When we become stressed, it's only too easy to reach out to food or alcohol for comfort.
So many times, individuals sit with that uncomfortable feeling, then desperately decide to raid the kitchen cupboards or seek out treats in their local shop or takeaway to get their next unhealthy fix.
A bar of chocolate suppresses anxiety, a takeaway pizza suppresses the overwhelming feelings of loneliness and a bottle of wine or a few beers helps your body relax back into the sofa after another hectic day.
We end up feeding and drinking away our emotions without being consciously aware of it. Then later we self sabotage with thoughts of not being good enough, too fat and undesirable which in turn lead to feelings of anger, guilt, shame, hopelessness and despair.
Some find they have the urge to withdraw from social connections and from having intimacy with their partners because of this, as this has a huge impact on their self esteem.
I believe that the behaviour of feeding and drinking away our emotions is partly to do with the chemical response that takes part in the brain along with what we have learnt from parents, grandparents, school, culture and media.
For example, culturally it has been modelled to celebrate bank holidays and scheduled celebration days with eating unhealthy foods and binge drinking and then getting back on it again to undo all the damage. This has lead to people using all or nothing behaviours instead of finding a healthier balance.
Another example could be that when we fell over and grazed our knee as children. We were immediately rewarded by a packet of sweets to make it all better instead of that hug or reassurance that everything was going to be ok.
This could highlight the lack of emotional intelligence throughout generations and why we learnt to feed and drink away our emotions as adults.
Some people can decide to repeat this behaviour or some people can learn to change it. We are born to be connected to our thoughts and emotions and it's important that we are educated on this so they don't become threatening to our being.
Many people are not aware of this therefore we decide to numb out from our thoughts and feelings by engaging in all sorts of behaviours so they don't think or feel.
These other behaviours include:
• Restrictive Eating
• Overworking
• Gambling
• Shopping
• Smoking
• Scrolling Social Media
• Drugs
• Sex
There is no right or wrong way doing this however, what I have learnt is that in order to create a healthier balance away from addiction in our lives, we have to learn to look inside the discomfort to find comfort in order to feel in control and more content with our actual beings.
This can also be done via all sorts of self care such as, eating healthier, exercise, hobbies, relaxation and communicating in our thoughts and feelings to a therapist, coach, family, friends and loved ones we can trust.
I also offer 1-1 online coaching so you can....
✅ Learn to nourish yourself free of fear, guilt and shame
✅ Feel connected and safe, trusting in your body
✅ Grow in confidence
✅ Relax and socialise with others without worrying about food
✅ Live the life you deserve
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