Why Willpower Won’t Stop Your Emotional Eating (And What Will)

by | Jul 11, 2025 | Blocks to Emotional Eating, coping mechanism, Emotional Eating Triggers, Emotional Health, healing emotional eating, Holistic Nutrition, Trauma Informed

Hello love,

So let’s dive in and talk about why willpower won’t stop your emotional eating and what will. 

In this video, I’m breaking down the emotional eating pattern because it’s so much more than just a habit. I’m going to show you how to shift this pattern on a deep level from the inside out. 

So here’s the truth about willpower and emotional eating. 

Emotional eating is a coping mechanism. It’s something you may have developed at a really young age. Because you developed it at such a young age, – this coping mechanism –  this pattern of using food to soothe when discomfort comes up, is really engrained in your body and nervous system. 

It has a lot of power because it’s subconscious, which means it has 95% power. If we compare that to willpower which is in our prefrontal cortex, it only has 5% power over our conscious actions. 

So if emotional eating has 95% power and willpower has 5% power, based on  simple math, willpower is not going to win. 

You will watch yourself emotionally eat, try to stop it, and maybe you might be able to slow it down, but what I’ve seen with clients time and time again is that they are pulled deeper into their emotional eating when they resist the urge. 

So let’s dive in and explore what actually shifts this pattern:

  • 1:34 Why do we have this emotional eating coping mechanism? Why is it so powerful?
  • 2:48 How trauma plays a role in emotional eating
  • 3:55 Why your brain keeps looping on this pattern
    4:35 How can we shift out of this pattern? What helps…
  • 6:15 Free resources and next steps

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 resolution,

Michelle

Certified Holistic Nutritionist Specializing in Emotional Eating