The psychology of over-eating
food from your reward system, and start rewarding yourself with other fulfilling activities. When you’re not hungry but find yourself peering into the fridge looking for something, try to find comfort in non-food related ways, for example: go for a walk, read a book, observe nature, watch your children sleep, treat yourself to a relaxing bath or massage.
Let your emotions flow
All emotions and feelings come and go, much like waves gently washing over you. Knowing that all feelings – both the enjoyable ones and the painful ones – subside is important because learning to deal with these more painful feelings without eating involves developing the ability to recognise this. Just feel the emotion in its entirety without doing anything to prevent it, let these feelings literally wash over you.
By eating while you’re experiencing emotions that you find challenging, you are giving food a new significance, beyond just meeting your nutritional needs. Food becomes a coping strategy, making your desire for it intensify. You begin to believe that you need this food to get through these emotions you are experiencing. Research indicates that eating high-fat (poor quality) and/or high-sugar foods can affect activity in the parts of your brain that manage stress, further reinforcing a reliance on this as a coping strategy.
Treat yourself with kindness
We wouldn’t dream of speaking to a stranger, friend, colleague or family member, as harshly as we speak to ourselves sometimes. Have you ever berated yourself over something really silly? Said unkind things to yourself inside your head that made you feel worthless – such as ‘‘you’re a failure’’, ‘‘you’re weak’’ and so on? If a child came to you feeling upset would you say those things to them? Make it your mission to catch these thoughts as they arise. Thoughts only have power when we give them our attention. Choose not to engage with them, and instead treat yourself as you would an adored child.
Dr Libby is speaking across the country during October with her From Surviving to Thriving tour. More information and tickets available from drlibby.com