Let’s talk about that feeling. You know the one.
It’s that hollow ache of loneliness. That hot surge of anger. That dull, grey fog of boredom. That sharp, cold spike of anxiety.
It’s the feeling you will do anything to avoid. And your favorite tool of avoidance is food.
Food is the perfect numbing agent. It’s readily available, socially acceptable, and it works. For a few minutes, the act of eating—the chewing, the tasting, the swallowing—can distract you from the uncomfortable sensation in your body. The sugar rush can give you a temporary lift. The fullness can create a dull, heavy feeling that masks the sharper edges of your emotions.
You’re not weak. You’re resourceful. You found a strategy that works to manage feelings that feel unmanageable.
The problem is that the strategy has a very high cost. The cost is your freedom.
Because every time you use food to numb a feeling, you reinforce the belief that the feeling is unbearable. You teach your nervous system that this emotion is a threat that must be avoided at all costs. And you rob yourself of the opportunity to learn that you can, in fact, survive it.
The feeling doesn’t go away. It just gets stuffed down, where it festers and grows, and comes back later with more intensity, demanding an even bigger dose of the numbing agent.
This is the prison you’re living in. A prison where you are constantly running from your own internal experience.
The way out is not to find a better way to numb. The way out is to stop running.
The way out is to turn around and face the feeling you’ve been avoiding. To learn, in small, manageable doses, how to stay present with the discomfort. To build your capacity to feel.
Because here’s the secret: The freedom you are so desperately seeking is not on the other side of the perfect diet. It’s on the other side of the feeling you’re using the diet to avoid.
When you learn that you can feel lonely, and breathe, and it won’t kill you… you no longer need the cookies to manage it.
When you learn that you can feel anger, and let it move through you without causing destruction… you no longer need the chips to stuff it down.
Your capacity to be free is directly proportional to your capacity to feel.
If you’re tired of running and you’re ready to learn how to feel, this is the bravest work you can do. If you’re curious about how to build this capacity safely, you can find more info at www.cetfreedom.com. Or just send me a message.
