Eating Patterns that keep your Body Stuck & How to move out of it

You hate how your body looks. You’ve tried everything, and yet, your body feels stuck.

You want to control your food, but you just cannot. You overeat, especially outside. You want to eat sweets after all meals. You have the urge to snack at 5 pm, or you nibble on food when working.

You feel this massive ball of guilt for doing all this, but you can’t stop a binge episode & you are left with guilt all over again & a promise to start tomorrow, but the cycle repeats.

If that is you, you are not alone.

You’ve tried a zillion diets that you couldn't sustain, you started drinking water to reduce hunger, and you even picked up habits like drinking lots of coffee or smoking because you read these suppress your hunger so that you lose weight, and losing weight is supposed to be healthy.

Yet your eating patterns keep your body stuck & you struggle with constipation, irregular periods, fatigue and brain fog.

Sounds familiar?

Client S arrived with these exact struggles, and she thought it was because of her willpower and her food choices.

‘Every area of my life, like career, relationship, family, is settled, but my body & food is something I have always struggled with’

But inside the Joyful Nourishment Signature program, we go beyond these patterns. All these patterns are either picked up as an autopilot habit or a coping response to either escape a feeling or to experience ‘feeling good’ instantly.

Let’s see 3 of Client S's patterns along with cues for you to work through, if they are present for you.

1) The need to eat sweets after meals, especially at night

2)   Overeating, especially outside or at parties

3)   The need to always be on a diet & hating her body

1. Why do I Crave Sugar After Meals? (Especially at Night)

What we uncovered: What looked like sugar cravings was actually something much deeper. She had always seen her father eat sweets after all meals, so naturally she picked up the habit from him.

During her childhood days, her house was always full. Someone was always around. Even when she went abroad to study, she ate with friends almost daily. Now, she lives alone with her husband, who travels a lot for work.

We started observing if these night cravings increase when he is not around.

Prompts for you:

💚 When do I crave sugar the most?

💚 What do I generally feel before the craving?

💚 Was sugar a major part of my life growing up, or did someone else around me eat it more frequently?

What we found: Her cravings did increase when she was alone or bored.

So we knew this was an autopilot habit that doubles when she feels alone and does not know what to do about it.

What we did: We started by changing her dinners from quick and chaotic to peaceful and slow.

This looked like playing calming music or letting a show just run in the background, but not sitting in front of the TV.

Taking a small walk post dinner &  exploring a forgotten childhood hobby. She mostly had really packed days, so this was a great way to slow down & be more present with herself.

She started doing puzzles, reading & numbered colouring. This helped her break the autopilot response, got her to the present & enjoyed being in her company with her own thoughts.

The result: In 2 weeks, her cravings gradually faded away & she has not had them since 11 months. This drastically improved her sleep quality, too.

2) Why do I Overeat at Parties or When Eating Out?

What we uncovered: It felt like she was stuck in an overeating pattern she couldn’t break, even when she was aware of it. Her portions were beyond her fullness points; she was aware of it. But she could not control it.

Prompts for you:

💚 Growing up, how were my meal times?

💚 Were they rushed?

💚 How did people around me behave while eating?

What we found: This became a turning point to finally find peace & calm with food after years of dieting. We went back to her younger days.

Her family was quite chaotic. A super busy, unavailable dad, a dramatic sister, and a loving mother who was dealing with her own food & body insecurities. The only time there was peace and togetherness at home was when they all sat to eat.

This was the reason why she looked forward to ways to prolong her meal timings to feel heard, seen and part of a loving family. It felt unsafe if her meals were unfinished (like not trying something on the menu)

What we did: A lot of work went into uncovering & reshaping this learned safety mechanism. I have mentioned that in the point below.

The result: In 6 weeks, her binges reduced & by the end of the program, she had just one episode of guilt-binge-shame-repeat, which we were able to navigate peacefully with minimal after-effects.

3) Why You Feel Stuck in Dieting & Still Hate Your Body?

What we uncovered: She is very close to her mom. Since the early days, anything that her mom said was etched in rock for her. As loving & available, her mom has been to her; she comes with her own set of insecurities. Thinness was supremacy, being on a diet was a must, or else she would put on weight & not be accepted in her social circles, working out was a must so that she could eat her favourite foods at night but run an extra mile on the treadmill & make up for it. Gaining weight meant being outcast and embarrassed.

So now, S started equating a ‘maintained body’ with being fully accepted, validated & loved. In her early college days, she thought that if she gained weight, she would not get the right boy!

When she heard mom say something about her body, she soaked it in, and her self-talk started to reflect it. She dressed to hide her body when she felt she had gained weight.

This was not just a pattern; it was generational trauma.

Prompts:

💚 When did I start worrying about my weight?

💚 Who first told me to lose weight or be on a diet for the same reason?

What we did: This was the deepest work: We initiated a gentle identity shift around how she views herself and her food. This started changing her self-talk, thoughts about herself, & there fore the actions that she took, like eating for gut & hormone healing instead of being on a calorie deficit.

We also initiated mirror talk & gentle pauses before making any food decision.

The Result: It helped her say no to food when needed, break food rules, eat more as per her body needs at the right time & stop eating when full.

This needed careful coaching, as saying no to food felt like rejecting her mom. It was important to develop safety around this sacred relationship.

The overall outcomes:

1. Peace and joy around food

2. Muscle gain

3. Healed constipation

4. No mood swings

5. No sugar cravings

6. Sound, peaceful, restful sleep

7. Improved relationships

8. Aligned workouts that actually gave her muscle gain and not just a tick off the to-do list

9. Enjoyed her beach vacation without worrying about how her stomach looked in a swimsuit!

She no longer felt that her body or food needed fixing. Her gut issues resolved, hormones re-balanced & she started gaining muscle.

These were the patterns that kept her in the loop.

Ending these patterns, having more real nutrition understanding, and simplifying her meals ended the loop.

This is the kind of foundational work required to move past years of symptoms.

If you saw yourself in even one of these patterns, don’t rush to fix it.

Just start by noticing it.

Use the prompts. Sit with what comes up.

If you want a gentle starting point, you can access my 7-day Mindful Eating Starter Guide, which will help you build awareness around your eating patterns.

And if you find yourself thinking, “okay… but what do I do with this now?” you don’t have to figure that out alone

You can DM me on Instagram.

E-mail ID: namratamanyalagicha@gmail.com

Instagram: @undietwithnamrata