We have access to a lot of food. Salt, fat, sugar and the combination of those together, creates a very pleasurable feeling in the brain. Food is a very common solution to comfort, boredom and a lot of other feelings. Sometimes we don’t want to face our feeling so we eat instead. Just the act of eating is a distraction. It can easily become a habit because it already has a built in reward of making us feel good. Eating food as a way to wind down after work, manage stress or to distract oneself from being lonely has become very common. We have an abundance of food and not always an abundance of knowledge and tools to handle our emotions.

If you are new to allowing feelings instead of eating them, it can honestly feel like a monkey on your back. The urge to go and eat something is really strong and may make you have more sympathy and understanding for people quitting smoking. If there is something you are avoiding, this may come up even more urgent. Truth can hide at the bottom of allowing some difficult feelings. If you never allow any difficult feelings, you are consistently avoiding something that is coming up. Feelings are not always true but they are real. They give you an insight into yourself. Allowing them and questioning the need gives you an opportunity to have more clarity and understanding with yourself. You may even notice some outdated rules causing the feeling.

Humanity seems to be learning more about emotional management, stress, mental health and trauma. We are learning to allow a feeling the time to process without judging it and without taking action on it.

Allow the feeling to be felt. It is not always as hard as the first few times. It may help to journal about your feelings. It helps your amygdala reaction in your brain, fight or flight, if you label the feeling. Even labeling it helps. We are often taught to stuff down certain feelings, so even becoming aware that you are having a feeling in the first place can be new.

Some people have numbed out to the point where they may not realize they are having a feeling, but they may feel uncomfortable, irritable, label it as ‘stress’. If that is the case, give a little time and practice to it.

Challenge: When you are about to eat, ask yourself why you are eating. Is it because you are hungry or to fuel your body? Or because you are anxious, nervous, afraid, sad, excited, bored, or wanting a distraction? Just observe this without judging yourself.