How do you overcome cravings and stress eating urges?
milokoma
Posts: 5 Member
Hello All,
As a person who struggles with cravings and stress eating, I was hoping we could talk a bit about how people overcome these urges. I thought it may be a bit inspiring to discuss it as a group. I will start with a personal example.
Once I was really struggling at work. I was super stressed and the kitchenette was loaded with every doughnut you could imagine, including my personal favorite - a custard filled, vanilla frosted, long john. (This was before I was diagnosed with an intolerance for gluten.) I held strong for several hours, and finally I couldn't take it anymore. Just before giving in, I sent an email to a friend on another floor who was part of my support system. Before I knew it, she was behind me with two of our other dieting co-workers, and they were demanding that I go to the kitchenette with them. They marched me into the room and asked me which one was the problem. Stunned and speechless I pointed at the long john. My friend said, "this one?" as she grabbed it off the platter. Then as she forcefully destroyed the long john by squeezing it to death, she told me that I work way too hard to give into a lousy doughnut. Her seriousness left the four of us laughing to the point of tears. I quickly overcame the urge, and couldn't have loved them more for being my support system. It is great having friends to reach out to in moments of weakness.
So, what do you do?
As a person who struggles with cravings and stress eating, I was hoping we could talk a bit about how people overcome these urges. I thought it may be a bit inspiring to discuss it as a group. I will start with a personal example.
Once I was really struggling at work. I was super stressed and the kitchenette was loaded with every doughnut you could imagine, including my personal favorite - a custard filled, vanilla frosted, long john. (This was before I was diagnosed with an intolerance for gluten.) I held strong for several hours, and finally I couldn't take it anymore. Just before giving in, I sent an email to a friend on another floor who was part of my support system. Before I knew it, she was behind me with two of our other dieting co-workers, and they were demanding that I go to the kitchenette with them. They marched me into the room and asked me which one was the problem. Stunned and speechless I pointed at the long john. My friend said, "this one?" as she grabbed it off the platter. Then as she forcefully destroyed the long john by squeezing it to death, she told me that I work way too hard to give into a lousy doughnut. Her seriousness left the four of us laughing to the point of tears. I quickly overcame the urge, and couldn't have loved them more for being my support system. It is great having friends to reach out to in moments of weakness.
So, what do you do?
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Replies
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Awesome story! It's really great that you have such an awesome support system
I'm currently trying to fight my winterly cravings for sweets, but I'm not successful yet, so sadly no useful advice from me..0 -
DITTO!0
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I try to do what you did - call on a support system to help me remember WHY I don't actually want the stress food.
At the end of the day, there are foods I love that I will use to binge. So I buy a small quantity and give it to a coworker who is also losing weight to dole out in appropriate portions (she literally hides almonds in her office for me) and I do the same for her. At home, I don't keep anything I could binge on in the house. So if I stress eat, it's carrots or nuts or something that won't totally kill my diet.
And if I'm out at dinner and a burger sounds good, I'll get the burger. Or I'll split the dessert with someone. It's a combo of self control and setting myself up to win, not to fail.0 -
So sensible. I love seeing posts like this. You rock 0
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^^^ I love your use name!0
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I typically eat out of boredom, so they key for me is to get up & be active. ( I don't eat ANYTHING when stressed.) I used to snack all night, but Shakeology has gotten rid of my desire to snack. Be sure to eat plenty of fiber.0
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I have my husband hide food from me in the house as well. In some cases, I make him take it to work or I throw it out all together. With a Costco membership, sometimes the bulk purchases just allow too many temptations. I also keep some stuff on top of the freezer we keep in the basement since I don't frequent that area. Out of sight out of mind kind of a situation.0
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That is seriously awesome to have a support system at work like that! I just push thru it mentally. Fridays are my off day to be a little more flexible. I just try and tell myself to wait it out and on Friday ill have something good! Most of the time that works! A little sad but true!0
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It was fantastic having that support system. I have since moved on from that firm, and I now work from home as a small business owner. So, I am having to readjust how I handle cravings while I am on my own for the vast majority of the day. What I have found is that I seriously lack self-discipline when no one is here to catch me. I find it disturbing, and I wonder why I can't seem to control it the majority of the time. I would like to think that it's not because I fail to respect myself, but I think that's denial of an underlying issue. So for now, I resist cravings by not bringing foods into my home. (Though in weak moments, I do.) However, it is unfortunate for my husband who has the self-control of a saint. He shouldn't have to "suffer" the rest of our lives and not have access to foods he can easily enjoy in healthy moderation, just because I lack self-control. I definitely need to work on this. (For the record, my husband is very supportive through all this, and has never complained.)0
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Heey, it is matter of defining the right CAL BUDGET for you. You do not need to suffer and starve. I lose weight enjoying myself. If I can do it you can. Feel free to look at my food diary and you will see there is not much I deprive of. You don't have to.
