Question for People who -WERE- Emotional/Bored Eaters

DatPanna

How did you develop a health relationship with food? Sometimes, I feel so trapped or bored and food is what I turn to. A lot of the time, I feel like I'm obsessed with it... Then I wonder if I should enjoy food so much. How did you handle it?

sola24

Well, I go through this all the time. Yesterday I was alone at home and I was bored and feeling like eating all the time. What I do is distract myself.. either start cooking a healthy meal, or start cleaning or start working out.. anything to take my mind off food as I know I am not really hungry..

pinkraynedropjacki

I find something to distract myself. Failing that.... I just suck it up I guess. I do however drink a whole crap-load of coffee

RedHeadDevotchka

I don't know. I eat when I'm bored and happy and sad too. I still enjoy food probably more than a lot of people I know but it helps if I remember that it's fuel essentially and don't always look at it as an event or occasion and relegate it to that purpose of sustaining me and focusing on that primarily.

TheLadyBane

There is a really good book called "Life is Hard, Food is Easy" that helps you find out why you turn to food when you have an emotional need or are bored and helps you develop healthy habits instead. I'd recommend it. Reading the book was pretty helpful to me, but I read it so long ago that I can't pinpoint any particular revelations I had. I just know that I don't eat when I'm bored or have an emotional need any more. I've replaced that with healthier habits like reading a book, doing yoga, or getting out of the house and going for a walk. You just have to find something that you enjoy that fills whatever need you are having at that moment.

KarenJanine

Keeping the mind and body busy helps - exercise, cleaning or crafting usually keep me busy and the mind off food.

Also looking back at what I used to eat my diet was very carb heavy which just didn't satisfy my hunger. When I added in more protein and fibre I found it much easier to go from one meal to the next without wanting to graze.

Railr0aderTony

. A lot of the time, I feel like I'm obsessed with it... Then I wonder if I should enjoy food so much.

I have changed my obsession to trying to make wonderful food that tastes great and keep it withing my calorie range. rewriting recipes, trying new things. I love food and do not ever plan to live off of salad and protein shakes. Learning new and creative ways to make delicious lower calorie meals can really fill that void. Good luck. But remember food is not the enemy.

ikearch

I hear ya! I get bored and think of all the good things I could eat. The only way for me to stop thinking about food is to eat foods that are high in fiber or drink a lot of water (usually both). The fiber helps you feel full longer and is extremely good for you. Any kinds of distractions help, too. Creating and maintaining an eating schedule can help but require much discipline. If you choose the calendar and follow it, have "fat days," or days you give into some cravings. I have 4 of those every month.

I prefer starting my day off with stretching and jumping rope then protein shake. Maybe a few hours later I'll have my first food, a baked sweet potato with salmon (if it fits). If I start my day off this way, my hunger goes away pretty quick. My stomach shrinks and the foods I used to eat endlessly are only taken in moderation on fat days.

DatPanna

Thank you everyone for replying. This is a really supportive community, and I was actually worried I'd get flack for this question. I'm glad it was taken seriously, because I needed the advice.

TheLadyBane, I ordered the book you recommended just now. I hope it has something to help enlighten me on my present situation.

Railr0aderTony, thanks for reminding me of that. That's a really great suggestion, actually. I do love cooking, and I don't want to stop enjoying food. I need to get a little more creative with my meals.

Cre8veLifeR

Good morning! I like that you used the word obsessed. I knew what you meant when you said that because I get that - at one point food, eating it and not eating it and how to control it dominated my thoughts completely. I was obsessed and it was very exhausting!

For me I had to examine the reasons I was doing it. They were emotional. It took a long time to overcome it too, but it happened eventually and I really remember one day it occurred to me that I hadn't thought about food! Which made me think about food lol. I was totally using food as a distraction, as a lover, as a friend, as a companion, as an enemy....ugh. Here are a couple of resources I really like about emotional eating: http://psychologyofeating.com/blog/ipe-blog/ and I also read Geneen Roth's book "When Food is Love" and it really helped a lot. She also has some guided meditations that are good as well.

There's hope! You can do it with time, patience and work :-) For some of us it's not as easy as "just don't eat that".

Lives2Travel

I have definitely been in the emotional/bored eater category. After almost 5 months of changing my ways, I'd put myself in the "recovering" category. Here are a few things that have worked for me:

1. Other than a cup of coffee in the afternoon, I do not snack. I know many people say it's best to eat a snack in the morning in the afternoon, but for me a 100 calorie snack can lead to another 100 calorie snack and another. I just don't do it anymore.

