What Triggers Your Overeating Habits?

simplyblessed89

We're all here to encourage each other to reach a healthier weight and a balanced life. I'm curious to see what you're fighting right now when it comes to the bad habit of overeating.

My personal confession to this question is boredom.
I stay at home with my 9 month old son and I find that on the days we are just home, I find myself munching throughout the day, despite the fact I am not physically hungry. Anything that sounds good - cookies, chips, anything with chocolate in it, etc - sets off my mindless munching. I am constantly trying to fight this because I've got only 3lbs left until I reach my goal, but especially with it being winter, it's hard not to be bored. I love baking too, which doesn't help my cause, haha.

Feel free to comment and post your own if you have them. Let's encourage each other.

p_cakes

mine would have to be boredom as well.

I can't ever tell if I'm actually hungry or not. My job, I work Friday-sunday, and sometimes a couple days of the week. On my off days, I usually do errands, but sometimes I'm at home. That's when I start eating.

Recently, however, I've started trying to do more. When I feel bored, I'll get up and find something to do. Even if I have to refold already folded clothes, it keeps me busy and not eating. Not to mention I'm OCD on organizing, so there is usually SOMETHING i could be doing.

TakeOne

Good question. During the past 11 mos. I have examined the same questions. For me it is a toss up. Sometimes it is when I am having a good time with close friends and overindulge a little on eating and drinking. I have gotten a good control on this trigger because really when you feel good it is easier to think clearer. Why would I want to throw away what I have worked the past year for?? Other times it is when I feel extremely hurt (which coming out of a divorce, this happens occasionally). This trigger is much more difficult to get control over. But when you can think clearly you have to ask yourself - Why am I gonna hurt myself just because someone else did?? It is like letting that person (or whatever it is) continue to hurt you. I am stronger than that. Knowing your triggers is the key to avoiding letting yourself go down that path.

Zabarilla

For me its a combination of emotional eating and being bored. I'm a stay at home mom as well but I have extreamly bad anxiety and panic attacks that meds do nothing for. Well unless I want to be a blob drooling on the couch and thats just not a life I want to live. I have my beautiful baby girl to care for. This past year has been a very trying one. Which is why I have all this extra weight. It wasn't until yesterday that I really saw the emotional eating. I told myself I had it under control and it wasn't really emotional eating. HA!! I fought it all day long yesterday and gave in a few times. I don't know what kind of damage I would of done had I not been tracking. I'm hoping getting healthy again will help with my anxiety.

newdaydawning79

I'm an emotional eater too. If something upsets me during the day or I get stressed out, my brain tells me I NEED something bad. Usually it's McDonalds or chocolate. I've been really good about it though, if I decide to treat myself to chocolate I take a couple miniatures out of the bag, add them to my tracker before I eat them, then that's all I get. I haven't touched fast food since I started this journey, although one day the temptation nearly won out. What I did instead? Bought a frozen cheeseburger and a bag of french fries from the grocery store. Baked some fries, cooked the burger, and ended up at less than half of what I would have if I'd gone to the restaurant! I was very proud of that day, I have to say. LOL

2hdesign

Stress! A bad, stressful day at work and I come home screaming for Papa Johns and ice cream. Always a sign. Fortunately, I'm learning to tell it no, but it's not easy. Running helps, as does lifting weights. Even a 15 minute power walk with the dog helps if I'm not up to anything else.

At work, if I think I'm hungry (which usually means I'm bored and/or procrastinating), I drink a bunch of water. Usually it helps. Sometimes I have to go for a walk - try and get my mind off of it.

Habit - when reading a book or watching a movie. It's so hard to break these habits, so I either don't watch the movie/read or I allow myself a healthier, lower calorie snack. The goal is to move to where I don't even miss not having a snack with these.

addie807

For me it would mainly be boredom. Another reason would be my period. I tend to eat more when it comes to that time of the month.

downtome

Yeah, boredom, stress and being overly emotional. I also have a hard time about a week or so before my period, I tend to be extremely hungry and I hate that. I had to just up my calories from 1400 to 1600 because I found I kept going over and it wasn't enough for me. Between midnight and 3am is when I have the most issues with eating, I get so hungry, my stomache is growling so there goes some of my calories for the day. I'm up very late which makes it that much harder for me. I have come along way in the 2 months since I have started, I used to eat 2-3 pints of Ben & Jerry's "Coffee Heath Crunch " icecream EVERYDAY! I know, pretty bad! Thank goodness I don't do that anymore!

knittnponder

I get frustrated because things aren't going as well as I want them to with the scale so then I sabotage myself. It's ridiculous really! I want to be healthy and feel good more than I want to see the number on the scale go down but then I get all obsessed with the stupid thing and then end up throwing in the towel! In fact, I've been struggling with that this week.

I just decided yesterday that I'm going to have my husband hide the stupid thing and only give it to me once a week (for now. If I need it to be longer then we'll adjust the timing.)

That way if the scale is out of the picture I can focus on the things I need to focus on anyway, eating well and exercising. Several years ago I lost close to 50 pounds and was doing great! Then I had a baby and I've started a bazillion times but never had much success since that first time. I really, REALLY want to do it this time! I tend to be a bit of a loner when it comes to this type of thing so I think I am also needing to plug in here more and be real (hence this post.)

MontanaB

recently I've found that stress or anxiety gives me the munchies..I also realised on Friday that I'm a really bad social muncher and that I need to be a lot more strict with myself - a small individual pizza is plenty for me and not half a large stuffed crust!!

