Stress Eating

jenpie1987
jenpie1987 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay guys - every time I've been derailed it's been because I tend to binge eat when I'm stressed out. The crazy thing is that I know what I'm doing when I'm doing it - I just haven't found a way to talk myself out of it. When something bad/stressful happens, I'm all "I'm going to go eat my feelings!" and then I end up beating myself up BAD inside my head and that only makes things worse and then I completely mess up all the work I've done.

What do you do when you're about to have a binge eating attack???? I know I can't be the only one???

Replies

  • jenpie1987
    jenpie1987 Posts: 3 Member
    bump
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    How about track all your binge food and make yourself work off those calories the next day. After having to do that few times you might start cutting down..then cutting out the binges.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    Keep the bad stuff( chips, ice cream) out of the house. It is harder to binge on apples, bananas and lettuce. It will also stop you and make you think of why you want to get in the car and drive to the store to get the bad stuff. Mindfulness is half the battle.
  • sandrahermione
    sandrahermione Posts: 87
    I often feel the same before my periods in combination with stress, four chocolate bars in a row anyone? Then feel terrible, more stressed etc. I started fasting three weeks ago and sadly my friend lost her baby late in pregnancy last week, it made me want to eat the fridge but as I was fasting I felt somehow more in control (I would have to redo my fast day later in the week and that is not nice), so I actually dealt with my emotions rather than eating.Staying in the moment rather than zoning out by eating. I did it. It felt empowering. So odd as it sounds, if you are really stressed maybe abstaining completely for a day is easier than eating the healthy stuff in moderation. You must eat well the rest of the time though. I am eating around 2000 kcals five days a week and still losing.
    Good luck dealing with your emotions, it is hard.
  • ahviendha
    ahviendha Posts: 1,291 Member
    before i binge, i remember how i feel when i binge, and i remember the inevitable masochistic behavior, i remember the stomach pain from eating too much.

    then i don't binge. i've really developed my self-control and guards in such a way i can stop myself before taking that first step.

    step 1: i don't buy crap food in large quantities! if i want some chocolate, i get a lindor truffle. otherwise there is nothing but unsweetened chocolate powder in my pantry.
  • megsi474
    megsi474 Posts: 370 Member
    Keep the bad stuff( chips, ice cream) out of the house. It is harder to binge on apples, bananas and lettuce. It will also stop you and make you think of why you want to get in the car and drive to the store to get the bad stuff. Mindfulness is half the battle.

    This is it for me as well. If I'm stressed, I'm probably also feeling extremely hermit-y and won't drag my butt out of the house to forage for the bad stuff. I also keep some dark chocolate- as dark as I can stand it which is in the 80-ish percent cacao- and have a few squares of that.
  • al369
    al369 Posts: 170 Member
    I'm with ya. Keeping all the bad food out of the house helps *most* of the time. But not always. If I'm stressed enough I will bake/scrounge/go out and buy something. Logging it would probably help. And maybe even journaling when you feel like binging or even when you do binge.
  • lessofme43
    lessofme43 Posts: 139 Member
    I was thinking of posting this exact thing last night! I was wondering if there are any foods that one can/should eat during those times that would eliminate the cravings? Or is it all in the head, no matter what we try to eat to satisfy the craving, it will still be there or we'll just feel defeated by giving in? In relation to fasting, if we are talking fasting for spiritual reasons, the hunger or the cravings are to cause us to be filled spiritually through meditation, prayer, and Scripture study. It is acknowledging that we are a complex being that has physical AND spiritual needs. We are used to filling our physical needs on an ongoing basis, but are our spiritual needs being overlooked? Maybe this is too deep a discussion to be posting here, just some thoughts on the subject :)

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