February 9, 2025 • 26 mins
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Are you tired of letting pain dictate your eating habits? This week's Breakthrough Emotional Eating Podcast dives deep into the complex connection between physical pain and emotional eating. Join host Kristin Jones as she explores the science behind this cycle, offering practical strategies for those living with both acute and chronic pain. Discover how understanding the triggers of your eating can lead to healthier coping mechanisms and a better quality of life.
We'll unravel the difference between acute and chronic pain, examining how the frustration of persistent discomfort can fuel the pain-emotion-food cycle. Learn how this impacts your mental and physical well-being, often leading to weight gain and decreased self-esteem. We'll also discuss the critical role of the brain and neurotransmitters like dopamine and cortisol in cravings and emotional states. Kristin shares her personal journey and the power of mindful eating to break free from this cycle.
Join Kristin's supportive Facebook community (see link below) for connection and encouragement! Then, grab your FREE Stop Dieting 5-Step Guide (see link below) for even more resources to help you on your journey to a healthier, happier you.
Connect with me online:
1. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breakthroughemotionaleating/
2. You Tube channel, Kristin Jones Coaching: https://www.youtube.com/@KristinJonesCoaching44
3. You Tube channel, Breakthrough Emotional Eating Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@breakthroughpodcast-44
3 . Website: https://www.kristinjonescoaching.com
If you want to learn more about how to stop overeating at meals and lose weight easily, get my How To Stop Overeating At Meals Guide: https://go.kristinjonescoaching.com/stop-overeating
Needing more specific and direct support for your emotional eating and overeating? Check out my online course, Stop Dieting Start Feeling, and my personalized coaching program, Breakthrough To You.
If you found this episode helpful, don't forget to leave a review on the platform you used to listen and share it with your friends on your Instagram stories. Also, be sure to follow me o...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Do you want to lose weight but struggle to stay
committed to a meal plan becauseyou constantly feel hungry?
Does food provide you comfortwhen you are bored, angry,
lonely or sad?
If so, you are in the rightplace.
My name is Kristen Jones andI'm a life coach specializing in
emotional eating and weightloss, and I'm also a lifelong
(00:29):
emotional eater.
I want to provide you withinformation, motivation and
support so you, too, can learnto manage your issues with food
and develop a healthyrelationship with yourself.
Welcome to the BreakthroughEmotional Eating Podcast.
Hi and welcome to theBreakthrough Emotional Eating
(01:11):
Podcast.
My name is Kristen Jones, andthank you so much for joining me
this week.
Today's topic is going to be onethat I don't think is talked
about very much, but I would betthat everyone listening to this
podcast knows someone who is insome degree of physical pain,
and whether or not they're inphysical pain that is acute or
(01:33):
physical pain that is chronic,physical pain has a huge impact
on a person's mood, on aperson's personality, and
absolutely has a huge impact ontheir eating habits as well, and
there's a very, verysignificant connection between
(01:55):
pain and emotional eating, andI'm going to explain to you what
that connection is and why itexists, and then kind of what
you can do to help alleviatethose symptoms, those things
that can come up with thosechanges in appetite, changes in
(02:15):
eating patterns that can occurwhen you are in pain.
Because when we're in painphysical pain and we are seeking
a solution and we can't find asolution, not only are all of
those emotions going to come upthat are going to trigger our
(02:36):
desire to soothe ourselves andmake ourselves feel better,
which is going to causeemotional eating but there is
going to be a level offrustration as well, and that
frustration and those emotionsand the emotions not even
related to the physical pain,but the mental anguish and the
(02:56):
frustration that is created whenyou feel like you're trying
everything and nothing isworking that is what then, in
turn, also causes you to turntowards emotional eating, and so
that can really be somethingthat is really really impactful
as well.
So we are going to talk aboutthat today and we're going to
(03:22):
really look at how not onlywhere it's created, but also how
you can help yourself and helpthose that you love when it
comes to addressing thoseemotions and those feelings, and
actually, things that you cando to help a person who is in
chronic pain or in pain and isseeking some sort of solution,
(03:46):
but it's not there now and theyreally need that support and
understanding.
This is for all those peoplewho are in pain, but all those
people who live with thosepeople in pain, and how
challenging that can be as well.
So again, welcome to theBreakthrough Emotional Eating
Podcast.
I always go live on my Facebookgroup, breakthrough Emotional
(04:08):
Eating, which is on Facebook.
If you are not a member, youwant to be a member.
It is at wwwfacebookcom.
Forward slash groups.
Forward slash food breakthrough.
And when you go to sign up toget into the group, I will offer
you a mini course that I'vecreated.
(04:28):
It's a three-part mini courseon emotional eating.
It's your first steps in theprocess of how to address
emotional eating.
