One of the easiest things to do when we’re trying to change our relationship with food is dismiss the progress we’re already making, having a picture in our minds of what progress ‘should’ look like. The cravings disappear, the emotional eating stops, and overeating becomes a thing of the past. So when those things still show up, particularly when they show up with the same intensity, it can feel like nothing is really changing. We look at the moments we’re still struggling and completely overlook all the moments in between when we’re not.

I remember doing exactly this myself, 100% guilty as charged! When my old eating patterns showed up, they sometimes still felt just as strong so I assumed I wasn’t really getting anywhere. It actually took me a while to realise that while the intensity hadn’t changed much, the frequency they were showing up had. What had once happened multiple times a day ad infinitum, was now happening far less often. But because I was judging my progress by how I felt in those difficult moments, rather than stepping back and looking at the bigger picture, I was completely dismissing a very real sign that something was changing.

I think we do this in so many ways and it probably looks different for everyone. Maybe you still emotionally eat sometimes, but you notice what’s happening sooner. Maybe you still overeat, but you recover from it more quickly instead of letting it derail the rest of your week. Maybe you’re beginning to recognise your triggers, pause before acting on an urge, leave food behind occasionally, or simply think about food a little less than you used to. These things can seem insignificant when your attention is fixed on where you ultimately want to be, but progress doesn’t always arrive as one dramatic transformation. Sometimes the first evidence of change is simply that an old pattern is taking up a little less space in your life.

So every now and then, it’s worth turning around and looking at how far you’ve already come. Not to convince yourself that you’re finished or pretend there isn’t more you’d like to change, but to make sure you’re not overlooking the evidence that change is already well underway. Instead of only measuring your progress by what still shows up, remember to also take stock of what isn’t showing up. Notice what shows up less often, what doesn’t last as long, what you handle differently and what simply doesn’t have quite the hold over you that it once did. You might discover that you’re much further along than you realised and have been giving yourself credit for. And sometimes when you stop looking for one big transformation, you realise change has been quietly unfolding all along and that you should be very, very proud of yourself ❤️