Need some support

hidee14

I’ve been on this journey for 5 years now and my weight has fluctuated quite a bit. I gained about 10 pounds more than I would of liked to so lately I’ve been trying to lose a little but for some reason I keep binging. Idk if it’s the stress of life rn or my body or what but I just can’t take it. I feel even worse than before and I’m so much further from my goals now it’s just depressing. If anyone has some tips for binging/emotional eating I’ll take it

annliz23

Try and find things to do and keep active, exercise , a hobby etc..

LyndaBSS

I used to be an emotional overeater. It started after my husband died last year.

I decided that I was ready to be healthier. Within two weeks of starting mfp and eating a pescatarian diet, my overeating stopped.

You need to formulate a plan that will work for you. Try a few things out and see what sticks.

88olds

Do you keep a food diary? If not start one. If you already have one, do you keep it going no matter what? Commit to a diary and commit to logging everything. Even binges. Just can’t put a number on that meal or dish or binge? You have to try anyway. No matter what, you have to come up with a number. The only way not to do it is quit. Refuse to quit.

Is this a sure fire answer to binging? No. But try it, you may be surprised.

GrizzledSquirrel

I’m an emotional eater - but the triggers are gradually losing their power as I have gained in consciousness about my eating AND my feelings. A great way to increase that consciousness is to log your food (or as @88olds suggests, keep a diary - just a notepad in the kitchen might do).

Second tip is to PAUSE TO OBSERVE. My first reaction to my emotion would be to reach for food. Now - I pause to acknowledge what is happening and the inner dialogue (if it were explicitly spoken, it usually isn’t) might go something like this:
“wow - that was a stressful meeting, I’ve got so much to do off the back of it. I feel overwhelmed and a bit scared about it. Oh look, I’m reacting to it by reaching for a muffin. Funny - that’s what I often do when I feel stressed. How do I feel stressed right now? Oh yes - there it is: slight tightness in my chest, a bit jittery. Yes - I recognise this feeling. It feels a little bit worse than yesterday but not as bad as last Tuesday”. etc, etc.

Try not to judge how you are feeling - just pause to observe it. Try not to control how you are feeling either. JUST observe until you feel you have a sense of it. This might take no more than 10-20 seconds. The initial reaction will likely pass or lessen. Or maybe it won’t - but at least you have taken a moment to recognise its impact on you (one of which is to binge).

You might find that you don’t end up eating the muffin at all. But, if you go ahead and do, it doesn’t make you a bad person. Just make sure you consciously CHOOSE to eat it and when you eat it, eat it PROPERLY. Taste it for what it is - a muffin. Just a muffin. It isn’t a miracle cure for your stress. It’s just a muffin: eggs, flour, fat, sugar. It won’t solve your problems. Turn it back into food; fuel (albeit tasty and pleasing), just an inanimate object, rather than a solution for something. It has no power over you.

Emotional eating is an unconscious smothering of your feelings with food, so that you don’t have to confront them. Separate food FROM your feelings by giving yourself time to observe both, fully - and over time, you should develop a healthier relationship with both.

Good luck!

willsundaydnd

I can’t agree enough with the idea that a hobby/activity may help curb the emotional eating. I find that I have the toughest time in the winter-I don’t do as much, as a divorced dad the holidays are tough, and if I sit around the house I will binge. But if I motivate myself to be active, I usually do pretty good-just have to avoid the baked stuff at my activities-one person is an amazing baker and it takes a lot of willpower to have just a small bit of homemade bread 😉