How to Stop Emotional Eating and Lose Weight!

It’s a cool, fall day here on Long Island, and boy, did my day get off to a rocky start! Every Tuesday at 7 AM, I work with a long-tenured client prior to seeing both my grandmother and my father in my hometown of Port Washington, NY. Being that I still have my rental car that didn’t come with a full tank, I had to stop by the gas station across from my apartment to fill up before heading out. First, I forgot that I was driving a different brand of car, and that the gas tank was on the opposite side of where it is on mine. Second, unlike my usual car, the rental has a switch that needs to be flipped in order to open the gas tank. Third, in order for this switch to actually work, the car’s engine has to be on.

10 minutes later, I was running 10 minutes behind, and thanks to rush hour here in New York, I was 20 minutes late to my first session. Luckily, my first client owns a rental car company, and sympathized with my gas tank plight, so no issues there! :-p

Now then, one of the biggest issues for folks on their weight loss journeys is emotional eating. We know full well that changes need to be made in order to reach our goals, but when it comes time to pay the piper and act on what needs to be done, we become scared. We fear failure (and sometimes even success!), and because it’s more comfortable to stay in present habits (even if they’re not good ones!), we remain in this unhelpful cycle of paralysis by analysis.

So, let’s dissect what’s holding you back by asking yourself some specific questions, and then reviewing a better mental approach to each one:

1) Are you getting over the loss of a family member, a friend, a home, a job, a pet, or a significant other? This loss can be due to death, financial issues, or just a falling out between two people. These are all painful, no doubt, but what good does continuing to neglect yourself do for you to overcome the pain you’re experiencing? Here’s a hint: NOTHING!

2) Ask yourself what drinking booze and eating garbage is going to do for you outside of either numbing the pain, or providing an extremely temporary moment of comfort? Here’s a hint: NOTHING! A lot of us like to stick our heads in the sand when a problem is present — Especially if that problem hits close to home. We’d rather stay in toxic, uncomfortable environments in order to avoid further discomfort by removing ourselves from these. Instead of using an inebriating substance or stimulating a dopamine release by eating junk, take some time to think about your emotional trigger(s), and begin to act on how you can remove yourself from them.

3) Are you afraid of failing on your weight loss journey? Here’s a great tip I was taught early on in my life: You never fail until you actually throw in the towel and give up! If something ain’t working, review what you’ve been doing, and make some changes that can help push you forward. These changes may not always work, but keep this in mind: It took Thomas Edison 10,000 tries before he had a working light bulb prototype. Luckily, you have me, so outside of whatever means you’ve tried to lose weight in the past, you don’t have to make 10,000 attempts ;-)

4) Are you afraid of SUCCEEDING on your weight loss journey? Sadly, many of us are surrounded by people who have a victim mentality. Their comfort is to neglect their health by eating and drinking shit, and to complain about the bad circumstances happening in and around their lives. They don’t have anything constructive to do or to say — All they do is complain about how the glass is half empty all the time. When this is all we know, and we begin to make positive changes, these people tend to get uncomfortable. Their defense mechanism will be to judge us outwardly for doing something about an area that’s of concern, rather than letting the fates decide what will be, which is their preferred method of handling life’s situations. These are NOT people you need in your life, so if you can get rid of them, you’ll be much better off!

I hope you found this brief exercise helpful. Please do me a favor, and if you have or are currently struggling with emotional eating, please let me know your thoughts on this process, and what your action plan is to move forward on your journey! I look forward to hearing from you :-)

Sincerely,
Pete Weintraub
pete@weightlossbypete.com

P.S. If you’re looking for more messages like this about Permanent Weight Loss, then you’re definitely going to want to join the Permanent Weight Loss CommunityI recently opened on Facebook ;-)

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