What do I need?
In the context of emotional eating, the word “need” describes a want or a desire.
Maybe you yearn for things that would make your life better, such as more time or money or even more people to do things with.
Some emotional needs might relate to wanting more attention, appreciation, or love.
Emotional needs come in all levels, from being bored or stressed to complex issues such as wanting to find a new relationship or make peace with a family member.
Needs generally fall into one of three categories:
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- Simple needs —pleasure, fun, feeling better, stress relief
- People needs —connecting, pleasing others, attention, appreciation
- Emotional needs —love, nurturing, reward, safety, comfort, avoiding painful feelings.
As you think about your own life, look for places where you are wishing that something was different. Are you missing people? Do you need more money? Would you love to find new activities or events you could enjoy? Are there things in your life that you’d love to change or eliminate?
Emotional needs leave you with an emptiness and a longing for the need to be filled. When that doesn’t happen, it’s easy to let food do it for you. Lots of emotional eating struggles center around needing something.
After you eat to fill the emotional holes, you feel better and you tend to forget about the needs. But when they pop back up, you have to look for food again. Instead of eating to fill those empty spots, it’s time to discover other ways to meet your needs.
Be sure to read the material about food tracings in this chapter. They will give you a great start to figuring out why some foods are so important to you, and which emotional needs are attached to those foods.
Today: Read Chapter 7 in Life is Hard, Food is Easy, then complete these worksheets. You can print them or write the answers in your notebook or journal.Here is a chart with a list of needs. Use it to help you come up with words to describe your own needs.