Enjoy to eat a bit of your favorite chocolate and follow your Cal Budget. Stop the suffering....0 -
Heey, it is matter of defining the right CAL BUDGET for you. You do not need to suffer and starve. I lose weight enjoying myself. If I can do it you can. Feel free to look at my food diary and you will see there is not much I deprive of. You don't have to.
Enjoy to eat a bit of your favorite chocolate and follow your Cal Budget. Stop the suffering....
My sense from the original poster was not that she was (a) suffering or (b) starving, but dealing with an emotional/psychological craving for food. Upping your calories or finding that right budget does nothing to help with that type of craving.0 -
I used to live with someone wh whom I felt depressed often late at night and would pace the house until I ate something nice to mellow my mood. I later realised that being absorbed in a good book was just as indulgent a fix until I could find a more permanent solution the the root cause of my stress.0
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You may say that, Purpleprose, but me, as a permanent overeater all my life, I realize that I liked food too much and was not willing to sacrifice that for losing weight.
I discovered that a process of "dieting" was awful and like a punishment for "behaving badly".
i discovered later that it was just a matter of understanding how the process works and adapt to it with whatever I like and have at hand.
Once you eat, it is because you like eating, and you enjoy food.
Other issues, should be dealt with professional psychiatric help, but I believe, that in most cases, it is just pure lack of knowledge that an be easily solved.
Many people have done it here and it can be done. If you go through the "Success Stories" part of this boards all of them say " If I could, you sure can"..
Go on my friend and stop the misery... Have fun following the rules, eating what you like..
Start a process that will start showing results in as little as a month!...
It is my honest advice from experience withouth trying to disturb anyone..0 -
It's totally legit that it worked for you - great! I'm not willing to sacrifice food I like as I lose weight, either - I thoroughly enjoy indulgences. I've been at this over 2 years because of a certain unwillingness to give up foods that I enjoy. I do not "diet" as I agree with you on how it can feel like a punishment.
But there are certain foods that I crave emotionally and not from a place of caloric need and that's where I think the OP was coming from - she needed some coping strategies for dealing with those immediate feelings of "THERE"S DOUGHNUTS IN THE BREAKROOM AND I"M STRESSED AND WANT THEM ALL NOW!!" There are certain foods that I LOVE that I can't have in the house or in my desk because I know that I lack the self-control when I'm feeling sad, angry, upset, bored, frustrated, etc. I know that I will turn to them for comfort. So I have strategies to still enjoy those foods in moderation and have set myself up to succeed.
Your mileage may vary. 0 -
It's totally legit that it worked for you - great! I'm not willing to sacrifice food I like as I lose weight, either - I thoroughly enjoy indulgences. I've been at this over 2 years because of a certain unwillingness to give up foods that I enjoy. I do not "diet" as I agree with you on how it can feel like a punishment.
But there are certain foods that I crave emotionally and not from a place of caloric need and that's where I think the OP was coming from - she needed some coping strategies for dealing with those immediate feelings of "THERE"S DOUGHNUTS IN THE BREAKROOM AND I"M STRESSED AND WANT THEM ALL NOW!!" There are certain foods that I LOVE that I can't have in the house or in my desk because I know that I lack the self-control when I'm feeling sad, angry, upset, bored, frustrated, etc. I know that I will turn to them for comfort. So I have strategies to still enjoy those foods in moderation and have set myself up to succeed.
Your mileage may vary.
Phew! you are really a winner.. Surely we all have emotional foods! A pizza is a spiritual journey for me!.. I can't refuse it I accept it, but I know I have to have control on whatever is left of the day or the week.. I had my treat and also keep on.. you know that too well..
Best of luck into your journey too!!.. You are for sure loving it, and I can see it from your avatar!!!0 -
I love that story! Good for your friend for squishing that donut!
My thing is chips... especially Doritos. I found that cutting them totally out of my diet made the cravings worse when I "needed" some Doritos. So I got a bag of the really thick and spicy ones, and when I feel like some Doritos are in order, I'll grab just 3 or 4 and have at it. Usually that'll curb the craving and, I don't feel the need to eat them like it's my last day.
Good luck!0 -
Hahaha - yes, that was me after my first-ever half marathon! I never thought I would want to run one, let alone actually do it! :happy:0
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That is a great system! Way to go for reaching out! I don't have that so what I do when I feel like eating something (snacks or meals) that I know may be bad, I check it here to see how many calories, fat, carbs, etc. are in whatever it is. This prevents me from eating it! When it see it right in front of me and I see how badly it would mess up my day, I don't do it!0
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Self control :smokin:0
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Great story! Great job! :-)0
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There is a wonderful book called "The Hunger Fix" by Pam Peeke MD. It's goes into depth about why we feel the need to eat things when stressed and why we give in to the cravings even though we don't want to. I have just begun reading it and can recommend it already!
