Emotional Eating

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wingard14
wingard14 Posts: 2
in Food and Nutrition
I have been eating healthy and losing weight for months now. I used to be a huge emotional eater and prided myself in the fact that I conquered my cravings and was able to say no very firmly. But recently, I have been in emotional turmoil and I am always upset. The things that used to make me happy no longer do. Im starting to drift back to my old ways of emotional eating. I know Im full, but I keep eating because the taste of food seems like the only thing I enjoy anymore. This is such a dangerous way of thinking and I dont know what to do. Im so scared of gaining the weight back. When I feel sad and feel an urge to binge what should I do? What can I tell myself that will be convincing enough for me to put the food down? because in the moment happiness of my taste buds > joy and feeling of accomplishment i will feel when i get a six pack. help !

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  • 30ismyyear
    30ismyyear Posts: 145 Member
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    Find something to take the place of food! (I know, easier said than done). Perhaps go for a walk/run while listening to music to get through the emotions. Keep trigger foods out of the house. Find a support system! Someone you can call when you're down and who will talk you out of eating. Just throwing out ideas....
  • janetlynncollins
    janetlynncollins Posts: 1 Member
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    Remind yourself that it won't be worth it and remember that after eating it - you will be more stressed, sad or whatever the negative emotion you are experiencing is.
  • dothage
    dothage Posts: 1
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    If you've lost interest in everything except eating, it sounds like depression. You might want to see a counselor or therapist and get some help with that, which should help with the eating too.
  • PaulineKK
    PaulineKK Posts: 30
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    Drink a glass of water, then chew some gum...it's in your mouth, you are chewing and swallowing which helps with the behavior aspect.
  • misssaggybum
    misssaggybum Posts: 2
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    I'm quite similar to you...I eat for comfort. I'm a great one for gettting lean, fit and healthy and them BOOM back to bingeing again and ALL the fat comes back with it.
    I find keeping busy as possible helps to a certain degree...team sports, baking, walking, cycling, watching tv, reading magazines/books I find can help.
    Also treating yourself to maybe a hair color/cut, manicure, new clothes/shoes (especially workout gear) or a quick coffee now and then could be just enough to motivate you and keep feeling positive.
    I live on my computer in the evenings to try and distract myself from food as much as possible, lol!
    Good luck...you are not alone.
    :happy:
  • Mmmporkrinds
    Mmmporkrinds Posts: 192
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    Meditation can be helpful in cases where a lot of emotions or internal mental 'chatter' is causing a problem. It helps to train you to watch your emotions more objectively - observe them, recognise them, but with no pressure to 'fix' them or 'overcome' them - just observe them rather than engage with them. So your mental activity is less 'Oh my god I'm going to binge eat and put on weight, and why do I always do this', and more 'So I feel turmoil. That's interesting'. Just observe it, don't pass judgment, release it and let it go. I haven't done much in the way of meditation, but it could be worth a try!
  • msliu7911
    msliu7911 Posts: 639 Member
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    Do Not Give Up! I used to battle with this and I must say congratulations to you on your weight loss so far!

    When you feel an episode coming about, try to take a step back and separate yourself/your mind from the food and analyze what is causing you to want to eat. Is it because you are lonely? Is it because you received bad news about something? Is it because you're stressed, depressed, angry? If you can tackle WHAT is causing you to eat that way, you can face those issues head on and they won't continue to linger because let's face it- even after you finish with your eating, the issue is still there!

    I'd like to share my "ah-ha" moment with this: One day I was driving home from work in a perfectly good mood, I had been doing great with my eating for the day, and was excited for my evening workout. Stopped at WalMart real quick and some parking officer told me I had to move my car... long story short I felt I wasn't in the wrong but still moved the car, however that officer made me SO MAD! As I'm driving away from WalMart and approaching a Sonic I think to myself, "I'm stopping for an ice cream cone!" Was I hungry?? No! Had I even been craving an ice cream cone before the WalMart incident? NO! But somehow I was able to realize that I was using food to cope with my emotions (i.e. the anger/frustration that the parking officer caused). Overall it was a happy ending because I ended up not ordering the ice cream cone and continuing on my way! :)

    Ever since that moment I think more closely about the food I'm about to eat if its any time other than normal meal or snack time. If you'd like to add me or message me feel free but whatever you do don't give up. Success doesn't come easy and there are always going to be roadblocks, temptations, etc. trying to keep us from succeeding.. you will prevail. :)
  • clover5
    clover5 Posts: 1,643 Member
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    Gum will sometimes get me through a snack attack.

    And call a friend who will listen to you talk about the stress, or write a blog about it and get some support that way. It's more than just eating or not. It's stress management. Eating AT whoever or whatever is causing your stress will not change them/it.
  • LMSage
    LMSage Posts: 2
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    I started logging my emotions along with my food so that I could discover what was "eating me" as well as what I was eating. I used an "A" for angry, an "L" for lonely, a "B" for bored, a "T" for tired, an "S for stressed -- giving each of my emotions a code to use.

    One night I logged that I was lonely, bored and stressed -- in other words, I logged LBS!!! That was an eye opening experience for me. I actually saw that the chocolate cake I had just eaten = LBS! :noway:

    From that moment on I made a pact with myself -- I would write BEFORE I bite. If I saw that I was about to "eat my emotions" rather than because I was hungry, I would use the Note box to write down how I was feeling. If, at the end, I still felt like eating the chocolate cake, I gave myself permission to do so. However, instead of eating the cake without real thought of what I was doing, I knew I was eating it because I was emotional about something. For some reason, that helps me stop at one piece instead eating the whole thing.

    Emotional eating is THE reason I weigh 100 pounds more than I should. I KNOW for a fact that I did NOT reach for carrots when I was bored or mad or even happy -- but I'm hoping that someday I will. Until then I WRITE BEFORE I BITE! I hope this helps.
  • mistesh
    mistesh Posts: 243 Member
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    What can I tell myself that will be convincing enough for me to put the food down?

    That eating without being hungry is harder on your waistline, as blood sugar and insulin work differently than when you are hungry.
  • makeoverpm
    makeoverpm Posts: 117 Member
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    bump
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
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    Remind yourself that you have free will.

    To eat or not to eat; that's your choice to make. But MAKE A CHOICE, don't go on automatic pilot.

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