So if this is something thatyou just newly come across and
you newly are dealing with, orif it's something you've been
dealing with for your entirelife and you are just looking
for some type of guidance anddirection as to how to deal with
(04:49):
it and what your next stepshould be, join the group.
I'll offer you that mini course.
Please say yes and I will sendit to you right away.
All right, let's get into thetopic Now.
This topic is near and dear tomy heart because at this point I
am in what is called acute painand I'm going to explain the
(05:11):
difference between acute painand chronic pain.
So acute pain is pain that hasoccurred, usually as a result of
an illness or an injury, and itlasts usually one to two weeks.
It can usually be alleviatedthrough the use of
(05:31):
over-the-counter medications andit's something that is expected
.
The prognosis is that you'retold how long it's going to last
and that's how long it lasts.
There usually is not any kindof long-term, long-term effect
(05:51):
or prognosis for a person.
I have notes, I have to look atthem, but a then also hot-cold
therapy will work as well tosoothe it and to help it go away
.
Chronic pain is when we get toabout a month of the same
consistent pain.
And I am about two weeks away,a week and a half, a week and a
(06:15):
half away from getting to thepoint where the pain that I have
in my chest from the airbagdeploying into my chest, my
chest, from the um, the airbagdeploying into my chest, um that
pain were just about a week anda half from it being, from it
becoming what would beconsidered chronic and chronic.
Again, chronic pain is painthat is a result of an.
(06:35):
It could be an injury, could bea, um, an accident.
It also could be an underlyingcondition.
It could be a pain, could be asymptom of an underlying
condition that you don'tactually have a diagnosis for
yet, and it usually lasts longerthan what is originally
(06:57):
prescribed by your doctor orwhat is supported by your doctor
.
You have to have prescriptionmedication in order to gain any
kind of relief from it andoftentimes there isn't a
solution.
Oftentimes you do lots of testsand they don't know where the
pain is coming from and,honestly, if you have not worked
(07:19):
, if you have not worked aroundor been a part of someone's
long-term medical care, a lot oftimes it's kind of frustrating
(07:40):
and it's almost kind ofdisappointing to realize that a
lot of times medicine is justkind of guessing what they think
it might be and then provingthat it either is or it isn't,
and it that can be maddening andfrustrating for people who
really need a, an answer and anexplanation and a solution to a
(08:02):
problem, because a lot of timesit's just guessing.
It's like, well, it could bethis, let's do this and see if
that, if that you know, sets itup and makes it so it it.
It falls under that category.
Sometimes there are things thatdiagnoses that doctors give
that it's just a guess becausethey've ruled out everything
(08:22):
else.
Um, and there's pain, and so itmight be this, and they always
will throw in that might becausethey don't know.
Fibromyalgia is one of thediagnoses that is very common
for people who have unexplainedpain and that they can't explain
what it is.
There's no definitiveexplanation and they kind of
(08:45):
don't know what direction to goin, and so they'll just kind of
lump it into that it'sfibromyalgia and then they'll
treat it as that and sometimesthat works and sometimes it
doesn't.
Sometimes it works temporarilyand then it comes back.
So we have to understand thatdiagnosing and fixing pain is
oftentimes a very, veryfrustrating and confusing road
(09:08):
to be on.
So it's so important as aperson, as someone who's in the
life of another person who haschronic pain, it's so important
to be able to understand and tobe able to empathize and get
what that person is goingthrough.
And then obviously I want toexplain, for those people who
might not know what emotionaleating is, the legit definition
(09:32):
of what emotional eating is.
Emotional eating is thedependence on food to manage
your emotions.
So emotions come up.
People don't want to feel them,their emotions are too intense,
they aren't things that someonewants to deal with, and so, in
(09:52):
turn, they deflect and they eatinstead, and that becomes the
distraction that becomes thething that they're able to do,
and it seeks to give them atemporary, very temporary relief
from the bigger issue.
Whatever that problem is, nowthere's a cycle, a P-E-F cycle,
(10:15):
and that is the pain, emotionand food cycle.
And the pain, emotion and foodcycle is that pain in and of
itself will trigger negativeemotions.
A person will feel badly abouthaving those negative emotions.
They won't want to deal withthem, they won't feel
(10:37):
comfortable with them, and soand oftentimes it's just
exhausting because they've beendoing it for so long.
