I cant get past emotional eating

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  • Jomalone2
    Jomalone2 Posts: 129 Member
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    Look into some 12-step programs such as Overeaters Anonymous or Food Addicts Anonymous. They help people deal with the emotional and physical addictions to the food. I'm not sure about your faith but several years ago I went through the Weigh Down program at church and it helped me with this area. One of the biggest things it taught me was that the food doesn't love me back. It is a temporary fix for a much deeper emotional problem. Good luck, know that you aren't alone.
  • Jul158
    Jul158 Posts: 481 Member
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    A replacement behavior has worked well for me...but it takes a long time to really break the habit. You have to really be aware of when you're eating for emotional reasons and automatically replace eating with something else. For me, I put my Ipod on and listen to a upbeat song (that makes me feel energetic and good about myself!) and go for a walk. I can't eat if I'm not around food. I also have found that reading a really good book or going out for 'errands' (wandering Target) helps distract me.
    I've realized that I can do soe many more things when I'm not sulking around the kitchen trying to find something to eat. It takes time..but give it a few weeks to see if your new behavior works! If not, try something else. The first step is recognizing the issue, then creating a plan to fix it! Good for you for realizing it now : )
  • sjv1966
    sjv1966 Posts: 121 Member
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    When I first started doing this I spent a lot of time reading books (on my kindle) written by people telling their weight loss stories. Reading these stories helped me to work through some of my issues with emotional eating. And I think it makes a difference to read something book-length and not just blogs or posts. In a book the author really has time to explore the issues that they dealt with and it gives you time to think about the ways that what they went through applies to you. It also helps keeps your head in the game in general.
  • kikilieb
    kikilieb Posts: 118 Member
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    BUMP to read later.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,108 Member
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    posted by DesignGuy
    Everything is an evolution of patterns. Most people have trouble because they try to go from one extreme to the other overnight

    This is so true. Just keep chipping away at patterns.

    Something that helped me a lot when I was eating mindlessly was to write in a Journal. Mine is on my computer, and I've written in it for five years, developing strategies for dealing with emotional eating.

    I log everything I eat. I realized that I don't need more than 2000 calories a day to maintain. So anything above that is out of control, and I don't like that at all.

    You have the power within you to heal your emotions. If you write them down, you will be really surprised what comes out when you are healing yourself.

    If hunger isn't the problem, food isn't the solution.


  • MonkeyMoo08
    MonkeyMoo08 Posts: 24
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    Something that has really helped me: crushed ice - or the kind you can buy at Sonic. I too am an emotional eater. I eat when I am bored, upset, tired, etc. etc. I had fallen into a routine of having ice cream every night after dinner while my hubby and I watched TV. Now, I grab a cup of ice and munch on it. It is cold and gives the same eating actions, but without all the calories.
  • nathanas85
    nathanas85 Posts: 19
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    Here is a tip that helped me with emotional eating. Flip your emotion, use your emotion, anger, depression, pain or whatever it is, use it for a workout! Go for a walk, run, aerobics, weight resistance. Use your emotion to inspire you to workout instead of eating.
  • Sunscreenandsweat
    Sunscreenandsweat Posts: 190 Member
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    Drink water, look at clothes online, call a friend, take a shower, brush your teeth, go for a walk or a drive, go to the gym, talk to someone online, make a list of reasons you want to lose weight, ask yourself if you're actually hungry, take a nap, draw a picture, read a book and best of all plan out your food for the day the night before, if it's not on the menu then don't put it in your mouth.
  • sweetpotatofry
    sweetpotatofry Posts: 209 Member
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    I had a tough last two weeks at work and was also overeating due to stress (and TOM). I wish there were an easy way to get over emotional eating, but here are a few things I've gathered over the years:

    - Exercise helps, but sometimes it might only help to a point. It'll distract you from whatever you're feeling for an hour or so but once you stop, it might come back again. Nevertheless, it's good to sweat it out, even if the adrenaline rush is temporary.

    - Be easier on yourself. If you know that eating will make you feel better (before the guilt settles in), maybe you should eat something. The last week I was constantly hungry and eating and still hungry, but if I'd deprived myself I think I would've felt even worse because with everything to worry about, being hungry was really the last thing I needed on my mind. I've noticed that giving my body what it wants, in moderation, sometimes works better than ignoring it altogether.

    - If possible, tackle the root problem. What are you avoiding thinking about, when you reach for food instead? Sometimes we can't solve the problems that are really bothering us, the sources of stress, but being honest with yourself and letting yourself be in that moment could help in the long run. I often eat to not think at all - and that's horrible! By not thinking I'm letting these problems fester and they'll only cause bigger problems later.

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