beautiful woman chosen for greatness and you are enough. Read these 11 Affirming Bible Verses About Beauty And Self-Worth
These kind thoughts are always there, but we must choose to listen to them. These beautiful thoughts are the words from our Heavenly Father, gently reminding us that He is waiting for us to hear God’s voice in our emotional eating.
Ask God To Help You Break Free
It takes courage to push the mean voice aside. It takes effort to resist the devil. It takes strength to take the next step. But it is POSSIBLE.
Here are 20 Promises From God To Stand On!
I encourage you right now to ask God to help you break free from the chains that are holding you back from reclaiming your life and your health. Seek God’s guidance as you learn to hear His voice in your times of emotional eating. Ask God for the strength to lift you up out of the miry clay and to help you climb out from your discouragement, depression and your doubt.
Break free from the guilt and shame of eating your emotions and begin to listen to the kind voice. Claim his promises and know that He is with you in your journey.
It’s also very encouraging to know that with each time you listen to the kind voice first, you will learn to hear God’s voice in emotional eating quicker and easier, and it will become louder and you will be the overcomer you are meant to be!
I urge you to be kind to yourself; give yourself patience and more practice, and soon the mean voice will be drowned out and you will be hearing God’s voice in your emotional eating, which will allow you to feel your emotions rather than feed your emotions.
Remember to claim the scriptures and make it personal.
I waited patiently for the Lord;
Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV)
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
and put their trust in him.
Finding Freedom With Food
We have a 5 day workshop, called the Food Freedom Workshop, where Ruth and I cover a lot of topics in depth, including emotional eating. We teach you how to start recognizing the things that are stopping you from losing weight and living a happy, healthy lifestyle. From there, you can start shedding weight and feeling great about yourself.
If you are ready to invest in yourself and go deep into what God has in store for you with food, then make sure to join our Food Freedom Workshop!
Blessings to you,
Kayce Broening