How to stop emotional eating.
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Emotional eaters are funny to me because they don't think of the most obvious thing...don't buy the food. Just stop buying it. Then, there's nothing to emotionally eat except meat and veggies. Dont buy ice cream, crackers, etc. Just don't.
Nobody ever said emotional eaters only eat junk food.
The OP did.
Sorry. She was only speaking for herself, though.0 -
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My tips for struggling with emotional eating.
Drink a lot of water, as in every time you go to reach for the high calorie, "low other nutrients" foods (candy, cake, chips, anything fried, etc) drink a glass of water first and wait 20 minutes. Then check in with yourself and find out why are you eating before you even have that first bite. If you can get through those and still need the high calorie, "low other nutrients" food, then eat it and log it. You do have to log it (that's another wake-up call, logging it).
If it's eating for boredom, finding a hobby that requires you to use your hands such as knitting or crocheting will keep you from eating. Can't mindlessly put food into your mouth if your hands are busy.
If it's eating for depression, get up and move, go for a walk, jog in place, do jumping jacks, dance, etc.....Yes, I'm talking about cardio here (strength training doesn't keep depression at bay as easily). And that depression advice is from someone that suffers from it and has been for at least 30 years, possibly more (diagnosed and actively controlling it for the past 16 years, mostly without meds, sometimes with maintenance prescription of meds). Added benefit of this one, count the cardio for the day!
If it's eating because of stress, depression suggestion will work with that too.
I've tried other things for weight loss and one of the things said at a Weight Watcher meeting has always stuck with me....Work on becoming an "Emotional Exerciser" instead of an "Emotional Eater". Wouldn't our journeys be so much easier if we all could become "Emotional Exercisers" instead of "Emotional Eaters"?0 -
Haven't read much past the first post, but here are some of my triggers, hopefully this'll help someone realise their triggers:
1. WEighing myself (if I've gained - whats the point and i binge, if I've lost-I think I can relax and binge)
2. HOme alone for prolonged periods of time,
3. Stressed, sad or bored.
4. When I fall out of the school, work, hobbies routine and miss a couple.
5, When my plans to exercise get cut short/cancelled and it freaks me out or if I know I'm eating out that day.0 -
The only thing I can tell you is that whenever you're feeling bummed, remember that you'll feel worse if you make unhealthy food selections and you'll feel better if you make healthy food selections. Bad moods happen. Whether you eat healthy or unhealthy during those times is a choice you have. Don't double down on bad ish.
I actually came up with this simple equation today:
bad mood + bad food = worse mood
bad mood + good food = better mood
Notice that the bad mood is a constant in these equations. What changes the outcome of the equation depends on the choices YOU make with eating/drinking.0 -
All the people who are 'just put the fork down!' seem to forget that putting the fork down can also be a sign of an emotional eater. There's those who eat too much, and those who eat too little. And in both cases, the pain that the people are feeling that leads them to a not-good eating behavior is REAL and needs to be dealt with if there's going to be any kind of change.
I have the emotional eating problem too, and a lot of my triggers are the same. I've found it helpful to think about my eating motivations when I'm NOT emotional....so when I'm just making a regular breakfast or dinner, I ask myself how I am feeling and what is appealing about the food at that moment. Then when I am emotional, I try to ask myself how I feel about the food and life in general later. If my feelings don't match up to how I feel when I'm not having an emotional crisis, I try to make myself not eat, or at least be very conscious of what I AM eating and the potential consequences.
It doesn't always work to stop me eating, but it's helping me be more aware, and that's helped change some bad habits.0 -
One idea I saw recently that I really liked for myself was to pick up a magazine or book when you are feeling munchy...Usually you will get so engrossed it what you are reading that you will forget about the cravings. If you are still hungry after 15 minutes or so with a book, well then you are ACTUALLY hungry and not just emotionally or mentally hungry.
I take a bath and pick up my book. I literally can't go to the fridge when I'm in the bath tub. I don't think I'm an "emotional eater" exactly, but I think this technique can work as a distraction for many triggers. It doesn't have to be reading either I'm sure...anything that is engrossing and distracting to you is probably good, though tv (at least in my case) would just encourage mindless eating I think.0 -
I'll admit to being an emotional eater, but only at work. If I get stressed out or upset at home, food is usually the last thing on my mind.
I can get stressed out at the office when something needs my immediate attention and the solution isn't right in front of me. I have access to lots of vending machines and food venues within a short five minute walk from my office. Food tends to fill the void and give some re-assurance. I guess I should feel lucky given that I only "binge" on a single serving bag of chips or a single, large cookie instead of a gallon of ice cream or an entire pizza.
Yes, I like some of the possible solutions that are mentioned above and I can see where people are coming from when they say it's NOT EASY to stop this behavior. But for me the quick and not-very-healthy indulgence solves the problem at hand.
And yes, I realize this doesn't apply to everyone.0 -
One of the more important moments for me recently was when I was sitting at the computer, bored, and thought about getting up to go eat something. And I suddenly thought to myself, "Eating something isn't going to make me any less bored". I wish I could bottle that moment, because it was HUGE.
That said, I still definitely have days where I eat emotionally! (And out of boredom, too!) And all of these are real, valid feelings that are OK to have; it's just that we're trying to address them in a different way than we're used to. I don't have a magic bullet, but there are a couple of tricks that have helped me.
1. If you have trigger foods, try to either keep them out of the house or only let them in in limited quantities. I will destroy a bag of potato chips without a second thought, so I've stopped buying them for the most part, and when I do, I buy the smallest bag I can find.
2. Recognize when you're feeling triggered, and try to address your feelings another way. I try to exercise (dancing, walking, workout video on YouTube) when I'm jittery and anxious; if I'm overwhelmed, I make myself tea and read a silly book; if I'm in need of a treat, I buy myself a new bottle of nail polish and/or give myself a manicure.
3. If you're bored- look into new hobbies you might enjoy! I took up knitting, which I find very relaxing. And as a bonus, it gives me something to do with my hands.
4. Plan to indulge /a little/ when you know you'll be under pressure. I have a huge project coming up at work, and I know I'll be buying more croissants and eating more lunch M&Ms as I deal with the stress. But it's temporary, they're delicious, and I'm going to fit them into my current goals.
Interested to hear what other people's tactics are!
^^^ I agree heartily with everything above, especially #2. In my head I call it replacement. There are tons of ways people deal with stress. Once you know you're stress eating, you can try to replace that with something else you find calming besides eating. Hobbies are great for this... something with your hands (i.e., not TV because you can sit there and eat at the same time). Personally I've found reading, embroidery, and (surprisingly) cardio to work well, but everyone has different interests.
Knowing you're even doing it is 75% of the battle. My comfort foods are baked goods, usually doughnuts, cupcakes, or cookies. I would eat 3-6 bakery yeast doughnuts in one sitting. I don't keep any of that stuff in the house anymore, because I will eat ALL OF IT. That temptation is always there, just vastly muted. Good luck!
+2 for above
Plus, it always helped me in the beginning to keep a journal. That helped me recognize my triggers. I'm bipolar so food isn't always a go to for me but when I was first diagnosed and didn't leave my house for a year it was. That's how I ate myself to 236lbs. Develop a support system of people who actually understand what you are going through and who you can call and talk to and "talk you down" as I like to put it. Another thing that's really helped me was a completely new hobby that required me leaving my house and making new friends, I started riding horses for example (not for everyone). But I've never stabbed myself with a knitting needle either
If someone would have told me to put the fork down I would have stabbed them back then, not now that the shrinks have my brain chemistry balanced with medications. If none of that works you may need to talk to someone to help you get your emotions under control and find your triggers, there is more strength in asking for help than struggling on your own.0 -
old school MFP cliche coming now..
Stop and just say to yourself. If the problem isn't hunger, the answer isn't food.
Over the years i have whittled this down to a simple put the fork down fatty inner dialogue.0 -
Also, I've recently started making "freezer meals". The idea being that every time I cook a healthy casserole or something that will freeze well, I make two and freeze one. Now I always have a healthy, easy option available which saves me from ordering a pizza or going through the drive through because I don't have time to cook. So if it's stress you struggle with, try this. It works great for me.0
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Whenever I'm sad, angry, upset, lonely, or sometimes even bored, I tend to binge. And I'm not binging on veggies and water (I WISH!). My weight loss journey has been going solidly well, except for when I feel the need to eat 6 trillion calories in one sitting because my emotions are wacky. Any advice on how to knock this habit off?
Put the fork down.
Oh, for real, I never thought of that before.
I would smack you upside the back of the head if I could.
Apparently, you must not have. It's really that simple. How do you stop emotional eating? Don't eat. When I realized that's what I was doing for years, that's the step I took. Stop being so angsty and overthinking it. Just stop doing it. If that's too hard, see a head shrinker.
As for the second point, I wouldn't suggest it.
I'm glad it was that easy for you to do. It's very difficult for some of us, as this thread attests. But feel free to stay here and feel superior to us mere mortals, if you'd like.
And yes, I found my emotional eating much easier to control when I got my chronic depression and anxiety under control through therapy and medication. Go headshrinkers for helping me make my life better!
I haven't read any replies indicating this was easy. Yes, it's ****ing difficult for many of us. If it was easy, do you think many of us would be here??? But, guess what, some of the most worthwhile endeavors in our lives aren't easy. But we do it because the consequences of not doing it becomes unbearable. When the consequences of any behavior becomes unbearable, change it possible, putting down the fork in possible.
Changing your emotional eating behaviors is simple - just put down the fork. No one EVER said it was easy.
I think you underestimate the actual inability some people have to just put the fork down, no matter how unbearable the behavior becomes. Particularly for people suffering from actual diseases; I'm not just talking about willpower here.
For instance, people with severe depression can be completely incapacitated - I know this first hand. That'll extend to something as simple as getting out of bed, let alone not eating bad foods.
For some people it might be as simple as simply finding the willpower to put the metaphorical fork down, but for other people that's just not possible. There are other steps they need to take to overcome their problems.0 -
I log as I binge. It tends to stop me when I see what I'm doing.0
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I've been working on this the last week or so because I've had massive binge eating issues since November.
I started doing a 50 Day Binge Free Challenge on tumblr, which has kept me focused, and I'm drinking a ton more water than I was. If I really feel the need to binge, I just specify two things I can have, even if they put me over calories, and don't go running through the kitchen blindly like I used to.
Name the feeling, and ask yourself if it gets your closer to your goal. Then from there, find a way to challenge yourself to not binge, and if you absolutely need it, then have a small something. Also log it. That really helps you realize just how much your binging.
It's tough, but you can do it!0 -
This may sound strange but I have stopped weighing myself. I found that if I lost weight I would initally be happy and then I would panic and binge. If I gained, I would be depressed and binge. It's a no win situation for me so now I don't weigh. I believe I am losing weight because my clothes are not as tight but I'm not getting on the scale because I know it's a trigger. I also try to keep busy with projects using my hands so I can't use them to put food in my mouth. I also ask myself if I'm really hungry or is there another reason I'm heading toward the kitchen. The emotional connection to food is very strong. Those who do not have to deal with it won't understand.0
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Whenever I'm sad, angry, upset, lonely, or sometimes even bored, I tend to binge. And I'm not binging on veggies and water (I WISH!). My weight loss journey has been going solidly well, except for when I feel the need to eat 6 trillion calories in one sitting because my emotions are wacky. Any advice on how to knock this habit off?
Put the fork down.
Oh, for real, I never thought of that before.
I would smack you upside the back of the head if I could.
Apparently, you must not have. It's really that simple. How do you stop emotional eating? Don't eat. When I realized that's what I was doing for years, that's the step I took. Stop being so angsty and overthinking it. Just stop doing it. If that's too hard, see a head shrinker.
As for the second point, I wouldn't suggest it.
I'm glad it was that easy for you to do. It's very difficult for some of us, as this thread attests. But feel free to stay here and feel superior to us mere mortals, if you'd like.
And yes, I found my emotional eating much easier to control when I got my chronic depression and anxiety under control through therapy and medication. Go headshrinkers for helping me make my life better!
I haven't read any replies indicating this was easy. Yes, it's ****ing difficult for many of us. If it was easy, do you think many of us would be here??? But, guess what, some of the most worthwhile endeavors in our lives aren't easy. But we do it because the consequences of not doing it becomes unbearable. When the consequences of any behavior becomes unbearable, change it possible, putting down the fork in possible.
Changing your emotional eating behaviors is simple - just put down the fork. No one EVER said it was easy.
I think you underestimate the actual inability some people have to just put the fork down, no matter how unbearable the behavior becomes. Particularly for people suffering from actual diseases; I'm not just talking about willpower here.
For instance, people with severe depression can be completely incapacitated - I know this first hand. That'll extend to something as simple as getting out of bed, let alone not eating bad foods.
For some people it might be as simple as simply finding the willpower to put the metaphorical fork down, but for other people that's just not possible. There are other steps they need to take to overcome their problems.
Yeah, I guess you are right. Putting down the fork can't be near as easy as completely putting down the bottle after 15+ years of almost daily excessive drinking. That was a total piece of cake! Silly me!:huh:
Oh, and BTW, my husband suffers from chronic depression, so yeah, I understand that.0 -
LCHF was my solution. I assumed I was an emotional eater but it turns out what I was eating was the problem and any emotions I was feeling at the time were a coincidence. In about three weeks of sticking with low carb my appetite returned to normal and that insatiable need to eat whether I was physically hungry or not disappeared. Get rid of the sugar and carbs and see if that doesn't cure your emotional eating. It's not easy but if you just suck it up and power through it until need to eat all of the time goes away the results can be miraculous -- or at least they were for me. Best wishes.
LCHF for Beginners
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf0 -
Simple isn't the same thing as easy. Yeah, the idea of "put the fork down" is simple, but the many factors that play into binge disorders makes it far from easy. Get off your high horse, please.Whenever I'm sad, angry, upset, lonely, or sometimes even bored, I tend to binge. And I'm not binging on veggies and water (I WISH!). My weight loss journey has been going solidly well, except for when I feel the need to eat 6 trillion calories in one sitting because my emotions are wacky. Any advice on how to knock this habit off?
Put the fork down.
Oh, for real, I never thought of that before.
I would smack you upside the back of the head if I could.
Apparently, you must not have. It's really that simple. How do you stop emotional eating? Don't eat. When I realized that's what I was doing for years, that's the step I took. Stop being so angsty and overthinking it. Just stop doing it. If that's too hard, see a head shrinker.
However I do agree with the "see a head shrinker" comment, as callously as it was expressed. Getting to the root of emotional issues has made it a lot easier to get a handle on my previously out of control eating.0 -
Emotional eating is an issue for me too, and here is what has been working for me over the last several months when I want to eat outside my regular meal/snack times.
Stop and think about why I want to eat. Am I really hungry or is something else going on. For example when I am angry or upset I get a knot in my stomach that I can mistake for hunger. If I am truly hungry, I try to determine how hungry I am, and when is my next regular meal time. Since I have planned meals/snacks every 4 hours or so, if I can wait until my regular time I will. If I can't then eat something and log it.
If I'm not really hungry but want to eat for another reason, try to identify why. If it is an emotion like anger or upset, accept the emotion and deal with it in another fashion. Most often that is venting at my cats. If I'm bored, then I look for another activity that will resolve my boredom. It might be exercising, reading or doing crafts. Just something other than food meet my real need.
Stop, think and then act. That way my decisions of what and when to eat become conscious ones.0 -
(28lbs down from highest weight - ticker reset Jan. 1)
For me:
1. Separating food and exercise in my mind regarding weight loss. I EAT to lose weight, I exercise for FITNESS. This alone was an eye opener.
2. Don't trust your emotions. Emotions come and go, and your life is only as upsetting as your current mood. It shall pass. Take note of your "internal weather" and "dress" accordingly. Feeling sunny? Wear a smile and problem solve. Raining? Put on your "protective" wear (ie mindless chores, fun craft, something to give you a sense of accomplishment. Your "protective rain coat" prevents you from getting soaked in rainy emotions, wallowing, or worse, dwelling on your problems. Problem solve (pull weeds from the garden of your life) when it's not raining.
3. Eat better during the "normal" times - you can eat "boring" food when all you really want to do is eat to satisfy hunger. You'll find that's the majority of the time. You only really need "exciting" food a little bit. You'll find that you binge less. You just don't have the taste for it.
4. If you must binge, binge on healthy stuff. I have a family, who is not on a diet, and I cook for them. Bacon, pancakes, cake, carbs, meats, sauces, desserts are constantly made, by me, for them. Not only is this stuff in the house, but I'm handling it all the time. I have Skinny Cow candy just for me, easy steam veggies, canned soups, frozen meals, etc. that no one else in my house cares about. That's my go to at crunch time.
5. Count your blessings and pray. We can focus on bad things or good things, and these will affect your moods. Counting your blessings help you focus on good things. Prayer gives you strength and joy.
6. Post daily on MFP. Sometimes just admitting you are struggling can give you the fortitude to make a DECISION to change your mood with life affirming things. Post your struggle and your decision: I feel like wallowing, BUT, I will do ten squats right now.
7. Clean. This is a real mood booster. It might be unpleasant, but you see the results right away, and your little brain chemicals give you a star. Other mood boosters:
Change clothes
Put on sneakers
Read something inspiring
Exercise
Give encouragement to others
Hugs and kisses
Do an unpleasant task you've been avoiding
8. Separate the behaviors of others from your self worth. People can be really selfish, mean, catty, uncaring, critical, etc. women tend to take these things personally. Don't. They're just being insecure jerks half the time, and has little to do with you. Find ways to not "catch the hot potato" they are trying to throw on you. You can return to sender or, better, let the potato drop on the floor and let them pick it up. There are ways to do this without acting like a jerk yourself. Half of it is training your mind to separate honest constructive criticism from a critical person's insecure need to critique others.
9. Train yourself to take life one day at a time. Most of the time we are feeling bad its because of hurts from the past or worries about the future. Don't think of HOW LONG you will have to eat well. Think of eating well today. Think about tomorrow, tomorrow,
And,
10.
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.0 -
I am sure this has been said but if not, but here are my thoughts:
I realized I had to change my behavior, that sounds simple, but it's not. You have to change your behavior. Your response to emotional situations is soothed with food, no one can tell you what can replace that. You have to figure that out for yourself. This is not something that will stop in an instant, it has taken me 5 painstaking years of trying again and again to finally stop the binging. I have not binged in ten days. I hope that I won't ever do it again, but I cannot guarantee that. All I can do is every day, take life as it comes, make sure I am making conscious choices about my behavior and not saying "oh well, I give up" which is what I did. The emotion doesn't stop because you eat, it's merely a distraction from the discomfort. I had to face the discomfort and make some pretty difficult statements to myself and admit that I was sad, disappointed, frustrated, or even lonely. That was the hardest part, just being with my feelings. But once I accepted those, the eating didn't seem necessary and now it is NOT what I want to do. I have made large changes in my life, but this is the first time in my life that I am excited for what is coming instead of scared of missing what I lost. Baby steps. The next time you sit down to binge, before you eat, write down how you feel and then ask yourself "am I hungry for food because my stomach is empty or am I just feeling empty" If you're not hungry then food is not the answer. Still though, if just writing down one thing was hard and you feel that you need to numb out with doritos then do it, next time, try again and maybe eat less doritos, and less and less and less, until all of your feeling are something you can acknowledge and look at openly. It is hard. It is not something that just happens. It takes practice and the desire to change the behavior.
Good luck to you. It's not easy. It's not instant, but it can be done.0 -
I log as I binge. It tends to stop me when I see what I'm doing.
This has helped me, too. It doesn't stop me, usually, but it does make me aware of it and I can think about it to avoid in future. Several bad habits were broken this way.0 -
Feelings are so transient, they follow thought and action. If I feel lonely, and think of my loneliness, I will end up feeling more lonely. This is something I've struggled with (emotionality), and paying less attention to my feelings and more attention to God, values, responsibilities, goals, and joys has really helped life be less upsetting and more productive, resulting in less bad feelings.0
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Thank you all for your excellent replies and advice. To the people with nothing constructive to say, well...whatever.
I think I'm going to take the advice of a poster who advised reading a great book. I'm not creative or anything, so knitting or whatever probably won't work for me (like I said, I tried and failed), but I love to read. And reading in the bath is great, because baths are relaxing.0 -
Hey, I am an emotional over-eater too. I binge and even though I log as I go, that doesn't necessarily mean I can stop myself. It's so hard! I wish we could form a group where we could support one another!
One thing that has really been helping me is a book I checked out from the library "Food: the Good Girl's Drug" by Sunny Sea Gold. It has been helpful to know that I am not alone and to deconstruct my feelings about food, esp when I want to binge. I feel like I have decreased the frequency of my binges since I've started reading it. Now I want to work on further decreasing the frequency of the binges and decreasing the quantity of the food I'll eat in a session. It's really hard!
You are not alone, and you can manage this. Let's support one another.0 -
This has been a HUGE problem for me, particularly in the afternoon when I'm home alone after work. I can't believe how much damage I can do in a short space of time!
I've only just restarted focussing on a healthier lifestyle, but some things that have worked for me:
- Lollipops! The yumearth organic lollipops are absolutely amazing for ~20 cals each and they take some time to eat... sometimes long enough to take your mind off the craving to binge
- A protein or meal replacement bar (I was eating the optifast 800 chocolate bars, they are delicious) cut into tiny pieces, served on a plate. It encourages more mindful eating
- Blend 1/2 cup natural yoghurt with a similar quantity of frozen raspberries. Takes time to prepare, and it's like eating icecream but can be done for minimal cals!
- As weird as it sounds, I often dry fry an egg or two and some slices of lean ham. The protein is really satisfying (despite eating breakfast for afternoon tea!
I can't imagine not having an afternoon snack and I'd be KIDDING myself to say I would be able to go home and not eat. For me, it's about having the right choices on hand and not punishing myself if I occasionally make a poor choice.
Best of luck everyone!0 -
Yeah, I guess you are right. Putting down the fork can't be near as easy as completely putting down the bottle after 15+ years of almost daily excessive drinking. That was a total piece of cake! Silly me!:huh:
I didn't see anyone minimizing your struggle with alcohol, especially since I didn't see you mention it upthread at all, so why you are using that to minimize someone else's struggle with food is frankly a bit beyond me.
For some people, excessive eating is the same kind of problem as binge drinking, so I'm surprised that after admitting quitting alcohol wasn't a piece of cake (in a very sarcastic way) you are being so callous toward others struggling with a different kind of addiction.0 -
Yeah, I guess you are right. Putting down the fork can't be near as easy as completely putting down the bottle after 15+ years of almost daily excessive drinking. That was a total piece of cake! Silly me!:huh:
I didn't see anyone minimizing your struggle with alcohol, especially since I didn't see you mention it upthread at all, so why you are using that to minimize someone else's struggle with food is frankly a bit beyond me.
For some people, excessive eating is the same kind of problem as binge drinking, so I'm surprised that after admitting quitting alcohol wasn't a piece of cake (in a very sarcastic way) you are being so callous toward others struggling with a different kind of addiction.0 -
I agree. The overly restricting/binge is a hard cycle for anyone to overcome and it's extremely difficult not emotional-eat during that. Good tipsOften people who have been restricting themselves harshly (or have been eating quite low-carb) tend to get a manic "eat all the things" kind of day.
If this is true in your case, there's a few things you could try: 1) try nudging yourself closer to maintenance and include a few more carbs. 2) plan a "refeed" once a week where you eat some carbs and work to being under on a weekly average instead.0
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