Self-Protection Matters
We often think of self-protection in terms of setting boundaries with others, but what about setting them with ourselves? You know, like with our thoughts, reactions, and habits?
One of the most powerful shifts you can make in your food journey is learning how to pause before, during, or after eating to create space between what you feel and how you react.
Because without awareness, anything can control you! And when food is controlling your thoughts, your choices, and your emotions, it’s hard to feel at peace. But you don’t have to live that way.
The Missing Pause Between Emotion & Action
Ever find yourself reaching for food the moment you feel stressed, tired, bored, or overwhelmed? It’s an automatic reaction, a habit wired into your brain over time, for many of us.
And it isn’t due to a lack of willpower, it’s about a lack of awareness.
When there’s no pause, food decisions happen on autopilot because they are fed by external factors. You see, you’re not actually making a choice; you’re reacting to an urge, without stopping to ask:
What am I really feeling?
What does my body actually need right now?
Is this food choice supporting or distracting me?
This moment between feeling and reacting is where real self-trust is built, and it needs to be nurtured. Because when you practice the pause, you take back control!
How to Practice the Pause Around Food
The goal isn’t to resist food or talk yourself out of eating when you pause. You want to focus on checking in, slowing down, and making a choice from a place of clarity and intention rather than impulse. To help you get started:
Notice the Trigger: Before grabbing food, take a deep breath and ask yourself: What just happened? Did an emotion, situation, or thought trigger this urge?
Name What You’re Feeling: Is this hunger, or something else? Tiredness, stress, boredom, or simply habit? Naming it helps separate the urge from the action.
Create Space: Before eating, offer yourself time to pause for 60 seconds. You don’t have to deny yourself the food or judge yourself for your craving, just give yourself the gift of chance to check in.
Make an Intentional Choice: After your pause, decide:
Do I still want this?
Would something else feel better right now? (For example: water, movement, fresh air, or deep breathing)
If I eat, can I do it mindfully and enjoy it without guilt?
Decide What’s Worth Your Energy
At the end of the day, what you engage with is what you empower!
If you constantly engage in all-or-nothing food rules, that’s what grows.
If you choose to listen, pause, and respond intentionally, that’s what strengthens.
You don’t have to be perfect and you don’t have to get it right every time. But if you start practicing the pause, you’ll find that food no longer controls you; you control your choices! And that is the ultimate form of self-protection.
Want to Take This Work Deeper?
If you’re tired of feeling out of control with food, constantly second-guessing yourself, and struggling to break free from old habits, this is exactly what we work on inside my 12-week coaching program.
In this program, you’ll learn how to:
Trust yourself around food, without rules or restriction
Make food choices from a place of confidence, not guilt
Build habits that support your goals for the long term
Stop obsessing over food and start living your life fully
You don’t need another diet. You need a different way of thinking, one that actually supports you! Apply for my 12 Week Coaching Program “Toodles” to Your “Trigger” Foods, today.
