Abstract:
I will offer a 3-part framework to understand and overcome emotional eating. The first part includes an overview of shame around eating, the neuroscience of food addiction/emotional eating, and marketing and media influences (Learning). The second addresses family messages, societal/community norms around eating, and how being deeply in touch with our own feelings and unmet needs are all pivotal to recovery (Loving). The third includes an understanding and a brief practice (time permitting) of our sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and how they impact our eating behavior, as well as an overview of how getting in touch with our own unique strengths, values, and vision for health are pivotal to the recovery process (Living).
The main goals are for attendees (medical professionals and patients alike) to explore and consider their own relationships with food and to emerge with greater clarity about their own eating habits; to fully grasp that shame has no place around eating and why; and to clarify the multifaceted nature of emotional eating, and that there is no "one-size fits all" approach, making health and wellness coaching an important part of a team for an individual's growth and recovery. Practitioners will emerge with greater understanding of patients’ behaviors and needs, and will understand possible avenues for additional support.
