In stage 3 of The SociEATy we talk about how to "awaken" your hunger cues. To do this you need to so something called "biological reconditioning" which includes eating every 3-6 hours, eating to satisfaction and including carbs, fat and protein.

If your brain is saying "don't eat!" talk back to it. Rewire your thoughts like we discuss in stage 1 video 3. "My body deserves fuel and I don't need to feel guilty over that!"

The best way to overcome the guilt and fear of honoring hunger is to DO. Ask yourself what is holding you back. Worry of weight? Checkout stage 1 & 2 for more info on this!

Now, for each emotion list 3-5 ways in which you can cope with that emotion in a constructive way. For example, if your emotion is boredom maybe you’d write: do a puzzle, paint my nails, walk the dog or start a new book. If it’s stress, maybe you’d say take 5 deep breaths, make a to-do list, journal about how you feel, step away from the stressful task and take a walk around the block. Do this for each of your emotions.

This is just going to be a place for you to start, you can always add to it later as you begin to notice emotions arise.

When you feel emotional eating coming on ask yourself the following questions:

• Am I hungry or do I have a specific craving? If so, eat!
• What am I feeling? Can I identify the emotion?
• What do I need? What tool from my emotional eating toolbox can I use?

Where did this thought come from? Is this thought serving me or helping me achieve my why? What do I know to be true about the thought itself or what this thought will lead me to?

Just observe them without judgment. You can do this by imagining that these thoughts don’t necessarily come from you- because that’s the truth.

Adjust it to match what you know to be a food freedom truth.

Use this 4 step thought assessment and reframing exercise to help overcome food guilt.

Did it feel better to your body honor your hunger, craving, etc? Do you feel empowered for listing to YOU and not diet culture?

Try gain 1 even sense back (ex. listening to a podcast VS watching a video) It can be incredibly helpful! This may take some planning ahead.

Pretend you'll descibe your meal to a friend after- pay super close attention!

Make a plan to pause 2-3x during your meal. Set your fork down, take a sip of water, and just take a moment to pause and reflect on the food itself and your physical sensations.

Typically you'll want to aim to fuel your body every 3-6 hours maximum to prevent this

Limit distractions while eating and check in with how the food tastes, smells, etc.

Remind yourself that you can have this food again and check in with how you might feel if you do/do not keep eating. What will feel good?