Blogs About 'Emotional Eating'

7 Ways To Self-Soothe Without Food

7 Ways To Self-Soothe Without Food

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

We all go through challenging moments when we need to soothe ourselves. If you have a history of dieting and food restriction, chances are that you will soothe with food. After a stressful day, you are wired and tired and reach for a bag of chips as a balm for your nervous system. That is perfectly okay and not to be judged. Emotional eating is a coping tool, not a coping failure. If you are looking for alternative coping methods, it’s useful to have a toolkit to comfort yourself when you are feeling...

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“We eat the way we eat because we are afraid to feel what we feel.”

“We eat the way we eat because we are afraid to feel what we feel.”

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

"We eat the way we eat because we are afraid to feel what we feel."  – Geneen Roth – This quote by Geneen Roth says it all. Eating to avoid feelings is about avoiding feeling the emotional discomfort of life’s challenges. It could be dealing with anxiety, boredom, depression, loneliness or all of these emotions. The urge to eat emotionally is mostly because we don’t want to feel the way we feel. Emotional eating is not really a problem with food or eating. It is a feeling problem....

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“I eat my feelings.”

“I eat my feelings.”

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

“I eat my feelings.” I hear this so often. I used to struggle with this myself. My clients carry such shame and guilt about eating emotionally, as if they are inadequate in some way. Emotional eating is a way to distract ourselves from unpleasant feelings. It is also a way to numb more difficult emotions. It’s a normal human response, yet diet culture leads us to believe that when we eat emotionally, it’s because we lack willpower and control. That emotional eating is a sign of weakness. Let’s...

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Mothering Ourselves With Food

Mothering Ourselves With Food

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

In many countries around the world, this Sunday is about celebrating Mother’s Day. The day can bring up a mix of emotions, from joy and gratitude to sadness and grief. I have conflicted feelings about these days – Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, New Year’s Eve. Sometimes I feel like they are “compulsory celebration” days yet they can also be an opportunity for gratitude and acknowledgement. As a mother whose daughter has been abroad for two years, I can relate to the...

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Overcoming Emotional Eating

Overcoming Emotional Eating

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

Overcoming emotional eating is one of the most difficult aspects of making peace with food. Few of us are able to totally overcome or end emotional eating and most of us will still use food from time to time as a way to cope – and that is perfectly fine. We simply need to do it from a place of kindness and curiosity. I often say emotional eating does not need to be emotional overeating. We can use food to soothe our negative emotions in a mindful way, you can read more about how to do that here. We...

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Community

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

“A deep sense of love and belonging is an irreducible need of all people. We are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to love, to be loved, and to belong. When those needs are not met, we don’t function as we were meant to. We break. We fall apart. We numb. We ache. We hurt others.” — Brene Brown — I am overwhelmed by the messages of support and care in response to last week’s blog. My deepest thanks to everyone who reached out. I felt so connected  and...

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From The Heart

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

My anxiety has been sky high. In South Africa we are in the middle of our 3rd wave. There are no available beds in the hospitals. The vaccine roll-out has been slow. There is so much loss and pain. It’s scary. I have been baking cakes and scones. Eating sweets. I want to keep ordering food and keep my pantry full. I don’t want to be deprived of anything I may want in a whim. I am too scared to be out there. I feel guilty that I have the luxury of working from home. Right now, we’re...

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The Birthday Blog

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

I remember the build-up to birthdays. I would start off the year saying by the 4th of June, I am going to be at my goal weight. The calculation would begin. That gives me 6 months. If I lose x much per month by my birthday, I will weigh x. Ugh. My birthday arrives. Some years, I am at the desired number. Some years I’m not. One thing was for sure. My birthday was one big binge. It wasn’t only a birthday – it became a birthMONTH! A free for all. I would eat cake. cheese. sweets....

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Two Tools To Help With Emotional Eating

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

At the best of times many of us struggle with emotional eating. In the last year, with the pandemic throwing us off course, eating challenges have increased. Emotional eating is a way we cope with unpleasant emotions. It’s a way to distract ourselves from difficult feelings. It’s a normal human response, yet diet culture leads us to believe that when we eat emotionally, it’s because we lack willpower and control. That emotional eating is a sign of weakness. One of the symptoms of dieting...

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How to Deal with Food and Feelings in Frightening Times

How to Deal with Food and Feelings in Frightening Times

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

Right now, the world out there feels like a scary movie. Half the world is in varying degrees of lockdown. People are isolating at home. Most people are stressed and anxious. Some are working from home, which comes with its own set of challenges. Others are not working or earning an income, and feeling stress about finances. Many people are experiencing a sense of isolation, boredom or loneliness. How do we cope in times like these? We can throw ourselves into work, spend hours worrying, get busy...

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Are You Physically Hungry or Are You Emotionally Hungry?

Are You Physically Hungry or Are You Emotionally Hungry?

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

When I started to change my relationship with food and eating, it was very hard for me to tell the difference between stomach hunger and emotional hunger. Every time I felt anything in my belly I interpreted it as the need to eat. It can be quite tricky to tell the difference at times because the hollow feeling in your stomach from hunger can be similar to the empty feeling of sadness or loneliness. The cramps or constrictions in our belly from anxiety are similar to the contractions of stomach hunger....

