Eating the emotions....

IonaEllen123

Hey,
I as the title says Im an emotional eater especially if I am upset/annoyed or bored.
I am really struggling with keeping to calories & learning how to keep my thoughts under control. Would be great for all advice whether its books, websites etc.
Anybody else like this?
Looking for friends aswell to keep me on track. Feel free to add me

Thanks

NorthCascades

What else do you enjoy doing?

alone_aqua

I don't know how much weight you have to lose but I struggled with this my whole life. The easy answers are drinking water before your meals, brushing your teeth, calling up a friend, etc. For me this never worked, because it was never about the food itself. Food is not entertainment, it is not meant to cheer you up, or bring your down - only to fuel your next activity. The permanent solution is mental. That means one of two things (1) train your thought (permanent, and difficult but doable) or (2) find a product that helps regulate your thoughts (and risk addiction and/or backsliding upon discontinued use, as well as other side effects).

lemurcat12

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1012-emotional-eating

This is a group that might be helpful.

Things that have helped me:

(1) Really sticking to a schedule for eating and not snacking/grazing in-between. If I am tempted to eat, remind myself it's not that long until meal time and that I am not really hungry.

(2) Eating a balanced filling diet with plenty of protein and (when possible) getting enough sleep. When I don't get enough sleep remind myself I am just tired (or get a cup of coffee).

(3) Deal with stress or emotions in other ways (and have a plan). Ways I address these issues are: (a) working out or going for a walk; (b) distracting myself by getting involved in a project or work; (c) journaling; (d) sitting with the feelings (this is a valuable thing to learn if it is hard for you); and (d) music. I'm sure there are others, but these are big ones.

kommodevaran

You can't control your thoughts, but you don't have to do that. You just have to control your behavior. If you are stuggling, this can make that easier:

Be well nourished. Don't eat too little and don't cut out any food groups. Don't eat food you don't like, do eat food you do like. Keeping a good eating schedule (aka "regular meals") can also help you to give food its proper place.

Get enough sleep and rest.

Acknowledge your emotions, but don't give them too much power.

Get some exercise and do something interesting every day.

Keep "binge foods" unavailable as much as you can.

CTcutie

For me, the structure of weighing & logging - and being honest- really helps prevent issues. As soon as I stop doing that I have issues! (And a hobby for distraction in the evenings/weekends helps).

I had a dumb but stressful situation after work tonight & could have easily gone nutz in the kitchen BUT my ~200 cal "binge" on a few olives, 6 tortilla chips & 2 fig newtons totally fit today. And yes, I did feel better:-) Also drank 16 oz of water to help compensate for the sodium.

CattOfTheGarage

Address those emotions. Really sit with them and figure out what's bothering you. Write it down and make a plan. The food is not the main problem here - the emotions themselves are the priority.

And don't try and control your thoughts, that's a merry-go-round of frustration.

You can control your behaviour (though in some situations that is difficult) and you can challenge the basic beliefs that give rise to the thoughts ("I'm worthless", "I have to get this right or it will be a disaster", "if people knew what I was really like they would hate me" and so on) but the thoughts themselves are a bit out of your control.

If you find your thoughts are spiralling or becoming obsessive, distraction can work - I use audio books or podcasts to deal with this.

And you cannot control your feelings - the only way to deal with them is to acknowledge them and take them seriously, even if that just means taking time to be sad and allowing yourself to come out of it naturally, rather than trying to force it down or silence it.