I'm like quite a few others on here..I'm so happy when the scale goes down that I feel like I need to reward myself and in doing so I end up self sabotaging my good work I need to learn that rewards don't have to be food and maybe that will help me

ajbeans

I have a variety of triggers. Generally on the days I can't stop eating, it's because I need more protein or iron, but since the snacks I reach for are carby, I don't satisfy my need and I keep eating. Tracking my calories and nutrients has helped me SO much in that regard -- I had no idea just how little protein I was getting!

Also, when I don't get enough sleep, I crave sugar and eat it all day long. It's a problem.

taletreader

Too much good food on a plate. I like food -- and I've been mostly eating pretty healthy food, just too much of it.

The other one is similar: availability of high-calorie snacks that should only be eaten as a treat, like an entire 100g bar of chocolate, a bag of fruit gummis or a bag of almonds. I've cut out most of these, regretfully, or scavenge the occasional single piece when someone else offers them. (Except for nuts, which I either count or weigh.)

mistawalka

For me it is pure laziness - as a shiftworker I know I have 'take-away' options whilst at work but none are healthy. Its taken using MFP to focus on just how bad those options are and motivate me to prepare my lunch/dinner to take to work.

sbwood888

The worse time for me is in the evening when I am sitting in front of the TV----which I LOVE to do. I just want to constantly snack and watch tv (in the dark). It is sooooo comforting to me to be sitting in front of the tv and snacking with a blanket on me ---preferably all alone. (me time) When the hubby and the kids are there, I don't get to be so quiet and relaxed. I guess the comfort comes from years of cultivating this bad habit. Oh, well. At least my bad habit is legal. :laugh:

katschi

I get frustrated because things aren't going as well as I want them to with the scale so then I sabotage myself. It's ridiculous really! I want to be healthy and feel good more than I want to see the number on the scale go down but then I get all obsessed with the stupid thing and then end up throwing in the towel! In fact, I've been struggling with that this week.

Oh man, this is me to a tee.
Impatience has killed every single one of my attempts at finally ridding myself of the excess weight.
No more!

Suzy_B

I have a few triggers....snacking at night while watching tv, so I try to keep cut up veggies & stuff to snack on & also cut back on the amount of tv I watch. Not having a meals planned is a big one for me as well. Dinner time comes & I'm hungry so I just grab take-out because it's quicker. Also MFP helped me realize that skipping breakfast was a big one, when I do this I snack all night long.

LorinaLynn

Depression, anxiety, boredom and sometimes... food that tastes way too darn good to stop!

I think a big part of my weight gain was inactivity, though. I went from having a physically demanding job where I was on my feet and lugging heavy things all day to being an unemployed facebook addict. :embarassed: I'm normally good at maintaining when I lead a more active life.

dream_litotes

Sooo many things, unfortunately! MFP is helping big time with most of them, yay.

- being too lazy to cook dinner. Now that I see exactly what I'm eating, I realise that I've been undereating "real" meals significantly ever since I moved away from my parents, which has led to snacking in the evenings. I've started planning at least one day in advance, and it helps so much - especially when I've taken things out of the freezer because I haven't the heart to throw stuff away, so I simply have to cook every day.

- schoolwork. I'm a university student and I used to have an established system of "do that piece of work and then have a cookie" and I would sometimes have that cookie even if I didn't REALLY want it. I would also never eat just one of anything - I can easily eat a whole pack of biscuits or 100g of chocolate or whatever else is around. Right now I'm trying to never keep more snacks at home than I would be all right eating in one bad day, and so far that seems to be working!

- stress, anxiety and depression are still by far the hardest situations. It's so very easy to buy something when I'm feeling awful (which is unfortunately often), plus I have a hard time seeing why I shouldn't eat when I'm in a bad place. I can't convince myself that I'm worth it, or that I will actually ever see results, and so on. I am also really hoping that the exercise and generally better health will help reduce my anxiety (which will in turn be fantastic for my stress levels).

- when I'm at home (with my parents, that is - I'm only 20 and their home is still my home...) I have a hard time not snacking in front of the TV, too. They almost always have something (nuts, crisps, ice cream, chocolate, anything!) and unless I completely abstain I end up eating far too much. Knitting helps! I love knitting while watching movies and it keeps my hands busy so I can't reach for those unnecessary tasties. I would definitely recommend learning a craft as a distraction! (On the other hand, knitting time steals exercise time...but that's a whole other matter!)

ukredhead19

Every EMOTION! stress..i eat, boredom...i eat, happy...lets celebrate by eating, sad...lets drown our sorrows by eating, i even find myself wanting to reward my weight loss with eating!!!

I've always used food as a comfort/celebration...so my new goals have been working to find replacements for these "coping" tactics...like actually dealing with the emotion instead of eating!!

stressed....don't eat, ask what do I need to do to not be stressed (trust me eating chocolate is only temporary and will cause more stress over weight later!!)

bored....go walk, get up and get some water and chug it then you won't want to eat...go online to MFP and read posts!!!

sad...don't eat, it will only make it worse when you start feeling guilty, so pamper yourself in a positive way...take a shower, read a book, talk to someone about why you are sad...

Many times I think we all use food as a distraction from the real issues...well its time to "Get real" with ourselves if this is going to be a lifestyle change!! (I know easier said then done), but just realizing this is the first step to making the right decision when you find yourself driven to eat when you know you are not hungry.