Emotional Eater: Nourish The Heart and Soul To-Do List

photo from Daily Vitamins For the Soul

I'm an emotional eater.

I used to fight that fact for years because a part of me felt that letting my emotions effect my eating habits was a weakness. I'd tell myself that I should be able to control my eating with logic and sense especially with weight loss because it's not rocket science. The formula is simple. 

I'm not saying this belief was right and obviously it was not serving me well. But, it was the belief I was engrained with and it contributed to my cantankerous relationship with food. I finally got to the point where I realized that this line of thinking, denying this part of me, got me no where except misery. I got to this point mainly because I decided it was time for me to go to couple's therapy and work on my relationship with food because I wanted to love food instead of food being my source of love.

I had to break up with Ben & Jerry as my lover and change them from "in a relationship with" to "friend" status. During this time, I also found out I was allergic to Ben & Jerry, the dairy in the ice cream, so more reason to part ways on a friendly note. 

I'm an emotional eater

And, that is just fine! It's not a bad thing. Misguided emotional eating, when I chose to deny what's going on inside verus being present with those feelings and asking what I emotionally need is where I get into trouble. Where being an emotional eater has helped me have a positive relationship with food is helping me distinguish the difference between true physical hunger and emotional hunger.

When I get creative with food like styling a plate, coming up with a new twist on an old recipe or taking photos of food, I feed my need to be artistic and creative. I never knew I had a talent for taking iPhone food shots to the point where people have paid me money for some of my photography. Being an emotional eater helped me discover that talent. Who knew that could happen?

I've learned that when I nourish my soul and heart with positive, loving, encouraging energy through friends and family, hobbies, or even simple quotes from Facebook, I won't seek the comfort of donuts, cookies, and ice cream. My cravings for sweets is most often an emotional craving for something sweet in my life like time with friends, being in a relationship or even a need for a hug.

I liked the To-Do list from Daily Vitamins for the Soul because doing those items will definitely help nourish you with love, patience, and compassion. What are some things on your to-do list that you do to feed your heart and soul?