Stress eating

Auntiezozo81

My weight has increased by 3stone in 2 years.. I am an emotional eater. I binge on chocolate,pizza, fattening foods to try and make myself feel better. I then feel guilty and hate myself.
I don't know what to do. It's a vicious cycle that I can't get off help

madhatter2013

Invest

lemurcat12

You can, although you may find that therapy helps. If that's an option for you, it's worth considering, especially if you are talking about real binging (binge eating disorder).

Apart from that, an important thing is breaking that cycle of beating yourself up -- that's just going to make things worse. I'm an emotional/stress eater (I don't binge, though), and what helped me was cutting out snacking and eating when feeling emotional (I'd have regular meals) and when I wanted to eat doing some journaling to force myself to be mindful about it and understand that it wasn't real hunger. I also forced myself to learn to sit with the feelings (and understand they wouldn't kill me, I didn't need to block them out with food or self-comfort) and to develop some healthier coping mechanisms, like listening to music or going for a walk or exercise or sometimes planning a delicious dinner for later (sound counterintuitive, but it worked for me).

If I messed up I wrote about what happened and treated it like a learning experience and and decided to take a really logical approach to food. It's just food -- I keep in mind the calories and nutritional content and try to eat a healthy diet, but a poor choice isn't that big a deal and may fit just fine into my overall diet. It certainly doesn't say anything terrible about who I am as a person.

Trying to focus on it logically really helped with my dysfunctional emotional relationship with food, although it's still a struggle from time to time.

WBB55

I LOVE MATH!

You've gained 42 lbs in 2 years. This means on average you're overeating by 400 calories per day. So let's say right now you're eating an average of 2800 calories. TO LOSE 42 lbs in 2 years, you'd need to eat 2000 calories per day.

I don't know you're height, etc., but you don't have to give up the foods you enjoy. Just eat less of them. Track your intake as accurately as you can. Over time you'll learn to budget the calories on the things that satisfy you. Pizza and chocolate are totally on the menu. Again, I made up the numbers, but on 2000 calories per day you can eat pizza and chocolate every day if you want.

Auntiezozo81

Thank you for taking the time to answer. I really appreciate it

RodaRose

For some people, increasing their mind/ body awareness helps: yoga and / or deep breathing for example.

PinkPixiexox

I used to binge eat at weekends after very strict weeks - I realized I was using food as a reward for my 'hard work'. On Saturday, I would reward and eat indulgent foods. On Sunday, I knew the weekend was coming to an end so crammed as much in as possible before I went back to 'very strict'. It was totally wrong

I had to address my relationship with my food and start over from scratch. I had to change my behavior and the way I saw food and the way it made me feel in certain situations. It took me a while but as soon as I made peace with food, I got it right. Treats are absolutely okay in moderation, but remember - food is fuel first and foremost. We need it to be healthy, energized and on top of our game. Too much is detrimental - as is too little. You'll find that balance, I promise. We'll help you here at MFP.

Auntiezozo81

Thank you

tracie_minus100

I was a huge emotional eater. I turned to food in times of stress, anger, sadness, happiness, boredom. I learned from an early age that food could bring me comfort.
I started my weight loss in January and my emotional eating was my biggest obstacle. I started forcing myself to exercise instead of eat when I was upset or stressed. My first instinct was always to eat, but I would make myself workout instead. It was not easy by any means but I noticed that the exercise helped WAY more than eating ever did. When I would stress eat, I would feel better while I ate, then immediately after would feel worse. With the exercise, it legitimately made me feel physically and emotionally better. And obviously had health benefits.
There was a lot of internal struggle, and it was so so hard at first but now, I'm down 80lbs and it very rarely crosses my mind to stress eat. And now when I'm stressed, I find myself actually desiring exercise, which I probably would have thought was impossible for me a year ago.
There is hope. It's not easy but it's definitely doable. Best of luck.

Auntiezozo81

That's awesome!

shadowfax_c11

Find a way to handle stress that does not involve eating. For me it is martial arts. For others yoga or just going for a walk or heavy weight lifting does the trick. You need to replace the undesirable behavior with a desirable one.

kshama2001

Any kind of cardio helps me with stress and a regular yoga practice helps with emotional eating.

How Yoga Can Help End Binge Eating

One breath at a time, end the suffering of binge-eating

...According to Juliano, yoga gives people the skills to stay with what they are feeling, rather than turning to food to escape. People who are obese or suffering from eating disorders have a tendency to dissociate from their bodies -- to choose not to feel what they are feeling when they are angry, anxious, or sad. Often, they turn to food to numb themselves. "There's this sense that I have to feel better right now, " Juliano says. "There is a complete intolerance of what is happening right now." This need to escape unpleasant feelings triggers a binge.

When you eat to escape what you are feeling, you lose touch with the experience of eating, as well. This is one reason binges can spiral out of control. "You have no understanding that you are full, way past full, into uncomfortable, because you're so out of it," Juliano explains. "You have no connection to what you're eating. You're eating a pint of ice cream and can't even taste it. Or you go to make yourself some toast and before you know it, half the loaf is gone."

Mindful yoga directly challenges the habit of dissociating from your body and your present-moment experience. "The whole point of yoga is to stay connected to your body. You learn it through practice, through breathing, and through breathing through the sensations."

Read more: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-science-willpower/201007/how-yoga-can-help-end-binge-eating

kshama2001

pinklotus_56 wrote: »

I was a huge emotional eater. I turned to food in times of stress, anger, sadness, happiness, boredom. I learned from an early age that food could bring me comfort.
I started my weight loss in January and my emotional eating was my biggest obstacle. I started forcing myself to exercise instead of eat when I was upset or stressed. My first instinct was always to eat, but I would make myself workout instead. It was not easy by any means but I noticed that the exercise helped WAY more than eating ever did. When I would stress eat, I would feel better while I ate, then immediately after would feel worse. With the exercise, it legitimately made me feel physically and emotionally better. And obviously had health benefits.
There was a lot of internal struggle, and it was so so hard at first but now, I'm down 80lbs and it very rarely crosses my mind to stress eat. And now when I'm stressed, I find myself actually desiring exercise, which I probably would have thought was impossible for me a year ago.
There is hope. It's not easy but it's definitely doable. Best of luck.

I can relate to so much of this!

90ky90

Thank you for posting this! And the input is amazing! I'm a horrible stress eater, this thread helps

kommodevaran

Before you seek psychological treatment or remedies for emotional issues regarding food, make sure you aren't eating just because it tastes good. Modern man-made food is everywhere, and cleverly engineered to get us "hooked", warp our tastebuds, and even a small nutrient deficiency will make us look for more food, even if we are obese. Poor eating habits can also contribute to the problem.