Emotional eating

nicoleaprilhardcastle

What do you do to combat emotional eating? I was doing really good and my dad was diagnosed with cancer and goes in for surgery Friday followed by radiation and chemo. I had quit eating sugar and bread , and getting my carbs from fruit and vegetables. The stress is getting to me and all I want to do is eat mac and cheese, cereal, pretzels etc and it's after dinner eating when I'm not even hungry, the same pattern I had before when I would emotionally eat.

macnurseapril

I struggle with this too. I find some deep breathing, a big glass of water and taking time to pay attention to how I feel.

I keep some almonds on hand and find forcefully crunching them gives me the mouth feel I'm looking for.

HippySkoppy

I am sorry you are going through so much.

Why not eat the the 'comfort' foods that you wish but still commit to logging and weighing, at then you have the knowledge that any weight loss efforts are not going to be undone. You can always try to incorporate more of the fruit, veg. and meats into your diet and have those comfort foods as sides or snacks.

Now is not the best time to be trying to tackle too much, just getting through is enough.

You night find though that getting through this stressful time will be a bit easier if you do fuel your body in a more healthy way....stress takes an awful toll and these foods may not keep you satiated for as long as you need and you may feel even more Blah and emotional if you are getting highs and lows in your blood sugars.

I wish you and you Dad all the best.

kirstinlee

Don't have a lot of advice to offer, but I can sympathize. Got home yesterday and wanted to self-soothe with food, but didnt... ate a healthy dinner with lots of protein instead. Actually felt strangely mad at myself for feeling better without eating crap.

Actually, I find that protein tends to help a ton.

goldthistime

Personally, I'd reset my calorie goal to maintenance for whatever period or periods I felt stressed. I'm in agreement with HippySkoppy that you need to fuel your body during periods of stress. Also in agreement with kirstinlee, protein helps keep my cravings at bay.

When my mom had cancer, it actually motivated me to keep myself healthy. I wanted to show up at her bedside looking my best. Last thing I wanted was for her to be concerned about ME.

nicoleaprilhardcastle

I'm in Kentucky and my dad is in California . My heart breaks not to be with him. I talk to him everyday, but he is so weak and in so much pain that he can only talk for less than 5 minutes.