When my journey with binge eating started is hard to define, I think I had a distorted relationship with food as long as I can remember. I only understood I had an eating disorder when I started working with Stef back in 2016. Let me backtrack a few years and take you through my personal journey, I'll try to be as concise as possible but bear with me.
ver had a fight with your boyfriend, or a frustrating day at work, then end up cozying up with a nice cold pint of Ben & Jerry’s at the end of the day? Do you reach out for food to feel better even when you weren’t even hungry? Is your first impulse always to open the refrigerator whenever you’re stressed, upset, angry, lonely, exhausted, or bored?
You may be an emotional eater. Meaning that you’re someone who uses food as a way to deal with feelings (typically negative ones) instead of to satisfy hunger. Instead of seeing food as what it is, i.e. something you consume for survival (like air and water), you misconstrue it into something else.
As I’ve touched on in previous posts, emotional eating is not a sin! When we become stressed, anxious, or worried, it’s only human to gravitate towards food to cope with our emotions. The problem arises when food is the only coping mechanism to dealing with emotions.
I wanted to touch base with you, hear to heart. This pandemic is real, it’s affecting all of us and is forcing us to completely change the way we live life. It essentially has flipped our worlds upside down. I hope that you, your family and loved ones are safe during this challenging time and that you have the support system around you to navigate these unprecedented (this is THE word of the year isn’t it?!) times.
The collective energy right now is that of fear, worry and anxiety. Uncertainty is always uncomfortable because we’re hard wired for safety and comfort. Whatever you’re feeling right now, just know - you’re not alone, you’re just human. And with the uncertainty and isolation this pandemic is bringing, many of us are looking to social media for some lightheartedness and coronavirus memes, and there’s truly some hilarious stuff out there.
Christmas holidays are supposed to be a magical time, filled with loved ones, laughter and sharing beautiful meals together…There are occasions to look forward to, people to see and things to celebrate. But for someone suffering or recovering from an eating disorder, Christmas can mean panic, fear and overwhelm.
First off, there’s the plethora of parties like the office luncheon and the Secret Santa parties. Then there's the gift baskets full of food everywhere, left-over cake in the office kitchen and your well-meaning grandma who has baked you all your favorite childhood cookies. And there is also a lot of stress, a lot of busyness, a lot of un-self-care.