Feeling or Feeding Your Feelings? Part 2

Prefer to listen to the blog? You can do that here:

I finished Part 1 saying I’d tell you how I describe good, and not-so-good, cravings.

Cravings

• Good cravings are the feeling you get when drawn to a certain food. The craving sits quietly in the background, waiting to be satisfied. Sometimes growing in intensity. Yet still calm. Not disappearing when you’re distracted.

• Not-so-good cravings are different. Urgent. Demanding attention. So strong you feel your life depends on satisfying it. Get distracted and it disappears. Just like that. Until next time.

Good cravings usually occur when your body seeks nutrients. You’re drawn to a salad with your meal. Or a big cooked breakfast. Whatever it is, you want that food. You follow your instinct. Craving satisfied.

Not-so-good cravings are more often related to how we feel. They may be linked to boredom and socialising. Wanting to feel better, your body seeks certain foods. Generally the worst foods. Like chocolate when we’re sad.  Be near a checkout at the wrong time with the chocolate bars. Before you know it, you’ve bought one. Not much later it’s gone.

Emotional Eating

As a newly trained Health Consultant, I was pondering. Was I eating because of how I felt – or felt how I did because of what I’d eaten? I started exploring the relationship between food and emotions.

I know first hand about emotional eating. The importance of eating with awareness.

How easy it is to eat without thinking. Just one mouthful after the other. When you’re not hungry. Even how easy it is to not eat because of how you feel.

Emotional eating takes reign when you suppress your feelings by stuffing food down on top of your emotions. Satisfying unhealthy cravings.

Feel your feelings and let them move through you

Ever heard that?

It means allowing yourself to recognise your feelings. Acknowledge them and experience them. Allow them to pass. Fear. Anger. Sadness. Love… Emotions are a part of life. They happen. They’re necessary.

Emotions can be triggered by everyday situations. Positive or not-so-positive.

Getting married. The call you just answered that ended in conflict. The call you’re scared of making. Landing a new job. The meeting you don’t want to attend. The deadline looming too quickly. The excitement of buying a new home.

The Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Scale shows the impact of common life events. And it’s still relevant.

So your emotions are triggered. The associated craving is almost unrecognisable in intensity as you move to the cupboard.

If you’re lucky, you walk towards, then away from, the cupboard. Maybe continual circling until your self-talk calms and realises you’ll survive and move past your emotions – the situation – without eating.

If not, you’ve suddenly dived into your chosen craving until you’re able to stop. “One more piece”. “One more mouthful”. “The packet’s nearly gone – I may as well finish it.” Like it’s the Last Supper.

Emotions suppressed, you feel better. Less anxious. More prepared. More in charge.

Then you don’t. Emotions and feelings come back. The craving too. Waiting to be satisfied. This time with self-loathing that goes with the ‘I shouldn’ts”, “why did I” or “I now feel sick”.

Concerns about health, weight, fitness kick in. On and on. The impact brings on more cravings. More emotional eating. Binges.

Managing Cravings

Some say it’s as easy as moving the food from sight. Having a glass of water. Moving away from the situation. Getting exercise. Anything to interrupt the feelings. Break the cycle.

Sometimes it is. Other times it’s not.

It’s too scary. Uncomfortable. Destabilising. You’re feeling vulnerable. Not courageous. The mind battle between giving in, or not giving in, intensifies.

Not all cravings are this extreme. So, if this doesn’t sound familiar, that’s OK. Think instead of getting stuck on a certain taste and you kept eating. Sweet. Salty. Fried. “Just one more piece”, or handful. Before you know it, it’s all gone. The chocolate. The cake. The chips.

What if you could feel more in charge?

The five phases of food

A book I stumbled across when I studied in England changed my understanding about food and cravings. Based on the five phases of food. It showed the link between tastes, cravings and emotions. Time and again, over many years, I’ve used it to balance cravings. Mine initially. Then with clients. And my family.

When a craving hits, I identify what I need to eat, following the formula. I’m never surprised to see the foods that will help are the ones I least want to eat. I tweak my diet. The craving’s gone.

In my experience, this works. Each time. That’s why I’m sharing. It helps balance something like sugar cravings within a few meals.

It’s a simple formula I’ll cover in Part 3 in a few days.

In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions.