Too Much on Her Plate with Dr. Melissa McCreery: Emotional Eating Help for Smart, High-Achieving Women

Whether you choose to or not, it’s difficult to be a woman and not be continually exposed to the assumptions and stresses of diet mentality and deprivation thinking. Recently I experienced a few instances when I was surprised by diet thinking and beliefs and the stress that goes along with them. These experiences, that I’ll share with you, definitely highlight the difference between pursuing freed...

There are a few things I’ve learned about managing stress eating that help a lot. In fact, these are life lessons that keep repeating themselves - and that I’ll probably be relearning and remembering for the rest of my life. Imperfectly. In this episode I’m sharing ten life lessons on managing stress eating that I never stop learning. In this episode: How to get more help when you don’t know how a...

I’m covering what you can do to stop fighting with your inner critic and how to stop negative thoughts from triggering overeating. It’s a two-step process, and the steps I’m sharing probably aren’t the steps that you’ve been trying so hard to implement. In this episode: How your inner critic and negative thoughts sabotage your work to create freedom from overeating The two steps to take to stop fi...

In this episode I’m answering a question about how to be okay - and even motivated - by less than perfect progress. Spoiler alert: less than perfect (and sometimes gradual) progress is the only kind you’ll see if you’re making lasting changes to break overeating and emotional habits. So how do you stay motivated and feel satisfied? Tune in to this week’s episode. In this episode: Why making “some”...

Fiona has a great question: “How can I feel delighted with small portion sizes, rather than feeling robbed, disheartened, and treated badly.” Q&A episodes are some of my favorites, because there’s a lot to be learned from a question - and there’s a lot to unpack in this one. In this episode I’m answering Fiona’s question and also tackling some important aspects of making changes to the way tha...

Have you ever thought about your pattern of overeating or emotional eating and thought that it’s so entrenched or so tangled up that you’ll never be able to change it?  In this episode I’m sharing one story that is actually the story for many, many women. Once you understand how trust is lost, you’ll also be clearer on how to begin to rebuild self-trust and ultimately, how to feel confident and po...

What if I told you that sometimes trusting your intuition won’t help you break overeating habits? In fact, there are ways that your brain as well as your thoughts and beliefs will actually mislead you - even when you’re determined to stop emotional eating or end a habit of eating too much junk food or using food for self-care. You can retrain your brain. You can build new habits. You CAN create pe...

When you’re trying to stop emotional eating, your brain’s default strategy is to focus on “not doing it” or coming up with an alternative to-do list - things to do instead of eating. While this can be helpful, it’s important to remember that sometimes your urge to go have a snack is triggered by already having too many things to do! In this episode of the Too Much on Her Plate podcast, I’m coverin...

In this week’s podcast episode I’m sharing ten questions that can help you lose the urge to overeat. Lose the urge - not control it or temper it or distract yourself from it. When you lose the urge to use food as a coping mechanism, so much gets easier.  Covered in this episode: The importance of getting to the root of your overeating. How to discover why you want to eat and simple strategies to c...

Years of dieting, fighting with the scale, obsessing about the scale and feeling like success always came down to the daily weigh-in. That’s where Chris was, and her decision to pursue private coaching and work with me to change her overeating wasn’t one she made lightly. “I had tried everything… all of the traditional things that women do… it wasn’t working.” In this episode we have a candid conv...

Before you jump into January goal setting mode or dive into another plan to change overeating habits or end emotional eating, it’s always helpful to reflect on what you already know, what works for you, and what you’ve learned from attempts to stop overeating that haven’t worked. As I reflect on last year, there were definitely some lessons learned. In this episode, I’m sharing a few of them, incl...

Throwing out the diet rules sounds good, but when you’ve lived your life in the shadow of the weight loss industry, it can be really confusing to think about what you’ll do if you don’t follow a program this January. What you’ll learn in this episode: Reasons diet mentality is so seductive Clues to recognizing diet mentality and deprivation thinking How to make food decisions that don’t make you w...

