Raw Chef Panel Q3: Emotional Eating
Q. Do you emotionally eat? If so, what do you eat? How do you overcome emotional eating?
A. I have been an emotional eater my entire life. This is partly the cause for my swinging introduction into the raw food diet. Like I mentioned before, I am an all-or-nothing girl. This is a mental state; I am aware of this. Few eat out of sheer hunger. Most eat for social or emotional reasons. I am no different. I have found, though, that the more I am able to quiet my mind, the more stable my diet becomes.
Over the years, I have self-medicated and soothed myself with foods. It is what I turn to when feeling stressed, sad, overwhelmed or fearful. Heavy foods, particularly, dampen my anxieties by forcing me to feel the physical discomfort of a full belly rather than my mental or spiritual upheaval. As a raw foodie, I tend to go for the heavy nut or seed laden foods when feeling negative emotions. I rarely dehydrate foods at home, for I prefer to eat juicy, high vibrancy foods. So, when I am having a challenging day, I will seek out a store-bought raw granola. My favorite is Hemp & Greens by Living Intentions. This gives me exactly what I am looking for- a sweet treat, that heavy feeling I crave and a quick fix. If I need to eat emotionally, I am certainly not in the mood to create something in my kitchen. This is why the premade raw granolas are so perfect. Because it is raw, I can eat this without any guilt, which is also a huge bonus. Though, powering through an entire bag of granola is not the best thing for my body, it certainly is not the worst either. When I do this, my body usually balances itself the next day by craving more water dense fruits and vegetables. I find, in this way, I can manage my weight by staying raw if going through tough challenges. I would also like to add that the more raw foods I eat the less negativity I feel in general. I have far fewer emotionally turbulent days as a raw foodie.
In addition to my raw food diet, a daily meditation practice is one of the best ways for me to maintain an emotional equilibrium. My ever expanding spirituality keeps me in a state of gratitude and abundance. The more I honestly love myself and recognize myself as source energy, the more grounded I feel, the more joy I have and the lighter life appears. Because of this, I rarely feel so emotionally charged that I need to grab that bag of granola. Often one can find me nibbling on Hemp & Greens granola not because I need it, but because I simply like it. There is a difference here between the two mind-sets.
For me, meditation is a necessity. It is something I need to do every day like an exercise routine. It aligns me and centers me. As I mentioned above, emotional distress is a mental state. It is self-created. By meditating, I am able to train my mind. I can quiet it when needed. I can look at it and see that it is little more than a part of my ego. It is separate from what I truly am on a soul level. Realizing this through my spiritual practice keeps the strife of daily life in perspective. There is so much more going on than my insignificant earthly, society based stressors. I am so much more than I have been raised to believe. When I meditate, I know this, for I can feel what I truly am. I see that I am light; I am divinely perfect. This soothes me on a level that dissipates any angst I may have with my physical life.
I remain balanced and manage emotional eating by synergizing my clean diet with meditation. Doing this, I feel liberated, inspired, empowered, lighthearted and grounded.
Shana Dean Reiki & Lightbody Awakening 