Emotional freedom comes from understanding what’s really going on when you seek sugar for comfort, solace, care, or nurturing. The fruits of emotional freedom are many. They include:
1. Enjoyment of food instead of fearing it and seeing it as the enemy. You learn how to quiet your inner food cop, which is really about questioning all the thoughts and food rules you hold in your head about food.
2. Trusting yourself. You trust that you can be around sugar and not get triggered. You don’t feel as fearful about slip ups or a time when you may go back to sugar. You know that going back to sugar would not be the end of the world, in the same way that gaining weight or losing a job or going through some other challenge would not be the end of the world.
3. Pleasure. Letting yourself eat a wide variety of non-sugar foods. Creating a food container that allows for your many needs and many different ways of eating.
4. Gratitude. You focus more on all the delicious foods you can eat and less on what you can’t. You feel content with “enough” and are not so attached to a “craving, wanting self” who is always looking for the next hit around the corner.
5. Acceptance. Learning to love the foods that love you back. Your taste buds and desires for food may change. You’ll savor a chilled slice of watermelon on a hot summer day instead of pining for an ice cream sundae; strawberries and cream will taste more delicious than candy ever did; a hearty soup will fill your belly in the way that chocolate chip cookies once gave you warmth.
– from Overcoming Sugar Addiction