A close friend of mine opted for gastric bypass surgery 5 months ago. Although I didn’t agree with her decision I respected that it was her decision to make and I have to admit that I’ve learned a lot by observing the changes that she’s gone through. Some of the biggest insights have been in regards to comfort foods.

This close friend of mine was a serious emotional eater prior to the surgery. Whenever there was any stress in her life she would deal with it by eating large amounts of junk. So I asked her what she was doing to deal with these emotions now that she couldn’t eat food for comfort.

Since she can just now start to eat solid foods and the most she can keep down in one sitting is a meatball or very small portion of scrambled eggs there’s no way that she can do what she used to do and binge on junk.

Her response to me hit me like a tonne of bricks. It was so simple and so obvious. But aren’t most answers right in front of our face?

She said, “I now have to face my problems.” The holidays can be a difficult time for her since her parents passed away and this was the first year that she couldn’t use food as an escape. She had to deal with the thoughts and emotions that she was going through.

If only she would have realized this prior to the surgery she wouldn’t have had to take such drastic measures to lose weight. Things are actually going pretty well for her. She’s lost 75 pounds and feels great about herself. I can’t really argue with that, but I still don’t like the method. Basically it’s like she’s forced to starve herself right now because of the surgery. But to each their own. I guess the doctors were more convincing than I was.

I guess that the point I’m trying to make here is that eating comfort foods to try to cope with certain situations in your life will not solve your problems. It only temporarily buries those problems and creates more problems in addition to your original problem.

The simple in your face solution to avoid emotional eating is to take responsibility and face your problems head on. Find constructive ways to come up with a solution. Write down your problem on a piece of paper and make a list of what you can do to solve that problem. Create a plan of action. Ask your friends and family for advice, (and it doesn’t have to be over a bowl of ice cream.)

When I went through a bout of depression prior to closing my gym I didn’t want to face my problems. I gained 30 pounds because I was emotionally eating and the stress was forcing me to keep that weight on.

It wasn’t until after a couple sessions with a therapist that I was able to take responsibility for my situation and come up with an action plan to overcome my obstacles. I faced my problems and no longer needed food to help me bury them.

The therapist really didn’t do anything other than listen and let me vocalize my problems and actually create my own plan of action. She just agreed with what I was saying. Basically I could have done it all on my own, but being in that room forced things to come out into the open.

So deal with life’s problems by coming up with your own action plans. Don’t bury them and try to find happiness in a bowl of ice cream or in a candy bar. That will only lead to more worries and more emotional eating.

Easier said then done? Maybe in the beginning. Like anything else, after doing it a couple of times it begins to become automatic.

Are you ready to face life’s problems and not bury them by emotionally eating?

I would love to here from you. Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Have a totally amazing day!

Scott Tousignant