How to Stop Using Food to Fill Voids
How to Stop Using Food to Fill Voids
You know, we all have our days. The days when we feel “fat” and lazy and don’t wanna do anything. The days when we feel like we’re just failing in life. Then you resort to food to help fill the voids. Sometimes you can’t get yourself out of a bad cycle…and you keep telling yourself, “I’ll start over tomorrow”. So you allow yourself to consume these foods that are just going to make you feel worse – fries, cookies, cakes, candy…
I saw a quote once on Pinterest that I am kinda iffy about repeating because it can definitely be taken the wrong way, but I’ll tell you what it is. It said, “Your body is not a garbage disposal. Stop throwing trash in there, “ or something like that.
Think of your body as a sacred thing – it is the most amazing thing you will ever own, because it houses your heart, your brain, your thoughts, your emotions, your personality…everything that makes you YOU. If you want to feel better and look better, you’ve got o start nourishing from the inside. Nourish your body with fruits, veggies, lean proteins and whole grains. Stay away from the fried, fatty, sugary stuff as much as possible. These kinds of foods may taste good for a few seconds in your mouth but you are guaranteed to have a lethargic, lazy mood afterwards. A mood that builds upon itself, so that you start thinking things like, “Well I already had a burger and soda, so who cares, another cupcake and some chips won’t hurt.”
Trust me, I’ve been there too. I ate a whole HUGE bag of Stacy’s Pita Chips this weekend in one sitting. It’s normal to “binge” sometimes . But to avoid an overeating fest, allow yourself a cheat meal a couple times a week. Maybe just once a week if you can bear it. In my opinion, I’d stay away from a full “cheat day”. I would just feel so sick. What you eat directly affects how you function. Food is your fuel after all and I would rather keep my fuel clean. You can recover from cheat meals pretty easily, bit cheat days? I can’t even begin to tell you why buffets are such a bad idea…
To have control over your emotional eating and your healthy living efforts, it’s best to start your day off RIGHT so you don’t feel like a failure off the bat. Begin your morning with a light breakfast and a good workout! Then you feel like you’re set for the rest of the day. You already worked hard, so can’t ruin it now! And then just think before you eat. Like, do you REALLY need that extra cookie? Or do you just want a taste? If you just want a bite, cut yourself a piece and be done with the craving. Sometimes if you try to substitute, you end up eating all of these half-way things PLUS the thing you wanted to begin with, therefore making you rack up waaaayyyy too many unnecessary calories.
That cookie you wanted was more like eating for the soul…not for fuel! But it’s okay to want it. You gotta nourish the soul too. So eat a piece, just be aware of the connection between your emotions and your hunger. Don’t overfill voids! Does that make sense? Know what you’re craving and banish the craving as quick as you can and never feel like you are a bottomless pit because that’s when the binging begins. Know your boundaries and STAY CONSCIOUS! Love your body, know that it’s amazing, keep it that way and don’t settle for anything less!
<3 Cassey
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I saw a quote once on Pinterest that I am kinda iffy about repeating because it can definitely be taken the wrong way, but I’ll tell you what it is. It said, “Your body is not a garbage disposal. Stop throwing trash in there, “ or something like that.
Think of your body as a sacred thing – it is the most amazing thing you will ever own, because it houses your heart, your brain, your thoughts, your emotions, your personality…everything that makes you YOU. If you want to feel better and look better, you’ve got o start nourishing from the inside. Nourish your body with fruits, veggies, lean proteins and whole grains. Stay away from the fried, fatty, sugary stuff as much as possible. These kinds of foods may taste good for a few seconds in your mouth but you are guaranteed to have a lethargic, lazy mood afterwards. A mood that builds upon itself, so that you start thinking things like, “Well I already had a burger and soda, so who cares, another cupcake and some chips won’t hurt.”
