Anyone else a "pissed off eater"

HockeyGoalie35

I am an HVAC service technician and drive from home to home sometimes for 12+ hours a day. I don't tend to binge at fast food places when i'm sad, or tired, or lonely. I do it when my company really really pisses me off. Which is generally an everyday occurrence when you have no control over your work day. Finish a call at 6pm, think I'm going home, then i get given another call 40 miles away, Burger King for diner it is as i curse down the turnpike. Is there anyone else that has this issue? What do you do to help fight it?

cblue315

What you are doing is still emotional eating. Which emotion is not relevant. You still have to deal with the emotion in a way that is not self destructive.

Kalikel

Try gum? Healthy snacks? Nature Valley Crunchy Granola bars are extremely filling. They don't look like much, but are quite tasty and, again, very filling. Apple Crisp is the best, but good luck finding it in a store. The peanut butter ones are pretty good, too.

I have the HVAC people out here almost every year. Same thing, every year. A water-stoppy thing. I dunno. It makes the air kick off as soon as it comes on. I run the air all year, but this always happens late Spring. They come out, are here for like five minutes and it's over.

They always look hot and tired. I give them water-to-go. I'll have to offer them granola now.

God bless the HVAC people.

girlwithcurls2

cblue315 wrote: »

What you are doing is still emotional eating. Which emotion is not relevant. You still have to deal with the emotion in a way that is not self destructive.

I was thinking the same thing. Eating because you're bored, lonely, pissed off, whatever. I've fallen victim to this before. I have to stop myself and remind myself (with real, out loud, self-talk) what I am doing. Seems to do the trick most times.

P.S. You guys rock for sure. I'm probably your 6:05pm call out that you hadn't planned on, and then you show up with a smile on your face saying it's "no problem, really."

sizesixorbust

first, i was a dispatcher over the summer so do know that we (at least, I) feel bad about having to give you those calls. when i'm mad in a car, i sing along to the radio really loudly. we had a grumpy technician who took a few breaks a day to go for walks at whatever park he was near. basically, anything distracting. good luck! i know what it is to be pissed off due to my employers.

HockeyGoalie35

thanks for the tips, i think its more of a trigger for a habit because i really only get the urge when i am in my work van. I will apologize to paige on behalf of all Techs, we yell at dispatch too much when its not their fault haha

gmmendenhall

I do all the time. I am a teacher in a behavior disorder/emotionally disturbed classroom full of middle school students. When they get rude, Hateful, out of hand, etc. And it is all of them instead of isolated incidents, that is when I hit the pepsi hard!

GaleHawkins

I have started looking at my different fast food options and several have workable to good options.

tomatoey

Are you always angry around dinner time? If so, is that because you're mad because you get calls *at* dinner time? Maybe it's just that you happen to be hungry at the same time that you're mad, and you go to fast food places because they're on the way.

ejcanavan

I go through the same thing with my job and stay on call 24/7. I seriously carb overload when I get mad ! I learned, especially in winter to keep a small cooler on the back floor and have snacks packed in there. I keep low carb yogurt, rolled sandwich meat ... enough to keep me happy for at least a short time as I drive past McDonald's

Liftng4Lis

Get a new job.

Zhost

Pack your dinner with you and curse into your sandwhich?

If that's not viable, bust out some jumping jacks or push ups instead?

funchords

I love the drive-thru, so I have go-to items at most of them. Burger King: Tendergrill chicken sandwich without mayo (add mustard). 360 calories.

Maitria

People eat for all kinds of reasons, not just fuel. If you're a pissed off eater, why not try accepting that and planning your day to include that pissed off meal instead of it being extra? You might be less likely to go overboard since you are giving yourself permission to do it without feeling like there's something "wrong" with what you're doing.

njitaliana

Maybe keep some individual packs of nuts or some protein bars in the truck to have on hand. And check some of the fast food websites. They have some decent things nowadays, such as salads with grilled chicken, grilled chicken sandwiches. Even some of the burgers aren't too high in calories and you can have one of their side salads with it. Or maybe some chili or a baked potato at Wendy's

logg1e

Yeah, I'm like you and I agree with others saying it might be worth looking up "emotional eating". I don't think I've done it once since I joined MFP. It's difficult, but I just want to be healthy and in control more than I want to stick two fingers up at whatever the trigger is.

HockeyGoalie35

Thanks for the advise everyone. I've noticed the more heavy I've become the less patient I am. I'm hoping as i lose weight i can start to keep my emotions in check, and crave less fast food. I've read it can actually be a addiction to the sugar in the food, you get upset and the body starts wanting things to raise dopamine, like the mass amounts of sugar in fast food.

sockmenace

I definitely hit the junk food hard when I've been pushed too far at work, it's definitely a trigger. It's something I'm still struggling with, so this is greatly educational, thanks guys :-)

Anyways I'm slowly learning to appreciate mediation in the morning to control my impulses throughout the day. YouTube has great guided meditations that are as long or short as you need (also free, a serious perk!), and it really helps me fight and even prevent that pissed off eating when I remember to do it. I'm doing a second round of calorie counting after losing 20 pounds and gaining back 15 of them over 2014 so I've had to come up with some new tricks, and so far this seems to help.

logg1e

Eating does give you comfort, you just need to look for that comfort elsewhere and only eat for physical hunger.

willo78

I pack myself an 'emergency kit' for the days when I'm on duty and likely to have to work late - i've been known to go through the drive thru and ask for a cup of hot water and a fruit bag (just so they'll give me the hot water!) - hot water so i can make myself a cup soup. Not sure you get them over there, but stock cube or hot chocolate sachet could have the same effect.

I also use singing at top of my lungs as an effective way of channeling my annoyance!