2. Pre-log at night what I'm going to eat the next day. This removes the what to eat decisions from a higher stress time (the work day and dinner time) and moves it to a calmer, more relaxed time. The next day, I just consult MFP for what to fix for meals. Less thinking about food is good for me.

3. I set up a Pinterest account and made a board called "Thinspiration". Cheesy, yes, but on this board I've posted things that I want to wear or do when I lose all this weight like clothes I love, activities or sports I want to try and especially trips I want to take. When temptation strikes, I take a look at this board to remind myself of why I'm doing this and what I stand to gain.

I know it's hard to break old habits, but it's worth it. For the first time, perhaps ever, I feel like I'm controlling food instead of it controlling me. It's kind of amazing.

Best of luck.

sjaykay13

I plan my meals and snacks in the morning to make sure I stay on track. If I change something from that plan, I immediately track so I can see how it affects the rest of my day. I also have a list of things to do in my apartment if I'm bored, it's actually on a big poster board in my living room so I am constantly reminded that there are so many other things than eating and food.

Ideas for ways to distract you from cravings, binging, emotional eating:
- jounaling
- going for a walk
- checking the mail
- re-organizing a closet, room, cabinet
- making tea
- looking through cookbooks for creative healthy recipes
- taking a bath/shower
- arts/crafts (sounds silly but it's a great outlet)
- catching up on email
- calling a friend/family member to chat
- read a book/magazine
- post on message boards!!!

BeccaSusanna

Bump- thanks for this topic.

TheBackStory

I find something to distract myself. Failing that.... I just suck it up I guess. I do however drink a whole crap-load of coffee

^^^ This exactly. Coffee addict here.

jacksonpt

I try to keep myself from being bored. The worst thing I can do is sit around all day in a house filled with food. So I don't.

ShaSimone

Oh man I am so the same as may of you. Once I get that thought into my head sometimes it seems to become an obsession. And then...I have to eat the ENTIRE: bag, carton, box, bar...must finish the entire thing. It's not a good place when I go there so any type of distraction really does help, currently I take my dog for a walk and play outdoors with her.

echofm1

I'm not much of an emotional eater (though maybe an emotional pop drinker? Just as bad XD), but I definitely was a bored eater. Some of the things that I've found out were helpful were mostly activities to try to keep me from being bored. I started knitting so if I'm watching a movie I can knit instead of munch, and I try to keep water or Crystal Light nearby if I'm starting to feel that urge to snack. Also, keeping light snacks can help a lot. I got 94% fat free popcorn at the store. I think it tastes fine, but it's only 20 calories a cup. If I absolutely have to snack, I go for that. Because sometimes it's just hard to resist.

Also, try to figure out some of your triggers for bored eating. As I said before, I did most of my bored snacking while watching TV, so I learned that I needed to stay busy while watching it. Sometimes you just need to add an activity.

DaniellaB1995

I've also struggled with this quite a lot, when I don't have a particular thing to do i'd just go to the kitchen and grab some food.
What i've found has worked for me is just trying to distract myself, if I'm not hungry and going to eat then I'll just start doing whatever task I can think of.

If you have any hobbies you do at home try just start working on it whenever you're about to eat out of boredom. I'm currently learning korean through some audio lessons i have, and so whenever I'm about to go grab food i'll stick one of them on

ideang

I am a boredom eater. I find I just have to get up and moving when I feel like snacking. I clean, walk, or exercise when I get the munchies. I have found over time I boredom eat less if I stay busy. I spend little time watching TV or playing on the computer now days as those were my triggers to munch. I preplan a lot of my daily eating and leave room for healthy snacks.

FitCowgirl8

Thank you for posting this topic OP. I am definitely a bored/emotional eater and I find myself eating even though I know I am not hungry and don't need to. The suggestions given on here are great and I think can help me get out of this bad habit.

hmjohnson25

I distract myself with doing dishes or laundry or something semi-productive at home. There's always something that needs to be done. This has also cut down on how much TV I watch, so two good things came of that.

Rogsman

I take a completely different approach, I eat.

I save some calories for this, cause I'm going to do it - there's no escape. So I have a stockpile of oranges, grapefruit, berries, pears, apples, Greek yogurt, etc... When it really gets bad I reach for a protein bar, usually one of those chocolate ones.

Itch scratched every single time. I'm the only healthy eater in my family, so there's much worse options available.

