Okay, so I do have a food problem, but after a year in therapy I'm realizing that it's not really about the food. For the most part, I do the right thing with food. I know how to count calories, I know what kinds of foods to buy, I like healthy foods, I get a lot of exercise. But despite all of this, I can have a fridge full of healthy food, and still order a food to binge off of Uber Eats.
Food is one of the few things that soothes me and brings me pleasure when I feel lonely, depressed, or stressed. It's really as simple as, I feel bad, and I eat to feel better. It has taken me YEARS to realize this. Obviously this is not a revolutionary concept, but I never thought it applied to me. I thought I just had problems committing or I just wasn't being consistent enough to develop the right habits. (And that's not entirely wrong).
Anyway, this realization was liberating in one sense, because it allowed me to acknowledge that I have all of the building blocks I need to build a healthy relationship with food. I know what to do. The reason I have failed is because the root problem isn't my relationship with food, but my relationship to the underlying discomfort and my current inability to cope with those feelings in healthier ways.
This is going to be hard to change, because I've always used food for comfort. If I am experiencing pain, food is a painkiller, but it will come back and make me feel twice as worse when I'm done.
And really, I don't think it's 100% wrong to use food to feel good. We're going to naturally feel things when we eat, and in moderation it's okay to enjoy eating, as long as it's not our sole coping mechanism and we're not wreaking havoc on our lives. Like it's okay to have a bad day and get some ice cream to feel better as long as you know that's what you're doing and you decide to do it. It's not great if you're doing it everyday though.
All of this being said, I'm still trying to learn strategies to cope with these negative feelings that aren't food. I'm trying exercise, meditation, distraction, all of the standard tools. I would love to hear what strategies you have used or if you have experienced a similar relationship with food.
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/o4jir2/i_dont_have_a_food_problem_i_have_an_emotional/
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