Emotional Eating: How to Navigate Stress and Food - Video:Blog-1
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[00:00:00] Hey friend. Welcome back to Concierge Weight Loss. I'm Kara Hackleman, certified life and Weight Loss coach, and this is week two of our October series Overcoming Weight Loss Challenges. This month we're talking about the five most common challenges that trip people up mid journey and what to do about them.
Last week we tackled weight loss plateau. Today we're diving into a big one, emotional eating. How to navigate stress and food. Because even when you know what to do, there are times you still find yourself at the fridge or in the pantry looking for something. Anything to make you feel better. If that's you, you're not broken and you are not alone.
You're human, and you're going to love what we're talking about today. Lemme share my ster, my story. For years, I had a secret routine. I would wait until everyone was in bed or at least occupied, busy doing something else so that they wouldn't see me. They wouldn't know what I was doing. Then I'd go to the kitchen and I would [00:01:00] accumulate food.
And eat. Sometimes it was candy, ice cream, chips, beef jerky, all of the above. And on repeat, I'd keep going until I was sick, until the food was gone, or until I was so disappointed in myself that I just went to bed feeling like a failure. The pattern was so predictable. It always happened on days that I felt insecure about friendships, or sometimes even my marriage days when I thought I'd let people down, or when I wasn't feeling like I was enough or doing enough.
Looking back now, I can see it clearly. I wasn't hungry for food. I was hungry for comfort and reassurance, and relief. Food gave me a quick hit of that relief. But it also left me with more shame, delayed weight loss, and a body that still didn't feel like mine. So why emotional eating happens? Here's what I want you to know.
Emotional eating isn't you being weak. It's [00:02:00] your brain trying to help you when you're stressed or upset. Your nervous system wants relief. Food, especially things like sugar and salt and fatty foods. They give you a quick dopamine hit and it's soothing. It works temporarily, but it doesn't solve the real problem.
It delays weight loss, it leaves you disappointed and never fixes the stress or insecurity that you started with. This isn't a willpower issue, it's a coping issue, and the good news is coping skills, they can be learned. So here's a, an exercise. I want you to try it with me. Let's do this together right now.
If you are not driving, go ahead and close your eyes. Put your hand on your heart, a slow breath in through your nose and out through your mouth again, in. And doubt.[00:03:00]
Now, I want you to ask yourself, what is the most loving thing I can give myself right now? Sometimes food will still be the answer, but often what you really need, you need a break, a hug, a moment of quiet, a glass of water, clearly or simply to tell yourself, I'm okay. I'm enough. I did a good job. This little pause, this moment of awareness is where change starts.
Because you've interrupted the autopilot. You've created some space between the feeling and then the action that's usually been eating. So how are we gonna practice this? We're gonna start small. The first goal isn't to stop emotional eating cold Turkey. The first goal is simply to notice. Ask yourself, [00:04:00] am I physically hungry or emotionally uncomfortable?
I'm so sorry, I have a tickle. Excuse me. Am I physically hungry or emotionally uncomfortable? Then practice the grounding exercise. Even if you still eat afterward, you've already made progress. You're building awareness. Over time, that awareness turns into choice, and those choices create a totally different relationship with food and with yourself.
So if this is resonating, I made something just for you. It's a free guide. It's called The Five Weight Loss Roadblocks and How to Fix Them. It covers the five most common challenges people face, midjourney, including emotional eating and simple ways to move forward. You can grab it for [email protected] forward BLO Forward slash roadblocks.
That's coaching [00:05:00] kara.com/roadblocks. It's a quick. Read, quick read, and it will help you see exactly which roadblock is yours and how to start fixing it Today. I want you to remember, emotional eating doesn't mean you're failing. It means you are looking for comfort and you deserve comfort and you deserve care, and you deserve to feel good in your body and in your life.
So start with the pause. Put your hand on your heart. Take a few breaths and ask what's the most loving thing I can give myself right now? That's how you begin changing the pattern. One pause at a time. Next week we're going to talk about another huge challenge. Why will Willpower isn't the answer. You're not going to wanna miss it.
Until then, be kind to yourself. You're doing so much better than you think.