And so what do they do to getrid of those negative emotions
is, in the moment, they chooseto eat because eating gives them
a temporary sense ofsatisfaction and and that and I
(10:57):
think all of us have done thatfrom one time but one point or
another, and it really isn'tthat big of a deal if it's
something that is an exceptionand not the rule when we start
using that as the thing we useto get through our days and get
through the consistent times ofbeing uncomfortable or being in
(11:18):
pain, that's when it becomes aproblem, because that consistent
overuse of food and it'susually high fat and high, you
know, lots of high sugar foodsthose are the foods that usually
have a sense of calming us down, and so when we consistently do
that, that then creates theissue of weight gain and
(11:44):
discomfort and dislike withourselves, disappointment in
ourselves, guilt and shame, allof those things, and then they
all contribute to a very, verynegative self-esteem.
And so it's important that weall understand that all of these
things are related, they're allconnected and they all kind of
want, you know, kind of weavewithin themselves and stay
(12:05):
connected.
And they affect not only how wefeel physically to you know,
even more physically painful,but also mentally and
psychologically and emotionally.
So how pain and emotion impactsthe brain is very, very complex
(12:25):
.
It's complex and there's a lotof different systems that are at
work in the brain that dealwith pain and emotions and those
receptors.
So there are three areas of thebrain that are impacted by the
disruption of the areas thatregulate hunger, reward and our
(12:54):
motivation, sorry, our moodregulation, hunger reward and
mood regulation.
So the three areas of the brainthat we're going to talk about
today, the first one is thelimbic region.
And the limbic region isresponsible for emotions and
motivation and memory, and it isheavily, heavily impacted by
(13:17):
pain.
And so when it is impacted bypain, the limbic system also
responds to those pain receptorsand those pain signals.
And it is it all.
And the limbic system not onlyhas its own region that it
controls, but it also has a hugeimpact on another region of the
(13:39):
brain and that's thehypothalamus.
And the limbic will impact thehypothalamus when it comes to
the, the degree of severity ofthe pain, and then what the
response is by the brain.
So the hypothalamus controlshunger and controls thirst and
(14:00):
it controls body temperature.
And it gets impacted becausewhen pain increases, pain first
increases in the limbic system,because the limbic is directly
related to emotions, so that'sthe first thing that gets hit.
So pain receptors, painreceptors are all all on fire,
they're all firing.
(14:20):
Limbic system gets kind ofjazzed up for that and because
it it's related to emotion.
But then it spills over intothe hypothalamus because in the
limbic region and in thehypothalamus, all of these,
these two regions, are very,very heavily impacted by stress.
(14:43):
And so when stress becomes animportant factor and it changes
how a person is feeling, andthat stress is not only stress
from the outside, but we aretalking stress from pain, stress
and the stress that goes alongwith being in pain.
And I will tell you I I knowexactly what they're talking
(15:06):
about when they talk about it.
It's not just emotional stress,it's not just physical stress,
it is emotional stress becausethere is a a huge component of
when we know we're not feelingbetter, when we know we're still
in pain.
We also know that we're notable to do what we usually do,
and for most of us, doing whatwe usually do means working.
(15:30):
And when you can't work becauseyou're in physical pain and you
so, that stresses you out,because the physical pain is
uncomfortable and you don't likeit.
When you can't work, it alsoaffects you emotionally and
financially, and that will alsocause more pain, not physical
(15:53):
pain, but it will cause moreemotional and mental pain.
It will cause more emotionaland mental pain.
And so all of those thingscontribute together and they
contribute together to reallyfrankly, mess up the balance
that exists within your brain,and that is really where a
person can really kind of getinto trouble.
(16:16):
And so then the third area wherethe um that's impacted by pain
is the prefrontal cortex, andthe prefrontal cortex, as we
know from past past episodes onthe podcast I talk a lot about
the prefrontal cortex is that'swhere a decision-making is done,
as we're planning is done, andit's also where emotional
regulation is done, and so painand emotions impact a person's
(16:42):
functioning of theirdecision-making area of the
brain.
And so when you can't make gooddecisions, one, you're not
going to feel good aboutyourself.
You're also going to startmaking more impulsive decisions
because you're not going to takethe time.
Impulsive decisions becauseyou're not going to take the
time to stop and think aboutwhat's going to be best for me,
(17:04):
what's the long term, what's mylong-term goal, what's the
long-term thing going to be?
We just want what we want, whatwe want, and when you're in
pain, you want to be out of pain, and so it is the perfect storm
for someone to.
And so it is the perfect stormfor someone to look to
overeating or unhealthy foodchoices as a way of soothing
(17:24):
themselves, and impulsivebehaviors are oftentimes the
things that people do that leadto overeating and lead to
unhealthy food choices.
Now we have these three regionsof the brain again the limbic
region, hypothalamus and theprefrontal cortex and all of
(17:45):
those regions are also impactedby what are called
neurotransmitters.
And neurotransmitters arehormones that our body naturally
produces.
That impact and are associatedwith pain and pleasure, and I
don't want to say good and bad,but they're.
