Many of you tell me that you always feel hungry.

Let’s explore:

First off, let’s ask ourselves this question while we’re thinking rationally: Is it possible to be hungry all the time?

Rationally, we know that it’s not possible to be hungry all the time. So what gives?

Well, most of the time it’s emotional hunger.

Real/physical hunger comes on gradually. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly. Real hunger can be satisfied with any food. Yes, that’s right – if an apple doesn’t satisfy our hunger, we’re not truly physically hungry.

Emotional hunger comes with a craving for a specific food. And, unfortunately, it’s usually not for apples. Ever have those times when you eat snack after snack and nothing seems to be hitting the spot? Well, that’s because you’re not physically hungry. You’re emotionally hungry.

When we get “hungry” it’s worth asking ourselves a few questions:

1. How long has it been since I’ve eaten?

2. What am I really hungry for?

3. Is anything bothering me?

4. If I had an ‘EASY’ button to magically help me with what I’m dealing with, right now, what would I use it for?

Perhaps, what you’re really hungry for is affection, assistance, rest, excitement, peace of mind…

Is it possible to have the need met by someone? How about by yourself?

Here’s the challenge: Many times we feel like our needs can’t or won’t get met – so food becomes our escape.

When we’re “hungry” that is a need we feel like we can actually control.

Sometimes, it can be very helpful to explore what it feels like to have the need go unmet by simply writing about it. Many clients have reported that this eases the discomfort tremendously.

This is also how you can find out what you might really want out of your life because typically we’d shovel food into our mouth so we don’t have to experience or face the feelings.

Because when we’re not suppressing feelings, they’ll come to the surface, and we’ll be able to see what it is we really want.

Food is ONLY love when it is used to feed our true physical hunger and we actually enjoy and relish and savor the experience. Otherwise, we’re using food to cover up feelings.

Feelings that are preventing us from becoming the person we really want to be.

How do you like them apples?

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Let’s talk more about apples.

Have you read through all of our testimonials and success stories? Here, read some of the testimonials by clicking right here, and some of the success stories by clicking here.

And then tell me how you like them apples, okay?!

If we can master our emotions, we’ll be less inclined to eat junk. And that is why I spend so much time writing and talking and thinking about happiness.

If we can work on ways to become happier and figure out ways to make ourselves happier, we’ll be setting ourselves up for success.

Here’s the challenge we face though:

All we ever heard as a kid was “stop crying,” or “relax,” or “calm down,” or “everything will be alright!” But no one ever told us how to deal with complex emotions.

When our mind floods with emotions we might feel panicky or upset or anxious or angry. How about feelings like rage, loneliness, abandonment, shame? These feelings can be horrifying.

The challenge with feelings and thoughts is that we can’t control them. There are a lot of new-agey books that are sorta goofy, in my opinion. Many suggest that we just ‘let go of our ego’ and all sorts of things.

The reality is I can’t control my thoughts. They just pop into my head. As do my feelings.

BUTTTTT…….

If we were all going to a gorgeous island that was beaming with sun, we’d go prepared with sunscreen, right? (One day I hope this is the case, as one of my dreams is to have an annual MBT retreat.)

Well, what if we prepared ourselves for when we’re sad or anxious or unhappy?

Besides, it’s not our thoughts that make us sad, anxious or unhappy. It’s our reactions to the thoughts.

What if we had a stash of things to do or look at or read or people to call when certain reactions arise? The idea here is to figure out ways to positively deal with our emotions.

The goal is to actually face them head on because we have a bunch of ways we can soothe ourselves that don’t require food. Unfortunately, we can’t just eat our emotions. Because they always come back up. And that’s what emotional eating is simply doing: delaying the inevitable.

It’s also important to remember that like clouds, feelings and emotions do pass! We must remember this.

So let’s create your stash of things to do or look at or read or people to call, shall we?

Your template: Whenever I’m feeling down…

I will (in no particular order):

1. Go for a run or jog or a walk

2. Call a friend

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

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If MBT was able to help Irene lose 35 pounds why can’t MBT help you? (Insert your excuse here.) What are you waiting for? Join today or ask ask me any questions you might have. I’m here to help! (Actually, I live to help!)

Emotional eating is one of the top causes of obesity in the world.

What is emotional eating anyway?

Emotional eating is when we eat to change the way we feel. We’re not physically hungry, we’re hungry for something else.

We eat because we’re bored, lonely, miserable, uncomfortable, tired, or any one of a number of reasons – none of which has ANYTHING to do with real physical hunger.

Remember: Physical hunger comes on gradually. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly.

If we eat based on emotional/habitual/mindless hunger, our body will never feel satisfied by food. This is why emotional eaters never feel full. They never get the signal to stop eating because they weren’t hungry for food in the first place.

Many of us have the habit of eating when we feel upset, lonely, bored or just want to escape reality for a few minutes. This habit stems from a misunderstanding of why we feel what we feel.

Let’s think of an emotion as someone knocking on your door to deliver a message.

If the message is urgent the knock is loud. If it’s very urgent, it’s very loud. But if it’s very urgent and we don’t answer the door, the knock will get louder and louder until we open the door OR the door gets broken down! (AKA, we’re forced to deal with our reality because we’ve neglected it for so long.)

