When I was child, I associated sweets with comfort.

 

Back then I thought subconsciously, “Food is love.”

 

My mother was a single mom. She worked a lot to take care of my younger sister and me.

 

Before she would leave us with the sitter, she always gave me money so that I could go to our neighborhood convenience store to get candy.

 

I felt deep loneliness when my mother left to go to work. But did not know how to handle that loneliness.

 

The only comfort I had as a child was a chocolate bar. Eating the candy made me feel better.

 

Unfortunately, I took that same coping pattern into adulthood. Whenever I felt emotionally stressed or upset, I craved candy and other sweets.

 

I never realized that I was coping with life emotionally the same way I did when I was five.

 

If you realize that your childhood emotional eating habits do not serve you anymore as an adult, this article is a must-read.