But they're associated with allof our responses and our
(18:06):
reactions and so those are alsoinfluenced by pain when we are
in pain.
So the neurotransmitters thatwill go off when the limbic, the
hypothalamus and the prefrontalcortex have been activated as a
result of pain, is thatdopamine, which is associated
(18:27):
with pleasure and with reward.
When that, when a certainamount of pain and the negative
emotions that go with pain,those things can decrease
dopamine levels.
Dopamine is the feel goodhormone.
That's the one that makes youfeel good.
So when your dopamine starts todrop, you can easily start to
(18:51):
fall into a kind of a depressionand a desire to um, a desire to
increase.
It's not a desire to increaseyour pleasure, it's just your
brain's natural reaction to.
I don't feel like seekingpleasure, but I know I need it
because my mood is going dark.
(19:12):
And so it leads to what wouldmake someone feel better if
they're not feeling good eatingsomething really good.
So you start to increase theamount of cravings that you have
, and your brain does thisautomatically.
You're not doing anything wrong.
Your brain does this as aresult of the increase in these
neurotransmitters which are as aresult of pain.
(19:35):
So so your brain is so, sointelligent, so you have the
then reward that you then seekout to get something to make you
feel good, and usually what'sthe easiest thing and the most
readily available thing to makeyou feel good is food.
(19:56):
So that's what we're going toturn to.
So the second neurotransmitteris serotonin, and that regulates
sleep, mood and appetitedirectly.
Appetite, so low serotoninlevels are linked to depression
and anxiety, which can beaffected by habits, and in
increased cravings forcarbohydrates.
Serotonin, again, when you arein pain, the amount of serotonin
(20:20):
that's going to be releasedinto your system, into those
three areas of the brain, isgoing to be reduced because
you're in pain.
And there's another focus, andthe last one is cortisol.
And cortisol is a stresshormone and it's released in
response to pain and in responseto emotional distress, and pain
(20:41):
can be both the physical painand then the emotional pain as
well.
So elevated levels of cortisol.
So if you are someone who's inchronic pain, your body's
pumping out cortisol all thetime, and elevated cortisol
levels can increase yourappetite, especially for high
fat and sugary foods.
It could also create what istermed as a cortisol belly,
(21:05):
which can also be called astress belly, which could also
be called a pain belly.
All of those things areassociated with these hormones
that are directly created inyour body in relationship to how
much physical pain you areactually experiencing.
So it is.
(21:25):
It can be the.
The changes that can happen canbe a change in in appetite, can
be a change in food cravingsand also a uh, an increase in
your desire to seek a reward,because sometimes just getting
through the day is the mostimportant thing for you, and so
(21:45):
that is really, really important.
So how can a person alleviatethat?
How can you start to?
When you know that you're inpain, or someone you know and
love is in pain?
How can you help them?
The first thing you can do isvalidate their pain.
Don't dismiss it.
Make sure that you seek tounderstand and acknowledge that
(22:06):
it's real and that youunderstand that it's impacting
them.
And if it's, you acknowledgefor yourself yeah, this really
sucks, I don't like this.
And then make sure you'realways seeking the appropriate
medical care that you need,because we really need to make
sure.
And if you aren't getting theanswers from one person, go and
seek those answers someplaceelse.
Next, like we always need to doas an emotional eater,
(22:31):
differentiate between physicalhunger and emotional hunger and
ask yourself honestly stop,pause and ask yourself honestly,
stop, pause and ask yourselfand reflect am I physically, do
I really need this or do I justwant it because it's going to
make me feel better?
And then we absolutely need tofind better coping mechanisms.
(22:52):
So, having some sort ofrelaxation technique, taking
deep breaths in, gettingwhatever kind of physical
activity you can get, even ifyou are in pain, but also doing
something creative like writingor playing music or painting,
making social connections,seeing friends all of those
things are great supports.
(23:14):
And the next thing is figuringout what's the root cause.
What is the root cause of thepain?
Because oftentimes we'redealing with symptoms.
We're not really dealing withthe actual root cause.
So, determining what the rootcause is and then seeking
professional help to create anaction plan to be able to
(23:37):
address that directly, an actionplan to be able to address that
directly.
And really important things toremember are what triggers your
pain and also what are thethoughts that you're having,
because thoughts negativethoughts that go along with pain
are going to exacerbate yourwhole situation.
And then, lastly, is really bemindful with your eating.
(23:58):
When you are in pain, know thatyou have to be extra sensitive,
you have to be extra careful andyou really have to hone in on
what's going to be the bestthing for you, both in the
immediate and also in the longterm.
