I’ve been thinking about why, after all these years, I STILL get tempted to put on my Nike’s and run to the nearest block of chocolate whenever life throws a little drama my way?

Honestly, if I could wave my magic wand (where do you get one of those? Costco?) and make this whole emotional eating gig disappear, I would. But after 30 years of fighting with it I have finally learned a thing or two about the easiest way to get from:

Point A (nightly eating frenzies featuring cookies covered with chocolate frosting) to

Point B (chocolate cake? Oh no… none for me thanks. I’m not hungry)

I’m certainly not going to sit here and tell you I have it all together, but I’m much further along than I was before. So here are my favourite ways to bust emotional eating in the chops in 3 simple steps…

1. don’t eat your feelings

Has trying to stuff your emotions down with chocolate cake ever made the problem go away? Well, has it?!

Don’t be afraid of your feelings. They will pass. Both the good ones and the bad ones. The pain of the nutso boss who picks on you, the dirty dishes that look like the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the sink , the partner who just doesn’t seem to “get” that throwing dirty socks at the laundry basket is not the same as putting them “in” the laundry basket… these circumstances are not fun, but they WILL pass.

Feelings are just a response to a thought in your head. Change your thoughts, change your feelings (and consider upgrading the partner to a newer model who CAN manage to place their laundry a basket!)

2. ditch the inner critic

Eating a family size block of chocolate in the middle of the night is never a wise move. Of course The Voice in your head will tell you it’s a marvellous idea! In fact, why stop at just the chocolate? Why not cover it with whipped cream too? FABULOUS!

But we all know that approximately 4.5 seconds after the last bite of creamy goodness passes your lips, the inner critic steps in…

“how COULD you?”

“you’re such a loser”

“see how weak you are? You’ll NEVER lose weight!”

It’s time to beat that inner critic at its own game. Tune in to your own goodness. Your own wisdom. Your own kindness. Ditch the inner critic that tells you you’re too far gone to ever beat the binge. You can and you will. As Glinda the Good Witch says “You’ve always had the power, my dear” (and as far as I’m concerned, if Glinda says it, then it’s gospel)

3. Bust the “busy eating”

Forget about eating while you do the ironing, pick the kids up from soccer practice, gymnastics or cookie making class. Sit down to eat and give all your attention to the food on your plate.

Why? Because the minute you eat past satisfaction, it’s soooo much harder to stop nibbling. Suddenly all the little snaky, crunchy, crispy treats become irresistible and you find yourself roaming from the fridge to the pantry, sampling everything from raw cookie dough to some questionable left over chinese food in the back of the fridge and before you know it, you’ve eaten an entire second meal!

Slooooow down and enjoy the food that’s on your plate. Focusing on your food means bringing yourself fully into the present moment and extracting every morsel of pleasure from that, before we run to the pantry for another round of double fudge chocolate brownies.

And if you’re looking for a little helping hand to steer you back on track, check out my brand spanking new baby…

Drink Yourself Slim!

It’s jam packed with delicious recipes, helpful hints and my top tips to have you waving a smug “bye bye” to emotional eating and skipping off into the sunset with Mr No Diet Drama!

Now, I’d loooove to hear from you! what is your greatest challenge when it comes to emotional eating? What’s the ONE THING that absolutely drives you nuts?

Let me know in the comments below!

Oh, and remember you’ll only bring good karma if you share this post with someone you love. Go on, share the love… you know you want to! 😉

Here’s to Ditching the Diet!