Emotional Eating

MyDestinee16

What are the best strategies to overcoming emotional eating?

Goddesskat

There is no easy way to deal with emotional eating other than owning the emotion you are dealing with and working through that emotion. Food really has nothing to do with why you are uncomfortable with an emotion. That is a psychological approach. Talking to someone about how you are feeling. Often emotional eaters are overwhelmed with emotion because they don't really acknowledge the emotions they have. So, we reach for food to either numb the pain these emotions are causing or we cover up the pain by eating more. By taking your power over food back, you are saying yes to your emotional life. Emotions just are. They are neither bad nor good. It is us who give the emotion a label and when we can't cope, we eat...Any vicious cycle can be broken when we realize this.

RodaRose

Yoga for body awareness.

stmokomoko

I do cardio.

I hate exercising so much, that I knock some sense into myself by saying, "if you go on a binge because you're stressed/upset, you're going to have to do a LOT more of this to not gain fat".

pineapple_jojo

Goddesskat wrote: »

There is no easy way to deal with emotional eating other than owning the emotion you are dealing with and working through that emotion. Food really has nothing to do with why you are uncomfortable with an emotion. That is a psychological approach. Talking to someone about how you are feeling. Often emotional eaters are overwhelmed with emotion because they don't really acknowledge the emotions they have. So, we reach for food to either numb the pain these emotions are causing or we cover up the pain by eating more. By taking your power over food back, you are saying yes to your emotional life. Emotions just are. They are neither bad nor good. It is us who give the emotion a label and when we can't cope, we eat...Any vicious cycle can be broken when we realize this.

Goddesskat, very wise and wonderful words. Well said x

tulips_and_tea

Indeed excellent post from @Goddesskat! To add I would say get a notebook (or whatever method of journaling works for you) and start tracking what emotion you're feeling, what you ate, when it was, how you felt afterwards, etc. You'll notice specific patterns and then start a list of things to do instead of turning to food. Make a LONG list of things that are doable at any given time and realize you have so many other ways to manage your emotions.

And yes, also to echo Goddesskat emotions are meant to be felt and seen through. If you bury them you're missing out on a lot. Good or bad, let yourself feel it and work through it.

brb_2013

My strategy is to actually let myself feel my emotions, not mask them. I sit with myself and think about the why, what happened, etc. I write it out if I'm alone or run it past my husband. Generally by writing or speaking the feelings I give them validation, and can see of course a peanut butter Nutella sandwich isn't going to fix X Y or Z. Sometimes talking really helps, other times my emotions stay high but I ride them out. I feel it's the most fair to myself.

I once sat on the bathroom floor at work during nap time and just shouted into a pillow until the anger subsided. I didn't eat the M&Ms, and was proud in the end of it. Then it just becomes a habit to let the emotions flow versus bottling them and eating them later.