Any advice for an emotional eater?

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crimsonkurls
crimsonkurls Posts: 17 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have recently come back to this community after a LONG hiatus :/ I felt like I was ready to get down to business and get this weight off for good! However, I still find myself really struggling with bad food cravings when I am stressed , tired,or bored.I also find myself falling into the rewarding myself mentality when I feel like I have been doing good,then I go screw it up by eating crap and then feeling bad about it afterwards! Is this just a hurdle I have to work through in the beginning? Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated.
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Replies

  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Log everything religiously. Before you eat anything, put it in MFP. Log, log, log. And log some more.

    That's the only way I've been able to maintain control. Log. And log some more.
  • TeachTheGirl
    TeachTheGirl Posts: 2,091 Member
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    I'm sadly with you right now. Winter is difficult for me because my usual method of keeping away from snacking is walking where there IS no food and right now I'm stuck indoors and climbing up the walls because of it!

    Hm. I'll get back to you. XD
  • guzzlingil
    guzzlingil Posts: 60
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    can you work out....either at home or at a gym...does the weather allow you to get out and walk??

    I'd recommend developing a work out program that you can do in your house...perhaps buying a DVD to follow...but like the guy below said...document everything and it might become tougher to fall off the wagon....

    good luck!
  • Annieapple12
    Annieapple12 Posts: 122 Member
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    It's hard but I would think the only way to stop this forever is for you to address the emotions that cause you to eat head on.
  • twistedge
    twistedge Posts: 8
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    I love food... and I always battle the food cravings monster.
    I'll share my own experiences and hopefully you can something useful that works for you.

    First, I always snack at night. That's just the way I am.
    My solution is to leave room for it.
    I could probably find something healthier, but I find those 100Cal snack packs handy.
    Bigger packages may be cheaper, but my willpower seems to fade quickly.
    ..and it's hard for me to get up and open 3 packs of something (a trick that works for me)
    (like setting my bedroom clock 5 minutes early)

    Second, I like to have a spike night.
    There are lots of good reasons to do this.. but I like to focus on the mental side.
    It's way easier to be strong today, when I know I'm allowed to cheat tomorrow.
    Monotony is not my friend..
    Even if this slows me down, It makes the path to success easier to swallow.

    Third, be wary of carbs overload.
    For me, these are the gateway drug.
    If I go wild (say on thanksgiving).. it takes a week for the gnawing unbearable hunger pangs to cease.
    Seriously, it feels like withdrawal. I had heard that carbs crave carbs.. and I believe it now.

    Lastly, I buy into what works for me.
    I don't like it when people tell me to avoid eating at night
    I don't want to eat lots of little meals all day
    My plate is never sorted by colour or food type or whatever.
    I stick to my numbers (generally), so my weekly and monthly counts look good.

    My belief is that our bodies work on more of a macro nutrition level.
    One day doesn't help you lose or gain weight.. Just let it balance out every month and you'll get there..

    Ed..
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,994 Member
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    Watch your carbs. Keep your protein and fats high.



    Reward yourself with exercise....or at least reward yourself with something other than food. (like, watch your favorite TV show, or get a manicure, or a massage, or call a friend. Finish a project. Come on MFP and kill time. Not food!)



    Food is not a reward, it's fuel.
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
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    #1 - face your emotions directly. Standing in the kitchen munching away is a really good distraction against what's eating you, but nothing gets solved. You gain weight, creating more stress, and whatever drove you into the kitchen is still there, so double whammy. You have to put that interrupt there; don't go mindless and find yourself elbow-deep in a bag of chips with no idea how you got there. "Why am I in the kitchen? What can I do instead?" Part of the process was to set a meal schedule for myself. If I'm in there searching the cupboards and it's not meal time, I do my best to drag myself out of there.

