118. How to Stop Using Food to Cope With Life
You’re overwhelmed. Anxious. Avoiding something. Life feels like too much.
And suddenly, you want food.
Not because you’re hungry—but because for a few minutes, eating gives you somewhere else to go.
In this episode of You Get to Decide, I’m taking you inside a moment when I caught myself doing exactly that. I had already started eating to cope when I realized: Wait. I have an option here.
After a lifetime of binge eating, I’ve learned that freedom isn’t about having more discipline or controlling food harder.
It’s learning how to stay with yourself when life feels uncomfortable.
I’m walking you through exactly what I did to interrupt the pattern: how I recognized what I was actually feeling, got curious instead of going into shame, allowed the emotion to be there, and figured out what I really needed.
Because overeating, binging, numbing, and checking out are things you do to cope.
They are not who you are.
And even if you’ve already started, you haven't failed. You can stop. Get curious. Learn from what happened. And choose what happens next.
Feel it. Learn from it. Move.
And if you want help putting this into practice, I created Beyond the Scale, a free workbook filled with the six shifts that helped me change my relationship with food and my body, plus 45+ of the high-protein, filling recipes I actually eat.
If you’d like a copy, email me at coaching@allisongallagher.com and I’ll send it over. :)
If you’re ready to go deeper into the patterns, beliefs, and identity that keep you stuck, I currently have three spots open for 1:1 coaching. You can book a free consult through this link: https://calendly.com/allisongschedule/claritycall
And for the girls in your life, I Choose Me Confidence Camp is starting October 4th in Hammonton for girls ages 11–14. Over six weeks, I’ll be teaching girls how to understand their minds and emotions, work with their inner critic, build self-trust, handle mistakes and hard feelings, and learn that confidence comes from within—not from everyone around them approving of them.
Stay in touch about the power project or just to stay connected sign up for my newsletter here: https://allisongallagher.myflodesk.com/signup
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