I'm a stress eater.

karyn3037

Hi, everyone,

I am trying to figure out how to better deal with stress. I know, without a doubt, I binge eat when I'm stressed. My husband is my main source of stress and my main sabatoge(I know it's spelled wrong) culprit. I don't know what do to...I can't avoid him but I need to know if anyone has any good ideas on how to deal with not binge eating when I'm stressed.

Kary

abrandenburger

Stress/emotional eater over here. When I'm at home and I find myself wanting to eat out of boredom or stress, I try to exercise instead. I can take a walk or put on a workout DVD - anything to keep me away from the fridge.

Right now I'm at work, trying to resist the platter of cookies someone brought in and left in the kitchen. I'm chugging water like it's my job so that I can feel full and hopefully not even want a cookie.

yopeeps025

Get on MFP forums.

13bbird13

I do the same. Oddly, my sister is the exact opposite and can't eat if she's stressed... she faded away to nearly nothing during her divorce.

I find the best thing to do is keep my hands busy... pick up a book, my Kindle, some knitting, do a jigsaw puzzle, write a letter, anything. If my hands aren't free, it's hard to eat, and whatever I'm doing takes my mind off the fridge.

karyn3037

Get on MFP forums.

LOL see I solved my problem and didn't realize it LOL

kristinemckenna

i found s a licensed health psychologist specializing in cognitive-behavioral therapy and weight management. I go there together with my husband. It took me 4 years to get us both sitting there on the couch but it's the best thing we've ever done. I have realized that he wasn't understanding the impact of his behavior on me and I couldn't find the words to tell him how unhappy i was about our health. It's been 2 months and it's like a weight off my shoulders. We're functioning as a team.

hazleyes81

You and me both. The only real advice I can give is to identify your stressers and deal with them as best you can. For instance, one for me was money, so I developed a budget and tracking spreadsheet in excel so I can stay on top of bills and budget for the things I need. I am not any richer, but for now I just have to accept it for what it is.

Eating frequent meals helps me avoid the binge, as well as taking a moment to think about what you are eating and why. Is that bag of chips really going to solve my problems? Admittedly, it will make me feel better at that moment, but its keeping me one more day from my health goals and ultimately just adding to my stress.

Go for a walk. Clean something. Chew gum, drink water, snack on something low cal (celery, for example) until the urge passes. You just have to find what works for you.

yopeeps025

Well sometimes I see the status. I will emotional eat something on my newsfeed. My comment is I will PM you. There is a reason that they are doing that and we talk it out. It passes the time. Then conversation gets better for them when they had someone care enough to find out what is stressing them out. I just want them to succeed also with me.

onefortyone

I am a big emotional eater - I don't have stress right now but I have emotional pain and grief since my daughter died. And distractions work temporarily, but they are just that - distractions. Eating is a distraction from stress. Distracting yourself from eating as a distraction from stress might work for some people, and I hope we all find something that works for us long-term.

But for me, I can't trick myself into just not wanting to eat. It doesn't work, at least not for very long. 3 months and 20lbs, tops. Then I crack and start 'deserving' 2 servings of dinner and extra dessert on difficult days.

I have to deal with the problems that I want to eat away, not distract myself from them. I have to face my pain, feel it, and soothe it and comfort myself without resorting to food. I keep a private blog about my emotions, and I pour my heart out in there when I need to. I tell myself kind things. I do things to make me proud of myself - whether that's working towards fitness goals, artistic goals, or financial goals. If I can, I review my progress by looking at how far I've come. I now run further and lift heavier than I ever have been able to, even when I was lighter.

I don't know anything about you personally or your marriage - but I lean on my husband a great deal, and cannot imagine a life without him and his support. Is there a way to fix the source of your marital stress? Could you seek couple's counselling?

zcb94

That used to be some of me until I studied meditation, specifically in the realm of mindfulness. I encourage you and him to research, study and practice this style of meditation. You'll love it!

JenCat162

Keeping healthy snacks around like carrots or other veggies would only help with not stress eating a ton of calories and doesn't fix the problem. If you really want to stop stress eating then you need to work on cutting out the stress. This is very hard when it's all around you. Maybe try meditation or hypnosis?

karyn3037

Yeah, well, avoiding my stress is pretty difficult. I try talking to him and since he thinks he's doing nothing wrong it falls on deaf ears. I have tried the avoidance and trying to find a new habit to replace the binge eating and it seems to work in most cases.

kbmnurse

What's the problem with your husband. I f you don't love him

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please move on. When your stressed instead of eating go for a walk.

Juliarosemary66

I too am a stress eater- but the vast majority of the time I now manage to stop myself. I have learnt that its' no good eating your feelings or repressing your feelings- these feelings need to be dealt with. Not easy, Tbe key for me is identifying what my trigger situations are and trying to develop coping strategies that don't result in me binging. I never buy the foods that make me binge, I am not a one piece of chocolate sort of girl and I know rationally that I don't want to do it and it will only make me feel worse in the end. You sound insightful as to your triggers, maybe keep a mood diary. Using mfp to log calories keeps me focussed, I look at my reports as a distraction and to give myself motivation! I hope this is helpful I know myself how hard it is to overcome the urge to binge. Good luck.

Rangerfied

I'm an emotional eater too. If I feel stressed, nervous or even bored I'll grab food. I'm not even hungry yet I'll eat something and sometimes keep eating. It's after the fact that I say, "Why did I just do that?"

I've never smoked, but I've said that I compare it to a smoker trying to quit smoking. For some people it's really hard to do. But like it was pointed out to me, you need food to survive. So in a way it can be even harder. I'm still trying to figure out a way to control myself from grabbing food when I don't need too. It's a struggle for sure. Plus I've never really been thin. I've always been over weight since a child, so I don't really know what being thin feels like. I'm hoping one day I will.

arabianhorselover

I feel for you. There is nothing much worse than not getting along with someone you live with. I hope you can work it out.

weightlosstk

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meaghanmcb

Karyn, I can def identify with you both as a stress eater. I also lack motivation to exercise, so it's been a double whammy. Then my husband starts running and gets all on to fitness and I eat to deal with my jealousy of his motivation. What am I doing?!?
I've tried lots of different things - keeping healthy snacks nearby, not buying my trigger foods (chocolate), exercising when the munchies strike... And nothing has been sustainable. I've tried acupuncture (expensive) too, and then someone recommended guided imagery. Basically, it's hypnosis. I have an iPad so I chose hypnosis/guided imagery apps from SurfCity Apps. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/eat-healthy-hypnosis-free/id687270157?mt=8. I use Healthy Eating, Lose Weight, and Exercise Motivation ~ mostly the Lose Weight one because it's inclusive of diet and exercise; the apps all truly seems to make a difference.

I've been tracking my weight loss consistently now for 14 weeks. The 2 main changes: walking for 20-30 minutes 3 times a week and packing my lunch for work. I have tried this in the past, I've tried lots of things in the past, but nothing has ever lasted this long. I can't believe it's been 14 weeks! Granted, I've lost only 10 pounds but I would rather lose super slow and do it properly than any other way. I've stopped bingeing as much as I did 4 months ago, and it find myself making better choices. Could it be a placebo affect? Sure, but all I have to do is pop my headphones in before I go to sleep, and the recording helps me nod off quickly. Whatever it is - I think it's working.

Good luck!