Lost & found are from the same box. I’m an empath. A highly sensitive person when it comes to environments, emotions & other peoples’ energies. I like to eat alone.
Maybe you can relate too.
I spent decades with food triggers, gut issues, constipation, bloating, G.I. bleeding, unexplained weight gain & disordered eating.
I grew up hearing shit like this:
“You’re just too big to be a cheerleader, hon.” -cheerleading coach, middle school
“Pretty girls are in the front, you’re in the back.” -a mom, childhood birthday party pictures
“Well, you’re just not polished enough.” -recruiter, job fair in college
“I’m sorry I cheated, I like you, it’s just, she was prettier.”
-someone not even worth mentioning here LOL!
Naturally I’d be lying if a part of me didn’t want to tell these people of past chapters of my life they can suck it
People will teach you how to love well by hurting you. They will teach you how to love yourself by not loving you back. Life will teach you evolution & growth thru pain & stagnation.
Hell, crispy airfryer #meatbars were discovered by me being late to work & literally throwin the shizzle my nizzle in the airfryer basket.
This world is made up of a plethora of different people with different priorities with different life situations all 50 shades of f*cked up.
You’re not alone, the difference is how you react to what life throws at you.
Here are things I do & had to learn to do throughout my journey to be my healthiest. They often times are perceived as being rude for those who don’t understand special digestive needs or people who are extremely highly sensitive & empathetic.
The hard truth is, it’s hard to learn to love yourself for being different. So let’s raise awareness on this especially if you’re stuck in self sabotaging cycles!
Empaths Are Prone To Addictions
My Take?
Empaths are more prone to addictive behaviors. More importantly, what can we do about the unproductive behaviors, habits, & addictions we struggle with?
We literally feel what others are feeling, which can be a good thing — or not so much. When it’s good it’s fucking great! In fact we amplify those high-vibe emotions which is why so many people seek us out for support.
The downside, it seems, is that we absorb “negative” or low-vibrational emotions. Emotions are energy vibrating at different frequencies, by the way. Joy and love, for example, are high-vibe while guilt and shame are low-vibe. These vibrations impact our vitality, our mental state & quality of life.
When we don’t know how to effectively & efficiently process all that energy, we act out or we hold it in. Neither is healthy. When we hold it in, sometimes that takes the shape of a physical illness & other times it’s mental. Either way that shit gets stored somewhere — in our bodies or our brains.
We then have a toxic build up of low-vibe emotions stored in our entire being, making us feel like crap.
Why Empaths Over Eat
Food is medicine. It can stabilize your sensitive system, but it can also throw it off. I’ve observed in my 18 years of working in healthcare & as a nutrition coach as well as in myself, that overeating & food addictions are common among empaths.
Food addiction is an uncontrollable craving for excess food for which many diets & weight loss programs often don’t succeed. Frequently, the specific addiction is to sugar or carbohydrates, which is a BIG reason I adopted the “carnivore” WOE (way of eating) for both my Crohn’s disease & disordered eating. I’ve lost 55lbs & put my Crohn’s & bulimia in med-free remission for over 4 years.
Excess weight can be a way of armoring yourself to stop absorbing other people’s stress or disturbing behavior. Putting on added pounds can make you feel more grounded, & it can act as a buffer against negativity. But reaching for junk foods for a quick fix, is a short-lived & unhealthy solution that gets addictively repeated.
Diets often fail for sensitive people because they are unaware that they are eating (& overeating) unhealthy foods to protect themselves from overwhelming or negative energy. When I point this out to my empath clients who are struggling with overeating, it’s a life-changing insight for them.
Are You A Food Empath?
I asked myself these questions to navigate through confusion & find answers & clarity as far as the right diet & coping solutions:
- Do you overeat when you are emotionally overwhelmed?
- Do you turn to sugar, carbs, & junk food to self-soothe discomfort, boredom, or a difficult emotion?
- Are you highly sensitive to the effect people & food have on your body?
- Do you get mood swings, brain fog, or feel toxic from sugar, caffeine, sodas, junk food, or specific foods?
- Do you have food allergies, gut issues, & intolerances such as to gluten, soy, plants, fiber, artificial ingredients, etc?
- Do you feel more protected from stress when you are heavier?
- Do you feel energized by healthy, non-processed food?
- Are you sensitive to certain foods? Feel better on certain foods?
- Do you feel more vulnerable to stress when you are thinner?
If you are an empathic eater, you will need to pinpoint energetic stressors that trigger overeating such as a draining coworker, an argument with a friend or family, kids, or feeling rejected. Train yourself to clear the stress as soon as possible to balance your system. Avoid using food as a numbing coping mechanism. I walk & keep my mind occupied instead.
An Empath’s Survival Guide
Tips that have helped me to eat well, stay fit, & release negativity before self sabotaging & over eating:
- Breathe: When you feel stress, immediately focus on breathing slowly & deeply. This releases negative energy. Holding your breath out of fear traps toxicity in your body.
