Feelings and Food

Hi Folks!

Thanks for coming by! 

Let’s start by talking about feelings and food. As we all have likely experienced, food has the power to influence how we feel, and our feelings have the power to influence how we eat. 

While food is connected to times of joy and celebration, it is also tied to sorrow and stress. This becomes a challenge for our eating behaviors when we struggle with mood intolerance. What is mood intolerance? Well, it’s a fancy way of saying we have difficulty experiencing negative emotions, such as disappointment, hurt, fear, and anger, among many. 

Instead of experiencing these negative feelings directly, we attempt to avoid them through binge eating, oversnacking, or excessive exercising. However, coping in this way only provides us with short-term relief and reinforces our unhealthy eating habits. 

So, what can we do? We can learn to become more aware of what we are doing so that we can change our behaviors – after all, we cannot change something that we aren’t aware of! 

Here’s five mindfulness skills to help you become more aware of your eating habits. Try choosing a particular day, time, and meal to practice these mindful eating skills. Remember that as with all new things, it will take time and practice to learn these skills. Be patient and kind to yourself as you approach this task!

• Observing: Notice what you are experiencing while eating without becoming caught up in your experience. Just observe your feelings and any physical sensations.
• Describing: Put words to what you are experiencing. For example, “I notice my stomach grumbling.” Describe your thoughts.
• Participating: We often do things on ‘auto pilot’ without fully engaging in what we are doing. Aim to fully participate in the task of eating. Notice if your attention strays and then gently bring it back to the task at hand. 
• Being non-judgmental: This means accepting each moment without judging how we think it should be and without saying something is ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ If you find yourself judging, try not to judge yourself for it - instead, gently remind yourself to approach your eating in a non-judgmental way. 
• Focusing on one thing at a time: Try to do one thing at a time! Most often, we are constantly multitasking. Try giving all of your attention to eating and only eating. If you notice your mind starts to wander, gently bring your focus back to your eating. 

What did you notice? What are your thoughts, questions, or concerns? Share them here and let’s help each other become more aware of our feelings so we can improve our habits!

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