Many times, when we experience very strong emotions like anger, fear, anxiety, or depression, we tend to numb those emotions by turning towards food. This is called emotional eating. There are many people who suffer from an emotional eating disorder. In this article, we’ll see how you can stop emotional eating and take control of your life. 

1. Get off Autopilot Mode:

Oftentimes, when you feel a surge of negative emotions, you automatically open the fridge or go to the pantry to grab something to eat. The first step to stop emotional eating is to turn off the autopilot mode. There are two ways to do this. One is a Japanese methodology called Jin shin Jitsu. The second way is mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Here, you identify each emotion with the finger on your hand. For example, if you are worried, think about where the emotion is on your finger. Place worry on your thumb. Remember the rest of your emotions as F.A.S.T., where F stands for fear, A for anger, S for stress, and T for to-do. If worry is the emotion you’re feeling right now, I want you to hold onto your thumb and do what is called mindful-based cognitive therapy. Here, you will be localizing the emotion. You have to ask yourself where you are feeling the emotion. When people are stressed, they might feel it on their shoulders. Some might feel it in their stomach. Once you’ve located where you’re feeling the emotion, start breathing through it. This is a very powerful way to get yourself off of autopilot mode.

2. Emotional And Physical Hunger:

When you have emotional hunger, it hits you right away. You feel like you are empty and you need to fill up instantly. With physical hunger, it takes time to develop. So, distinguish whether you are an emotional eater or if you are actually hungry? If you’re emotionally hungry, you would crave a specific food. For example, you might crave potato chips or pie, or specific ice cream. If you are experiencing physical hunger, you would eat anything. With emotional hunger, you never feel satiated. You begin to associate food with your emotions, and this will lead to a never-ending cycle of feeling guilty, overindulgence in food, and feeling the need to eat again. To recognize the pattern. Become conscious and say to yourself that you are going to be mindful about your behavior and eating patterns.

On the Mindful hearts academy, my mentorship program which you can find under “Courses”, I have an hour-long talk about how to overcome emotional eating and develop mindfulness. 

You will learn to stop eating your feelings like sadness or fear or stress. I will help you make conscious decisions about what you’re putting in your mouth. You will become mindful of your emotions which can incredibly affect the quality of your relationships as well. Many people are actually on autopilot when it comes to their marriages or parenting. You will learn about daily mindfulness at the Mindful hearts academy.

Mindfulness is the secret path to Jannah because when you are mindful of yourself, your emotions, your thoughts, the way you behave, and the way you speak, you will automatically become mindful of doing things that Allah likes. 

Mindfulness will make you aware of your relationship with other people too. So when you lead a life that’s within the limits set by Allah, you will automatically earn the pleasure of Allah. So go ahead and join the Mindful hearts academy where you will get to experience amazing sisterhood with everyone encouraging, supportive, loving, and cheering you on to lead a meaningful life.

If you’d like to have extra support,  extra awareness, and learn mindfulness so you can gain control over your eating and over your emotions, join the Mindful hearts academy today. 

Join us in Mindful Hearts Academy and have a guide to a healthy Lifestyle with Haleh Banani

Start Saving Your Marriage Today, Download the free PDF: