Do you stress eat?

seltzermint555

I am sure that I do stress eat sometimes, but it is within my calories and usually within my macros. Wow, boring answer, eh?

Generally when something happens and there is really NOTHING I can do about it...I will be more likely to stress eat. Like when my husband's parents died (both recently but for different reasons) I instantly wanted full fat ice cream both times and indulged. Or if something stressful happens at work I'll be more likely to want to pick up some chocolate or go out to dinner instead of going home and cooking a healthy meal.

In years past I did that WAYYYYY too much. In fact after hovering around 260 lb for a decade I shot up to 307 (my all-time high) because I got a "better" job that was much more stressful and difficult. So I was practically "rewarding" myself with food and lattes for making it through each day. NOT good!!

When really bad stuff happens though I can sometimes lose my appetite. There was a very bad tornado in my town a few years ago, it killed a lot of people (some I knew), destroyed my house, and basically a third of my hometown was gone in a flash. That experience made it very difficult for me to eat for about a month and especially the first week I could basically only keep down some Kit Kats and tea. I know some people who have lost a lot of weight since the tornado, and I know other people who have binged and gained large amounts of weight since going through the same ordeal. Everyone deals with stuff differently. (as for me I lost weight in the year before it happened, then stayed at the same weight for about 2 years before I joined MFP and started losing again)

FromFlabToFurious

I'm not ashamed to admit that I eat with emotions- big time! The worst thing is that whenever I'm upset, mad, angry, scared...anything negative, I want food instantly. Sometimes, I can get easily stressed because of people and the first thing I think about is toffee popcorn, which is my weakness. I can very easily eat a big bag to myself and feel better whilst eating it but after I eat it, I feel even worse.

The last time I 'fell off the wagon' so to speak was about 9-10 months back when work life and my friends as well were stressing me right out. I just bought a few bags of chocolate peanuts and a couple of bags of toffee popcorn and scoffed the lot in one night without anyone knowing. To stop it, I tend to look at myself in the mirror and remind myself that I'm losing weight and that it's a temporary fix. It almost goes, it lingers a bit but it eventually goes. There's been a few times where I felt like doing the same thing recently but when I have a thought like that popping into my head, I quickly go to the fruit and veg and buy fruit. If I can't do that, I'll do a quick five-minute jabs and uppercuts. Works almost instantly.

Chieflrg

Nah...stress is not good for my body...

amandakev88

i stress-everything. stress eat, stress smoke, stress sleep, stress drink, stress pill pop [prescribed though not abuse], stress starve, stress exercise [im liking this one the best these days]

eating your feelings is a hard habit to break. best advice i ever got:

'feel your feelings. when you won't feel your feelings, corporate america wins. its when you eat garbage, choke your feelings literally back dwn with cigarettes, watch dirty movies, etc'

no idea what i actually contributed to this thread, but yeah, i have stress eaten.. ive been better lately. i did have a chocolate binge the other day. but thats nothing compared to what it used to be like!

amandakev88

I'm not ashamed to admit that I eat with emotions- big time! The worst thing is that whenever I'm upset, mad, angry, scared...anything negative, I want food instantly. Sometimes, I can get easily stressed because of people and the first thing I think about is toffee popcorn, which is my weakness. I can very easily eat a big bag to myself and feel better whilst eating it but after I eat it, I feel even worse.

this. once, many years ago, when my belly was all bloated, and somebody asked if i was pregnant [the turd], i got upset.. but where did i go right after, during my break? to mcds, to get a junior chicken.

habits CAN be broken =]

another thing ive learned lately that helps--stay full throughout the day. like really full [on healthy stuff]. even if you crave the garbage, you'll be too full to really go for it. =]

1brokegal44

No...just the opposite. Don't eat, don't sleep. Might drink too much though.

UsaJewels05

I think I used to, but I do not stress eat per se. I would say it is more of a stressful or busy time I eat out more. My grandmother died in November and the week she was in the hospital and the week after were 2 weeks of nothing but take out.

In other situations I try to stick with bringing my food or cooking at home and hitting the gym. The gym makes me feel not as stressed.

geebusuk

Yes, I stress eat. (Only once when I was incredibly 'down' have I not had an appetite - maybe twice, can't remember the details from the earlier one when I was 11.)
I also 'happy' eat. And "neither happy nor sad' eat.

Yep, that'd be why I'm on this site .

Amazonbella

Depends on what it is: when my mom was in the hospital I didn't have an appetite.

When I miscolor my hair and can't get to the salon right away, I will eat anything I can find.

MizMiami305

Where you goooo chucky!!!!! Come back soon!! :flowerforyou:

sassabella

I don't binge or anything like that but i definitely eat less healthily...like I'll seek for comfort foods rather than stick to healthier things (aka: chocolate is a big one for me)

spirit095

When I'm really stressed, I tend to not want to eat. It's when I'm bored, that I'll usually find myself snacking too much. I've never really binged, though.

nikkylyn

Sometimes especially in thr winter when its all grey n depressing. I try to keep it in check. Usually ill notice hey I had icecream and 9 oreos I think I should chill out..

kbmnurse

NO. More like when I am bored.

RobinvdM

I stress eat. It is a crappy coping mechanism. To prevent going in the wrong direction I try and identify why Im stressed and eat accordingly.

I eat all my feelings.

Example: Raging angry at the spouse? Eat a lot of satisfyingly crunchy things like apples, or carrots.
Get a quote on repairing my furnace at 5 figures? Eat cake. Then go for an hour long power walk to vent.

To prevent going overboard is just a matter of replacing bad food choices with better, and accepting the fact that you binged - get over it, do better. The problem with binge eating stress is people wind up compounding their existing issues because they feel guilty (stressed) about the way they oped with stress. Yay to vicious circles unless you have better control than I do.

montana_girl

I am definitely a stress/emotional eater. That's why this year has been such a struggle for me with keeping the weight off. I've gained about 10 to 15 pounds over the year because I eat instead of dealing with my problems. It's something I've done forever so it's hard habit to break. I just track everything, own up to it, and move on by trying to have a better day today.

FromFlabToFurious

I'm not ashamed to admit that I eat with emotions- big time! The worst thing is that whenever I'm upset, mad, angry, scared...anything negative, I want food instantly. Sometimes, I can get easily stressed because of people and the first thing I think about is toffee popcorn, which is my weakness. I can very easily eat a big bag to myself and feel better whilst eating it but after I eat it, I feel even worse.

this. once, many years ago, when my belly was all bloated, and somebody asked if i was pregnant [the turd], i got upset.. but where did i go right after, during my break? to mcds, to get a junior chicken.

habits CAN be broken =]

another thing ive learned lately that helps--stay full throughout the day. like really full [on healthy stuff]. even if you crave the garbage, you'll be too full to really go for it. =]

Thanks for this! It's really hard and it doesn't help when people tend to think it's something that isn't serious. It's not exactly easy to overcome but I've been doing really well. As I said, if I do get a quick crave, I'll go to the fruit section and get some fruit. Tends to take my mind off the binge.

lirirod

When i'm stress i always eat. Is usually when I feel bad about my appearance that I pig out badly like that will help me get toned. People have told me to look for a hobby to do but when your stress that's the last thing I want to do, I find comfort in food. Now when I'm stress I just talk it out with someone.
I guess you could do the same, you could find a solution to your stress by talking with someone or just clear your mind for a while and that would bring your appetite back to normal.

Fridaklo77

Yes, I tend to eat either fried stuff or chocolate or anything sweet. I just ate a cookie with frosting...

apercanis

I lose my appetite when I'm stressed, my problem is overindulging when I'm bored or could be doing something more productive (like working out for those high calorie snacks).

Yanicka1

No, stress make me lose my appetite. I remember when my ex tried to take custody of our daughter away from me, I was preggo at the time and gained a whopping 4 pounds the whole pregnancy.

BraveNewdGirl

I don't stress eat so much as I... stress energy drink. I KNOW. They're BAD. SO BAD. I'm BAD. BAD. BAD. BAD!* But the sweetness of the syrup and the kick of ALL TEH VITAMINZ (and other crap like Taurine, Guarana, Demon Ball Sweat, WHATEVER) that's probably cutting my life down a day per sip... it's so good... and I JUST. CAN'T. STOP. I NEED IT.





* More "BAD!" goes here.

luvmydog2

I am an emotional eater .. but point is what are we all doing to manage stress in our lives ?
When i have my emotions in control ... seems to help with looking for that extra little bit of something .:flowerforyou:

When i go shopping .. i focus on what i can have and not want i cant have ... Its hard i know but it works for me .

summertime_girl

I stress starve. It's bad. Like under 200 calories a day when I'm really stressed

CharleePear

Stress makes me both starve myself and binge eat. *who has an eating disorder? not me!*

I also smoke when I am under a lot of stress.

But I also workout a lot and sleep a lot so there is a mixed bag for you!

bb_lose_weight

I stress and sad eat. It's not pretty and I wish I could tell people how to "stop" but I don't know how to stop. I won't do this around people so one option is to get around people when you are feeling stressed or sad. (I live alone so this is sometimes hard) When things hit the "crapper" I can easily hit the local Fast Food joint and order 2 meals and then scarf those down and then look for more to eat all the while I am NOT even hungry.

How do I deal with this? Well for starters food logging is important, log the binge easier said than done I know. If possible hang out with a friend when you feel the "urge" maybe talking with a friend will help. Thing about all of the good things your doing to make yourself better and know that the binge eating your about to do isn't going to help you in any way.

Just my .02 cents

hungrypotato

I try and do something else so I don't binge, but I am not always successful. I've noticed that I usually binge if I stay up late like at 3 or 4 am so I try to go to bed at a decent time which stops me from binging. Usually during the day I can control myself.

Probably during the day I don't binge, because I am busy all day and at night i'm not doing much. Tired and stressed don't go well together.

arwacky

I just love eating all the time..

In all honesty I usually lose my appetite when stressed.

Hermit_Girl

I try and do something else so I don't binge, but I am not always successful. I've noticed that I usually binge if I stay up late like at 3 or 4 am so I try to go to bed at a decent time which stops me from binging. Usually during the day I can control myself.

Probably during the day I don't binge, because I am busy all day and at night i'm not doing much. Tired and stressed don't go well together.

That's pretty much what happens to me.

marinamur

I am a stress eater. When there is something stressful going on I feel like I need to cover it up with something good which is food. Just the other day I had a stress situation where I felt my appetite go from 0 to 100 in a second. But considering I finished all my calories for that day I held myself down. When I'm stressing I could keep eating for hours, doesn't matter if I'm not hungry any more, the food tastes good anyway.
While I have been doing this diet I guess I have stress eaten sometimes, but it keeps me more in control. I might eat over my calories by eating some more but I don't stay in front of the fridge and continue eating. And some days I can restrain myself from that at all.