Emotional Eating

Do something to take your mind off of the urge to eat. I tend to snack when I'm bored. Instead of annihilating a huge bowl of ice cream, I'll go for a walk or play some video games.

I do the same thing! Emotional eating is my biggest downfall. Any advice would be appreciated!

i have recently heard that if you brush your teeth that will take away a desire to eat. i plan on trying that the next time i want to eat something when i shouldn't be eating.

It helps to know that because for me, I can share what made my approach successful.

I say that it begins in our minds. When we dwell on the good feelings that food gives us, then we have to stop it before it gets that way, its kinda like the same strength you use when a drunk guy is asking you for a date and you dont want this guy to date you. Thats how you have to treat the food cravings. When you start to react emotionally from seeing food or smelling it or whatever sense it touches, you stop, get ahold of yourself, distract yourself, and dont allow yourself to react emotionally to it.

I guess you also have to find something else to reward you, like it could be a habit that you've done 5 years. Like when you come home, flip off your shoes, turn on the tv and get the pastry that is calling your name, and you feel like hey i worked hard & had a bad day, i deserve that fudge, well then you have to have something else on hand that will reward you. It could be some real yummy juicy fruit. Thats what you grab out the fridge.

OK for me this helped - i decided i was going to keep my one treat - my muffin in the morning but i was going to give up Classic Coke. So that was something i could live with. once two weeks passed, i was able to wean myself off and try getting a bagel in the morning. that muffin was something i could now pass up.

what helps me now is going to different levels of healthy eating. i first had no motivation and 100% cravings. then i said ok im going to not eat a few things, like dessert (coffee cake every night). now when i got thru that, i went to the next level - what can i concentrate on that would help me eat better? and so i worked on that.

now im at another level and am tweaking it even more. so i guess for me, i recommend, tweak it at a different level for you, dont try everything, have a substitute, and distraction, and dont react emotionally to food.

When you begin changing your food choices, then the healthy food starts looking yummy and that replaces the urge to fill it with the fudge and other things not healthy.

nothing wrong with emotionally eating at all!!!

But choose: broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, kale, celery, bok choy, califlower.....

Geneen Roth has written a few books on how to battle emotional eating such as one called When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair. I bought one years ago, haven't read it but should.

With you on that one

+1 for being a "boredom eater" and a "because it's fun" eater. About a year ago I started trying to cook healthier things instead of bringing a lasagna and calzones to work with me almost every day (I come from a family full of of 400-ish pound Italians) and then cooking something else when I get home I've been bringing breakfast bars and fruits and carrots and stuff.

I *enjoy* eating, often, it's not something that I intent to change (I'm one of those "if I haven't eaten it yet, I want to eat it" types of guys who would belong on one of those "Bizarre Foods" type shows eating a horse / dolphin / koala / hippopotamus or something else not typically considered a food) but I've gotten a lot better at eating things that are healthy, or at least less un-healthy to get well under the 5000-6000 calories I was doing before.

Otherwise, some great tips here, I'm definitely going to take a look into a couple of the books posted in the thread.

The Geneen Roth books have helped me more than any thing else. Also, look up OA. Consider joining. Free and lots of support.

D