Either way, the messenger will keep trying until the job is done, and the message is delivered. Just like our emotions will continue to come up until we finally pay attention to them.

And as soon as we ‘open the door’ by listening to the emotional message, and taking action, the emotion will go away. And if it comes back, it won’t be nearly as loud.

You don’t have to be a victim anymore IF you’re willing to open the door.

So onto one of the most powerful questions you can ever ask yourself when it comes to food:

Drum roll please!

Actually…

Let’s do an experiment. If you want to know the question my most successful clients ask themselves shoot me an email with the subject line, ‘What is the question your most successful clients ask themselves before they eat?’

Why am I doing this?

Because what I’m going to share with you is very, very good. And because I’m obsessed with getting my clients results, I want to know that you’re at least willing to take some action and email me.

It turns out that 95% of the time when we eat poorly, we’re eating because of the way we feel.

The scary part is that when we actually open the door, and listen to the message, we may not like what we hear. We may get scared, we may want to crawl up under the covers, and we may want to do a lot of things. That’s okay! At least you faced the monster! (Remember: the monster is never as scary as it seems!)

The only way to overcome emotional eating is to engage in some self-discovery. To listen to what you really want (hint: it’s not food). And the more you tell us on your feedback, the sooner we can identify triggers and come up with strategies that work for you.

I’ve helped so many people who are lifelong emotional eaters overcome their emotional eating. And as rewarding as it is for me, it’s even more rewarding for them. As scary as it might seem, it’s worth ‘opening the door’. It really is.

I’m right here for you. In fact, I’ll be right next to you when you open the door.

So, next time you hear that door knocking, think of the knock knock jokes…

Instead of running away, let’s say “Who’s there?” because you’re more powerful than you think you are! (And no, that’s not the question.)

Once again, if you’d like to know the question my most successful clients ask themselves before they eat email me at adam [at] mybodytutor [dot] com right now with the subject line “What is the question your most successful clients ask themselves before they eat?”

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If MBT was able to help Stephanie lose over 87 pounds, why can’t MBT help you? (Insert your excuse here.)

What’s going on?

So I watched an old 20/20 episode featuring actor/comedian Jeff Garlin, who is best known for playing Larry David’s best friend in Curb Your Enthusiasm.

If you’ve ever seen the show (I think it’s freegin’ hilarious) or know of him, you know that he is overweight.

I was excited to watch the interview because 1) I thought he might shed some insight on the cause of his weight issues and 2) I like him and think he’s funny.

I 100% agree with Jeff when he says overeating has nothing to do with a lack of will power. (This is why I HATE when people say, “Just eat less and move more!”)

He says food addiction is all about pushing down feelings…

And when we do that, we NEVER feel full.

How many times have you reached for food and nothing seems to satisfy you? (Ya know, you eat a little of this and a little of that and you just can’t seem to find that one snack that’ll do it for you. It’s kinda like trying to find that comfortable position to sleep in while on a plane – it ain’t happening!)

That’s because we’re not eating for anything but to suppress feelings and to change the way we feel.

But here’s where will power does come in:

We CAN acknowledge how we feel; either by journaling, calling a friend, emailing me or just shouting out loud (weird YES, but surprisingly effective).

We can also take action on how we feel, most of the time. Let’s say we’re stressed about work. Eating Bon Bon’s isn’t going to make our work problems actually go away, is it?

The challenge is that eating is so damn easy. It’s reliable. And it doesn’t require any effort at all.

Anytime we want to suppress feelings, we eat. That’s a habit.

Now here’s the tricky part: I’m usually not reaching for a piece of fish and brown rice when I’m upset. No. I crave the infamous trio of ‘SSF’.

What’s that?

Sugary, salty and fatty foods.

And when we reach for ‘SSF’ foods – that can override our brain’s natural ability to regulate itself.

Studies have proven this over and over. Give rats what they typically eat, and they eventually feel full and stop eating. Give rats Fruit Loops and they can’t stop eating them. They will even incur DANGER! to get the Fruit Loops or any other highly sugary, fatty and salty food!

“But I’m not a rat!” you shout.

Well, it’s true in humans, too.

So by reaching for highly salty/sugary/fatty snacks when we want to suppress feelings, we’re asking for double trouble, trouble (see what I did there?).

This doesn’t have to do with will power…

As Jeff Garlin noted, once he eats one doughnut, he can’t stop!

So here’s my slight challenge to those who can use it: Next time you feel out of control and want to use food to change the way you feel, acknowledge what you’re doing – but instead of choosing junk, choose healthy food. (It’s much easier to replace eating junk with healthy food rather than trying not to eat at all.)

Just make that change for now.

(And yes, if you can resist using food altogether, that’s ideal!)

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Using food to cope with your life is what stops you from losing weight and keeping it off. MBT provides you with the system and unconditional support to permanently give up food as a way to soothe yourself.

MBT works because you’ll finally deal with the true source of your hunger. Instead of counting calories – you’ll learn WHY you overeat or have uncontrollable hunger, and what you can do about it.

We’ve helped countless people break free from emotional eating…

Here’s just one example (with before and after photos). What are you waiting for? Join Now!