The Emotional Eater's Book of Inspiration

Emotional eating is the reason for many of these problems. Most of us are unaware of the ways we use food to soothe our feelings. While food addicts need to begin by abstaining from their binge foods, feelings come up especially strong when they do. Without help, it is nearly impossible to permanently change eating patterns and overcome emotional eating.

The Emotional Eater's Book of Inspirations: 90 Truths You Need to Know to Overcome Your Food Addiction is a unique and special approach to help with this problem. Denial is the number one reason many of us fail to recover; the ninety truths in this book will not only help you recognize this critical issue, they have the potential to be life-changing.

As someone who has spent all of his professional life working in the eating disorders field, I have witnessed firsthand the challenges of recovery. This book will help you through the toughest days and will be a companion as you overcome your emotional eating.

"Hello," my voice was groggy.

"Deb, it's Dad. You gotta come down to Florida. Mom is dead." I could hear the sobs in his voice.

"Oh, my God, Daddy. What happened? I'm so sorry." I was sobbing, too.

My parents were two weeks into a month-long vacation in Daytona Beach. I had just returned from visiting them. Other than a stomachache, my mother had had no symptoms when I saw her the morning before.

With shaking hands, I hung up the phone and began to prepare to fly back to Florida. Turning on the light, I saw the watch that my mother had gotten me a few days before. She had smiled at me when she found the wide pink-banded watch. She knew it was my favorite color and that I would love it.

Cradling the watch and rocking back and forth, I began to sob uncontrollably. Up until this point, I had been too young to understand the finality of death.

This time I knew. I knew that I would never again see or talk to my mother. I knew that she would never be there to listen to me talk about my problems or to offer support. And most of all, I knew that she would never be there to hug me and offer comfort in my most painful times. Now, when I needed her most she was gone.

Eighteen years ago, eating was the only way I knew to comfort myself. I put on a happy face then when I was alone and ate until I was so sick that I could barely make it to the bathroom in time. I was 328 pounds. Though this was painful, it didn't even compare to the deep self-hatred and shame I felt from not being able to control my eating. I felt completely defeated and demoralized each time I tried yet another diet only to end up heavier than when I began. I was suicidal and hopeless.

And though I needed to be locked up in a treatment center to begin my recovery that is not true for everyone. As someone who is physically addicted to processed sugar and flour in the same way that an alcoholic is to alcohol, I needed to find a food plan that worked for me. I did. But this was only the first step.

Having a food plan that allowed me to be free of my addictive substances allowed my true feelings to surface. For the first time in my life I was able to identify what I was feeling. Before this, I had spent so much time and energy eating that I wasn't aware of my emotions. Once I could identify them, I needed to learn what to do with them. Since eating had been my only course of action before, I had to change many things in my life.

Today, I am happy to say that I am able to feel my feelings and not use food to deny them. Even in extreme cases such as the death of my mother, I know that no amount of food can take away the pain I am feeling. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. If I do choose to reach for food when I have strong feelings then I will experience even more pain than if I had let myself experience them.

Now, it's your turn. Picking up this book is an indication that you are probably experiencing some degree of pain due to your connection to food. Maybe you are like I was and suicidal, or perhaps you just have fleeting thoughts of wanting to improve your eating habits. Whatever the degree of your problem, it's important that you begin to take responsibility for finding a solution.

This book will help you to do that. Within these pages you will find 90 truths to help you overcome your emotional eating and food addiction. You will be offered concrete activities to help you both identify your feelings and improve your eating habits. But, most of all you will learn new ways of managing your emotions so that you no longer need to use food to make yourself feel better.

One of the important things I've learned to recognize in my own recovery is how I used "food lies" to allow myself to continue my emotional eating. Throughout this book you will learn to identify and change the food lies you have created to sustain your over- or undereating. You will be presented with workable methods of moving forward and creating a happy and sane life.

Before you begin, there are a few things you need to know. The terms food addiction and emotional eating are used throughout this book. It is important to understand the difference. "Food addiction" is a term used to describe a physical and emotional addiction to certain food substances, usually processed sugar, flour, caffeine, sometimes fats and wheat. "Emotional eating" is used to label the condition of using food to manage feelings. While all food addicts are emotional eaters, not all emotional eaters are food addicts. In other words, it is possible to emotionally eat without being physically addicted to food.

It is also important to note that not all food addicts and emotional eaters are overweight. There are many forms of both. A person can be addicted to food yet abstain from eating. It's not how much or how little a person eats, it's what the food does to the person that matters. Some emotional eaters and food addicts feel powerful by not eating. When they do eat, they feel out of control.

With all of the varieties of both food addiction and emotional eating, it is best that you try not to compare yourself to others. Rather than dismissing things that may not initially seem to fit your circumstances, take some time to make every effort to identify with the things written in this book. Put all thoughts about how you are different out of your mind. Instead, think about those things that do pertain to you. It will make all of the difference in the world in determining the progress you will make.

The next thing you need to understand is that this book does not offer a suggested food plan. You will need to find one. How you go about this is up to you. There are resources at the end of this book to help. You may use one of them or you may decide to consult a doctor or nutritionist. Whatever course you take, do not try to figure it out yourself. As an emotional eater or food addict, it is important that you have some accountability when deciding what to eat. Look at it this way, if you could have changed your eating habits by yourself then you wouldn't be where you are now.

As you read the entries and work on the suggested activities, understand that the single most important trait you bring to beginning this book is honesty. If you're like many emotional eaters and food addicts you have spent a lifetime telling yourself food lies so that you can over- or undereat. Being I00 percent honest about food and your feelings is a challenge but it is necessary.

And, finally, it will be helpful for you to purchase a special notebook or journal where you can keep all your thoughts about your recovery in one place. Though some people are resistant to do this because they are afraid that someone will find their writings, understand that with any type of recovery there are risks and challenges. If this is a particular challenge for you, then take every precaution you can to store your journal in a safe place. At the same time, understand that some people use this as an excuse not to move forward. If this is the case, keep in mind that your own words may save your life someday.

To begin, make a commitment to yourself to read one entry and complete the suggested activity each day for the next 90 days. Set aside a designated time that works for you. For some people it is first thing in the morning, while for others it is after work or before bed. The time doesn't matter nearly as much as consistency.

The program here is designed to build upon what you learn every day. Though you may be tempted to read the whole book all at once then put it down, I recommend that you stick to reading one entry each day for the next 90 days. After you've finished 90 days, you can and should dip into the book when you need a reminder to stick with your new eating habits.

If you are experiencing an extremely difficult time you may choose to read or reread some of the other entries but be sure not to skip over any of the activities when you do get to them. In other words, it's okay to read the entries out of order if you need to but make every effort to read and complete the activities in order.

Keep reading and whatever you do, don't stop. Don't talk yourself out of continuing. Turn the page and move forward into the life that you've always dreamed of. I know this is possible. I am living proof and it is my hope that someday you will be, too.