In this episode, I’m sharing what you need to know about perfectionism and all or nothing thinking so you can avoid the yo-yo cycles, enjoy your holidays more, and set yourself up on a path that feels and works better.  Use this episode to inoculate yourself against over-the-top-diet-mentality-marketing. Download the free cheat sheet to empower you (the link is in the show notes). And share this e...

There’s a mindset trap that we don’t talk about enough that keeps smart women overeating. This episode is about how high-achieving women get stuck in thoughts and beliefs that isolate them or prevent them from asking for help. Not asking help can lead to overwhelm and increased Hidden Hungers (which lead to more overeating).  In this episode: Beliefs and common thoughts that lead to isolation (whi...

In the latest Q&A episode, Christina asks, “Why does the desire to overeat never go away in the brain? Even if you curb it, control it, suffer it, in my experience it never truly goes away.”  Does the desire to overeat ever go away? It absolutely can - and in this episode I’m sharing the steps that help this to happen. In this episode: How conditioning and socialization can keep you stuck in p...

Grab yourself a warm mug of your favorite cozy beverage and settle in and let’s talk about how to avoid holiday overeating without feeling deprived. In this episode: 10 common mistakes that lead to overeating, guilt, and unhappiness during the holidays (and how to avoid making them) - plus a bonus Consistency vs. perfection Why you should stop working “harder” to stop overeating Find links to ever...

 In this episode, I want to talk about something a lot of high-achieving women experience, but feel alone with - overeating and success. Specifically, I’m going to shine a light on how professional success is sometimes a major factor in overeating and weight gain. In this episode: How professional success (or any success) can lead to overeating How socialization can lead to overeating as a substit...

Most smart women who struggle with emotional eating (stress eating, comfort eating, or eating to avoid or cope with other feelings) make a strategic mistake. They use up all their energy and discipline focusing on the wrong thing – food. Breaking free of emotional eating cycles happens when you look beyond the food and start addressing the reasons cravings and overeating are happening. This time a...

How do you break the cycle of overeating when you’re frustrated? How do you stop emotional eating when you feel powerless? Can you stop using food to push down feelings of anger? In this week’s podcast episode, I’m going to share four steps to stop emotional eating and overeating when you’re angry. In this episode: Breaking the cycle of guilt, shame, and frustration that keeps the cycle going How...

In this episode I’m going to walk you through a step-by-step process for mindful eating. One that’s do-able, simple, and that you can use to learn more about what you need to create freedom from overeating and emotional eating. In this episode: When was the last time you were fully present when you ate? How to eat a mindful meal (or a mindful piece of Halloween candy) The goal of mindful eating Wh...

In this episode let’s talk about what’s realistic, what’s helpful, what’s do-able, and why you probably want to make some changes if you multitask when you eat. In this episode: The problem with multitasking when you eat - and why you probably don’t need or want to give it up completely Why mindful eating is not an all-or-nothing proposition How mindful eating helps you eat less How to use mindful...

Overeating and emotional eating are issues that can be complex, but changing these habits doesn’t have to be as complicated as our minds often make it. In this episode I want to share with you some ways to NOT overcomplicate the process of changing your overeating habits. I’m also sharing some simple things that have been happening inside the program that have been leading to some amazing, almost...

When you’re at capacity, when you’re already stressed, and when your bandwidth is all used up is NOT the time to try to implement a brand new ten-step plan. Simple is best, and so is trying one or two tactics to implement - imperfectly. In this episode of the Too Much on Her Plate podcast I have a variety of doable tactics to help set you up to avoid stress eating when you’re busy or overwhelmed....

Tough love and doing hard things have their places, but aren’t usually where you want to start after a hard day with overeating. Let’s talk about what works. In this episode: Practical tips that will help you recenter and recover from your every normal bad days with overeating The mindset of rebounding and recovery Timing What IS rebounding or recovery from a bad overeating day anyway? Your super...

This episode is about the overeating that happens when you don’t create and hold the boundaries that you need. When you lose hold of those boundaries because you don’t say the word no. This episode is a must-listen with some very clear action items for you. Spend some time with it, and then share this with a friend who could also benefit from strengthening her no muscles. In this episode: Connecti...