Over 50 and Comfort eating

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Bonnine123
Bonnine123 Posts: 2
in Introduce Yourself
Over 50 and have gradually been gaining weight over last two years. More so in last two months as grown up children recently left home. Have to lose weight and really need some support as generally I eat for comfort! Any tips on how to stay motivated and avoid overeating would be really appreciated.

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  • Deaconis
    Deaconis Posts: 8
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    I can totally relate to comfort eating! The only thing that works (and so far IS working for me thank goodness!) is water, water, water, along with celery, celery, celery! Whenever I get the urge to snack that is outside of my range of foods that I have already planned for during the day that is what I go for. Water and Celery (and maybe a few carrots but pretty much celery!). It's tough sometimes, I know, but you just have to make yourself do it!

    By the way, welcome! I am new here myself. Just keep telling yourself you can do it and keep reading these forums. There is great advice here and the triumphs of others are also very motivating!
  • dejavuohlala
    dejavuohlala Posts: 1,821 Member
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    you need to log each day what you are eating and drinking, gets some good mutually suppotive friends on MFP


    very good luck on your journey
  • Hoppymom
    Hoppymom Posts: 1,158 Member
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    Hi! I am 56 and the mother of four grown children. I started gaining when my youngest was born and 23 years later I hit 267.5. I was down to 196 last Thanksgiving and regain about half of that. I have finally gotten myself back on track. I can use someone supportive and I will support you. Sharon
  • Bonnine123
    Bonnine123 Posts: 2
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    Thank you for your advice. I start cutting down tomorrow, knew I had to do something and came across this site whilst looking for a calorie counter. Now need to figure out where it is and how to use it! Thanks once again, about to have some water.....:wink:
  • Healthydiner65
    Healthydiner65 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    There is no correct answer for everyone. I eat late at night because I get bored so I started crocheting again to keep busy! I also do not have any junk food except crackers and frozen yogurt. These seem to tame the beast(hunger). Good luck and friend me if you wish/Cindy
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    As the other poster said: everyone is different when it comes to this.

    For me? It's not having the tempting stuff in the house, and having plenty of low calorie crunchy stuff around. Popcorn, celery, seaweed...
  • nancybuss
    nancybuss Posts: 1,461 Member
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    Great advice already !
    I agree on finding something else to 'keep your hands busy' during the day/evening.

    Also if the kids are out of the house, then don't keep the bad stuff in the house, unless your husband needs it.

    Find ways to keep your body moving too.

    I'm 48, but my kids are still little. Finding the workout time was rough, but I do it before anyone else is up during the week. Food is hard because nobody else is with me.

    Welcome!
    Nancy
  • brillanta
    brillanta Posts: 56 Member
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    OK, let's do this. My problem is hunger. I do fine until I am hungry, then seems like all bets are off. What do you do when you get hungry?
  • dorrymc
    dorrymc Posts: 36
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    As others have said there is not a one size fits all approach. There are lots of really helpful practical tips that may work. Coming at it from another angle I know that myself and some other female friends in our 50s have struggled to stop the destructive habits we had. The only time that things improved for (some) of us was when losing weight was more important to us than staying stuck in that comfort (uncomfortable) zone. Have seen the slogan "Nothing tastes as good as being slim feels" which kind of says it although a bit cheezy. For me the motivation to finally improve my health & wellbeing eventually outweighed being stuck in a heavy and unfit body. Something clicked. About time as well :wink: Feel free to add me and all the best - you can do it :flowerforyou:
  • ARDuBaie
    ARDuBaie Posts: 379 Member
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    Comfort food is a big problem for me as well. I was abused as a child: My father would abuse me and my mother would comfort me, usually with food.

    I had lost 42 pounds last year, then suffered a setback because of something triggering my PTSD. I recently went to a lunch and learn at my work and one thing really hit home for me. The speaker said that you can determine hunger from emotional eating in several ways. One way is that when it is emotional eating, you are craving a particular thing. If you eat celery and still want chocolate cake, that is emotional eating or comfort eating. She said that emotional eating is best managed by doing an activity when you feel it coming on. Activities include exercising, meditation, hiking, etc. GET OUT OF THE HOUSE! she stressed. Take a walk if you are at work, which works well for me since I have a desk job that is flexible. If you can't get away from it, get moving. Exercise in place. Punch a pillow if you are angry. Do anything, but stay away from the kitchen. No matter how much celery, carrots, water, etc. you take in, you will still crave that one comfort food, so just work that craving away. (This is what the speaker said and I have found that I was practicing this without really knowing it when I lost the initial 42 pounds. So I believe this to be the best way of handling it.)

    What is normal hunger? Well, she described normal hunger like driving down a highway and you keep going until you can't go without eating any more. You exit the highway and are not disappointed that there isn't a McDonalds, Wendy's, Burger King, or other fast food restaurant there. You'll eat anything. You have no craving for a particular food.

    The key is to assess what your brain is telling you. Are you craving a particular food? If yes, it is emotional eating. Are you hungry and will eat anything? Then it is true hunger.

    I will try to find the handouts that she gave out and post them somewhere. It was three lunch and learns and I learned a lot.

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