help, EMOTIONAL eating

skyhowl

hello, i am not really the type of person that eats when i am feeling bad,on the contrary, i tend to stop eating, but today is different, i am feeling miserable about a certain situation in my life, been crying for hours and i really feel like i want to go out and eat my favorite chocolate cake from a nearby store. i know it's just my emotions and that i want something to make me feel better. but i don't know what to do. any suggestions to overcome this?

princessllb74

I can relate. For the past few months I want to eat sweets when I have a bad day. You could try going for a walk in the opposite direction of your favorite store to get away from temptations and clear your mind. When you come back try a piece of fruit or Greek yogurt (add your own fruit to it). That works for me lately. Or if it's too hot where you are to walk right now try writing down what's upsetting you. Then tear it up and throw it away. Youre not alone here. Good luck!

cross2bear

Sadly I dont have a magic solution for you, but can tell you that eating the cake wont make a lick of difference to your "certain situation". The situation will still exist, and you will probably feel even worse about it because you ate the cake - you will probably end up feeling guilty and depressed because thats one more thing that you did not control. Now is the time for EXTRA control - to show to yourself and the world that you will not be buffeted by the winds of change or chance - that you are the pilot of your own ship and that you determine where it goes.

I have dealt with the same urges, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much. But I can tell you that binge eating for emotional reasons is not the answer to lifes challenges.

Good luck.

princessllb74

cross2bear wrote: »

Sadly I dont have a magic solution for you, but can tell you that eating the cake wont make a lick of difference to your "certain situation". The situation will still exist, and you will probably feel even worse about it because you ate the cake - you will probably end up feeling guilty and depressed because thats one more thing that you did not control. Now is the time for EXTRA control - to show to yourself and the world that you will not be buffeted by the winds of change or chance - that you are the pilot of your own ship and that you determine where it goes.

I have dealt with the same urges, sometimes successfully and sometimes not so much. But I can tell you that binge eating for emotional reasons is not the answer to lifes challenges.

Good luck.

So true

skyhowl

thanks . i will wait and try and control myself

Willow2528

Hi, I totally understand where your coming from, but if your anything like me, when I overeat for whatever reason I always feel so guilty and cross with myself, and feel 10 times worse then what I did before I over ate.
I'm so fed up with emotional eating and what it's doing to me, listening to the tips and advice from the other ladies sounds good to me.
We need to find another way of coping with our stress, maybe writing a diary sounds good to me, talking on her seems beneficial, all I know is, I don't want emotional eating to ruin my life any longer, I want things to change and you obviously do as well.
We can do this, there's going to be bad days, but the good days are going to outweigh the bad.

Good luck to you, I have a lot of weight to lose, so I'm going to be around for a long time, if you feel like shouting or screaming some times I'm a good listener.

I hope you all have a good weekend xx

snowey7

When I come home from work at 5pm, I eat everything that isn't nailed down. All sense of self-control and discipline stayed in the garage with my car. I did this yesterday and forced myself to log everything I ate. 800+ calories of Nutella and animal cookies was not worth the guilt I felt afterwards. I don't know the answer yet; all I know is it was a bad day and I'm going to try again today to make it a good one. Thanks for your honesty everyone.

skyhowl

Willow2528 wrote: »

Hi, I totally understand where your coming from, but if your anything like me, when I overeat for whatever reason I always feel so guilty and cross with myself, and feel 10 times worse then what I did before I over ate.
I'm so fed up with emotional eating and what it's doing to me, listening to the tips and advice from the other ladies sounds good to me.
We need to find another way of coping with our stress, maybe writing a diary sounds good to me, talking on her seems beneficial, all I know is, I don't want emotional eating to ruin my life any longer, I want things to change and you obviously do as well.
We can do this, there's going to be bad days, but the good days are going to outweigh the bad.

Good luck to you, I have a lot of weight to lose, so I'm going to be around for a long time, if you feel like shouting or screaming some times I'm a good listener.

I hope you all have a good weekend xx

thank you so much for your replay can i add you as a friend here on MFP?

skyhowl

snowey7 wrote: »

When I come home from work at 5pm, I eat everything that isn't nailed down. All sense of self-control and discipline stayed in the garage with my car. I did this yesterday and forced myself to log everything I ate. 800+ calories of Nutella and animal cookies was not worth the guilt I felt afterwards. I don't know the answer yet; all I know is it was a bad day and I'm going to try again today to make it a good one. Thanks for your honesty everyone.

thank you for your replay

Willow2528

Hi,
I have written you two messages, but for some reason it keeps coming up, server error.
Please feel free to add me as a friend. xx

rainbowbow

I've sent you a message.

rachel29hart

When people like us struggle with bad things happening in our lives, or mental health issues, it's important to keep in mind that getting into a healthier lifestyle will slowly help those problems. I have been doing MFP for a month. I have lost 7 pounds. Today, I got upset about something at work and cried. If I had cried at work a month ago I would have split and headed to the nearest grocery store. My first inclination today was that I really wanted to work out.