Trust me, I’ve been there too. I ate a whole HUGE bag of Stacy’s Pita Chips this weekend in one sitting. It’s normal to “binge” sometimes . But to avoid an overeating fest, allow yourself a cheat meal a couple times a week. Maybe just once a week if you can bear it. In my opinion, I’d stay away from a full “cheat day”. I would just feel so sick. What you eat directly affects how you function. Food is your fuel after all and I would rather keep my fuel clean. You can recover from cheat meals pretty easily, bit cheat days? I can’t even begin to tell you why buffets are such a bad idea…
To have control over your emotional eating and your healthy living efforts, it’s best to start your day off RIGHT so you don’t feel like a failure off the bat. Begin your morning with a light breakfast and a good workout! Then you feel like you’re set for the rest of the day. You already worked hard, so can’t ruin it now! And then just think before you eat. Like, do you REALLY need that extra cookie? Or do you just want a taste? If you just want a bite, cut yourself a piece and be done with the craving. Sometimes if you try to substitute, you end up eating all of these half-way things PLUS the thing you wanted to begin with, therefore making you rack up waaaayyyy too many unnecessary calories.
That cookie you wanted was more like eating for the soul…not for fuel! But it’s okay to want it. You gotta nourish the soul too. So eat a piece, just be aware of the connection between your emotions and your hunger. Don’t overfill voids! Does that make sense? Know what you’re craving and banish the craving as quick as you can and never feel like you are a bottomless pit because that’s when the binging begins. Know your boundaries and STAY CONSCIOUS! Love your body, know that it’s amazing, keep it that way and don’t settle for anything less!
<3 Cassey
PS: Did you guys do your taxes yet? Eewww. Hate doing them! You know what else I hate? Getting a traffic ticket. I got pulled over for speeding today. So if you’re like me and need some extra $ right about now (ha!) H&R Block is doing this refund giveaway…nice…check it:
$100,000 Refund Giveaway: Customers who completed their taxes using H&R Block at Home can instantly win one of the hourly drawn cash prizes and be entered to win a $100,000 grand prize refund. Once entered into contest, participants can tell their friends about it via Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. To enter, complete a tax return online via computer or tablet device using H&R Block At Home tax preparation.
- When it comes to your tax return, you never have to settle for less with H&R Block. Filing your taxes with H&R Block just became an event worth sharing. Get started now for your chance at instant cash prizes and the $100,000 refund! There are winners every hour. So file your taxes then let your friends know how rewarding it can be.
- NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF MONEY NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. H&R Block® –100,000 Refund Giveaway starts 1/17/12 at 12:00 P.M. (midnight) ET and ends 4/17/12 at 11:59:59 PM ET. For Official Rules, to learn how to obtain a free means of entry without purchase, to learn how to play the instant win game and enter the sweepstakes, drawings, prize details, odds of winning, restrictions, etc. click here
31 thoughts on “How to Stop Using Food to Fill Voids”
There are 31 comments posted by our users.
A whole big bag of Stacey Pita Chips? No way! Costco size? Although I am guilty of binging on those. 🙁
Ugh, is this a lesson I learned the hard way. -.- I hate feeling “bleh” all day. I hate feeling sleepy and immobile and useless. To be honest, I’m realizing the feeling that follows full on “cheat days” is just not worth the snacking, even if you tell yourself at the time that you really want to indulge. It’s not so much the emotional guilt, it’s actually feeling like crap that makes me not want to do it EVER.
Thanks for this article. A half a cookie or a bite of something for lunch/dinner is much more managable than a day long “blah” feeling.
Also, you’re right about starting the day off with a light breakfast and workout. I find I always feel good all day when I do this.
Thanks for this post. 🙂 At work, we have this saying up on the stairwell and it makes me smile every time I see it. It says, “Your body is a temple, only if you treat it like one!”
Its like you saw me from a corner!
Your post is perfectly timed as I biged out for a whole day due to anxiety and stress! You are right there are more ways to deal with stress instead of taking it out on the food.
I am gonna start fresh and eat clean as best as I can. Thank u!
Just like everyone else said, this couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m a senior in college (in accounting by the way, and frankly i love doing taxes {who woulda thought}) and i’ve gotten in the habit of binge eating when I study, it keeps my hands busy while my mind is at work. It just so happened that I had an exam today. And after, I decided to “reward” myself with taco-bell. Not such a good reward. Horrible excuses. I ran 4.5 miles an hour later. I need to stop binging and studying!