So remember it's important againto address that underlying pain
, to acknowledge it, to allowyourself to feel the pain, but
(24:20):
know that it's temporary andthat eating is only going to be
a very temporary relief and thatit is not going to be something
that is going to take the painaway and it will also have a
long-term effect that you're notnecessarily really up for
having as well.
So I hope that this has kind oflaid things out for you and
(24:40):
given you some ideas about howyou can deal with your own
personal physical pain, as wellas help others and support
others with their management oftheir pain as well.
I know that I will be taking alot of this to heart and doing
the same things for myself as Icontinue to recover from the
airbag injury that I sustained.
All right, y'all have anamazing, an amazing rest of your
(25:04):
week and I look forward toseeing you next week on our
podcast.
All right, take care, thank you, and understand and manage your
(25:24):
emotional eating.
Sign up for my free StopDieting 5-Step Guide.
Go towwwKristenJonesCoachingcom
(25:46):
that's K-R-I-S-T-I-NJonesCoachingcom and click the
Stop Dieting Guide button.
Do you want to lose weight but struggle to stay
committed to a meal plan becauseyou constantly feel hungry?
Does food provide you comfortwhen you are bored, angry,
lonely or sad?
If so, you are in the rightplace.
My name is Kristen Jones andI'm a life coach specializing in
emotional eating and weightloss, and I'm also a lifelong
(00:29):
emotional eater.
I want to provide you withinformation, motivation and
support so you, too, can learnto manage your issues with food
and develop a healthyrelationship with yourself.
Welcome to the BreakthroughEmotional Eating Podcast.
Hi and welcome to theBreakthrough Emotional Eating
(01:11):
Podcast.
My name is Kristen Jones, andthank you so much for joining me
this week.
Today's topic is going to be onethat I don't think is talked
about very much, but I would betthat everyone listening to this
podcast knows someone who is insome degree of physical pain,
and whether or not they're inphysical pain that is acute or
(01:33):
physical pain that is chronic,physical pain has a huge impact
on a person's mood, on aperson's personality, and
absolutely has a huge impact ontheir eating habits as well, and
there's a very, verysignificant connection between
(01:55):
pain and emotional eating, andI'm going to explain to you what
that connection is and why itexists, and then kind of what
you can do to help alleviatethose symptoms, those things
that can come up with thosechanges in appetite, changes in
(02:15):
eating patterns that can occurwhen you are in pain.
Because when we're in painphysical pain and we are seeking
a solution and we can't find asolution, not only are all of
those emotions going to come upthat are going to trigger our
(02:36):
desire to soothe ourselves andmake ourselves feel better,
which is going to causeemotional eating but there is
going to be a level offrustration as well, and that
frustration and those emotionsand the emotions not even
related to the physical pain,but the mental anguish and the
(02:56):
frustration that is created whenyou feel like you're trying
everything and nothing isworking that is what then, in
turn, also causes you to turntowards emotional eating, and so
that can really be somethingthat is really really impactful
as well.
So we are going to talk aboutthat today and we're going to
(03:22):
really look at how not onlywhere it's created, but also how
you can help yourself and helpthose that you love when it
comes to addressing thoseemotions and those feelings, and
actually, things that you cando to help a person who is in
chronic pain or in pain and isseeking some sort of solution,
(03:46):
but it's not there now and theyreally need that support and
understanding.
This is for all those peoplewho are in pain, but all those
people who live with thosepeople in pain, and how
challenging that can be as well.
So again, welcome to theBreakthrough Emotional Eating
Podcast.
I always go live on my Facebookgroup, breakthrough Emotional
(04:08):
Eating, which is on Facebook.
If you are not a member, youwant to be a member.
It is at wwwfacebookcom.
Forward slash groups.
Forward slash food breakthrough.
And when you go to sign up toget into the group, I will offer
you a mini course that I'vecreated.
(04:28):
It's a three-part mini courseon emotional eating.
It's your first steps in theprocess of how to address
emotional eating.
So if this is something thatyou just newly come across and
you newly are dealing with, orif it's something you've been
dealing with for your entirelife and you are just looking
for some type of guidance anddirection as to how to deal with
(04:49):
it and what your next stepshould be, join the group.
I'll offer you that mini course.
Please say yes and I will sendit to you right away.
All right, let's get into thetopic Now.
This topic is near and dear tomy heart because at this point I
am in what is called acute painand I'm going to explain the
(05:11):
difference between acute painand chronic pain.
So acute pain is pain that hasoccurred, usually as a result of
an illness or an injury, and itlasts usually one to two weeks.
It can usually be alleviatedthrough the use of
(05:31):
over-the-counter medications andit's something that is expected
.
The prognosis is that you'retold how long it's going to last
and that's how long it lasts.
There usually is not any kindof long-term, long-term effect
(05:51):
or prognosis for a person.