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52 Ways To Comfort Yourself Without Eating

Emotional Eating: collage of distressed woman and chocolate

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

How often have you found yourself at the bottom of a packet of Doritos or a jar of Nutella at the end of hectic day? Comfort eating is an automatic behaviour for many of us. Studies show that eating when we are feeling emotional releases “feel good” chemicals in the brain. As human beings, we are wired to avoid any form of pain (whether it be physical or emotional) and to seek pleasure. This pleasure can be in the form of many things: shopping, alcohol, drugs, sex, Facebook. For many of us...

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10 Steps on How to Eat Emotionally – Mindfully

Collage of distressed woman and clocks. How to Eat Emotionally - Mindfully

Filed Under: Emotional Eating

The general message out there is that we should avoid eating emotionally and that we should find other ways to deal with difficult emotions. Sometimes though, eating emotionally does help and it works at soothing our difficult emotions, even if for a short while... Emotional eating, however, does not need to mean emotional overeating. Thank you Dr Pavel Somov for your very valuable insights on this. If you want to read more about it, I can highly recommend Dr Pavel’s book Mindful Emotional...

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“From our first meeting - two faces on Zoom across the world from each other, there was a sense of familiarity and comfort that was a healing balm for a lifetime of food struggles and dieting. Without realizing how much damage I had done to myself by adhering, for decades, to restrictive food plans and rigid diet programs, Xen had a way of redirecting the harsh and negative self-talk and sending me forth each week with compassion, mindfulness and a new way of seeing myself in the here and now. Gone are the maybe somedays, and if-only, and when-I’m-smaller thinking. Now I am committed to the imperfect and rocky path to listening to my body, accepting my perfect imperfections, and rejecting diet mentality. Those negative voices will revisit me from time to time, I know, but Xen has offered valuable tools for meeting each day as a fresh start - another choice, another chance. Her devotion to this work and her belief in her clients is a remarkable gift; I am so fortunate to have found her. It is never too late to let go of the drama and embrace joy, ease and self-acceptance.”

Karen L, Denver, USA

“I felt hopeless and helpless in my daily struggle with mindless eating for many years. Then I found Xen which is exactly what I needed! My decision to work with her helped me to finally repair my relationship with food. It's changing my life for the better, one day at a time. Now I have control over the food, instead of it having control over me, which is the way it should be. I highly recommend Xen to anyone who has a desire to overcome similar food struggles. Xen, thank you from the bottom of my heart!”

Karen J, Colorado, USA

“I reached out to Xenia because 2021 started on a tumultuous note for me. Between deaths, businesses suffering, hospitalizations, and job losses in our personal circle, I felt depleted and found myself being available for everyone but myself. Then I was hit with an unexpected health diagnosis, which was the last straw as it meant giving up “healthy foods” and workouts that I leaned on for my well-being and stability. Despite working in wellness (Yes, coaches and healers are vulnerable too!), I found myself reaching out to desserts for comfort. I like to live a life of permissions (not labels or deprivation leading to bingeing), so I wanted to work with someone who approached healing from a place of mindful compassion. I didn’t want to be my own client. Xenia was great in reminding me to be kind to myself. Working with her, brought me peace and helped shift my mindset. I love how desserts and I look at each other now.”

Sweta Vikram, New York, USA

“Working with Xenia was amazing. She armed me with a bunch of tools to help me through difficult times. Xenia is the kind of person who really cares for helping you in the long run. Her work will forever have an impact in my life.”

Daniela Velásquez, Ottawa, Canada

“Working with Xen was a game changer for me. After working together for a few months my relationship with food radically changed. I no longer felt like a failure. I now have the tools to nourish my body with foods that feel good in my body. I don’t feel guilty about eating cake or chocolate, I also don’t overeat cake and chocolate. I no longer feel the need to exercise to compensate for my eating. I feel much more free around eating and I am more accepting of my body. Xen has a nonjudgmental and compassionate approach to coaching and really supports you in the process.”

Rachel, Dublin, Ireland

“Working with Xen has been very empowering. Her approach is so refreshing from the usual. I have learned that I am in charge and that I get to choose what I put in my body and how to move my body in a way that I like! I get to make my own choices. It’s so liberating. Once you get a taste of freedom with food, there is no turning back to old ways! Thanks Xen for guiding me along the way to freedom.”

Heather B, Cork. Ireland

“This is the answer for those of you that struggle with food and all that surrounds it. Xenia said that I could make peace with food and it seemed at the time like an impossible dream. Turns out it isn’t. I recommend Xen and the mindful eating / intuitive eating approach unreservedly. If you have any questions about my experience, please get in touch. Thank you Xen. My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐”

Michelle, Johannesburg, South Africa

“Xenia was a walking, living, breathing example of what can be done. I laughed and cried my way through a short course in this fascinating and invigorating programme with her, and have gained a designer tote full of coping skills that go way beyond containing kilogrammes. I feel infinitely lighter. I am doing this for me and, yes, you can do this for you too! And believe me, I’m cynical!”

Diana, Vancouver, Canada

“I don’t obsess about food like I used to. I am thinking differently about food and feeling so much more relaxed around all types of food. It’s wonderful to have pleasure and satisfaction from eating.”

Sarah, Illinois, USA

“I learned a new way of thinking about food. I have learned that food is not the enemy and that it can actually be enjoyed with no guilt.”

Sandy, London, United Kingdom

Certified by The Life Coach School Certified and Trained by The Original Intuitive Eating Pro Professional Member of The Center for Mindful Eating