Block Emotional Eating like you Block your Ex
How can we immunize ourselves against emotional eating?
I have already written a few articles about the most crucial moments that affect our health and fitness. For example, How to win the fight: a bag of chips vs. your goal to lose weight. However, this past week, I found myself in a situation where I had to go deeper because I had two great excuses to go crazy with my food and give up on my exercise. Even though I had given myself permission to take a break from my healthy habits, I just couldn’t; my body and mind simply would not go there. I recognized that my decision not to numb my pain with food did not prevent me from feeling extremely worried and upset, which could still be harmful to my mental and physical health. My mind felt like a warring place full of positive vs. negative thoughts, but I knew I could not let the dust clouds of this war settle and cover my heart.
I am not typically an emotional person; I don’t even watch chick flick movies. Honestly, the movies I watch and the books I read for fun are primarily thrillers (not counting the spiritual books I read daily for my ‘survival’). But this week, I shed some tears. After dropping off my daughter way too early (4 am) at the airport for college and driving back home, I couldn’t hold back the tears because I was already missing her. I thought to myself that I could have a nice big pancake breakfast to heal my sadness. Instead, when I got home after dropping off my son at school, I noticed my body was craving some movement instead of pancakes. I jumped on the Peloton and did an easy ride while reading my spiritual book. I didn’t break my personal sweat record, but I definitely felt better sweating the sadness out of my body. Afterward, I barely had time to get out of my bike shoes when I got a call from my son’s school. Thirty minutes after the call, I was in my car crying again, this time following the ambulance that was taking my son to the hospital. It was a long, long day, but thank God that night we slept in our own cozy beds.
The next day, after the emotional rollercoaster of sadness, I felt scared and worried that my body was empty. Although my son was okay, he is now in a long-term battle for his health. My mind entered into “War Zone 2.0,” with my inner thoughts going back and forth between “Everything will be okay; things are going to work out,” and “I will never see the light at the end of this tunnel.”
If you think about it, if we were to dissect each of our thoughts, like “Should I eat this ice cream or should I leave it in the freezer?” they all come down to one basic predicament: “There is hope, there is still a chance,” vs. “There is no hope.”
What do you do in this situation to avoid letting food fill in the empty spaces? The next day, although I was tired from not being able to sleep well, I decided to get on the Peloton bike again and just do a light cardio workout — but I did not make that decision based on an obsession about working out or worrying about weight gain due to skipping one workout. Rather, I did it for two reasons. First, I knew that getting the blood flow and oxygen into my body and brain would be more helpful than doing nothing or, even worse, eating until I fell asleep. Second, I wanted to read my spiritual book, and reading spiritual books while doing cardio has been more impactful (somehow, my brain is like a sponge for spiritual Knowing when I do any cardio. I guess the sweat makes my brain a little softer).
And this is the reason why I have decided to write this article and share my vulnerable crying moments. When it is so, so, so dark that you can’t see the Light and feel the love for yourself and your body, it is very easy to find yourself asking questions, just like I found myself doing when I started to pedal. In my mind, I went through all the events that had happened in the past years, while blaming a specific person for my family’s current pain (both physical and mental). However, this time, I didn’t create an imaginary dialogue with the person I blame for the situation. (You know that dialogue, right? The one where you say something and answer for the other person, since you “know” exactly what the other person would say?
The one where you keep digging yourself into a rabbit hole with dialogue that is a poison for your body and your soul?) So, this time, I asked softly and waited and waited a little more, because I didn’t want to “talk” to that person I was blaming. I wanted to talk to someone very, very special. I wanted to hear from God; I wanted a dialogue with someone Who loves me, understands me, and knows every cell in my body (since I am HIS creation — and you are as well).
As I was biking, I closed my eyes and calmly asked a question, and the answer came softly. Then, I calmly asked another question that was answered softly again. The panic mode that had overtaken my body the day before was slowly dissolving and disappearing. My mind was clearer; I was able to connect the dots that led up into the Light, which guided me steadily out of the previous day’s dark tunnel.
You see, I combined Faith and Fitness, talking to God while doing cardio, and that did the magic. I know sometimes we try to go on a powerful run or punch the bag during vigorous workouts to get the anger out. But what if there is no anger, no energy, just a big emptiness that is waiting to be filled? Don’t fill it with food; fill it with a dialogue with God while going for a walk, a hike, or a bike ride. Your value is more than just the food; your value is a priceless dialogue with your Creator. Every scary moment that brings us to this dialogue is the beginning of something new that we would likely otherwise miss.
I know it might seem so ordinary to go for a walk and open your heart, but it is not easy to do, because junk food still seems to have a greater power over our minds. It is never too late to form yourself into who you want to be and who you are meant to be. You still have time, years, to do what you came to do in this world. If you give a chance to something bigger and better, God, He will guide you to rebuild your body as a HOME for your soul and your Creator. If you give a chance to this soft-ness, love-ness, and kind-ness to enter into your world, your life and body will change forever.
So, when you hit a wall and think the only way out is the way-beneath-your-value food, just get on a bike or put on some tennis shoes and go for a walk. Then just start talking to HIM (most importantly, stay away from the conversations with your imaginary boss, boyfriend, ex, etc.). Make yourself soft-er and Light-er so you can pull yourself up. Instead of bringing God down, lift yourself to His heavenly place on your walk while having an open-hearted conversation with Him.
Look, I am not trying to coach you to become a mushy wimp by softening up. Trust me, my coaching is everything but soft. But sometimes, just being hard is hard and, honestly, unrealistic.
However, get ready because when your energy comes back, when you feel good again, and when you are back on fire, trust me, God will push you into an awesome kick-ass workout. He will do everything to put that smile back on your face.
For more tips or coaching please contact me at: heavenlybodyafter40@gmail.com
