How do I stop my anxious attachment to food?

First I want to say how great it is that you were able to share that information, it is not easy and the noted anxiety that it feels to just get that off of our chests is a big thing that you can feel proud of. 

When it comes to these kinds of situations, to really process fully there would need to be some additional information identified, such as, what has been going on outside of the food situation that is triggering higher anxiety, is there any history of eating disorder, any trauma history, level of support that you have and even any counseling history. These things all play a role in the overall process to be able to identify the best course of action to work on addressing this. However, there are general concepts that can be applied. 

One thing that we look at when it comes to food, is that this is an area of our lives that we can naturally control. Typically, no matter what else is going on in life that might fall out of my control, what and how much I eat is something that I get to decide upon. So when there are other areas of my life that I feel like I am losing control of, we might naturally regress to disordered eating. Once we start this as a habit to cope, then it can easily transition into something else that we no longer have any control over. Food can be seen as an addiction just like a drug or alcohol can. Our body gets to a place where we have physical cravings and emotional drops when we are not able to get as much as we feel like we want/need. 

When we can take a step back and look at the external factors that are going on in life that are triggering us to feel so anxious, one of the best ways to address this is to look into counseling that is specifically focused on disordered eating, as it comes with its own challenges, and someone who specializes is going to be able to give you the best insight into what can help the most. One of the things that they will likely look at is identification of alternatives that we can put in place rather than eating. It is much too big of a task to just stop doing something, but working to be able to replace it with something else is a much more achievable task. This could be anything ranging from some art activity, time outside, taking a walk, reading, a craft, whatever activity that you genuinely can enjoy and be able to put healthy focus into rather than feeling that pull to go and overeat. We also look to identify and implement healthy ways of coping with anxiety, including guided imagery, deep breathing, meditation, etc. When we are feeling anxious, if we have a healthy way of coping with that, then we are less motivated or less stressed to feel like we have to regress to eating. 

One of the biggest things about food that we also have to take into consideration, is that unlike a drug or alcohol, food is not something that we can completely cut out. We physically need it to survive. An alcoholic can get rid of all the drinks in their home to resist temptation, but you will inevitably be around and exposed to food all throughout the day. Working to keep healthy options in the home and eliminating some of the things that we eat out of habit and comfort that are not as good for us can really be a healthy way to get started as well. 

The main thing that I would encourage is looking to continue forward with the counseling process and working to identify a therapist that has experience in food related stressors so that you can feel both supported and understood as you take on the process of eliminating this habit and replacing it with healthy means of coping with anxiety and being able to live life to the fullest. Wishing you all the best!.