Soothing Without Food

Inspired by Susan Albers’ 50 Ways to Soothe Without Food, the Sugar Sober Support groups chose to focus on how THEY soothe without food. Here is a list of what they have found to work for them for soothing/coping with life without food.

-Realizing we are not always meant to be happy

-Realizing it is not anyone else’s job to soothe us

-Sitting with the feelings (in stillness, in nature, no screens, allowing self to feel the feelings)

- Flow activities (like swimming, tai chi, puzzles, long-distance cycling/running, etc.)

-Board games

- Music/Dancing

- Body painting/make-up

-Envisioning what we want and allowing our mind to transport us there

-Self-care (hot tea, books, sleep, exercise, breathing techniques, hiking, yoga, outdoors, knitting)

-Soothing according to emotion (ask: What is my mood? What do I need?

-Hobbies

-Being aware of when trying to avoid feelings

-Walking the dog

-Bath

-Massage/Acupuncture/Acupressure/Aroma Therapy

-Sound healing

-Legs up the wall

-Writing 3 things down we are proud of ourselves for and keeping a log

-Catch ourselves doing something right and writing it down

-Check-in with “Red Dog” (how are you?)

-Tighten & release muscles/progressive relaxation techniques/meditation

-Name what we are feeling and reality checking

-Texting/writing a friend/Connect with others

-Extra-long showers/pampering

-Self-talk (I’m okay, It’s okay)

-Setting boundaries

-Tracking how we feel before/during/after eating

All these suggestions are GREAT!!! But if you are like me, you want to know how to take ACTION! How to get started! Some suggestions were:

-Book it/protect the time on your schedule

-Reaching out and asking for help

-Practice, practice, practice, practice

-Think it through (What are the positive outcomes of soothing without food? What are the neg outcomes if use food?)

If you want more tools like this- be sure to check us out Fridays at 1 pm EST and Sundays at 7 pm EST. As always- let me know how I can support you!

Molly