The Power of Self-Compassion to Heal Pandemic Eating

During this time of quarantine and lockdown from the coronavirus, people with emotional eating problems have found themselves increasingly overeating, bingeing, and dieting. It makes sense: we are more bored, depressed, anxious, and less active. Cultivating self-compassion may be the single most important ingredient to get your eating back on track. If you binged last night should you still be compassionate to yourself this morning? Or if you didn’t work out yesterday like you promised to do should you still have self-compassion? Shouldn’t you punish yourself for your bad behavior with harsh talk so you learn your lesson once and for all? After all, isn’t being kind and forgiving just a way of letting yourself off the hook? People assume that getting angry at themselves is a good motivator for self-improvement. They think, “If I really crack the whip and show myself I mean business by calling myself ‘fat and ugly,’ then maybe I’ll become so remorseful, I’ll just stop bingeing.” Unfortunately, yelling and criticizing yourself always backfires. It may even make you want to run to the comforting embrace of food in order to feel better! When we are self-compassionate we speak to ourselves like a kind and loving parent speaks to a child — with tenderness, understanding, curiosity, and encouragement. We establish a state of grace with ourselves by turning away from self-punishment and turning towards self-acceptance. Self-compassion is not about letting your...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Binge Eating Eating Disorders Bingeing Body Image coronavirus COVID-19 dieting Emotional Eating Positive Psychology self-compassion Self-Talk Source Type: blogs