Food cravings are our bodies natural response to stress. Period, it’s that simple. When you’re stressed, which most of us are, your brain will do whatever it takes to relieve that stress in the moment. Later on, when your body is having to deal with the food you inhaled, there’s no connection to the previous behavior. Food is one of the quickest ways for your brain to regulate your mood and energy. There are other ways to do this, like taking action, speaking up, taking some deep breaths, going for a walk, doing something you enjoy, etc. but if you don’t have the tools and resources to shift your energy, your brain will default to using food. It’s usually processed or simple carbohydrates we humans go for as that’s the quickest and most effective way to shift things.

Your brain is geared towards the moment you are in and geared to seeking pleasure or relief from suffering in that moment. So, let’s say you’re generally feeling stressed or uneasy your brain will go to it’s memory banks to find a strategy to relieve that stress. You’ve had good success in the past regulating your mood with simple sugars, as it releases happy chemicals like Serotonin, so this is a default process, and it works.Your brain knows this and will go to the most reliable method that has worked in the past, even if it’s in the far distant past, and it causes misery 30 mins later.  It’s not uncommon for this behavior to go way back in time to early childhood. I know this, because my patients have memories or insights to where the behavior started. They have vivid memories of what used to bring them pleasure related to the food they crave current day. And, it’s not just about sugar, it’s about the specific forms of sugar or carbs that did the trick in the past to help you feel good.

So, as patients are holding Acupressure points and thinking about chocolate, cake, pasta or whatever they’re craving, they may start remembering times when they felt SO good eating that food. They remember the details and especially the people who were there with them. The key here, is that they always remember the people around them as much or more than the food. It’s the human connections that are the key here.

One patient remembered her Mom baking her cookies when she got home from school and relished how special that made her feel. She felt so loved by her Mom and remembers how much she loved the attention apart from her other siblings.

Another patient remembers how he and his friends used to walk to the local candy store along a country road and how free and easy he felt on summer days without a care in the world, such great times eating candy with his buddies.

Another woman remembers her special times of coffee at a Cafe with her Dad and how incredibly loved and adored she felt as his special companion in his adult world.

There are positive memories that your brain has stored and remembered, even if you’ve long forgotten them. This is not a bad thing and you want to keep these memories, but you also want other options for feeling good. When we’re not feeling your best, whether in an acute state of upset, or a chronic state of the blah’s, your brain takes you on a search for those happy times, and it doesn’t look far, it goes there in a fraction of a second and without us even knowing. Your brain will take the most reliable way to do the job. The problem is, all we remember is the food we want in the moment, we’ve forgotten the memories most of the time. All you can think about is:

“I’ve got to eat that food, and NOW.”

You are being overpowered by your brains actions to regulate your mood and energy and until you change this, you may feel like a victim of this unconscious pattern. There’s nothing wrong with you, you just need to update the patterns or strategies if you want a different way of being with food.

The good news is, when this connection is made while holding Acupressure points, your brain makes the connection so that you can have this good feeling if you have this food or not, there are other ways to feel that good. These feelings can be generated in many ways, you’re not actually locked into getting satisfaction from particular foods or behaviors related to your past. It’s like the possibilities open up for you in the moment, big time. Your brain naturally finds new ways to have those good feelings that are more up to date, less of a 5 year olds idea of happiness, more of an adult idea of happiness, which is good, right? Then you have the option to meet that need for stress relief and good feelings in other ways, not just from food or, you can choose to have that food. And, that’s freedom.

Your mind will make the connection in the Acupressure session, it happens naturally and spontaneously, and once it does, you’ll be free to chose what you eat, as your brain will not be reverting back to old habits for feeling better. You can also do this through inquiry and getting curious about what you need in that moment. For tools to do that, please sign up for my free guide in the right side bar:

Don’t Eat When You’re Stressed: Try This First!

The exercises in the guide will need to be practiced over time, whereas the Acupressure makes the shift during your session, so keep practicing what you learn in that guide, it can get you there.

So let me ask you this:

What are 2 ways you can feel better, let go of stress and put a smile on your face that doesn’t require food?

Please comment below, I’d love to hear what you have to share. I’m sure we can come up with a pretty good list!

There are so many more things, just list them out and start implementing them. Then, you’re not beholden to food to help you calm down or deal with situations, you can enjoy food for food, not for self medication and stress management. Then, you’re in charge and you are making choices that honor your happiness, your health and your peace.

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All the Best,