This mindset has not been easy to adapt, and it's hard to change habits that have been with you seemingly forever. I am not even close to getting out of this mindset, but just making effort to stop the cycle will yield incredible results down the road. Just know that you can do it. If you're feeling sad and want that cake, you should do it. Of course it's comforting; it's cake! But have a big slice instead of the whole thing and then drink water in between your bites. It will help, I promise.

If you need any emotional support, I'm here for you, stranger! You can do it. Thousands of people have and nothing is stopping you from becoming the person you want to be. Hang in there!

Neanbean13

Do u know how many calories in the cake? Why can't you fit a piece into your daily count and be happy u had cake? It's not a bad food unless you over eat. Then you can be proud you were feeling *kitten*, recognized it, and consciously fit it in to your daily count.
I have a crap work day and I fit in a 125ml glass of red in. Makes me feel better because I had what I want and fit it in.
Part of the journey is to have self control. I mean let's be honest we not all walking off bad days are we. Being an emotional eater we have demons to face. So rather than trying to wipe the habit of eating completely try work with it. It's hard at first obvs but hey, so is life.

Neanbean13

snowey7 wrote: »

When I come home from work at 5pm, I eat everything that isn't nailed down. All sense of self-control and discipline stayed in the garage with my car. I did this yesterday and forced myself to log everything I ate. 800+ calories of Nutella and animal cookies was not worth the guilt I felt afterwards. I don't know the answer yet; all I know is it was a bad day and I'm going to try again today to make it a good one. Thanks for your honesty everyone.

Omg why do u have so many temptations in your house if u struggle with self Control???

burnthewitch99

Tbh when I'm feeling sad af I'm eating lot of things, then I'm feeling worst than before eating that stuff. And also thats why I have to loose weight. I'm feeling really bad with myself because of that..

Francl27

Honestly? Sometimes it actually helps me. I just make room for it... but no, I wouldn't buy a whole cake, I'd probably buy a cupcake instead.

You got to ask yourself how you'll feel AFTER eating it though. If you're going to feel guilty about it, it's just going to make things worse...

PhedraJD

Saturday night I was overly stressed and a box of chocolates was screaming at me to eat them, all of them. I walked into the kitchen, looked at the box and knew if I opened it, I would have ate it all. So I stopped, and really thought about it. Why did I want the chocolate, would it help me feel better or would I feel like crap. Normally, I can eat a piece and be satisfied, and not bad about it. That night I knew it was my emotions and if I did, I would regret it. So I took a deep breath, and did some cleaning, kept my mind and self busy. After the stress was gone, I was really proud of myself. That was the first time in a long time I had successfully avoided an emotional eating catastrophe. Hang in there, you can do this.

PeachyPlum

Neanbean13 wrote: »

Do u know how many calories in the cake? Why can't you fit a piece into your daily count and be happy u had cake? It's not a bad food unless you over eat. Then you can be proud you were feeling *kitten*, recognized it, and consciously fit it in to your daily count.
I have a crap work day and I fit in a 125ml glass of red in. Makes me feel better because I had what I want and fit it in.
Part of the journey is to have self control. I mean let's be honest we not all walking off bad days are we. Being an emotional eater we have demons to face. So rather than trying to wipe the habit of eating completely try work with it. It's hard at first obvs but hey, so is life.

So much this!

OP, if you had a habit of emotionally stuffing your face every time things got tough, I'd be all "rise above it - go watch a funny movie instead!"

But you've already told us this isn't a pattern for you. It's just that today, you're feeling really bummed and you're also craving a slice of your favorite cake.

Maybe you're craving chocolate because you're low on magnesium. There are studies that indicate that the reason women crave chocolate when they have PMS, for example, is because they're losing so much magnesium. When my brother, who has no interest in chocolate, travels to a country with soft water where there's not a lot of minerals in the water, he suddenly starts craving chocolate constantly until he gets back home to magnesium-rich local water.

If you can fit it into your goals (or close), why not walk to your favorite bakery, order a single slice of that amazing cake, walk it home and savor it bite by bite? If they only sell it by the whole cake, can you ask them to cut you a reasonable slice and wrap up the rest to drop off for a friend, or the local firehouse, or similar?