Stress eating :( Tips from others?

Bumping for tips. I am a total stress eater, as proven by the Starbucks Cake Pop in my belly after getting a bad survey back from a client this morning. :frown:

Somebody posted this on my forum this morning:

What has helped me:
-stopping thinking that I'm on a wagon. Get off the wagon, so you can't fall off. In practise, that means not thinking I'm a failure if I go over my calories, or eat something I hadn't planned on eating. Getting rid of the good/bad mentality such as "falling off the wagon", "good days" vs "bad days" etc. If the day doesn't exactly go to plan, do better the next day, but don't beat yourself up over it.

-finding other ways of comforting myself. I made a big list, of things to try, and put them all into practise, even if I wasn't sure they'd work. For me, now, what works is cardio (running), going for a walk, having a bath, having a cup of hot tea, doing logic puzzles, meditation, yoga, talking things through with someone, writing my thoughts down, watching a film or tv show that I love. None of these have the immediate "hit" that eating does, it's a much more subtle effect. They do work though. Brainstorm, and find the things that work for you to soothe or relax you, and then don't just think about them, but put them into practise.

-learning to just sit with whatever negative emotion it is, and experience it. Learning that feeling sad, lonely, guilty or whatever isn't going to kill me. It's not pleasant, but it's not something I need to annihilate with food. Google "urge surfing"; here's a start: http://www.aliceboyes.com/urge-surfing/

-(this one may be controversial) - accepting that emotional eating isn't always a terrible thing. (I found this blog very helpful with this: http://www.thegreatfitnessexperiment.com/2013/04/everything-you-never-wanted-to-know-about-emotional-eating-what-how-and-why-you-should.html) For me it's ok to use food as a comfort, sometimes... it just has to be used in a sensible, limited way. It's ok to take pleasure in eating, and that pleasure's going to make you feel better. Just like watching tv, listening to music, having a bath, exercising, sex etc make you feel a little better. None of them solve your problems, but might make things a little more bearable. It's also not healthy to do too much of any of those things. You also have to be able to recognise the limitations of that. 1 cookie might make you feel a little better, but 10 cookies aren't going to make you feel 10x better.

-planning. There is some evidence that one reason that people make poorer food choices later on in the day is because when we are tired, it's harder to make decisions. Planning out your meals, and your snacks, can help. If you plan your diary first thing in the morning, and make an allowance for a certain tasty snack after dinner, keeping within your calorie goal, then it might make it easier for you to stick with that when the time comes.

-experimenting with meal timing. I eventually realised that whatever other tricks I tried, I really just prefer to eat more later on in the day. I've found that it suits me best to miss breakfast, have a small lunch, have a larger dinner and snack/graze between dinner and bedtime. I arrange my calorie intake to allow for that. Some days, I'll have breakfast, but it's something small. Intermittent fasting is something that has given me more freedom with eating.

-therapy has also helped a lot