If only I knew then what I know now 

Yeah, we’ve all heard that hindsight is a wonderful thing. And it is.  How often do we worry needlessly, sweating the small stuff and forgetting what’s really happening?  Then we maybe find ourselves going to food for comfort.  All of our good intentions can go out of the window in an instant when we seek to escape our emotions with food. 
It’s like we are really out of our mind before that first bite. And once that first bite is taken, all intention flies off with the wind.   I know, I’ve been there.  Do you often look back at the challenging situation and wonder what all the fuss was about? This magic is often called hindsight. You needn’t have worried so much and got so upset, so angry, so sad, so impatient.   If these are circumstances in which you tend to overeat, it might be worth trying out this practice. It’s worked very well for me. 

When emotion seems to take over try this self-inquiry exercise… 

  1. What are you feeling? What are you thinking? 
  2. Have you felt this way before? 
  3. Have you had similar challenges before? 
  4. What was the outcome? 
  5. How much of the emotion that you felt then, was really necessary? 
  6. What might be the possible positive outcome of this situation? 
  7. Are there lessons can you take now? 
  8. What is the opposite of the emotion that you are feeling? 
  9. Can you imagine feeling that opposite later today, tomorrow, next week, month or year? 
  10. What tools, skills, and practices do you have to help you through this challenge? 

E.g – tapping (EFT), meditation, breath work, journaling, yoga, flower remedies, coaching. 

Shifting Energy

Remember that an emotion is e-motion, or energy in motion. It will pass. Everything is temporary.    There are thousands of ways to move through an emotion. You may not be able to change the emotion itself but you can change your feelings around it. This allows the emotion to move and that is exactly what you want.   The sooner the emotion moves, the sooner you come back to balance, the less likely you are to overeat. You are moving from the stress response to the relaxation response.  

The difference between the two is simply phenomenal. Biologically, you replace adrenaline with endorphins, cortisol (which makes fat around your middle) with serotonin (which makes you feel happy).    

You have so much power! 

I would suggest that you perhaps print off the list of questions in this post and put them in your purse or wallet. Dig them out the very next time you are challenged and watch the magic. 

If you would like to read more about the relaxation and stress response and learn more about the science behind emotional eating, including why diets only make things worse, please consider my book – BodyMAGIC! – a Happy Ending to Binge and Emotional Eating. Find out more HERE  Get even more insights and learn many more techniques to help you find your BodyMAGIC! by subscribing to our newsletter HERE. I’ll give you a FREE 10-minute relaxation to help shift you from stress (emotional eating magnet) to bliss. You can do it!  -Namaste