Emotional Eating & COVID-19
Let’s talk about emotional eating. We are in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic that has affected all different aspects of our lives and forced us all to develop a new normal. So many people are in crisis regarding their employment or business or health, and yet as a culture, we seem to have a difficult time letting go of the diet mentality.
During this global pandemic, many people are worried about weight gain and emotional overeating.
First of all, I want to validate all the fear and anxiety swirling around in your heart and soul and tell you it’s okay to have these feelings. It’s also okay to overeat. It’s also okay to emotionally eat. It’s also okay if you are struggling with negative feelings about your relationship with food and your body, but I bet these thoughts and feelings are sending you into guilt, shame, the chaos around food, or some diet cycle.
The diet cycle is where there is some sort of triggering event telling you to lose weight (looking in the mirror or overeating those “bad foods” several days in a row etc.) so you go on a diet, the diet goes well for a few days or weeks, but then you feel so deprived you freak out and eat all the things and then eventually feel guilty or disgust about your body and the whole cycle starts all over again.
I would like to offer a few suggestions to help you let go of the stress around dieting, eating emotionally or body image dissatisfaction during this time.
Dieting in any form or fashion is going to make you struggle even more with emotional eating.
I use the term dieting to encompass traditional or formal diets like Keto, Weight Watchers which include cutting out or limiting food groups like carbs and sweets. When we diet we are restricting either what, when, or how much we are consuming and this will lead to some sort of backlash like binging, feeling out of control around food, or overeating.
Check out these blog posts explaining more about the dieting backlash.
8 Signs You Are Stuck in Diet Mentality
We are in the middle of a global pandemic it is okay to emotionally eat.
Eating is actually a really great coping mechanism. I know this may seem a bit controversial, but food is very comforting. If this is something that you are struggling with stop shaming yourself about it and begin cultivating some self-compassion. Beating yourself up about emotional eating is only going to make you feel worse, which might lead to eating more.
If you are struggling with emotional eating step one is to work towards not beating yourself up.
Step two is to make a list of a few other things you can do when you are struggling emotionally.
Easy things. Don’t make this complicated.
1. Acknowledge your emotions.
2. Give yourself permission to feel those emotions.
3. Breath through those emotions for a minute or two.
4. Ask yourself what you need.
A walk, hike, bike ride, or run?
A good cry?
A good book?
A good TV show or movie?
A cozy blanket?
Something creative?
A diffuser with essential oils?
A phone call to a friend?
A cup of tea or coffee or other yummy drink. (If you know me I am ALL ABOUT YUMMY DRINKS….this is a huge part of my daily self-care!).
A meal? Cooking is a great emotional outlet.
A piece of chocolate or candy or a cookie or cake?
A hug (if possible… if you live alone I feel for you and can’t imagine. Sending you hugs now!)
A snuggle from your dog or cat?
A shower or bath?
There are a million more different things you could do. Be creative and tailor it to your needs and personality.
We all need to figure out how we can best self-soothe and tolerate distress. Sometimes that means distracting ourselves from the emotion. Sometimes that means facing it head-on.
Take inventory of how often you are thinking about food.
If you find yourself thinking about food all the time there might be a few things going on that may also be impacting your desire to eat emotionally. First of all, you might not be eating enough food throughout the day. Make sure you are adequately nourishing yourself during the day. Three meals plus a snack or two is normal. If you are not use to feeding yourself this often, but then find yourself feeling out of control with food or overeating and thinking it is because of your emotions I would encourage you to try and eat enough throughout the day. If you are getting enough food throughout the day you are not going to feel ravenous or like the urge to binge at night. It might be your emotional eating is actually your body’s way of telling you that you are not eating enough and need more food.
If you have been a long-time dieter or restricted eater I can understand this may seem like a difficult thing to do and may also explain why you are thinking about food all the time. When our bodies have adequately been nourished for long enough these urges to overeat will come less often. If your body has been deprived or semi-deprived for a long time then it might take a while for your body to trust you again. In order to build a healthy relationship between food and our bodies, we must allow our bodies to eat whatever they want. I know this may sound terrifying, but it truly is the only way to find peace and freedom.
If you are struggling with emotional eating during this time I would encourage you to reach out for help of some kind. Do not put pressure on yourself to eat perfectly. First of all, because there is no such thing and there is a place for ALL FOODS in our diets.
Stay healthy and safe my friends and extend yourself a little more compassion.
Love,
Chelsea
Encounter Counseling offers in-person counseling in Grand Junction and online counseling state-wide in Colorado including Denver, Boulder, Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs.