How to avoid emotional eating

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  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    I had a black dog, his name was depression:
    http://www.wimp.com/blackdog/
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Is it love? A film about domestic abuse.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYyB_FGV1GY

    I make no assumptions about what happened to you recently, but this video explains the cycle so well, I like to share where I can.
  • johbro
    johbro Posts: 17 Member
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    I find that going for a brisk walk is helpful. It doesn't make the pain or problem go away, but I can put a new spin on a solution. Maybe it is just getting out of the house and doing something. Often I make an effort to say hello to a complete stranger and smile. I agree, it is very tempting to raid the refrigerator. Probably most of us in MFP have done this more times than we can remember.
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
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    I am an emotional eater too and still haven't found a way to "Let it Go" Paxil? Kidding, I used to be an emotional smoker, but when I quit there was yummy food that suddenly tasted even better.

    My current attempt is to change how I reward myself all the time...not just when I'm emotional. A tough day, I'll schedule a massage or spa service or take my kids somewhere fun. I'm not even eating back my exercise calories anymore since I realized that deep down I felt like it was my "reward" for exercising. (switched to TDEE instead of NEAT).

    I don't think I'm sensitive enough to keep a journal...
  • NoelFigart1
    NoelFigart1 Posts: 1,276 Member
    edited December 2014
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    [*] When you do decide to snack, own it. Tell yourself you have chosen to eat it. This breaks the pattern of pretending the food has power over you.

    I love this.

    I have also heard some therapies (thought I've never tried it) where when you are trying to maintain control over a habit, to start narrating what you're doing. I could see where it would stop me short to do it. (Imagining Morgan Freeman narrating the movie of my life at that moment might stop me even faster!)
  • lapierrecyclist
    lapierrecyclist Posts: 153 Member
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    Window-shopping helps me sometimes, just getting out of the house. And when I eat, I try to first choose things that are relatively higher in protein (hard-boiled eggs, nuts, cheese stick, or vanilla yogurt if I need something sweet). I find that helps somewhat in resisting the cravings. And peppermint tea, or hot chocolate.
  • farfromthetree
    farfromthetree Posts: 982 Member
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    snacking/food will not in any way make the problem better. Keep telling yourself this. It will just add to it. If I am down in the dumps in the evening (ususally at night when I have time to think of things) I just grab my book and go to bed. The longer I am downstairs, the more I have to resist. Hope everything works out for you.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
    edited December 2014
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    yourradimradletshug wrote: »
    I appreciate all the feedback. I really am trying to let it go but I think that is the hardest part. The person who inflicted this pain on me was someone I deeply cared about so that is why I keep feeling like I need to seek closure. Can anyone tell me how to let it go if it was someone you cared about?

    Oh letting it go is absolutely the hardest part. Age helps. After you realize how much time you wasted on things you couldn't control, letting it go gets easier. But it never gets easy.
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,375 Member
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    I used to be a binge/emotional eater. I had to put food in its place and not give it so much importance, except for fueling my day/workouts. I put yellow sticky notes, with my name in a red circle with a line through it on all the boxes of Cheez-Its in the office, to remind myself not to eat them, because they were my go-to when I was frustrated and emotional when I got to work. I "forced" myself to eat ice cream every day (weighed out), then I did the same with Pop Tarts (one), and once it became a part of my daily routine, food stopped being the thing that I ran to for comfort. I get on MFP and interact with my friends when I'm feeling frustrated, and even though they don't know I'm feeling that way, they always bring a smile to my face and make me feel better. This is what worked for me. I hope you can find something that works for you.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,949 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Sorry to hear you're having a tough time. Something I like to do is take a bubble bath or hot shower - the warm water engulfing me seems cozier, kind of similar to how I can feel about eating food if I'm using it for comfort.

    Oh with the lights dimmed or off too (think candles)
  • cmoorofum
    cmoorofum Posts: 187 Member
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    Aww so sorry, I am the complete opposite though when something is bothering me I can NOT eat and can go days without food. I dont know how to tell you to cope with emotional eating bc I have the exact opposite. I do find chewing gum helps alot though.
  • WWnot
    WWnot Posts: 141 Member
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    Many years ago, I discovered that going to a movie by myself (a matinee worked best because it wasn't prime movie-going time) to see an engaging movie was pretty effective at helping me get my head in a better place. The movie has to be good enough to pull me right into it (the first time was Torch Song Trilogy), completely unrelated to what's going on in my life (ie. no "Kramer vs Kramer" for me during that ugly decade of my life), and with enough humor to have me laughing. In retrospect, I think it was the combination of the dark theatre so no off-screen distraction to prevent me from being pulled into the story, the strength of the engaging story, the humor and grace notes in the story, along with the sense of accomplishment that I had actually overcome my sense of being a loser for going to a movie by myself in the middle of a weekday afternoon, that contributed to the sense of calm and well-being that I had when I left the theatre. That 2 hour break was enough to make the difference in taking the edges off and allowing my brain to take the lead over my emotions.
    I hope I'm making sense here...it's a little difficult to describe the experience both during and after, but I did find this an effective part of moving through some tough times.
    Finally, I can't remember whether the smell of popcorn was a temptation but if you do decide to give this a try, you might want to sneak your own snacks in to the theatre!
    And of course, everyone else has wonderful ideas too. And may be able to suggest suitably uplifting movies. :-)
  • slimandsmiling
    slimandsmiling Posts: 85 Member
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    I am probably a bit older than you and what I have realised is that everything in my life has actually worked out exactly as it was meant to. I tried to get my ex to stay in love with me but he just couldn't do it.. when we broke up I thought others would be there to help me but they weren't able to offer the full support I needed.. I started going to church and this is where I found a relationship in and with God.. it wasn't a straight path to salvation for me but now I have finally found peace. I think for me to forgive others I needed to find peace in me and now I feel everyday is a blessing. Today was a particularly rubbish day at work. We also get given loads of chocolates and biscuits given to us.. it would have been only to easy to get stressed and eat .. binging for me was my secretly way of saying 'you are cr*p, unlovable and now on top of that you are fat. for along time being overweight felt like a protection mechanism because I was scared I couldn't really cope with feeling hungry.. now I realise I wasn't really hungry .. I was emotionally empty and I was scared of facing my emotional void. What do I do differently..? I challenge myself.. I started running ( I couldnt run for more than 2 minutes when I started).. I took charge of me.. I fasted for a day and a half and I realised I didn't actually feel that hungrey..and I realised I deserved to be loved and treated gently and if someone doesn 't make you feel like that then it's got to be better to wait for that person to show up. I hope you are feeling better by the time you read this x
  • yourradimradletshug
    yourradimradletshug Posts: 964 Member
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    slimandsmiling wrote: »
    I am probably a bit older than you and what I have realised is that everything in my life has actually worked out exactly as it was meant to. I tried to get my ex to stay in love with me but he just couldn't do it.. when we broke up I thought others would be there to help me but they weren't able to offer the full support I needed.. I started going to church and this is where I found a relationship in and with God.. it wasn't a straight path to salvation for me but now I have finally found peace. I think for me to forgive others I needed to find peace in me and now I feel everyday is a blessing. Today was a particularly rubbish day at work. We also get given loads of chocolates and biscuits given to us.. it would have been only to easy to get stressed and eat .. binging for me was my secretly way of saying 'you are cr*p, unlovable and now on top of that you are fat. for along time being overweight felt like a protection mechanism because I was scared I couldn't really cope with feeling hungry.. now I realise I wasn't really hungry .. I was emotionally empty and I was scared of facing my emotional void. What do I do differently..? I challenge myself.. I started running ( I couldnt run for more than 2 minutes when I started).. I took charge of me.. I fasted for a day and a half and I realised I didn't actually feel that hungrey..and I realised I deserved to be loved and treated gently and if someone doesn 't make you feel like that then it's got to be better to wait for that person to show up. I hope you are feeling better by the time you read this x

    This almost made me cry because it's like you hit the nail right on the head! I am so glad to hear you have gotten better! I am thankful for MFP and all of you on here. I am going to try a lot of these things all of you have suggested. You guys are so amazing. Thank you for all the support and suggestions! <3
  • Pootler74
    Pootler74 Posts: 223 Member
    edited December 2014
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    There is some great advice here. I'm working on this myself, and I've made huge progress just in the last month, after years of struggling with comfort eating. I'm not done yet, so don't want to offer my own advice on strategies. But I thought you should know about Geneen Roth's books if you don't already. When You Eat At The Refrigerator, Pull Up A Chair is a great one to start with. Short and fun and easy to read. Her other two are more about emotional eating and I think they'd be very helpful in your situation. But this one is a good introduction to her ideas.

    As for how to let go, look at some videos of Byron Katie on YouTube (Look for the ones that mention 'the work' or four questions) I swear, apart from these two authors, I don't subscribe to self help gurus, but Byron Katie honestly changed my life. She has a clever and gentle way of helping you let go of the thoughts and feelings you are stuck on. And her methods are also relevant to emotional eaters.

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