Good Luck Everyone! :flowerforyou:0 -
Hello All,
As a person who struggles with cravings and stress eating, I was hoping we could talk a bit about how people overcome these urges. I thought it may be a bit inspiring to discuss it as a group. I will start with a personal example.
Once I was really struggling at work. I was super stressed and the kitchenette was loaded with every doughnut you could imagine, including my personal favorite - a custard filled, vanilla frosted, long john. (This was before I was diagnosed with an intolerance for gluten.) I held strong for several hours, and finally I couldn't take it anymore. Just before giving in, I sent an email to a friend on another floor who was part of my support system. Before I knew it, she was behind me with two of our other dieting co-workers, and they were demanding that I go to the kitchenette with them. They marched me into the room and asked me which one was the problem. Stunned and speechless I pointed at the long john. My friend said, "this one?" as she grabbed it off the platter. Then as she forcefully destroyed the long john by squeezing it to death, she told me that I work way too hard to give into a lousy doughnut. Her seriousness left the four of us laughing to the point of tears. I quickly overcame the urge, and couldn't have loved them more for being my support system. It is great having friends to reach out to in moments of weakness.
So, what do you do?
Oh god I love this! :laugh: You have the greatest co-workers ever!0 -
I strip and take a long hard look in the mirror to remind myself why I DON'T want to overeat. It's not worth it...
plus, I know that if I do give in to stress eating urges that I will feel WORSE after. I remind myself of this.
I also have 'go to foods' to replace the comfort foods. Stuff that isn't unhealthy. Carrots. Lettuce. Etc.
But the absolute best thing to do to overcome cravings... is to not keep those foods in your home. I have almost NO FOOD in my house. It was the only way I could overcome night time cravings. Can't eat it if it's not there!!! 0 -
Can't see your food diary.Heey, it is matter of defining the right CAL BUDGET for you. You do not need to suffer and starve. I lose weight enjoying myself. If I can do it you can. Feel free to look at my food diary and you will see there is not much I deprive of. You don't have to.
Enjoy to eat a bit of your favorite chocolate and follow your Cal Budget. Stop the suffering....
I have a similar attitude about eating creatively to include the food I really like. Mostly that works, but some days its different...I go way overboard like MaraDiaz described. It is a way to handle stress that really does not work out very well in the long run, but at the moment seems to be the best solution. I recently made a commitment on the INTENTIONS website to include meditation and yoga in my daily routine in an attempt to handle the stress issue. Too soon to see the results. Will make a topic if it helps a lot.0 -
My first option: is exercise. My second option is checking my current progress, and calculate what I have to do to get where I want to be. My third option is logging into Youtube and search for super obese persons eating to death... it reminds me where I started. My fourth option is searching for motivational videos.0
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I also do not eat any of my trigger foods. None. Not even yummy, healthy-seeming cashews.
And I have all these jeans I found in the bottom of my closet that I used to be able to wear. I try them on ridiculously often, seeing which fit, which are too big, and which still create that dreaded muffintop like the one in my profile pic. Or worse, the busted can of cookie dough top!
I love my jeans, they really show me what I've lost even when the scale is stubborn.0 -
I just started this week, so I'm not in a position to give advice, but I, too, suffer cravings for a treat at night. So far, I've gotten through it by telling myself, "You can look forward to having more to eat tomorrow."
I also like to read a good book at night, so that's a distraction and takes my mind off of food.
Now I pray that this lasts so that I create a new habit of not eating after dinner.0 -
I am trying to do this right now, but my family -(teen boy and diabetic husband )-are rebellingI strip and take a long hard look in the mirror to remind myself why I DON'T want to overeat. It's not worth it...
plus, I know that if I do give in to stress eating urges that I will feel WORSE after. I remind myself of this.
I also have 'go to foods' to replace the comfort foods. Stuff that isn't unhealthy. Carrots. Lettuce. Etc.
But the absolute best thing to do to overcome cravings... is to not keep those foods in your home. I have almost NO FOOD in my house. It was the only way I could overcome night time cravings. Can't eat it if it's not there!!!
Their favs are foods that I can get crazy with. Am considering a locked cabinet. 0 -
I try very very hard to remember the crappy feeling I'll have when I've given into the urge. I may also quickly estimate the calories and think about the exercise I need to do to get back to even.0
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I have made the commitment to myself to log in my food diary before I eat anything. Last night I was adding a recipe into my phone with a toddler screaming on my leg so that I knew if we had to adjust it before we ate it. So far, seeing the reality of the food added to my log has done one of two things. Either I eat it and know what I need to adjust for the remainder of the day or I see how unworthy it is. Usually, I decide the instant gratification isn't worth it and I'll use my calories for something else.0
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