Self Sabotaging/Emotional Eating

Slim4health56: it is painful to realize what I am doing to myself. And to know that the desire to change is there, but the willpower is the problem. I need to make it simpler, and I need to make it flavorful and healthy to make sure I want to eat it. I don't want my weight to be a constant issue, but if I keep letting things go the way they have, it will be. I have done it before, I just have to refocus and give myself a daily goal.

I do feel your pain but I'm thinking it's not a willpower thing. It takes considerable willpower to work two jobs (whether it's to pay the rent and get through another month or save for a great vacation). You could decide to only work one job and face the consequences but for whatever reason you don't do that (and this isn't a criticism or judgment in any way and certainly none of my business). Same with the weight loss...there's something else that's "eating" you which makes you disconnect with the theory that behavior = outcome when it comes to what you choose to eat. Right now, you're losing the battle inside. I'm suggesting that you look a little deeper than willpower (could be habit, could be you're using food to fill a void or it could be something as straightforward as hormones). Don't EVER eat diet food (whatever you perceive that to be) - I totally agree that you need to eat flavorful and healthy food and it's out there! If this is an issue of simply getting organized, then you know exactly what you need to do! You can do this!

I have made a concerted effort over the last two days to make sure I eat better and I am feeling so much better for it. Now I just need to work on getting the exercise in.

Good for you!! Small positive steps, building on your successes!!

This is the story of my life. I need major help!!!!!!!!!

Emotional eating and self sabotage are things that I'm really good at so I sympathise! The first thing I did was try to figure out why I do it. For me it involved a lot of counselling and soul searching but I got there in the end. Try and look at when you first started doing it, what triggered you to use food as a crutch? Was there a particular situation or event that happened? If so, then it could be there's a bigger issue underneath that you haven't addressed that's causing you to sabotage yourself.

Breaking a habit like this isn't easy but it can be done. Maybe put an old picture of yourself on the fridge so when you go for the food you don't really need you'll see it and remind yourself of what you're trying to achieve. Try planning your day in advance, foodwise and factor in something like a chocolate bar or ice cream or whatever your vice is. Then if you're out and about during the day and you see something you might want tell yourself you can't have it because you have your treat waiting for you at home. Don't beat yourself up if you do give in one day. Just get back on track and try again the next day. You've done it before and you can do it again. I hope any of this makes sense. Good luck!

THIS!!! ALL OF THIS!!!! people don't seem to realize that emotional eating is an eating disorder.. you should seek guidance in therapy. because you can make all the healthy food you want, and you can make habits and everything else, but unless you find out what triggers you to break away from the path, you will always continue doing it.

I have to have days of bad foods or lots of wonderful drinking and nibbling, but what is balancing that is a freezer w/a bunch of homemade kale, chickpea soups, lentil soups, homemade sweet potato goat cheese casserole squares, vegetarian lasagna squares, and in my fridge I am only on track when I make a large delicious kale coconut salad that can provide lunches or dinner options for 3 days w/o getting gross, as well as a soup and a chickpea pita filling or cracker topping. I am always trying to make a grain salad or soup to give options and I portion everything out in correct serving sizes. When the food is there, my bad food choices are happening maybe once every 6 days, a huge improvement in my world. The stress of life tries to derail my plans and sabotages my will for sure, but the process of making a few consistently delicious meals in larger portions to tuck some away helps at least one area stay in my control. I am incredibly busy so I menu plan w/healthy mags, cookbooks and web sites 1-2 times a week and just commit the hour or so it takes to crank out a few dishes. I will get grumpy sometimes looking at the containers all ready to be taken to work and think I might have wanted to slip into that Mexican restaurant or bagel shop, but I took the time to make this dish I really enjoy. I know all about the erosion of a healthy lifestyle so am much more forgiving of myself this time around and am taking it slow, making my decisions as best I can w/o attacking myself w/guilt. If I wasn't putting the effort in so many other days, I would drown in the guilt, but because I am, I have a bit of strength to turn that noise off and wake up ready to do my best the next day. There is a way for you to do what will work in your lifestyle, you just have to tinker until you get it. Making a pan of energy bars and a carton of hard boiled eggs is oddly fulfilling as a starter. Snacks, ready to grab & go. Sometimes simple is best. I'm in your corner!

Kale salad (from Simply Natural Everyday)
1/3 c ev olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbs tamari or soy sauce
3 1/2 cups chopped, trimmed kale (I use lacinato or Tuscan because they are local)
1 1/2 cups large flake unsweetened coconut
2 cups cooked farro (or barley or quinoa)

oven 350-coat kale and coconut in 2/3 of the oils and soy. Bake 12-18 min (till golden brown coconut)
Add it to the farro and taste to decide if you need more oil mix or not (I never do but I reserve it to freshen up leftover portions before leaving for work in the am). It is 518 cals, but the portion is huge and you feel satisfied all day. This amount is for 4. Vitamin a & c are above 100% for the day and there's a ton of potassium.

I'll get the goat cheese one to you tomorrow!

Oh my gosh! I feel like you have been spying on me and reading my mind! We are totally in the same place, and I, too, have been trying to figure out why I sabotage myself. It's so dumb. I know what to do, and I have the tools to do it. I have friends and neighbors willing to walk with me. I spend a LOT of money on healthy food, and lots of time washing and cutting up veggies to be available for quick snacks. And then I eat 725 calories of cookies (the ones I brought home for the neighbor kid for mowing my yard) in one sitting. Dang it! I AM stressed, but more than that, I'm always sleep-deprived. When I look at my food diary, I can tell the days that I'm exhausted, because I eat and drink WAY too much, and not even necessarily bad stuff- just way too much. And a lot of it is late at night, when I should really already be in bed. My clutte!r problem is probably because I'm so tired, that I don't have the energy to deal with it, and now it's gotten so out of control, I get overwhelmed and don't want to deal with it. A vicious cycle

So... Let's work on going to bed when we should. And getting rid of the clutter. Maybe that will take care of the self-sabotaging. Friend me, and we'll do it together.

It is hard when you work so many jobs. Been there, done that.

I come home from work, and boil 18 eggs. I peel them, and put them in a baggies. The quick protein helps me. Those are my "go to" snacks. I eat them plain, or make deviled eggs, love them drizzled with Sirracha sauce, when I want something spicy. The most important thing is to plan your food for the week, have it ready to grab, so you don't go eat fast food.

When your stuff is a mess, it is hard to focus, and I think it actually "steals" mental energy. Just do 15 minutes, a day. Set your timer, it looks overwhelming, but just fifteen minutes is a start.

I have a kettle bell, and a kettle bell app on my phone, it is a quick exercise...might help you out. I like it, because it. Is fun, quick, and easy.

Good luck. We have all been there, on giving up on our selves...and at your age, this is very existential, if you give up now, at age 50, the depression will hit you like a rock, that you blew your entire life, for a few twinkies at age 31, Think about who you want to be at age 50.