How to Successfully Stop Eating Nosh

That pull to eat nosh, of any kind, is powerful. Sometimes it even feels irresistible. And yet, after giving in to it, we often regret, maybe even feel a degree of self-loathing. The cause for the compulsion is personal for everyone, but the basic principles of dealing with it are the same. So, let’s look at an example of a fictitious lady and give her some advice that all of us can take and apply it to our own unique situations to gain control over our food consumption.

Mrs. Fictitious said: Lots of times I notice, especially when I am lacking sleep, that towards the end of the day I start eating just to be happy. I don’t feel like doing something that would really make me happy, because that takes energy that I don’t have. So, I eat nosh. I regret it right away, and also later when I look in the mirror, but I can’t seem to stop. How can I stop?

Let’s answer Mrs. Fictitious like this:

That’s a great question, and one that I think many women can relate to.

I empathize with your frustration and disappointment with feeling compelled to eat what you don’t want, when you don’t want. B”H, you haven’t given up the battle. Your question shows that you are still in the fight. So, let’s look at the core of the struggle in order to gain the upper hand. Knowledge is power.

The subconscious mind is responsible for 95 to 97% of our decisions. This means that in the event that the conscious mind and subconscious mind are at odds, the subconscious mind will win 95 to 97% of the time. We might be able to override the decisions of the subconscious mind for a brief period of time, but ultimately the subconscious mind will prevail. In your case, this means that even though your conscious mind has decided not to eat nosh, your subconscious mind has reasons to eat it, and that is what happens.

In order to effectively gain control of your eating, you will need to get to know your subconscious beliefs and needs and reprogram the ones that are using nosh to fulfill its purposes. Let’s look at a possible reason why nosh might be your subconscious mind’s choice.

First of all, I commend you on having the self-awareness that you are using the nosh to make yourself happy. Let’s use this awareness to try and get to the heart of the issue and come up with a path that leads to you being in control of your nosh eating.

As I see it, what we’re talking about here is your relationship with sleep, your relationship with food, and your relationship with yourself. Since I don’t have the luxury of knowing all the background details, I’m going to make some assumptions. You are talking about making yourself happy with the nosh when you are lacking sleep. You didn’t say you use it to get energy. So, I’m assuming happiness is what is missing and presenting itself in your relationship to all three areas: sleep, food, and self. It’s very likely that if you had internal happiness, you would find a way to get more sleep and eat healthier.

It’s actually a very common phenomenon that when one feels unhappy with themselves on the inside, they turn their sense of self to something outside of themselves and then try to use outside pleasures to feel good about that externalized sense of self. So, for example in your case, not feeling happy on the inside, you turn your sense of self to the food outside of you and use the nosh to feel happy. It’s as if eating nosh gives you a sense of feeling happy about yourself because it’s “happy food.” However, it’s short lived as you said, because right away you regret it. The true self is still there after the nosh is gone.

To become happier with yourself in a true and lasting way, we need to look into two areas of your life – your needs and the stories you tell yourself about yourself. These two areas are responsible for your happiness. Ask yourself if you have any needs that have not been addressed that are important for you. Then find a way to fulfill those needs. The second way, which is perhaps the more challenging part, is to listen to your internal dialogue and notice if there are self-deprecating statements that are bringing you down. The negative internal dialogue makes people feel bad about themselves and then compelled, in your case, to eat to feel better. Some call it, “eating your feelings.”

The internal dialogue is created by the belief system of the subconscious mind. Change needs to happen there. However, the subconscious mind does not know language, so you have to reprogram it using the language it understands, which is repeated images that produce emotions. It’s a step-by-step process that is easy to learn. This subconscious reprogramming system was created by Integrated Attachment Theory - IAT. IAT is an evidence-based revolutionary healing model that redefines how we understand, develop, and transform ourselves and our relationships. It provides a technique for healing deep-rooted patterns and beliefs, fostering lasting personal and relational growth through subconscious reprogramming.

I work a lot with reprogramming of the subconscious mind. If you’d like some help with it, or help with figuring out your needs and how to fulfill them, please be in touch. I’d be very happy to help.