Every year some people attend a few food-based education sessions, sign up for a few exercise classes, turn over a new leaf, and voila a few months later they are at a healthy target weight. According to the obesity statistics, about 50% of the population are able to maintain a healthy weight, and a physique they are (presumably) comfortable with, without ever seeing a trainer or a weight loss expert. Some people so it seems, have a natural gift to maintain a balance between food and activity.
For others, this balance is an impossibility. Seemingly simple healthy eating rules are to some, a stress-inducing nightmare. Sometimes emotions can be controlled for a short-term celebrity diet. For many, this denial results in unwanted weight gain!
I think the actual figures are that out of every 5 “dieters” 4 not only regain the weight, but actually put more on.
To be utterly clear, about 50% of the population needs no emotional food or eating support what so ever. If you simply need some hints on the mechanics, there is lots of weight-loss advice out there, from weighing to calorie counting. The mechanics that successful weight managers use are here. If you want support in working out your macros drop me an email
These methods and hints work brilliantly as long as you haven’t made an emotional connection with food.
If you have an emotional connection, the science says that methods like calorie counting will send your stress levels through the roof.
The moment you see food as a reward, a comforter, a stress reliever or central to family life, most unsupported attempts to control how what, or when you eat will magnify the stress you feel. In many cases, your current relationship with food is the only thing that keeps you together.
Thankfully in between the numerous: “It’s the food stupid” diets, there have been great strides taken to understand some people underlying emotion/food issues.
The conclusions are clear. Until you work out how to change your body image, recognise and properly deal with your emotions, acclimatise to change and normalise your eating, Food will continue to dominate, rule, and ruin your life. To help we will now be running a monthly free 5-day “food and emotions challenge” Hopefully with a better, snappier, name (but no promises)!
Over the 5 days, you take part in some interesting behavior and mindset challenges and join in thought-provoking online discussions ( possibly by zoom, more likely to be in a facebook group) At the end of the challenge you’ll have some interesting ideas to either continue a self researched journey or chat to our team and see if you’d like some more support!
Here is how to get involved.
Step 1: Identify if you are an emotional eater
complete this questionnaire and we will tell you if your eating is emotionally driven
The Emotional Eating Questionnaire
(If you have problem accessing the questionnaire, email me and I’ll send it to you directly)
If you know you have an emotional issue with food and find the questionnaire idea daunting/ or don’t like the one we are currently using, we can add you to the challenge without it! just drop me an email and say “add me to the emotions/food challenge”)
Once you’ve submitted the questionnaire we will tell you if you have issues that the challenge will help with.
Step 2: If we think the challenge will work for you, we will send you the background to the challenge and some basic tasks to help you prepare for it.
Step 3 whilst it’s not clear at the time of writing if we will use Zoom or a Facebook group for our daily discussions.
Step 4 each day of the challenge you’ll be sent some interesting tasks by email to make you think about things as varied as your body image, your emotions, your social flexibility. We will discuss the results, issues, problems either on zoom or in the Facebook group later that day.
The first challenge will start on Monday 1st Feb (We thought we’d leave some space between then and the nonsense of new years resolutions. This gives you time to jump into a 7 days celeb starvation diet, and remind yourself how awful and destructive they are before you start!).