Hello love,
Most emotional eaters want food freedom, but what is it? Is it possible?
I don’t normally use this term with clients. I like the phrase food sovereignty because we can’t be free of food. We can’t exist without food.
But I get it, you want to be free of the obsession because you’ve had this relationship to food that feels out of control.
I like to use food sovereignty because it feels more like choice and empowerment. Versus swinging to the other extreme and being “free”.
With food sovereignty you have discernment and can choose foods that nourish you or not without guilt or shame.
What is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive eating is a way of eating that lacks all the layers needed to resolve emotional eating which is a coping mechanism. I don’t recommend this way of eating to clients.
Intuitive eating uses “food freedom” terminology so I like to distinguish what we are aiming for with clients.
When you get to the root of your emotional eating and resolve it you get to “food sovereignty”. Here you can make choices your body is asking for and decide if a desire that pops up is true hunger, emotional hunger, or a less nutritional choice that you are ok with.
With intuitive eating – whatever thought of food pops up you eat it. There is no discernment between true hunger and emotional hunger so it misses a key step for emotional eaters leaving them still feeling out of control and not really free.
Check out the timestamps for more on the video HERE:
- 2:14 What does being sovereign around food look like?
- 2:40 Detaching from food
- 3:00 Optimizing your relationship to food
- 4:05 Meeting true needs vs. using food
- 4:52 Improving your relationship to food so it’s nourishing
- 5:45 The problem with intuitive eating for emotional eaters
- 6:05 Choosing foods that taste good but not as nutrient dense without the shame spiral
- 7:00 On the other side of emotional eating – what your body really wants
- 7:22 How to get to food sovereignty – it’s multilayered
Next Steps
1. If you are ready to start your journey to resolving your emotional eating you can download my free guide “What Are You Truly Hungry For?” to start discerning true from emotional hunger and catching your triggers HERE.
2. If you are ready to transform your emotional eating so that you can get to ease, peace and confidence around food and in your body with a step by step process and guidance then find out more about The Emotional Eating Evolution Program HERE.
To sovereignty,
~Michelle
Certified Holistic Nutritionist Specializing in Emotional Eating