- Hydrate: Water purifies you. Drink filtered or spring water, especially when you’ve been exposed to negative energy & have the urge to overeat. Consume at least 1/2 your body weight in oz daily. Get in adequate electrolytes. Take a bath or shower. Water washes away impurities of all kinds.
- Minimize Sugar & Processed Food As Much As Possible: Although you may crave carbs & sugar (as well as alcohol), they will destabilize you mentally & physically. This makes you more susceptible to absorbing unwanted energy & self sabotaging. These kinds of hyperpalatable foods are like drugs, leaving you wanting more.
- Prioritize Protein: Protein stabilizes everyone. It gives a sense of grounding & satiation. Get protein at every meal, at least 30g. Big reason many food addicts thrive, lose weight, & heal on carnivore.
- Rest: Sleep. Remove yourself from your busy routine. Regularly. In his book, Willpower Doesn’t Work, Benjamin P. Hardy talks about “enhanced environments” — one that will have you uber productive & one that will allow you to completely reset. If we don’t give ourselves these two distinct environments, everything blends together & we never really disconnect, nor do we really get satisfying results from our work. We stay stuck in the in-between, dissatisfied & seeking something to make us feel better. Solitude is your best friend. Go take a walk in nature. Eat alone & mindfully.
- Restore & Release: Self Love. Where there’s suffering there is a lack of integrity & self love. I’m not talking about moral uprightness here. I’m talking about the state of being whole. Part of the human condition is that we come with soul wounds, past trauma, & conditioning. Our job is to heal & reintegrate the perceived “unlovable” parts of ourselves so we can live connected to Self, Source, & each other. The parts of yourself that you’re angry or ashamed of are the source of your suffering. The whole world is “coping” with this dis-ease. Empaths feel that pain & powerlessness. Seek therapy.
- Manage: Your emotions. Your time. Your energy. I know it feels like you don’t have the time or energy so you turn to what’s easy & convenient. Managing your emotions actually frees up the energy you’re spending on things that do not serve you. Emotions are messengers. They alert you to boundaries being crossed. What boundaries of yours are not being honored? Do you even know your boundaries? The lack of knowing & enforcing boundaries is causing you more work, frustration, & stress than you can manage. If you’re like I was, that is what made me want to stuff my face with donuts, cookies, cake, chips, cereal, crackers, & ice cream then throw it up — UNTIL I realized that behavior meant staying sick, broke, & lonely AF.
- Move: Your body. Walk, go to the gym, get sunlight, connect with friends. We cope with stress, including loneliness, by using dopamine-triggering substances & behaviors as a means of avoiding painful emotions & self-awareness. But if we make a commitment to living a kick-ass life, then moving the body will get the dopamine flowing, reconnecting us to what we truly enjoy, like our friends & families. Oh, and that workout high & lookin good nekkid too!!
Final Thoughts
Addictions can be distracting or completely destroy your life. Empaths are not meant to be average. Stop trying to be normal. You were born with an extraordinary gift. When you learn to use it, your life will light the fuck up. If you don’t know what your gift (or superpower) is, you are missing out on the best life has for you. You will likely fall into the dark hole of suck to cope with feelings of failure & being misunderstood. Don’t let that happen. If you’re there now, don’t worry, there’s a cure.
I used to be addicted now I am aligned.
My addictive behaviors took on many forms over the years. In my twenties I partied my ass off for close to a decade & wrecked my health.
At one point that fix was tied to the attention of men. Another time I couldn’t get enough shopping. Then there was food, specifically sugar & carbs, that were controlling my life. I was bulimic to boot on top of self hate.
For me, being free of addiction was not possible until I got clear about what I am here to do, how to eat right for me, get healthy, & simply do shit I love. I made a commitment to be the badass I’ve always believed I could be, but now there’s a passion & purpose attached to it.
Food can be a source of energy or depletion. You want to develop dietary & lifestyle habits that serve your sensitivities rather than aggravating them. Then you can maximize the energy you receive from food & people, & environments & minimize the protective defense mechanism of empathic over-eating. With these tools to protect & ground yourself, you won’t have the same cravings that used to undermine your best intentions.
Thank you for reading & I’m honored you allowed me to share my story & add value to your lives!
With love,
Oxox Coach K
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Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of health, mindset, human connection, & entrepreneurship. Motivational writer, speaker, doer of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture was her first love. She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through her own relationships, financial struggles, Crohn’s Disease, disordered eating, body transformation, & adapting to a carnivore diet lifestyle.
Katie also has over 17 years experience as a Registered Radiologic Technologist, Nutritionist, Brand Growth & Sales Consultant. She works with people of all walks of life as a nutritionist & life coach to help them authentically optimize their lives to find health, wealth, & happy!
You can catch her via Instagram @lil_bit_of_fit & blog, Lilbitoffit.com