Emotional Do and Don't Lists

Excerpt from The Food and Feelings Workbook

Do…

• allow myself to be vulnerable with people I trust
• fully experience every emotion
• be open and accepting of all my emotions
• be curious rather than judgmental about my emotions
• use people to comfort me when I feel badly, instead of focusing on food
• let my emotions come and go as they please without fear
• populate my inner circle with intimates who are emotionally mature and healthy
• take my time and figure out exactly what I'm feeling
• use my feelings along with my judgment to help me reach my goals, eating and otherwise

Don't…

• pretend I don't feel anything when I do
• ignore or minimize painful feelings
• believe that anyone knows better than I do what I'm feeling
• let people shame or humiliate me for having or expressing feelings
• avoid feelings because they make me uncomfortable
• worry about my feelings making me fall apart
• be so concerned about hurting other people's feelings
• focus on food when I'm experiencing a painful emotion
• be hard on myself if I take a while to get the hang of this emotions thing
• dwell on my feelings after they've given me the information I need to make changes in my life

Imagine if you could succeed in doing everything on this Do list and avoid doing everything on this Don't list. You can!