Why Should We Make Friends with Our Feelings?

Feelings. Yuck. Murky things that make us feel really uncomfortable.

To people with overeating issues, feelings are about as welcome as a porcupine at a nudist colony.

Our natural inclination is to run from our emotions, to avoid them like the plague. They’re so unsettling and uncertain. And we don’t like uncertainty. We like to be in control and know what to expect.

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Why Is It Usual To Feel Conflicted?

“I just want to lose weight”.

If you’re struggling with binge eating you might hear yourself say that a lot. Sometimes it can feel like the extended dance mix is playing on a loop in your head with repeated choruses of “I hate myself, I’m so disgusting”.

With such conscious thoughts, it’s easy to believe that all you want is just to lose weight and if you could do that (ideally instantly) then everything would be OK.

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If It’s Not Food, What Do You Really Need?

If you’re reaching for food when you’re not hungry.
If you’re eating beyond the point that your body says it’s had enough.
If you’re standing alone in a dark kitchen bingeing like there’s no tomorrow.
It’s not food you really need.

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Why Should We Make Peace With Food?

It’s my job to help people find autonomy with food.

I’m a psychotherapist who works exclusively with people who overeat.  I use the term “emotion-driven overeating” to encompass the overeating spectrum that includes compulsive eating, emotional eating and binge eating disorder.

But why is it important to have an autonomous relationship with food?  After all, some would argue that most people have a dysfunctional relationship with food, that there is no “normal”.  So what’s the big deal?

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