Am I Snacking or Emotionally Eating?

Understanding the difference gets you one step closer to your solution!

Where Exactly Did It All Go Wrong?

We were once told that snacking was good for our health because it “keeps our metabolism up” and keeps us healthy. That advice came out approximately 30 years ago and since then, the percentage of people that are overweight, obese and have diabetes has reached catastrophic levels – clearly snacking is causing more problems than it actually solves (insert big eye roll at the food pyramid).

So then, why do I snack if I don’t actually need more fuel in the fuel tank?

You might say that snacking has become a habit off the back of this nearly 30 year old advice and for many you’d be right. The question is, if the habit is contributing to weight gain, poor gut health, low energy levels and even disease states, why are you still doing it? What’s really going on here?

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Emotional Snacking: The Dangerous Consequences

When I worked in the cancer hospital, one thing was extremely obvious to me every day I walked through the clinic – the vast majority of people were significantly overweight and we know now that obesity is the NUMBER 1 precursor to developing cancer, Type 2 diabetes and Type 3 as well (that one might be new for you, so here’s a fun fact, that’s what they’re now calling Alzheimer’s Disease because it’s related to high sugar diets).

The reason you have this snacking habit that you can’t let go of is because (put ya helmet and knee pads on, this might land uncomfortably), you’re emotionally eating rather than snacking.

You might be saying, “I’m not on the couch crying with a tub of ice cream 3 times a day Matty, I’m not being emotional when I snack”.

And I’d say, firstly, the word emotional does not always mean absolute and utter devastation. Emotional can mean any array of emotions- happy, sad, stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, excited, nervous or in fact, devastated (and of course any one of the thousands of emotions you can experience on a day to day basis).

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Are You An Emotional Eater?

A simpler way to find out if you’re snacking or emotionally eating is by asking “Does anything on this list relate to me?”:

  • Do you eat, even though you’re not hungry?
  • Do you eat at your desk?
  • Do you eat in the car?
  • Do you eat “treat” foods to feel better?
  • Do you have trouble remembering the taste of something you just ate?
  • Do you eat in social situations, despite not wanting to?
  • Do you find it hard to stop once you’ve started?
  • Do you hide your ‘naughty food binges’, so no one knows?
  • Do you eat food that you know will cause you some type of gut issue or brain fog, but still go ahead and eat it anyway?

If you said yes to at least one of these then you have your answer – you’re not snacking, you’re emotionally eating.

What’s Your Next Step?

Acknowledging it as a real thing happening in your life is an amazing first step. Knowing that something is going on gives you all the power to be able to make the changes you need to.

Many of the men and women that have been through my coaching program kind of had an idea that they were emotional eaters but doing the program really allowed them to see their patterns in a whole new light and be able to get control of their emotional snacking and overeating to be able to successfully lose weight and get their energy levels back, permanently.

Going on any emotional journey is about peeling back the layers of the onion and getting real with yourself (it really is no coincidence that onions actually make you cry).

Finding out what the reason is behind the emotion and finding alternative strategies to manage and process that is essential if you want to keep the weight off long-term without having to force yourself through calorie restriction or starvation diets.

How Can We Help You?

Diet culture has created a vicious cycle that ignores the emotional component and you’ve been stuck on the hamster wheel for too long!

That’s why we need to change the strategy and rewrite your health story.

After working with over 200 women I know that the ones that lose weight, get their energy back and start feeling great in their own body again, are the ones that have the courage to dig into this emotional eating piece of the puzzle so they can get control of their food choices again.

If you feel like it’s time to get yourself a system that puts you back in control of your food choices, that supports you to process your emotions and that also guides you on which foods will get you back feeling confident and sexy in your favourite outfit again, then feel free to shoot me a message by clicking the orange button below which will connect us on on messenger, just send over the word “Transform” and that will put you and I straight into a real conversation (and yes it’s really me on the other end) let’s do it.

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