How I Overcame Emotional Eating

About 8 years ago, I struggled every day with belly fat that hung over my clothes.  I hated the feeling. At the time, I was working in law and had to wear uncomfortably fitting suits to work and ugh, I hated zipping up those skirts that pinched my fat. I always found myself trying to hide my belly under my suit jacket.

This was not a new struggle. It simply became worse with an unfulfilling legal career, exhaustion, and stress.  Because even back in my late teens and early 20s, my excess weight affected my daily life, my relationships, and my confidence. I used to grab onto my growing belly with my hands, squeezing it and named it my Buddha belly – trying to deflect discomfort with humor.  But it wasn’t funny. I also hated taking pictures of myself because I would simply hone in on how many chins my face was showing. 

I tried all the things, jumping from diet to diet. I stopped eating carbs. I measured my food. I counted calories. I only ate certain fruits and veggies. I took diet pills. I drank my meals in juice or shakes. My head was consumed with what I “should” or “shouldn’t” do.  Nothing worked. Even if the scale temporarily moved down a few pounds, the fat rolls and love handles were always there and the weight always crept back up.  

I’d toggle between dieting and bingeing, although I would never use the word binge to describe what I was doing at the time, because that word was scary.  But looking back, that’s what I was doing. I stuffed my feelings with food.  At the time, I never realized the strong emotional attachment I had to food and how I used food to attempt to satisfy my negative emotions for so many years.  I’d try to be good, follow a diet, and then bam, the weekend would hit... And I’d binge. 

I struggled. I struggled with low self-esteem, self fat-bashing, and lots of guilt.

It was like I couldn’t control or escape the vicious cycle. In my mind, I ate the salads or what I thought were the right foods, and then I was like, “I’m so stressed. Ooh, Beer. Pizza. Ice cream.”  It’s like a dog when a squirrel comes in his path. “Squirrel!?”  But seriously, I’d feel so guilty when I caved into those feelings and ate my emotions in processed foods, sugar and booze. I couldn’t control myself or really, I simply didn’t know how to, nor did I have the support I needed.  And I honestly couldn’t understand why I couldn’t lose the weight and fit into the jeans or dresses I really wanted to wear. I had no idea what I was doing to my metabolism or my body. 

So there I was 8 years ago, feeling fat, frumpy, sad and frustrated. And my ongoing defeat became coupled with being an overworked, unhappy, exhausted coffee addict. I’m talking 4-6 cups a day that only made me feel jittery and awful inside. Every morning I was startled by my alarm and had to peel my eyes apart, after of course hitting that snooze button like it was my job.

That’s when I decided no more. I said to myself, I would no longer live like this. 

I decided that I was going to figure out how to lose the fat, ditch the cravings (and the caffeine) and live a happier life.  And it didn’t matter how long it took me or what I had to do. 

So, I hired professional coaches who guided me through proper nutrition in a sustainable way and taught me how to let go of the negative thoughts and feelings that were doing me a huge disservice in my life.  I went back to school to learn about nutrition, intuitive eating, and mindfulness.  I made a decision to invest in myself, to finally get healthy and happy without yoyo dieting or living at the gym.  Been there, tried that. Didn’t work. 

All of the tools and skills that I learned launched me on the most incredible life-changing journey and got me to where I am today…. A healthy, happy proud mama of 2 boys and wife to an amazing hubbie, a Holistic Nutritionist and Life Coach (who left the law to pursue my passion in health & wellness) who helps women, who struggled just like I did, make sustainable life changes to their lives.

I share my methodology with my clients so that they can skip over the years of trial and error and the years of struggle that I went through, and instead go straight to achieving optimal health and sustainable weight loss that they deserve, without the hemming and hawing and trying to figure it all out on their own.

And these women are experiencing remarkable, positive shifts in their physical and emotional well-being. 

My choice to make the huge investment in my health led to realizing that what I had been doing for all of those years was almost completely wrong. And I want to make sure no other woman has to suffer for all of those years like I did. 

I’m so grateful that I made that decision to invest in myself, or I would probably still be trying to count points or calories, doing some sort of fast, cleanse or the latest fad diet out there and not getting anywhere. 

Jessica Kishpaugh is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist & Life Coach and owner of LoYo Wellness in Bergen County NJ (www.loyowellness.com).  Jessica specializes in healthy weight loss, intuitive eating, recovering from emotional eating, stress reduction and mindfulness. Book your FREE Breakthrough Call HERE.