    #2 - have a project to work on. When my hands and mind are engaged, I completely forget about eating.
  • crimsonkurls
    crimsonkurls Posts: 17 Member
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    Thanks! You have all offered some great advice that I will start enforcing :) I do find that the more carbs I eat the more I tend to crave them.I also find that when I am in the house I have food on my mind.So I will get out with my daughter more.So much to take in and process! This is fantastic.Thanks again.
  • QueenofScott
    QueenofScott Posts: 305 Member
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    Per my therapist, the times when someone like me (an emotional eater) is most likely to experience cravings for my drug (sugar) is when I am too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired....HALT. When you feel the urge to eat, stop and figure out what you are feeling, take the time to feel that emotion, then deal with it by venting to someone or journalist your feelings. It's not easy, but it does help me. It also helps me to take the time and remember that if I give in to the craving, I will feel crappy about myself afterwards....it's just not worth the temporary release/pleasure of eating a cookie to me.

    Best of luck to you!
  • msliu7911
    msliu7911 Posts: 639 Member
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    Per my therapist, the times when someone like me (an emotional eater) is most likely to experience cravings for my drug (sugar) is when I am too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired....HALT. When you feel the urge to eat, stop and figure out what you are feeling, take the time to feel that emotion, then deal with it by venting to someone or journalist your feelings. It's not easy, but it does help me. It also helps me to take the time and remember that if I give in to the craving, I will feel crappy about myself afterwards....it's just not worth the temporary release/pleasure of eating a cookie to me.

    Best of luck to you!

    This exactly^^. Great post.
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
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    The best thing I've done for my emotional binging is to remove myself from the area with food and work on something unrelated like working out. I know people say this and you're thinking "that's the opposite of what I want." You kind of have to cut it off before it starts.

    Take the advice of the others until you can really identify your triggers before the urge to eat hits. Then when you're in that mood, convince yourself you'll feel better once you sweat it out, shower it off, and have some nice, healthy fuel.
  • lorax419
    lorax419 Posts: 9 Member
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    One thing that has helped me is logging. I try to plan the majority of my day out so I know what I can/can't splurge on as far as food. if I know I am going to dinner with friends, I do what I can to be very strict the rest of the week so I can have that time to enjoy (but I am still mindful of what I am eating.) I have had breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner planned since yesterday for today. I am already planning for my day tomorrow. The planning part of it really helps tremendously when it comes to me. I think my 'emotional over eating' is because it is the one thing I can control. So, if I put my control to it the opposite way, by planning out my food for the next day, my over eating/indulging, does not control me.

    Also, if I know I am going to eat 'excess' I know I have to work out - in my mind justifying 'is it worth having to _________". Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Exercising has a way of helping the emotions get in check naturally as well for me.

    If it is late night eating, go to bed. You truly typically do not 'have' to eat before bed time.

    If you are bored, find something else to do. Exercise, read a book, crochet, scrapbook, etc. instead.

    This is something that drives my daughter nuts, but get rid of unhealthy food choices in your home or work place so you are not tempted as easily. I have a vending machine here at work and try to not bring change in so I am not tempted to buy. I have 'healthy' snacks - banana's, oranges right now, as well as popcorn (not exactly healthy, but not as bad as I know I can be), mini rice cakes (the crunch helps me a lot i think). Other things that might be good are trail mix type foods, nuts, dried fruits, etc.
  • Haiir0
    Haiir0 Posts: 21 Member
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    #2 - have a project to work on. When my hands and mind are engaged, I completely forget about eating.

    ^^ This! Most of all!

    Having something to do leaves me focused on anything but food. I'm well acquainted with emotional eating (hooray depression), and it is a huge jerk. Logging is helping a lot, too. It's become second nature to me now. I log my whole day first thing in the morning to see how much room I have for additional snacks, etc., and I keep those snacks healthy (I go through Clementines like crazy). Fruit is good, because you can get the sweet that comes from sugary foods without it being too terrible.
  • footiechick82
    footiechick82 Posts: 1,203 Member
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    Log everything religiously. Before you eat anything, put it in MFP. Log, log, log. And log some more.

    That's the only way I've been able to maintain control. Log. And log some more.

