How do you manage emotional and stress eating?

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peachvine29
peachvine29 Posts: 400 Member
edited March 2019 in Food and Nutrition
Hello. My name is Dawn, and I've been using MFP for a little over a year. Highest weight 200 lbs., starting weight 190 lbs. in February 2018, and current weight 143 lbs. I am 5'7'' and 26 years old. I lost the weight totally through calorie counting, ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 calorie goals, although I frequently go over. I do weight lift 2-3 times a week and eat my exercise calories.

I am about 13-18 pounds from my goal weight. Yes, I do need to lose more, because I have a good amount of belly fat. I really want to lose by summer. I've been trying to keep my calories around 1,350 lately, but I feel so much hungrier lately and I think it's because I'm stressed out. I'm working full time and in school full time (one night a week accelerated program though) and just moved in with my boyfriend. I'm having a really hard time managing cravings as the semester comes to a close and I have a million things due. For example, last night I got out of school at 9pm, and had food waiting for me at home, but was so hungry and I didn't want to eat too much in front of the boyfriend so I stopped at McDonald's for a snack before home.

My boyfriend also is into healthy eating, he has lost 80 lbs. in the last year. We have been cooking almost all of our meals and using Skinnytaste recipes, so he is supportive there.

Any tips? Emotional eating is what got me to be overweight. I really need to learn how to control that. I know I've made progress but I want to reach my goal soon...

Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited March 2019
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    The best way to end a bad habit is to replace it with a better one.

    Are there specific times of the day that you're specifically struggling with this? Brainstorm some other simple things you can do to calm down and stay busy other than eat. A 5 minute meditation on your phone, a memorized mantra or prayer, a music play list on your phone, take a 5 minute walk, text a supportive friend, stuff like that. Then leave reminders in the places you typically are - something obviously out of place and positive, like a kid's sticker or a scarf or something.

    Basically, replacing is easier than forcing yourself to just stop. Hang in there :drinker:
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    The best way to end a bad habit is to replace it with a better one.

    Are there specific times of the day that you're specifically struggling with this? Brainstorm some other simple things you can do to calm down and stay busy other than eat. A 5 minute meditation on your phone, a memorized mantra or prayer, a music play list on your phone, take a 5 minute walk, text a supportive friend, stuff like that. Then leave reminders in the places you typically are - something obviously out of place and positive, like a kid's sticker or a scarf or something.

    Basically, replacing is easier than forcing yourself to just stop. Hang in there :drinker:

    Definitely this! I had to do two things to stop emotional eating, and one was finding healthier avenues to de-stress and cope. The other was to step outside the stress, figure out if it was indeed worth the stress, and discarding what wasn't (this is pretty much what cognitive behavioral therapy teaches, which is what my therapist uses).

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