I have notes, I have to look atthem, but a then also hot-cold
therapy will work as well tosoothe it and to help it go away
.
Chronic pain is when we get toabout a month of the same
consistent pain.
And I am about two weeks away,a week and a half, a week and a
(06:15):
half away from getting to thepoint where the pain that I have
in my chest from the airbagdeploying into my chest, my
chest, from the um, the airbagdeploying into my chest, um that
pain were just about a week anda half from it being, from it
becoming what would beconsidered chronic and chronic.
Again, chronic pain is painthat is a result of an.
(06:35):
It could be an injury, could bea, um, an accident.
It also could be an underlyingcondition.
It could be a pain, could be asymptom of an underlying
condition that you don'tactually have a diagnosis for
yet, and it usually lasts longerthan what is originally
(06:57):
prescribed by your doctor orwhat is supported by your doctor
.
You have to have prescriptionmedication in order to gain any
kind of relief from it andoftentimes there isn't a
solution.
Oftentimes you do lots of testsand they don't know where the
pain is coming from and,honestly, if you have not worked
(07:19):
, if you have not worked aroundor been a part of someone's
long-term medical care, a lot oftimes it's kind of frustrating
(07:40):
and it's almost kind ofdisappointing to realize that a
lot of times medicine is justkind of guessing what they think
it might be and then provingthat it either is or it isn't,
and it that can be maddening andfrustrating for people who
really need a, an answer and anexplanation and a solution to a
(08:02):
problem, because a lot of timesit's just guessing.
It's like, well, it could bethis, let's do this and see if
that, if that you know, sets itup and makes it so it it.
It falls under that category.
Sometimes there are things thatdiagnoses that doctors give
that it's just a guess becausethey've ruled out everything
(08:22):
else.
Um, and there's pain, and so itmight be this, and they always
will throw in that might becausethey don't know.
Fibromyalgia is one of thediagnoses that is very common
for people who have unexplainedpain and that they can't explain
what it is.
There's no definitiveexplanation and they kind of
(08:45):
don't know what direction to goin, and so they'll just kind of
lump it into that it'sfibromyalgia and then they'll
treat it as that and sometimesthat works and sometimes it
doesn't.
Sometimes it works temporarilyand then it comes back.
So we have to understand thatdiagnosing and fixing pain is
oftentimes a very, veryfrustrating and confusing road
(09:08):
to be on.
So it's so important as aperson, as someone who's in the
life of another person who haschronic pain, it's so important
to be able to understand and tobe able to empathize and get
what that person is goingthrough.
And then obviously I want toexplain, for those people who
might not know what emotionaleating is, the legit definition
(09:32):
of what emotional eating is.
Emotional eating is thedependence on food to manage
your emotions.
So emotions come up.
People don't want to feel them,their emotions are too intense,
they aren't things that someonewants to deal with, and so, in
(09:52):
turn, they deflect and they eatinstead, and that becomes the
distraction that becomes thething that they're able to do,
and it seeks to give them atemporary, very temporary relief
from the bigger issue.
Whatever that problem is, nowthere's a cycle, a P-E-F cycle,
(10:15):
and that is the pain, emotionand food cycle.
And the pain, emotion and foodcycle is that pain in and of
itself will trigger negativeemotions.
A person will feel badly abouthaving those negative emotions.
They won't want to deal withthem, they won't feel
(10:37):
comfortable with them, and soand oftentimes it's just
exhausting because they've beendoing it for so long.
And so what do they do to getrid of those negative emotions
is, in the moment, they chooseto eat because eating gives them
a temporary sense ofsatisfaction and and that and I
(10:57):
think all of us have done thatfrom one time but one point or
another, and it really isn'tthat big of a deal if it's
something that is an exceptionand not the rule when we start
using that as the thing we useto get through our days and get
through the consistent times ofbeing uncomfortable or being in
(11:18):
pain, that's when it becomes aproblem, because that consistent
overuse of food and it'susually high fat and high, you
know, lots of high sugar foodsthose are the foods that usually
have a sense of calming us down, and so when we consistently do
that, that then creates theissue of weight gain and
(11:44):
discomfort and dislike withourselves, disappointment in
ourselves, guilt and shame, allof those things, and then they
all contribute to a very, verynegative self-esteem.
And so it's important that weall understand that all of these
things are related, they're allconnected and they all kind of
want, you know, kind of weavewithin themselves and stay
(12:05):
connected.
And they affect not only how wefeel physically to you know,
even more physically painful,but also mentally and
psychologically and emotionally.
So how pain and emotion impactsthe brain is very, very complex
(12:25):
.
It's complex and there's a lotof different systems that are at
work in the brain that dealwith pain and emotions and those
receptors.
