Food Cravings and Emotional Eating
A little about my eating background
During my teenage years, I developed some unhealthy eating behaviours. I had no idea then these behaviours were driven by low self-esteem, lack of confidence, a sense of powerlessness, and just plain not feeling good enough.
Throughout this period and into my adult years, I didn’t realise that it was unexpressed emotions and negative core beliefs beneath my overeating and cravings. I simply thought I had no willpower and judged myself for this, adding to my negative self-belief.
I wasn’t overweight, although I was very self-conscious and had very low regard for my body image. The reason I wasn’t overweight, other than being keen to exercise, was that I smoked. When I gave up smoking 20 years ago, I gained weight and struggled to lose it and to control my eating.
I had been using smoking as a tool to suppress emotions and to control my eating. The end of meal time and eating would be signaled by a cup of tea and a cigarette. Once I stopped smoking I lost my ability to stop eating, I had no ‘off’ button.
I became an all-day eater, an emotional eater, and unable to control food cravings.
Since training in Emotional Freedom Techniques, and also with the help of some expert EFT Practitioners, I have successfully removed my food cravings and emotional eating. I no longer eat comfort foods, the foods I eat everyday are what I aspired to eat for years. I can say that food is no longer an issue and I have learnt to love water!
My weight no longer yo-yo’s. The best thing is that I no longer endure that horrible overfull feeling and all of that guilt and shame after a ‘food blow out’.
I have been working with clients one-on-one since 2015 and running Food Cravings Workshops since 2017.
Food Cravings
- will not go away until you’ve eaten the desired food
- usually a specific food or type of food is eaten
- might be triggered by the sight, mention, or thought of the food
- generally linked to a happy memory, generating feel good emotions
- may be created by a lack of safety
- may be created by a lack of safety around experiencing those feel-good emotions
- can result in feelings of guilt and shame and negative self-belief
Emotional Eating
- not limited to one food
- you eat until you can’t eat anymore
- often you are not present or fully aware of your eating at the time
- used as a tool to suppress unpleasant emotions from experiences from the past and the present
- used as a tool to calm anxiety about the future
- used as a tool to suppress negative feelings about self and negative behaviours
- results in feelings of guilt and shame and negative self belief
I used to make a cake to eat it. Madeira cake, that lemon icing! It reminded me of my grandma and the safety and joyful experiences I had at her place. I tried everything. Even, in an attempt to moderate the speed at which is was eaten, I would slice it and freeze the slices. Guess what I learnt? You can eat frozen cake!
I’m happy to say this is no longer a problem for me.
Barb Starke
Tapping for Food Cravings
Tapping is an effective method for releasing food cravings, yielding quick and lasting results
Cravings can sometimes be resolved without going into their root causes, or root events, though in certain cases, addressing underlying emotions is necessary for complete release.
Food cravings typically fall into three main categories: sweet, salty, and carbohydrates. While some cravings can be resolved in a single session, others may require multiple tapping sessions. For instance, cravings for chocolate encompass a wide range of options, from white to dark chocolate, chocolate peanuts, Moro Bars, Easter eggs, and more. The good news is that you won’t need to tap on each individual item; addressing a few key cravings will often release the overall craving.
Tapping is scientifically proven to release food cravings and provide long lasting results as compared to other therapies.
Once you have learnt how, it is possible to release food cravings yourself.
Our eating habits often mirror our emotional well-being. Stress, anxiety, life experiences, and learned behaviors all influence what and how we eat. These patterns can be deeply ingrained and unconscious, making them challenging to overcome solely through willpower or restrictive diets. It’s an ongoing struggle for many, highlighting the need to address the emotional roots of our eating habits for lasting change and wellness.
Tapping for Emotional Eating
Addressing emotional eating through tapping involves navigating both the behavioral and emotional aspects, making it more intricate than simply releasing food cravings.
To effectively overcome emotional eating, it’s essential to address the underlying triggering experiences and negative core beliefs. Tapping provides a gentle yet powerful tool for delving into these deeper layers.
When it comes our eating habits there are two types of desire that drive our behavious:
A towards desire: we eat to get or keep a pleasant sensation. Some foods may just make us feel better, or they may remind us of a special person or event and the way they made us feel. Mum or Grandma’s home baking, being rewarded with sweets or ice-cream, certain foods like take-aways may have been a real treat, and are still a reward for you.
An away from desire: we eat to bury or avoid unpleasant situations or feelings. More associated with emotional eating, we eat and keep eating until we don’t feel anything anymore. Something may happen in the present that triggers an expeience from the past that you bury with eating. By releasing the underlying event or memory the eating behaviour changes.
Scientifically proven to have lasting effects, tapping allows individuals to access and release emotional blocks that contribute to unhealthy eating habits.
Another often very important aspect to eating problems and/or dieting is a reluctance to eat healthy foods and drink water or beneficial drinks. Tapping is really effective in releasing any resistance to these. Sometimes all it involves is working with the problem food or drink, as with releasing Food Cravings. And other times there maybe associated memories or events that need to be released; for example being forced to eat a vegetable or food that you didn’t like.
We can also release and resistance to maintaining a specific eating plan, resistance to exercise, anything that may be considered sabotage.
Gaining control over emotional eating requires courage and determination. By confronting and releasing the emotional aspects tied to food, individuals can truly empower themselves and experience profound rewards. This approach contrasts with the cycle of dieting and weight fluctuations that many struggle with, offering a sustainable path to lasting change.
Next Steps
Register for Barb’s next online ‘Empowered Eating’ workshop.
Purchase Barb’s ‘Eliminate Food Cravings’ video series and workbook, and get started.
Learn to eliminate your food cravings in your own time and place using this self paced programme.
Work one-on-one with Barb
Book a one-off Food Cravings session
Work one on one with Barb
Book into Barb’s 3 month Release Emotional Eating Programme
When signing up to the EFT course I really had no idea what to expect. I had some conscious awareness that my challenges with food probably linked to emotions at some level, however doing this work highlighted just how deep those challenges lie, many buried in the sub conscious, relating to childhood events and adverse experiences.
Barb was absolutely phenomenal, I never felt judged and was treated with such compassion and empathy. By developing awareness around my emotional eating I finally feel hope that by addressing the causes and belief systems that recovery is possible. I would highly recommend Barb to anyone seeking support in any area of their life.
Talia Roberts
