Ep #145 Hidden Truth Behind Emotional Photoshop

Hey there sister,

I will start off by saying that I am very excited for our spankin’ new schedule. We will be bringing you THREE podcasts per week for the rest of the season so stay tuned for plenty of fun, deep, sexy stuff coming your way.

I have received some questions in the community about emotional eating and avoiding treats when we are feeling less than awesome. Sister, we've all been there. I have been there. I know that if there is something all  of us women are good at, it is feeling. Sometimes those feelings are overwhelming and we just want to hit the off switch and not feel at all. However, that is just no fun.

• What is emotional numbing and how is it affecting your transformation without you even knowing it?
• The deep roots of emotional numbing and how we've been photoshopping our feelings since childhood.
• How to be aware of what you’re numbing and how you can take empowered action to be your happiest and sexiest self. 

Photoshop isn't Only for your Instagram:

Have you ever been so upset that you just went out and bought that pair of really cute shoes that cost more than your rent? Maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration but you know what I mean. If you are looking forward to the weekend so you can have that glass of wine or that slice of chocolate cake then you might be numbing other feelings other than just having some cravings. 

Remember when you were a kid and went flying off the swing? How did your parents deal with that? A snickers bar? The time you graduated college? Did you go out to dinner? We used food to cope with negative feelings or even to reward ourselves. We use food to deal with almost everything.

(If you are feeling like this is totally relatable check out Top 3 Tools to Overcome Emotional Eating with Dr. Candice Seti)

This is a cycle that we have picked up in our childhood, from our parents, or even recently. This is emotional numbing or "emotional photoshop" because you are only trying to mask the reality of your feelings, the same way that Instagram models try to mask their "flaws."

So What's the Big Deal?:

What is the problem with numbing? The problem is that it has everything to do with how we experience joy and the actual beautiful feelings in life and there are so many of them.

All of us take the edge of differently and we aren’t always aware that we are taking an edge off. Some of us do this with food (Remember the box of chocolates Elle Woods inhaled after Warner broke up with her? #teamemmett), some us with shopping, or treating ourselves to whatever it is we use to cope.

The problem is that we are still dealing with those feelings without actually being aware that we are having to exact same feelings. It manifests itself not only with happiness but with intense anger and sadness and those are not good feelings to hold on to. We don’t know how to handle these emotions so we go straight to numbing them. If you can't feel it then isn't a problem, right? Nope.

What are You Numbing and How are You Numbing it: 

The key to get over emotional photoshop is to become aware. You want to pay off your debt? Get aware of your financial situation. Want to fix your business? Get aware of what is broken. You want to your eyebrows to finally be on fleek? Figure out which one is uneven. The same goes with emotional numbing.

As women we feel and we feel with intensity (ever keyed an ex's car?). This could be something that upset you forty years ago or last week but knowing what you are feeling and how you numbing that feeling will help you understand what you need. You may feel like you’re out of control but when you have this level of awareness you take the opportunity to take empowered action in order to go where you want to go. Without that awareness you become stuck in a vicious cycle of emotional numbing without even knowing it. I have more tips to reaching food freedom and eating to show your body love in my Sexyfit Method book.

With love,

Zlata