This is so true! I have to give myself a cheat meal every Saturday night where I allow myself a free meal and a dessert afterwards– aka, maybe some grilled chicken with french fries and an ice cream topped brownie or some Dairy Queen for dessert. It helps me soo much during the week, ’cause then if I ever feel a craving, I just tell myself, “Don’t cheat now, your cheat meal is coming up Saturday!” It works perfectly and I have been eating so clean for months now. I’ve lost weight doing that, too, and am now maintaing that weight loss while still allowing the cheat meal. 😀 Such a good article, Cassie! <3
I needed to read this today. Haven’t been feeling great, and have made some bad eating choices today already. I was doing great with workouts and all, and then today…aye yi yi. Starting healthier choices, NOW not waiting till tomorrow.
Thank you so much,
PS-started Yoga last week. I am doing pretty good for a first timer, and I owe it to your youtube workouts. I learn so much and then just do the moves throughout the day! Its helped my balance, which is helping me in hot Yoga 🙂 Thank you!!!
Junk food used to be what filled my “void” but oh my goodness do you ever feel DISGUSTING after a binge. In high school I didn’t realize how much weight I was gaining from fighting teenage mood swings with junk food in a sad attempt to make myself feel better. Ummm, well sorry teenage self but you ended up feeling WORSE. My senior year however I decided enough was enough and in the past three years I have slowly been improving my lifestyle, my body image and self -confidence. I moved out a year ago and now me and my room mate try not to even junk food in the house! So those days that you just want to eat and eat junk, there’s nothing there! I have no choice but to grab a piece of fruit. It makes me mad in the moment sometimes but instead of eating junk food and then feeling even worse afterwards I eat my fruit and work on getting over my bad mood some other way. Working out is such a great mood lifter! I used to hate, I mean HATE working out, I just couldn’t do it! But in an effort to lose weight I came across POP Pilates on youtube and after eight months of it I am the most in shape I have ever been! The endorphins that I get from exercising are way better than any bar of chocolate or bag of chips.
There definitely still are hard days though. But I’m learning to work with them. You girls know that some days are just chocolate days! You can’t help it! Chocolate! Ahh! What I’ve discovered works for me is instead of chocolate ice cream have a chocolate banana smoothie! Frozen banana, milk and cocoa powder! Instead of chocolate cake, chocolate oatmeal! Make some oatmeal and mix in some cocoa powder and stevia (or sugar) then pour on some milk! To make it extra decadent add some peanuts, peanut butter, banana. It’s just as good as chocolate cake and ice cream 😉
BTW Cassey, I just want to thank POP Pilates for all the compliments I’ve been getting on my new bod 😉
Ahhhhh thanks Cassey!! I needed this 🙂 I’ve just started university and I’ve been eating SO much crap food…and a lot of peanut butter toast that is freely available in the dining hall! I will be starting fresh today 🙂 Thank you thank you thank you!! 🙂
Cassey…you caught me in the act :p I had a crazy binge today. I think you should write more about. For some people it’s about more than giving in to unclean food desires.
Great, great blog!! Thanks so much…love the saying at the beginning, so true. Someone once told me “God doesn’t make garbage” so as you said, putting garbage in us wouldn’t make any sense. Thanks for you inspiration!!
I think this hits home for everyone at one point or another! I can have a great day, week or even a month of eating right then all of a sudden one day I just want all kinds of junk food! I usually give in which is the worst part! I always feel so guilty afterwards! I have noticed though that my splurging seems to be less and less which I am very excited about!
I also read this quote on Pinterest that said something along the lines of…”You aren’t a dog, don’t reward yourself with food.” I liked that because that is what I tell myself…”if I work out extra hard or extra long you can have 2 cookies today” when I should be rewarding myself with a new shirt or bathing suit or whatnot!
Stay positive ladies! We are human! haha
If only I had read this post before eating a whole bag of my (former) favourite sweets….Now I feel horrible because of all that sugar and all those chemicals, lesson learned! Back to healthy food 🙂
I’ve gotten into the habit of just not buying snacks from the grocery store– because I know if they’re in my pantry, I’ll eat the package all in one or two sittings! If I do buy, I try to buy small packages, so I’m forced to either savor it or enjoy the whole (small) portion knowing it won’t be there for long. 🙂
Hahah I don’t even walk down the junk food isles now! No use in tempting yourself 😛
Starting off with a workout and a healthy, satisfying breakfast is such a great tip! It really can set the tone for the entire day and help you kick it off on the right foot. I try to always start my day with a good workout and a bowl of Kellogg’s FiberPlus Cinnamon Oat Crunch. Top it with fruit, peanut butter and a dash of cinnamon, and its a filling yet delicious way to get going. 🙂
Great post. I’ve spent most of march binging on choc (especially mini eggs mmmm) and ice cream, stuff I don’t normally let myself eat. Thought it wouldn’t make a difference with my weight since I exercise a lot. But then it started to affect my running, lacked energy, my legs felt heavier and I lost the willpower to keep running when it got hard. Saturday’s shameful run was the last straw for me and I’ve been motivated to eat properly since. Not banning myself from stuff like I normally do, but learning to control portions. Taking a bite out of a cookie and leaving the rest is way easier said than done, but I just remember how badly it affected my run and its helping me not to go back to binging. First run tonight since Saturday and cleaning up my diet again. Hope it pays off lol.