So there are three areas of thebrain that are impacted by the
disruption of the areas thatregulate hunger, reward and our
(12:54):
motivation, sorry, our moodregulation, hunger reward and
mood regulation.
So the three areas of the brainthat we're going to talk about
today, the first one is thelimbic region.
And the limbic region isresponsible for emotions and
motivation and memory, and it isheavily, heavily impacted by
(13:17):
pain.
And so when it is impacted bypain, the limbic system also
responds to those pain receptorsand those pain signals.
And it is it all.
And the limbic system not onlyhas its own region that it
controls, but it also has a hugeimpact on another region of the
(13:39):
brain and that's thehypothalamus.
And the limbic will impact thehypothalamus when it comes to
the, the degree of severity ofthe pain, and then what the
response is by the brain.
So the hypothalamus controlshunger and controls thirst and
(14:00):
it controls body temperature.
And it gets impacted becausewhen pain increases, pain first
increases in the limbic system,because the limbic is directly
related to emotions, so that'sthe first thing that gets hit.
So pain receptors, painreceptors are all all on fire,
they're all firing.
(14:20):
Limbic system gets kind ofjazzed up for that and because
it it's related to emotion.
But then it spills over intothe hypothalamus because in the
limbic region and in thehypothalamus, all of these,
these two regions, are very,very heavily impacted by stress.
(14:43):
And so when stress becomes animportant factor and it changes
how a person is feeling, andthat stress is not only stress
from the outside, but we aretalking stress from pain, stress
and the stress that goes alongwith being in pain.
And I will tell you I I knowexactly what they're talking
(15:06):
about when they talk about it.
It's not just emotional stress,it's not just physical stress,
it is emotional stress becausethere is a a huge component of
when we know we're not feelingbetter, when we know we're still
in pain.
We also know that we're notable to do what we usually do,
and for most of us, doing whatwe usually do means working.
(15:30):
And when you can't work becauseyou're in physical pain and you
so, that stresses you out,because the physical pain is
uncomfortable and you don't likeit.
When you can't work, it alsoaffects you emotionally and
financially, and that will alsocause more pain, not physical
(15:53):
pain, but it will cause moreemotional and mental pain.
It will cause more emotionaland mental pain.
And so all of those thingscontribute together and they
contribute together to reallyfrankly, mess up the balance
that exists within your brain,and that is really where a
person can really kind of getinto trouble.
(16:16):
And so then the third area wherethe um that's impacted by pain
is the prefrontal cortex, andthe prefrontal cortex, as we
know from past past episodes onthe podcast I talk a lot about
the prefrontal cortex is that'swhere a decision-making is done,
as we're planning is done, andit's also where emotional
regulation is done, and so painand emotions impact a person's
(16:42):
functioning of theirdecision-making area of the
brain.
And so when you can't make gooddecisions, one, you're not
going to feel good aboutyourself.
You're also going to startmaking more impulsive decisions
because you're not going to takethe time.
Impulsive decisions becauseyou're not going to take the
time to stop and think aboutwhat's going to be best for me,
(17:04):
what's the long term, what's mylong-term goal, what's the
long-term thing going to be?
We just want what we want, whatwe want, and when you're in
pain, you want to be out of pain, and so it is the perfect storm
for someone to.
And so it is the perfect stormfor someone to look to
overeating or unhealthy foodchoices as a way of soothing
(17:24):
themselves, and impulsivebehaviors are oftentimes the
things that people do that leadto overeating and lead to
unhealthy food choices.
Now we have these three regionsof the brain again the limbic
region, hypothalamus and theprefrontal cortex and all of
(17:45):
those regions are also impactedby what are called
neurotransmitters.
And neurotransmitters arehormones that our body naturally
produces.
That impact and are associatedwith pain and pleasure, and I
don't want to say good and bad,but they're.
But they're associated with allof our responses and our
(18:06):
reactions and so those are alsoinfluenced by pain when we are
in pain.
So the neurotransmitters thatwill go off when the limbic, the
hypothalamus and the prefrontalcortex have been activated as a
result of pain, is thatdopamine, which is associated
(18:27):
with pleasure and with reward.
When that, when a certainamount of pain and the negative
emotions that go with pain,those things can decrease
dopamine levels.
Dopamine is the feel goodhormone.
That's the one that makes youfeel good.
So when your dopamine starts todrop, you can easily start to
(18:51):
fall into a kind of a depressionand a desire to um, a desire to
increase.
It's not a desire to increaseyour pleasure, it's just your
brain's natural reaction to.
I don't feel like seekingpleasure, but I know I need it
because my mood is going dark.
(19:12):
And so it leads to what wouldmake someone feel better if
they're not feeling good eatingsomething really good.
