How to Counter Emotional Eating with Mindfulness

We spend so many hours of our day feeling headless and, in the clouds, it’s no wonder why May has been dubbed “Mindful May”.

Ultimately, to avoid emotional eating, we have to become mindful of our thoughts, feelings and emotions and be willing to accept all emotions, even the uncomfortable ones.

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Minfullness, a way to overcome overeating

Mindfulness as defined by the oxford dictionary is “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.”

Mindfulness teaches us to slow down, step back, take a deep breath and reconnect with the here and now.

One of the biggest tools I have learnt while recovering from emotional eating and two eating disorders was to become mindful of my thoughts, feelings, and body so that I could heal or address the real cause of my eating problems.

Using Mindfulness to Treat Binge Eating Disorders

Mindfulness is often overlooked as a strong tool to reduce comfort eating and many studies have shown great promise for using mindfulness as part of the treatment of eating disorder recovery.

According to neuroscience research, mindfulness practices dampen activity in our amygdala and increase the connections between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Both of these parts of the brain help us to be less reactive to stressors and to recover better from stress when we experience it

Benefits of mindfulness for emotional eaters

Physical Benefits

Mindful eating

Mindfulness can lead to the reflection in true hunger , once the mind is in a calm space we can easily ask “Am I really hungry, or is there something else I need in this moment”, and “What am I feeling?” 

Recognise your triggers

Being mindful will bring awareness to your binge triggers so that you can nourish yourself without food

Improved health

When we are mindful we breathe deeper, the body releases endorphins, which are the feel good hormones reducing the need for comfort eating.

The increased oxygen levels in the blood increase our energy levels and this helps us to make better food choices.

Science is recognizing that proper breathing is essential for health. Targeted breathing exercises can actually boost our immunity and improve our overall health. Learning how to breathe is one factor that reduces our susceptibility to getting sick.

Breathing improves circulation and blood flow to the brain, and activates our parasympathetic nervous system, which means that our brain gets the message to relax.

Reduced inflammation associated with  stroke, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and other serious diseases.

Improved sleep 

Improved digestion

Deep breathing brings fresh oxygen and exhales out toxins and carbon dioxide. When the blood is oxygenated, it ensures smoother functioning of your vital organs, including the immune system

Carbon dioxide is a natural toxic waste that comes out from our body only through breathing. But when our lungs are compromised by shallow breathing the other detoxification system starts working harder to expel this waste. This can make our body weaker and lead to illness.

Emotional benefits

Make Peace with Food and Your Body

Learning to Love Yourself Through Being Present, accept your body and make peace with food

Reducing Stress and anxiety 

Many binge eaters find comfort in food as a way to cope with stress and anxiety , mindfulness helps to identify outside stressors that might be causing binge eating 

Mindfulness can lead to the reflection in true hunger , once the mind is in a calm space we can easily ask “Am I really hungry, or is there something else I need in this moment”, and “What am I feeling?”

I have tested these strategies and successfully incorporated them into my recovery and now teach these to my clients

I’ll show you everything I know about mindful eating &

​I’ve created the Ultimate Mindful Eating Meditation Bundle for you and here’s what you get!

The mindful eating meditation bundle provides you with easy to use tools to help you eat more mindfully.

⚡ How to heal your relationship with food without even if you have no willpower masterclass
​⚡ Meditations for when you have binged, emotional eating and cravings
​⚡ Post binge journal prompts
⚡ A 6 Step mindful eating ritual
​⚡ Mindful eating guided meditations and journal prompts

The mindful eating meditation bundle guides you tools to help you to pause and reflect on your current relationship with food, cultivate compassion for using food as comfort and guided practices for mindful eating your meals and snacks. These easy to use tools will help you Indulge mindfully without having a full on food zombie blow out.

This bundle is for you if you want to:
*End Emotional Eating
*Stop Binge Eating
*Take control back when it comes to food
*Know when to stop eating
*Break free of the hold food has on you without ever having to diet again
​
🚨 More importantly, it’s available to you at an affordable price of $27 AUD!🚨 https://wholesomelifestyleproject.com/work-with-me/services/mindful-eating-meditation-bundle/

If you want more information on how to finally quit binge eating for good go to http://quit.wholesomelifestyleproject.com/

BOOK A FREE 20 MIN CONSULTATION WITH Me https://wholesomelifestyleproject.com/work-with-me/lets-get-started/

Can’t wait to see you in the next episode where I will be sharing some drivers behind overeating

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