    I do this... it helps me. Except for days when I'm like "If I don't eat that I might hurt someone..." which barely happens. I also allow myself to eat whatever I want as long as it's no more then 2,000 calories a day (yes over my limit, but once in a blue moon won't sabotage my hard work). I workout a lot so if my body says "eat dammit!" I eat :)

    If you log the crappy stuff and then try to log something else that can replace it, for example, I want a cup cake (I actually do right now and i gave up sweets for lent!) I will go and have a bowl of greek yogurt with berries OR, I might go home and make banana/oatmeal cookies because they're technically a cookie but have 2 ingredients so they're "healthy".

    When I'm bored, I read stuff online and I start to read the Message Boards on here, I find a funny one and just keep my eyes guled to the monitor until I have something to do or am going to the gym on my lunch. If I can't kick it, I go to the kitchen and grab my fruit and start devowering a pint of strawberries :happy:

    Good luck!
  • curvykilla
    curvykilla Posts: 4
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    Set non-food goals for yourself..........for example, when I lost 20 lbs I bought myself a diamond necklace. I can wear that MUCH longer than I would have that congrats dessert. Also..........much easier not to eat it if you do not have it around. When you are feeling blah, try to go for a walk around the block. The endorphins will kick in and you will lose the craving. Another thing to try is flavored water.

    Do not beat yourself up over a "cheat day" and just be sure to hold yourself accountable. I just spent a weekend in Vegas and didn't stick to my meal plans the way I should have but instead of saying screw it, I just know that I have to add extra exercise into my game plan for this week.
  • bicoastalgirl
    bicoastalgirl Posts: 85 Member
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    when i first joined mfp, i read this somewhere: "do not reward yourself with food. you are not a dog." for some reason, this worked for me, and repeating it in my head at tempting times has helped keep me on track.
  • RawMomma10
    RawMomma10 Posts: 89 Member
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    I am very much an emotional eater.... in past years I ate when I was upset, bored, frustrated.. you name it.. I had a snack for it..... Going thru my divorce was very hard and stressful.... and I started smoking again.... the bonus is instead of eating my emotions I would lite up a cigarette.... so that kind of helped.... but then it took a while to get over that..... Its all your frame of mind... if you can do some meditation.... write in your journal.... figure out whats triggering the emotions and take realistic steps to fix the situation.... or if it cant be fixed... distance yourself from it enough to allow yourself to not be sucked into it.

    Its hard... somedays its easy but most it is hard... I have finally come to a place where if I make myself work out on the days Im not feeling it.... I dont eat my emotions and I dont lite up..... I am so focused on being active and surrounding myself with loved ones and with doing things that make me feel happy.... that I dont find myself relying on my crutches as much.... if at all... so keep it up!!
  • minkakross
    minkakross Posts: 687 Member
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    I eat when I'm bored. My general rule is not to bring anything in the house that I wouldn't want to put in my mouth. If I need a food binge I have safe foods or drinks like sugar free, or crazy low calorie for the volume and I keep both sweet and salty just in case it's that time of the month.
  • mwooderson
    mwooderson Posts: 254 Member
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    I am very much an emotional eater.... in past years I ate when I was upset, bored, frustrated.. you name it.. I had a snack for it..... Going thru my divorce was very hard and stressful.... and I started smoking again.... the bonus is instead of eating my emotions I would lite up a cigarette.... so that kind of helped.... but then it took a while to get over that..... Its all your frame of mind... if you can do some meditation.... write in your journal.... figure out whats triggering the emotions and take realistic steps to fix the situation.... or if it cant be fixed... distance yourself from it enough to allow yourself to not be sucked into it.

    Its hard... somedays its easy but most it is hard... I have finally come to a place where if I make myself work out on the days Im not feeling it.... I dont eat my emotions and I dont lite up..... I am so focused on being active and surrounding myself with loved ones and with doing things that make me feel happy.... that I dont find myself relying on my crutches as much.... if at all... so keep it up!!
    Wonderful advice!

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