Why Did I Just Eat That?: How to Let Go of Emotional Eating and Heal Your Relationship with Food

by Lisa D. Ellis

Get off the diet roller coaster and embark on a life-affirming journey towards a positive and sustainable relationship with food and your body. In  Why Did I Just Eat That?  Registered Dietitian, Certified Eating Disorders Specialist, and food therapist Lisa D. Ellis offers nutritional  and  therapeutic support in this comprehensive guide to healthy eating. She promotes an all-foods-fit model and mindfulness to explain the connection between human emotions, habits, and physical satisfaction. She rejects the toxic constraints of diet culture and instead encourages self-acceptance, eating intuitively, and fundamentally redefining our relationship with food. Why Did I Just Eat That?  begins with removing the blame and shame associated with food by sharing a highly readable overview of how early human survival strategies influence our eating issues today. A self-administered test follows, designed to identify the specific types of eating behaviors. Finally, after real case studies and solutions are discussed,  Why Did I Just Eat That?  provides practical and achievable healing steps tailored to address the needs of each respective type of eater.  The science-backed wisdom, exercises, and  activities   will empower anyone struggling with food to let go of the idea of perfection and define their relationship with food on their own terms, paving the way for deeper self-discovery and a healthier way of living.

226 pages, Paperback

Published January 9, 2024

Reviews

[Cassandra Schmid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful advice but got a bit repetitive. Nothing groundbreaking in my opinion.

[Leah Hortin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why Did I Just Eat That? is a compassionate and accessible guide for those looking to break free from diet culture and build a healthier relationship with food. Lisa D. Ellis brings her expertise as a registered dietitian and eating disorder specialist to the table, weaving together nutritional guidance with therapeutic support in a way that feels both informative and supportive.

One of the book’s key strengths is its approachable tone and practical framework. The inclusion of a self-assessment quiz helps readers identify their personal eating behaviors and tailor their focus to relevant sections. I especially appreciated the emphasis on mindset and behavior shifts rather than rigid food rules. The book also promotes an “all foods fit” philosophy and introduces intuitive eating principles—which is a powerful and much-needed alternative to the traditional diet narrative.

That said, the book assumes some familiarity with intuitive eating, referencing it frequently before offering a more thorough explanation around the halfway point. For those new to the concept, this could create some early confusion. Additionally, while Ellis outlines a number of "types" of emotional eaters and provides corresponding strategies, the approach to each one tends to follow the same formula. This structure can start to feel repetitive if you’re reading straight through rather than focusing solely on your own results.

While the book does a great job helping readers increase awareness and learn healthier coping mechanisms, it doesn’t go quite as deep into emotional processing and release as I’d hoped. The focus is more on recognizing emotional triggers and swapping behaviors than on doing the inner work of unpacking those emotions.

Overall, Why Did I Just Eat That? is a solid entry point for those seeking to understand emotional eating and move toward more mindful, intuitive patterns with food. It offers helpful tools and encouragement—especially for those feeling stuck in shame or confusion around their eating habits—but might leave readers wanting more if they're ready to dig deeper into the emotional roots of their behaviors.

[Camille Hoffmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the layout of this book and her different definitions of eaters. I don't think there was anything particularly new or shocking, but lots of good reminders, especially for this emotional eater who needs to be better at listening to hunger cues ;). I think it helped start getting me in the right mindset (I'm reviewing this two months after reading).

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some good information but as other reviews have said each chapter had the same layout and was repetitive. If you are new to emotional eating it would be a good book to start with but as someone who reads a lot on this topic it was not new to me