How Are You Deprived?

HOW ARE YOU DEPRIVED?

Your relationship to food can be an expression of what is missing in your life. Many expressions utilize food metaphors to describe a feeling of yearning.  Hungry for love. Starving for attention.   

• Loneliness can feel like emptiness, and food symbolically fills the void.
• If you feel sad and in need of comfort but nobody is there to console you adequately, you may turn to food to provide a feeling of comfort.
• If you’re in an unsatisfying relationship, you might turn to food to satisfy your unmet needs.  Alternately, you might restrict food to express the deprivation. 
• If you’re in a situation you can’t control, you may focus on your powerlessness over food instead of feeling powerless in the situation.  Or you might restrict food to give yourself a sense of control.

WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE OF IN YOUR LIFE?

Do you have enough friends? 

Do you want more loving, nurturing, comforting people in your life?

Do you need more power over aspects of your life? 

Do you need more money?

More happiness?

More time?

By getting in touch with what you want more of in your life, you may stop turning to food to express your internal hunger.

Comments and questions are welcome.  Please share on Facebook and/or Twitter so more people can benefit from the information on this blog.

"Like" me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter

Legal Disclaimer:  The content on this site is for educational and informational purposes only.  It is not intended as psychotherapy or as a substitute for psychotherapy advice, diagnosis or treatment.

What triggers you?

Triggers

Riva plopped into a seat and sighed. “Ice cream is such a trigger food for me.  Yesterday, I had a good day at work and I was happy.  I came home and I was chilling in front of the TV, when all of a sudden, Ben & Jerry’s was calling my name.”

She leaned in, her tone emphatic.  “Calling my name.”

She sighed in disgust, clearly feeling hopeless.  “Nothing was wrong.  I wasn’t upset or worried about anything.  I just have no willpower.  I’m addicted to Chunky Monkey.”

I asked what she had been watching on TV.

Riva lifted her shoulders, shrugging.  “Just an old rerun of Charmed.  I love that show.”

The episode highlighted conflict between the sister characters.  Riva began to recall the difficult relationship she had with her own sister.  The episode had stirred up feelings of loss, betrayal, anger and sadness about her relationship with her sisters. 

However, these feelings were so intense that Riva could not let herself be consciously aware of them.  She immediately turned to ice cream for comfort.  By getting angry with herself for eating ice cream, she effectively repressed painful feelings about her siblings. 

Riva was triggered by painful feelings about her sister, then turned to ice cream for comfort and distraction.   Sometimes what you might think of as “trigger foods” may indicate the underlying conflict or emotion, the true trigger.  Which of these are triggers for you?

Smooth foods such as ice cream, pudding:   (comfort)

Rejection, shame, betrayal, fear, apprehension, suspicion, lack of trust

Filling foods such as cake, muffins, bread:  (filling a void)

Loneliness, loss, deprivation, abandonment

Crunchy foods such as chips, pretzels, apples:  (anger)

Anger, fury, frustration, annoyance, anxiety, guilt

Comments and questions are welcome.  Please share on Facebook and/or Twitter so more people can benefit from the information on this blog.

"Like" me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter

Legal Disclaimer:  The content on this site is for educational and informational purposes only.  It is not intended as psychotherapy or as a substitute for psychotherapy advice, diagnosis or treatment.