How Transforming Emotional Eating into a Positive Helped Me Lose 40 Pounds

before_after_Osha_Key

I became really sick and overweight, and hit the bottom over 5 years ago. That’s when my journey to health began. I have not only lost 40 lbs of fat along the way, but have also healed my body and completely transformed my health.

How I changed my perspective on food addiction

I must confess, I’ve always been addicted to food and losing weight hasn’t changed that. I haven’t healed my food addiction. But instead, I made it work for me, rather than against me.

If you’re currently addicted to food, then trying to give it up and letting it go might bring too much resistance. And remember – whatever you resist persists.

I’ve always been fascinated by food, I loved (and still do!) eating and especially sharing food with others. Giving emotional eating up is actually a lot harder than it may sound, or even impossible for most people.

What is emotional eating? It’s eating out of emotion. Whenever we eat food that tastes really good and we enjoy it – we eat it with emotion. Often a lot of traditional holidays are based around food – that’s also emotional eating in a way. Thin people also eat emotionally – most of them actually seem to really enjoy and love their food! Anytime you eat for any other reason than nutrition, is considered emotional eating.

How to make it work for you

Emotional eating can serve you! In fact, it has served me on my journey. I started researching about food, health and nutrition. I spent hours and hours in the kitchen trying different healthy recipes and new methods of cooking. I started attending raw food potlucks, where I could share my passion and recipes with like-minded people.

The main difference was that this time I was preparing and eating food because it made me feel good, both physically and emotionally. I did it because I started to love and appreciate my body, and I wanted to give it only the best nutrition possible instead of trying to punish and numb myself with unhealthy food and wine like I used to do in the past.

Don’t fight your addiction – simply let it work for you. Get passionate about healthy recipes and new ways of preparing food and most importantly – start paying attention (I highly recommend even starting a journal) to how certain foods make you feel. I’m not just talking about feeling a good taste in the moment, instead, focus on how this food made you feel (in terms of digestion and energy levels ) a few hours after eating it, or even the next day.

The more you start implementing new habits and eating consciously, the more often you’ll find yourself choosing meals that make you feel clean, vibrant and healthy.

Don’t worry about overcoming food addiction. In a way, every single person on this planet is addicted to food, whether we see as an addiction or not. We’re all dependent on food and need it to survive (except maybe those rare breatharians).

Choose to change your perspective and make it work for you rather than against you.

Osha Key

Osha Key is a life lover, certified nutritionist, weight loss expert and the author of "MASTERY IN WEIGHT LOSS",
which you can get for FREE when you visit her website www.becomethebestofyou.com and subscribe.

After losing 40 pounds, Osha is now on a mission to help women do the same.