Emotional eating/Cravings
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Kirsten2304
Posts: 27 Member
Hey everyone,
my biggest problem is emotional eating. Usually, I stay on track and eat healthy during the day (plus exercising 4 times a week), but then there comes the night. Every single night I "suffer" from bad cravings. And I feel like I can't even control it...at all. Suddenly, I just don't really care anymore andI can't stop thinking about anything but food - usually candy/chocolate, but sometimes it doesn't even matter what it is, I just eat what is in the house. Could also be cheese, peanut butter or anything like that, but definitely always way too much. Also, I'm never really hungry when I have these cravings because I always eat dinner before, so that's definitely not a reason. The next morning I always feel so bad about myself and, of course, I can't lose weight that way.
Does or did anyone experience something similar? Do you have any advice/tipps for me? (Distraction, going out etc won't really help - I am just demotivated in general at nights.
)
my biggest problem is emotional eating. Usually, I stay on track and eat healthy during the day (plus exercising 4 times a week), but then there comes the night. Every single night I "suffer" from bad cravings. And I feel like I can't even control it...at all. Suddenly, I just don't really care anymore andI can't stop thinking about anything but food - usually candy/chocolate, but sometimes it doesn't even matter what it is, I just eat what is in the house. Could also be cheese, peanut butter or anything like that, but definitely always way too much. Also, I'm never really hungry when I have these cravings because I always eat dinner before, so that's definitely not a reason. The next morning I always feel so bad about myself and, of course, I can't lose weight that way.
Does or did anyone experience something similar? Do you have any advice/tipps for me? (Distraction, going out etc won't really help - I am just demotivated in general at nights.
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Replies
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I've had this before as well. I just completely changed my attitude, if I want to lose weight, I better work for it.
Also, don't keep any sorts of candies or chocolate in house! That helped as well.
Now, eating at night is not that bad, as long as you stay within your calorie goals. You could eat a bit less during the day and plan in your snacks.
You could also try something else to put your emotions into, exercising perhaps :happy: might as well work off those pounds if you're not feeling too happy, right? Exercising can help reduce stress, your body releases endorphins when you exercise, happy chemicals, so it can actually make you happy
So next time you feel like grabbing something to eat, do 20 sit-ups first. Still craving? 20 extra sit-ups. And so on
I also saw you still lost weight in total, so you are headed into the right direction 0 -
Thanks, anjani!
Yes, stress it is. I'm a total stress eater. I feel like there is so much pressure, so many expectations and so much work that I can't cope with it. So instead of working my *kitten* off, I get scared and worried and start eating anything. It is not even only chocolate - when I eat (at night), I feel comforted at that moment.
During the day, I eat very healthy, but at night I totally lose control and just eat - even if I'm full and even if there aren't really cravings. I guess, it's a mental (stress) issue. :grumble:0 -
No problem!
I completely know how you feel, there has been a time I ate chocolate sprinkles because of stress, or sweetened cocoa powder on bread... I don't think anything was save from my mouth.
It might help to find out where your stress is coming from and try to address that. Who is pressuring you? Who has expectations from you? Is it yourself? Or someone else? Does it matter what others think of you? Etc. Answer those questions for yourself and think about the answers.
If you feel like it is getting too much at night, try to find a quiet place, sit down and just breathe in and breathe out. Try to calm yourself and think about nothing for a few minutes. If you still feel stressed after that, the exercising might be helpful as well
Stress can be difficult to deal with, but I'm sure you'll be okay! Set a goal for yourself and try to focus on that 0 -
That actually sounds like food addiction to me. Eating for the sake of eating, even when you're not hungry and eating past the point of being full. I have this problem as well and have to work really hard not to succumb to it. Monday through Friday 7am to 7pm are no problem, but I have but after 7pm and weekends can get dicey. Some things that help me:
1.) Exercise in the evening. I do morning workouts but find if I'm really battling a craving it helps to exercise and it generally goes away. Mostly because you feel so good after exercising you don't want to spoil that feeling.Even just a walk, or half of a yoga video (you can find these on demand for free).
2.) Positive visualization. Sounds hokey but it really does help. Visualize how you want to look and feel. You know how you feel when you're light and lean and don't have rolls of fat when you sit down and your jeans are too tight? I also find browsing the Fitness and Fashion categories of pinterest help with this.0 -
I'm an evening snacker, too ... even when I'm still full from dinner : (
salty, cruncy, chocolatey, cereal, whatever- I-can-find kinda snacker.
I've switched to having a decaf tea with a tiny bit of sweetner later in the evening... I find if I plan on it, and look forward to it, sit and really enjoy it, then the urge to nibble on something passes
I had to conciously tell myself to stop eating at night !!
Even if I worked out that night, gym, bike ride, walk... I'd think ' oh now I've earned something' ... if it was a hard workout out then I 'reward' myself with a glass of milk with a little chocolate protein powder (just enough to flavour it.. cuz I get plenty of protein in my diet).0
