Every day is another opportunity to learn more about yourself. The more we learn about who we are and what makes us tick, the sooner we can escape from the mental anguish that led us into the world of food addiction.

The secret is this: the way in is the way out. Get inside yourself. Notice and take heart with what you learn. Accept and love who you are.

Don’t psychoanalyze yourself. That will only lead to judgments. Judging yourself or trying to justify a problem with emotional or compulsive eating won’t solve it. That only leads to more stress.

Instead, keep a journal. Observe yourself and write it down. Write down your panicky feelings before you eat. It will change the way you respond to the stress that triggers the panic that fuels your food addiction.

Life does not have to be as stressful as most humans tend to make it. We decide how we feel about things. When we feel anger or despair or sadness, we are feeling emotions. Something is making us feel them. What is it? Not why, but what? There is rarely a “why” but always a “what”.

How do you want to respond the next time you feel that way, which you certainly will? If there is a plan in place, you can be prepared the next time you are caught off guard, like a fire drill prepares you for a fire.

Something as simple as writing your feelings down in a journal before acting on them can mean the difference between giving in to your food addiction and walking away. You deserve a chance to choose a brand new day.