As an only child, I spent a lot of time with my parents. They instilled a lot of great values in me, but I also picked up a few of their bad habits. One of the worst habits was the idea that food is your friend. They never said that, of course, but when I was happy, sad, bored, or nearly any other emotion, they were the first to whip out ice cream, a bag of chips, or a perfectly buttered piece of bread to give me something else to think about. It seemed harmless at first, but as I grew up and life got harder, I found myself turning to food frequently for comfort.
I’ve noticed that a lot of people in my life turn to food, alcohol, prescription medication, or cigarettes as their best friend. So many people are dependent on some external factor to get them through their days. Rather than ignoring the true issues, what would happen if we all confronted our problems as they happened?
I started doing that when I started down a path to intuitive eating. Instead of putting restrictions on food and jumping back and forth between overeating and under eating, I decided to start paying attention to my true feelings.
It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Feelings and emotions are not easy, but we have to pay attention to them or we’ll never get where we want to be in life. Putting off working through the difficult moments only guarantees we’ll never really get anywhere. Since I’ve started eating intuitively, I’ve experienced every single emotion you could imagine. I’ve also made more progress in my life since starting on the journey than I had in the last five years. Instead of delaying progress, I pushed through.
What is the crutch that gets you through life without feeling your feelings? What would happen if you let go of it for a day, a week, a month, a year? You might be surprised at what’s on the other side.
