Understanding and Overcoming Overeating in Brisbane

Are you searching for ways to manage overeating in Brisbane? If you’re feeling exhausted by a cycle of turning to food for comfort and soothing, please know: you’re not alone, and healing is possible.  As someone who has worked with a number of Australians over the last 25 years struggling with this very challenge, I am here to offer guidance and compassionate support that empowers you to make peace with food and yourself.

Understanding Overeating

The urge to eat in response to emotions like sadness, stress, loneliness, or even uncertainty is incredibly common.  In Brisbane—a vibrant city known for its fast-paced lifestyle and social connections—pressures can build up, making stress eating a completely understandable response.  It’s important to remember that overeating and emotional eating are not signs of failure; rather, they are coping strategies that we have developed as a way to self-soothe and manage our difficult feelings.

Why Compassionate Guidance Matters

I offer a compassionate approach that recognizes how trauma or unresolved experiences can shape our relationships with food and our bodies.  Instead of focusing on restriction or willpower, I encourage gentle exploration of the underlying reasons you’ve turned to food for comfort.  Healing starts by offering yourself kindness, not criticism.  So many of us are devoid of real skills to consistently self-nurture and feed ourselves with compassion.

Building Awareness of Your Triggers

One of the first steps to stopping overeating is to gently build an awareness around your unique triggers.  You could ask yourself:

• When do you notice the urge to overeat, when you’re not physically hungry?  What else is going on around you?
• Which feelings or situations tend to prompt these cravings in you?
• Are there specific times of day, places, or people that influence your eating patterns?

Bringing curiosity and compassion to your experiences—rather than judgment—allows you to better understand the push-pull between emotions and eating. This self-awareness is the foundation for change.  Simply being aware of this can bring a huge shift inside you.

Cultivating Self-Compassion in Your Healing Journey

It’s all too common to respond to our overeating with self-criticism or shame, but these reactions can intensify our distress and lock us further into this cycle.  Instead, I invite you to approach yourself with compassionate support. Speaking to yourself as you would to a loved one in distress can be a very kind first step.  Self-compassion doesn’t mean ignoring your challenges—it means meeting them with gentleness and understanding.

• Try placing your hand over your heart when you’re struggling, and whisper, “It’s okay to feel this way. I am here for myself and I am safe with me.”
• Remember that healing is not linear, and setbacks are a natural part of the process.  Setbacks can also be seen as stepping stones on our journey to success.
• Seek out connections in your community—overeating in Brisbane is more common than you think, and support is available.

Mind-Full Strategies to Stop Overeating in Brisbane

Here are some practical strategies I encourage my clients in Brisbane to explore:

1. Pause and Breathe: When the urge to emotionally eat arises, take a slow, mindful breath.  Notice what you’re feeling, and remind yourself that the sensation will pass, (because it always has in the past.)  See if you can ride it out like a wave just this time.
2. Identify and Honour Your Needs: Sometimes, food is standing in for another unmet need, like rest, connection, or some kind of acknowledgement in a close relationship.  Consider what might truly nourish you in the moment instead.
3. Gentle Distraction: If eating is not what you truly want, try a kind, non-food distraction—step outside in the sunshine for a Vitamin D-Boosting walk, call a friend, or engage in a creative activity that involves all the colours of the rainbow.
4. Seek Professional Support if you’re struggling to manage on your own.  It’s a sign of great courage in you being able to reach out and make contact with someone.

Creating Hope and Connection

Recovery from overeating is possible.  Is your overeating affecting your wellbeing or maybe you want to explore some more strategies for managing overeating in Brisbane.  At Support to Stop Overeating, I offer a safe, non-judgmental space for you to heal your relationship with food, empowering you to reclaim agency in your life and rediscover real pleasure in your eating.

If you’re ready to begin your journey or simply need someone to talk to, I warmly welcome you into our Brisbane community. Together, we can create a future where food is a source of nourishment for your body and your soul.