IowaJen1979

I am a former binge eater and I still struggle with these feelings. The urge to binge never really goes away, unfortunately. Like an addiction, I just had to quit cold turkey. When I felt the urge to binge, I would come to this board and remind myself why I didn't need to turn to food for comfort. Eventually it got easier and my urges came less often. What I learned is that most times I am feeling the need to binge I actually AM hungry, so I eat a healthy snack. I plan my meals for the week and only buy those foods at the grocery store.

ladyredeemed4

Food is a comfort to us - at all times. It makes me feel good eating something delicious, it doesn't judge us, doesn't argue back. Food is a friend. One thing that has been consistent with me losing weight on MFP is journaling -Of course I have had a couple of weeks I gained. You have to substitute something else for the excessive eating. The first few days were the hardest for me, but it did become easier (now at Thanksgiving, I know I will have a challenge - Got to get me a plan in place first). If I want a piece of cake or pizza, I will have in moderation - I just know I will have to work it off. I love having pink crystal light, kind of frozen - it taste so good and refreshing. Best of luck... : )

cwolfman13

How did you develop a health relationship with food? Sometimes, I feel so trapped or bored and food is what I turn to. A lot of the time, I feel like I'm obsessed with it... Then I wonder if I should enjoy food so much. How did you handle it?

For me it all started with portion control. I've always been a foodie and enjoyed good food and wasn't about to sit around and eat celery all day long...but when I actually started portioning things out I found that I enjoyed them that much more...and I also enjoyed the fact that I was satiated...not stuffed to the gills.

As far as the boredom goes, I always made sure I had veggies around that I liked and could just snack on raw...i.e. grape tomatoes, baby cucumbers, carrots, etc. Ultimately though, it was just about breaking the habit...really that's all bored eating is...it's habit. Breaking habits suck, but it can be done....just lots of will power. I figure it took me about a month of two to really break myself of "bored eating" I did other little things like refusing to let myself eat in front of the t.v...I made myself get up and have my snack at the dinner table or something. I also stopped eating my jelly beans and gummy worms in bed while I was reading (a long time habit) and made it a point to try to replace bad habits with better ones.

I also dramatically increased my activity...whenever I started to think about food and get into that obsession...gotta have something mindset I'd just drop and do some push-ups or jumping jacks or whatever. I've also become much better at cleaning random things and fixing random things around the house just to keep me moving and keep my mind occupied. I probably over did it in RE to my actual exercise early on, but that helped as well...I have a far more balanced fitness regimen now though.

kowajenn

I'm both an emotional and bored eater. I think I have a handle on the emotional part (I haven't binged in a year) but when I'm bored I can walk into the kitchen 10 times in an hour looking for something to munch on. I've made my bedroom my haven and stay up there as much as possible to avoid the temptations downstairs. I don't have any junk in the house and I save a hundred or so calories for a snack later in the evening. Last night I had some almonds. It's much more habit than hunger.

I also always have a goal in mind. I'm still on the weight loss journey and I've been rewarding myself along the way. I have a cruise planned in January to mark 1 year of weight loss and I'll be damned if I go into it out of control. I also plan to go on a shopping spree in the spring to replace my wardrobe and that's a prize I want really bad. When I go for an extra piece of cheese, I ask myself if it's worth not achieving what I want.

Lifeisgood4

Bump

DatPanna

Thanks!! Everyone's been so thoughtful in their answers, and really, its good to know it's doable. I think, just from seeing the posts, it's easy to tell there are a couple ways to handle the situation. I'm not sure what will work for me yet, but I know something will. I'm glad that others benefited from this post.

kuntry_navy

gum

ash8184

This is tough. Can you do something instead of eat? Maybe go for a walk or play a game online. If I'm conscious enough and really thinking straight, when I feel hungry, I'll drink something first and see if that helps me re-focus.

lillivewire87

I love food, so I embrace that. I watch shows (DDD baby!), and I read food blogs. I find my willpower and inspiration in figuring out ways to make the food I see healthier, and making it clean. And I also have truly learned moderation. I measure everything and find that by putting it away and only taking out exactly what a serving size is, I am just as satisfied and I enjoy it just as much. I have also started the healthy habit of when I feel down, or frustrated, or whatever I go to the gym and get on the treadmill. It took time, but now instead of wanting to eat an entire bag of Oreos, now I crave walking or going to the gym when I am emotional.

Everything in moderation and everything in time! You can do it!