Emotional eating - what's your strategy

Balaru

What do you do when you find yourself heading to the kitchen for snackey foods during times of stress?

• Salty
• Sweet
• Non-food related

What's your plan of attack?

nixxthirteen

I love sweet-salty combos. So I usually pour 2.5 servings of Special K chips and eat with 4 Oreo Thins. It feels junky, which satisfies my cravings for chips and cookies perfectly. Portioning out and putting the packages away in the pantry is key.

I also really enjoy having a serving of an expensive, rich chocolate (Lindt, or something similar) with a coffee. Something about that combination makes me feel like I've eaten something super decadent.

And lately, Chapmans Premium Collection ice cream bars (90-170 calories, depending which you get) are a lifesaver.

itsbasschick

i'm trying not to do that, as emotional eating is why i put on weight in the first place. if i get a craving nowadays, i'll have a half a quest bar, one with chocolate in it. once i found flavors i like - and i don't like all of them - they do the job as well as ice cream.

when i feel like emotional eating i first try to treat myself to something i really like doing like playing the bass, listening to an audio book, playing a video game or something else.

biscuitnow

That's a tough one. Lifting or taking a long walk often take my mind off of food in those cases. A protein bar or cottage cheese also help me sometimes. But there are always cases in which a chocolate binge is the only way. XD

100df

I don't have any preferences when emotional eating. Whatever is within reach. Never plan it.

I am working very hard to figure out what situations set me off. I want to enjoy food instead of food enjoying my mind and body. Emotional eating is why I have to eat at a deficit now.

cwolfman13

I don't have an emotional connection to food...regular exercise helps to regulate my stress.

kshama2001

These days, I head out to the garden, gym, or hiking trail instead.

Previously, Ben & Jerry's was my drug of choice.

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MommyL2015

I kind of wish I was an emotional eater but I'm not. If I was, I probably wouldn't have put on weight because I am a really mellow person and rarely get sad/mad/stressed. Today, I've had a really bad day and am both livid and super stressed and all I can do is get on my treadmill and sweat it out. I had to make myself have lunch just to put food in my stomach, but I wasn't hungry. My stomach is in knots and all I want to do is punch someone. lol

typeitdaily

I play piano or work for a few minutes on a scrapbook page.

Mentali

Yeah I replaced emotional snacking with emotional walking. I don't make a huge deal out of it, I just put in some headphones, wear whatever I have on, and leave my apartment and pick a direction to walk in. The action of going out helps a lot, it gives me the feeling like I'm doing something repetitive without the calorie gain.

typeitdaily

I try to keep my hands busy also and walk. A lot of times the feeling of wanting to eat passes in 10-15 minutes.

srecupid

Logging 100% honestly. Only thing that actually works for me. Then of course that has the downside of getting angry at the numbers sometimes and wanting more

mzfrizz15

I'm a big time emotional eater if I let myself slide back into bad habits. I prefer sweet or salty. Instead of going to eat when I feel stressed out, I do one of two things:
1) Drink 16oz of water and wait 30 minutes. If the craving is still there, I'll go for something slightly healthier. Such as a cup of honey nut cheerios instead of cookies, or a serving of Veggie Straws instead of chips.
2) Put on my walking shoes and do a couple laps around the block.

cerise_noir

I used to head to the kitchen, but now, instead I head to do some photo editing/art. I find I get lost in that. Find something else to lose your time in. After a while of photo editing/art, I lose the urge to snack.

Psychgrrl

My first thought is to think about whatever's upset me, or whomever. Whether it's something I've done, or something being done to me--I ask myself, am I going to take it out on myself by overeating? What will that solve? How will that help? The answer is, it won't. It usually makes me feel worse.

I journal, listen to music, walk, workout, garden. Sometimes I wander around Internet message boards and see who I can offer support to.

LessthanKris

I struggle so much with stress eating. My three year old has been a nightmare and I find myself too often reaching into the dark chocolate cover blueberries I got at Costco a couple weeks ago. What do you do when you can't walk away from the thing stressing you out?

DoneWorking

I don't keep anything in the house that I can just grab and eat except fruits, vegetables and carbmaster. That way if I'm gonna grab something, it will at least be good for me and not wreck my limits too badly. Otherwise I have to fix something to eat. That slows me down a bit.

Kamikazeflutterby

I clean, or go for a walk, or read a book, or actually deal with the *kitten* that's stressing me out. I'd like to say it works all of the time, but it doesn't. It has drastically cut down on my stress eating. I can see a day when it won't occur to me to eat so I'll relax in the future.

I'm also trying not to turn my kids into emotional eaters. No one "needs" a cookie because they feel bad or got a boo boo. They need a cookie because cookies are awesome. Wait, what?

MorganMoreaux

I don't really emotionally eat, but I have found if I'm tired I can eat continuously, which has happened in the past after a long day. Usually I want chocolate or sweets. What I do now when I'm in that mood I will have a lot of fruit. I try to have a variety of berries and something else like mango or an apple. I'll eat the berries one at a time so it satisfies the hand to mouth motion, and it takes much longer to eat. Since fruit is high in sugar, it satisfies my sweetooth. I can have a lot and it's relatively low in calories.

Asher_Ethan

That depends. Every day normal stress, I distract myself with working out or making jewellery (my hobby).
I recently lost a very good friend that died in her sleep (31 years old so it was sudden) and I allowed myself a binge day to stress eat and grieve. But I took myself I would be right back on it the next day, and I was.

no_day_but_2day

Homemade air popped popcorn. I love it. Full of fiber and it feels like an awesome snack. I drizzle some coconut oil on it before it's popped and then sprinkle some seasoning on it (kettle corn or salt etc). yum!

phyllis731

Journal, take stock of how you're feeling and if eating is going to get you closer to your goals. If you're not actually hungry or needing to eat, go do something else.