Would you consider yourself as someone who tends to put others before yourself? (your mother is probably like this too)
Who would have thought that a giving characteristic such as this could be linked to your emotional eating.
In a recent interview at the 2nd Annual Online Eating Psychology Conference, Amy Pershing stated, “…they (binge eaters) tend to put others first, and food may be the only place that they allow themselves to have exactly what they want.”
Paradoxically binge eating is the last thing that this giving soul wants to do. Instead, they have a burning power within them that they really don’t know what to do with. They want to help people and change the world, but know deep down inside they have to help themselves first in order to do so. Unsure of what their true power is, binge eating becomes a substitute for it.
“I’m going to do the opposite of what I want to do. Instead of stepping into my power I’m going to use food.” – An example given by Amy Pershing
So the vicious cycle continues, and shame is built on top of shame, making the toxic dietary belief of, “I have no control. I can’t help anyone because I can’t help myself. I will never overcome this.”
Have you ever considered the way your relationship with self has evolved in your lifetime?
In high school I had a very loving relationship with body and food. I practiced sports for 3 hours, ate three meals, listened to my natural hunger cues, and truly loved my body. Being a collegiate athlete you would think this relationship with self would continue, but it did not. I was constantly challenged with stressful situations that I never had to encounter before. It soon changed my perspective of self, which indeed changed my eating habits.
Anyone who has had a negative relationship with food knows that life cannot be the best that it can be if you are not taking care of your body. What you DO is correlated with who you ARE. When you decide to decrease your own worth and value with negative self talk, judgment, and sabotage, you are allowing the voice that doesn’t want you to succeed to take over.
“The safest place in the world should be in your body, not your distractions. When you begin to feel shameful or unacceptable, then it becomes a lot harder to take the best care of our yourself.” ~ Amy Pershing, 2nd Annual Eating Psychology Conference
We tend to distract our boredom, loneliness, tiredness, or anytime we are in ‘victim mode’ with food or some other vice that gives us immediate relief from our unwanted feelings. What we really need to do is tough it out, sit there, and be with those feelings instead of trying to fill them up to make ourselves feel better. When we overeat we are choosing that as the one and only way to take care of ourselves. Short-term it works, long-term it sucks ass (and gives us a bigger one too). We need to practice patience, long deep breaths, and reflection.
Everyone is struggling, even someone as funny and uplifting as Robin Williams can be dragged down by their own internal demons. Don’t let yourself get that far. Keep being hopeful and positive. Continue to learn more about yourself and the people that inspire you. Don’t be blind by your own shortcomings. Understand where your life force is being used and if that is the way you want it to be used. Reach out for help, thousands of people are waiting for you to tell your story.
Stay Hungry,
Macy