"Owning, honouring and transforming emotions is a very important factor to succeed in any body weight loss process. Very often we build eating habits around our unresolved emotional baggage, when these emotions are healed and sorted, the body wisely comes back to alignment "
When we think about weight loss, we often focus solely on diet and exercise, but there’s a deeper layer that often gets overlooked: our emotional health. Negative emotions, past traumas, and chronic stress can profoundly impact the way we manage our body weight. They don’t just affect our mindset—they actively influence how our body functions on a physical level, particularly through hormone imbalances
Traumas and Emotional factors affect the way how we relate to food, to our bodies, our self image/love, how attractive we are or we want to be before the world, how much/little we want to be seen.
Traumas and Emotional Stress conduce to lack of balance of the Hormones in the body, such as cortisol, insulin and leptins. Which are the hormones at play for a healthy body weight. Traumas coming from childhood and/or though emotional impact usually affect our sense of safety and belonging to the world. As these traumas take place in the subconscious level, the body mind creates protective mechanisms. In search for feelings of safety and often having extra weight subconsciously gives us sense of safety and feeling protected.
Emotional Stress coming from traumas affects our metabolism and our behaviour around food. Food very often is linked to pleasure and comfort, In trying to compensate emotional stress some times we under eat, but more often we overeat. As living beings we are always searching pleasure and food is an immediate source to meet this very primal need.
I heard once someone who had been anorexic and she describe her experience as this deep desire to disappear and not been seen at all. As I have seen people who have been psychologically, emotionally or sexually abused and they become overweight as a protective strategy not to be attractive and be rejected instead. They got used to not liking themselves in the first place.
Transforming these beliefs can be the one and very first step towards having more body presence, towards losing the weight that we want to shred
Cortisol, known as the “stress hormone,” is released by the body during stressful situations. While this is a natural and essential response, chronic stress causes cortisol levels to remain elevated for long periods. Elevated cortisol can lead to increased fat storage, particularly around the abdomen, and can also affect how the body metabolises glucose, making it harder to lose weight.
Insulin, the hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar levels, can also be affected by stress. High cortisol levels can lead to insulin resistance, which makes it more difficult for the body to regulate glucose and burn fat effectively. Similarly, leptin, which helps regulate hunger, can be disrupted, making it difficult to feel full or satisfied after eating. This leads to overeating as the body struggles to understand when it has had enough.
Body Weight Loss can be a great opportunity to engage with our emotions and inner blocks towards gaining body presence and to re-stablish a healthy and loving relationship with the body. In this way, food and eating itself stop being a chore, a burden, a worry and becomes a joyful opportunity to nurture and energize our physical body.
For many people, food becomes more than just sustenance—it becomes a way of coping with emotional distress. When we feel anxious, depressed, or stressed, we might turn to food for comfort, often seeking out high-sugar or high-fat foods that temporarily boost our mood. This type of emotional eating can lead to overeating and, over time, weight gain. For others, the opposite may occur—emotional stress may lead to under eating or even disordered eating patterns such as anorexia or bulimia. The desire to control food intake becomes a coping mechanism for emotions that feel out of control. Both patterns, are rooted in the body’s response to emotional pain and trauma.
An example of this can be seen in people who have experienced emotional or psychological trauma. In some cases, people who have been abused or neglected may use weight gain as a protective mechanism, subconsciously trying to make themselves less attractive or visible to others. They may also struggle with self-image, believing that they are unworthy of love or care, which feeds into a cycle of emotional eating and weight gain.
We can make from the process of achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight a deep transformation towards healing the emotional wounds and negative beliefs that lie beneath our relationship with food and our bodies. Many people don’t realise that their struggles with weight are deeply connected to how they feel about themselves, their past experiences, and the ways they manage stress.
When we embark on a healing journey from the inside out, we can begin to nurture our bodies in a more holistic way. Instead of seeing food as a source of anxiety, shame, or comfort, we learn to view it as nourishment for both body and soul. We stop focusing on restrictive diets and punishing exercise routines, and instead, we learn to listen to our bodies’ natural rhythms and needs.
As we work through emotional traumas and stress, we also begin to restore balance to the hormones that govern our weight. Cortisol levels decrease, insulin sensitivity improves, and leptin begins to function more effectively. This shift allows us to achieve a healthy weight in a way that is sustainable, loving, and empowering.
Conclusion: Your Healing Journey Starts Here
If you’ve struggled with emotional eating, chronic stress, or negative body image, it’s important to recognise that healing is possible. By addressing the emotional and hormonal aspects of weight management, you can transform not only your relationship with food but also your relationship with yourself.
If you’re ready to begin your own healing journey from the inside out, I invite you to explore the tools and techniques that can help you reconnect with your body and regain balance in your life.
Some suggestions:
Be aware of your mental and Emotional Stress and where it comes from
Design and start YOUR UNIQUE mind-body practice to cultivate this daily awareness
If you consider that your traumas en emotional blocks are affecting your body and health and you do not have the tools to resolve them, find professional help
Be loving and compassionate with you and your process. Slow is ok as long as you keep your journey towards healing
.
Comments