So you start to increase theamount of cravings that you have
, and your brain does thisautomatically.
You're not doing anything wrong.
Your brain does this as aresult of the increase in these
neurotransmitters which are as aresult of pain.
(19:35):
So so your brain is so, sointelligent, so you have the
then reward that you then seekout to get something to make you
feel good, and usually what'sthe easiest thing and the most
readily available thing to makeyou feel good is food.
(19:56):
So that's what we're going toturn to.
So the second neurotransmitteris serotonin, and that regulates
sleep, mood and appetitedirectly.
Appetite, so low serotoninlevels are linked to depression
and anxiety, which can beaffected by habits, and in
increased cravings forcarbohydrates.
Serotonin, again, when you arein pain, the amount of serotonin
(20:20):
that's going to be releasedinto your system, into those
three areas of the brain, isgoing to be reduced because
you're in pain.
And there's another focus, andthe last one is cortisol.
And cortisol is a stresshormone and it's released in
response to pain and in responseto emotional distress, and pain
(20:41):
can be both the physical painand then the emotional pain as
well.
So elevated levels of cortisol.
So if you are someone who's inchronic pain, your body's
pumping out cortisol all thetime, and elevated cortisol
levels can increase yourappetite, especially for high
fat and sugary foods.
It could also create what istermed as a cortisol belly,
(21:05):
which can also be called astress belly, which could also
be called a pain belly.
All of those things areassociated with these hormones
that are directly created inyour body in relationship to how
much physical pain you areactually experiencing.
So it is.
(21:25):
It can be the.
The changes that can happen canbe a change in in appetite, can
be a change in food cravingsand also a uh, an increase in
your desire to seek a reward,because sometimes just getting
through the day is the mostimportant thing for you, and so
(21:45):
that is really, really important.
So how can a person alleviatethat?
How can you start to?
When you know that you're inpain, or someone you know and
love is in pain?
How can you help them?
The first thing you can do isvalidate their pain.
Don't dismiss it.
Make sure that you seek tounderstand and acknowledge that
(22:06):
it's real and that youunderstand that it's impacting
them.
And if it's, you acknowledgefor yourself yeah, this really
sucks, I don't like this.
And then make sure you'realways seeking the appropriate
medical care that you need,because we really need to make
sure.
And if you aren't getting theanswers from one person, go and
seek those answers someplaceelse.
Next, like we always need to doas an emotional eater,
(22:31):
differentiate between physicalhunger and emotional hunger and
ask yourself honestly stop,pause and ask yourself honestly,
stop, pause and ask yourselfand reflect am I physically, do
I really need this or do I justwant it because it's going to
make me feel better?
And then we absolutely need tofind better coping mechanisms.
(22:52):
So, having some sort ofrelaxation technique, taking
deep breaths in, gettingwhatever kind of physical
activity you can get, even ifyou are in pain, but also doing
something creative like writingor playing music or painting,
making social connections,seeing friends all of those
things are great supports.
(23:14):
And the next thing is figuringout what's the root cause.
What is the root cause of thepain?
Because oftentimes we'redealing with symptoms.
We're not really dealing withthe actual root cause.
So, determining what the rootcause is and then seeking
professional help to create anaction plan to be able to
(23:37):
address that directly, an actionplan to be able to address that
directly.
And really important things toremember are what triggers your
pain and also what are thethoughts that you're having,
because thoughts negativethoughts that go along with pain
are going to exacerbate yourwhole situation.
And then, lastly, is really bemindful with your eating.
(23:58):
When you are in pain, know thatyou have to be extra sensitive,
you have to be extra careful andyou really have to hone in on
what's going to be the bestthing for you, both in the
immediate and also in the longterm.
So remember it's important againto address that underlying pain
, to acknowledge it, to allowyourself to feel the pain, but
(24:20):
know that it's temporary andthat eating is only going to be
a very temporary relief and thatit is not going to be something
that is going to take the painaway and it will also have a
long-term effect that you're notnecessarily really up for
having as well.
So I hope that this has kind oflaid things out for you and
(24:40):
given you some ideas about howyou can deal with your own
personal physical pain, as wellas help others and support
others with their management oftheir pain as well.
I know that I will be taking alot of this to heart and doing
the same things for myself as Icontinue to recover from the
airbag injury that I sustained.
All right, y'all have anamazing, an amazing rest of your
(25:04):
week and I look forward toseeing you next week on our
podcast.
All right, take care, thank you, and understand and manage your
(25:24):
emotional eating.
Sign up for my free StopDieting 5-Step Guide.
Go towwwKristenJonesCoachingcom
(25:46):
that's K-R-I-S-T-I-NJonesCoachingcom and click the
Stop Dieting Guide button.
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