When it is said that someone has emotional bonds/attachment/tie to food it is often considered to just be an inclination to turn to food for emotional comfort, but it is actually far more complex than that. It is the combination of both the brain’s responses and learned behaviours making the tie a psychological and neurological connection between food and emotions, driven by the brain’s reward system. This connection causes emotional responses to food, where a person’s mood can influence their eating habits, and food can act as a coping mechanism for stress or negative feelings. This occurs through brain pathways that link the reward value of food (like the release of dopamine) to memories, comfort, and feelings of pleasure or solace. 

There also tends to be constant rumination due to a cycle of repetitive, food-focused thought loops which heighten food noise and intensify cravings and urges to binge, so in order to break that cycle and rewire those thought loops to create a more balanced way of thinking and feeling in relation to food the tie to it must be severed. 

This means that contrary to most people’s beliefs, the idea that to overcome these issues you are just required to ‘just be more disciplined’ is completely invalid as they are are failing to recognise that the process requires neuroplasticity to leverage the complex neural pathways involving the brain’s reward system, emotional processing centers, and homeostatic (energy balance) circuitry. 

Luckily, without even intentionally trying you’ve already begun that process with the previous and above sections as they all lead to the creation of the new neural pathways needed, and the redevelopment of habits and behaviours as well as modulating neurotransmitters like dopamine.

But in order to give you an optimal chance of success we are also going to rewire your mind by changing the subconscious thought loops running in the background — the ones that drive you to eat in moments of emotional distress.

We will do this by creating even more neural pathways that leverage your brain’s ability to change, reduce the impulse to emotionally eat, and support the development of healthier, more productive ways of managing your emotions with two powerful practices (see tools above) to sever your ties to food.

And let me say that this was an absolute game changer for me personally. My B.E.D was so deeply ingrained in my conditioned behaviour and it was always a response to stress and trauma which always left me feeling powerless and out of control around food. I honestly used to envy people who had no emotional bonds to food. Those who ate only for “normal” reasons. And I genuinely believed I would never break free from emotional eating, as it was so dominant in my life with regular binges occuring. So, believe me when I say: if I could stop emotionally eating, anyone can, because thanks to this process I no longer have any negative emotional attachments to food and I haven’t binged in over eight years, which has brought me indescribable peace and freedom.