I binge when I have a evening home workout I don’t want to do, so I eat until I feel too full to exercise. By the time I’m not too full anymore it’s usually “too late” to workout. Last night I did this and I realized it was a form of self sabotage. My mind is sometimes really resistant to putting forth all this effort, especially since it’s been a year and I haven’t seen any visible results (my diet is what’s standing in the way). I don’t know how to break out of this habit but now that I’m more aware of my reasons I can start working on it. It’s really frustrating though, I did my workout last night anyways so I ruined a day of healthy eating for nothing.
Cassey!!! Omg you are perfect and this post is totaly on time for me! I know how smart and fun is healthy eating but sometimes I lost my mind and eat bad food like pancakes, pasta, sweets…and this can be cheating day. But yeah then I feel so sleepy, lazy and angry. I think I gotta learn that it is ok to have extra yum and soulsweet meal once a week to avoid this insane craving… And I have getting traffic ticket too:) and if I just think that it costs just as much as booty shorts does…haahh. Love you*
This is exactly, exactly my issue… kind of. My binging comes from an emotional void rather than having a craving for a specific food. I’m not hungry, but I have an insatiable need to just fill my mouth with food – it doesn’t really matter what it is. Of course, I try to eat healthy things when this happens, but celery somehow isn’t as comforting as a cookie, and I usually end up binging. I also saw a good quote on Tumblr: ‘When a craving doesn’t come from hunger, eating will never satisfy it.’ that I try to remember when this happens. But I feel that emotional eating is harder to overcome than simply craving bad foods, because even if I physically fill myself I don’t feel full until I eat enough ‘comfort’ food.
I haven’t found the secret to overcome it yet, but I work towards it every day!
Keep working towards it and never give up! Time and practice are the best helpers. It worked for to help stop my binge eating which was the follow up of a year of starving myself. Make the healthiest choices you can and even if you binge don’t beat your self up about it, just make your next choice a healthy one.
Thank you! I literally just walked to the computer having stuffed three of my daughters fairy cakes straight down without even pausing and was feeling a bit disappointed with myself. Then I read this and thought, ok so I shouldn’t have eaten them but it’s ok, I just need to continue to eat healthy for the rest of the day, I’ll be swimming later, there is no need to think it’s all spoilt and just continue to eat rubbish for the rest of the day. It’s true, a whole day of binge eating would be way worse than three fairy cakes and I don’t need to start over again tomorrow, I can just continue from now 😉
yes just carry on!
Oh my god Cassey, I’ve been waiting forever for a blog post from you about binge eating. Thank the lord. Amen to everything you said, I totally appreciate it.
I didn’t go as in depth on the binging as I may have liked…maybe later I will do more.
So true,full cheat days make me feel rather sick and unhappy instead of cheerful for eating something yumy.I would rather cheat on one meal only and that helps me stay on track as well,since i can´t eat too much in one sitting.
But what can I do about those days when I feel like my stomach it´s never quite full? I´m having some days like that now and it´s annoying.I try to eat as healthy as i can but i find myself going back to the kitchen every 2hours or so. Do you have days like that?How do you deal with them?
Ahh…eating grains helps.
An apple. Apples are amazing because they have few calories but,make you feel really full
This is so timely! I just binged on chips and lollies after a week of eating really healthily. I’m consoling myself with the fact that at least I worked out today. I still feel quite down about it, though. Like I ruined all my hard work. Ah well, I guess tomorrow’s a new day!
You don’t have to wait til tomorrow!
Exactly! The next decision is a new one too! Why wait till tomorrow to go back to being the healthy you!