How to stop emotional eating.

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Replies

  • stormbornkraken
    stormbornkraken Posts: 303 Member
    Personally, stress is a huge issue for me.
    When I am stressed with what feels like 10 to 100 other very large, looming issues I couldn't care less what or how much I am eating.

    So in pairing with my aim at healthier choices I also actively work on my stress and anxiety with meditation, yoga and other interactive experiences. Many of my self improvement projects are aimed at my perceived weaker personality traits.

    If you start to work on those and pair them with better diet and exercise they will work concurrently to help reduce (probably not eliminate) the occurrence of emotional eating.

    You will figure out the best balance for your life.
  • Sedna_51
    Sedna_51 Posts: 277 Member

    Good tips, thank you! I actually tried to knit once, it didn't go well.

    Glad to help! (And honestly? My knitting last night didn't go that well either. WELP. /shrug)

    We should all take up knitting, even if we're bad at it. Then wear the ugly scarves we make as a beautiful reminder of that time that we did NOT give in and binge!

    Or we'll get so tangled up in the yarn we can't reach the kitchen. One or the other.

    "Hon, are you OK?"
    "Fine, just fine. Could you get a pair of scissors? Big ones."
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,771 Member
    Whenever I'm sad, angry, upset, lonely, or sometimes even bored, I tend to binge. And I'm not binging on veggies and water (I WISH!). My weight loss journey has been going solidly well, except for when I feel the need to eat 6 trillion calories in one sitting because my emotions are wacky. Any advice on how to knock this habit off?

    Put the fork down.

    Oh, for real, I never thought of that before.
    I would smack you upside the back of the head if I could.

    Apparently, you must not have. It's really that simple. How do you stop emotional eating? Don't eat. When I realized that's what I was doing for years, that's the step I took. Stop being so angsty and overthinking it. Just stop doing it. If that's too hard, see a head shrinker.

    As for the second point, I wouldn't suggest it.

    I'm glad it was that easy for you to do. It's very difficult for some of us, as this thread attests. But feel free to stay here and feel superior to us mere mortals, if you'd like.

    And yes, I found my emotional eating much easier to control when I got my chronic depression and anxiety under control through therapy and medication. Go headshrinkers for helping me make my life better!

    I haven't read any replies indicating this was easy. Yes, it's ****ing difficult for many of us. If it was easy, do you think many of us would be here??? But, guess what, some of the most worthwhile endeavors in our lives aren't easy. But we do it because the consequences of not doing it becomes unbearable. When the consequences of any behavior becomes unbearable, change it possible, putting down the fork in possible.

    Changing your emotional eating behaviors is simple - just put down the fork. No one EVER said it was easy.
  • WickedPineapple
    WickedPineapple Posts: 701 Member
    One of the more important moments for me recently was when I was sitting at the computer, bored, and thought about getting up to go eat something. And I suddenly thought to myself, "Eating something isn't going to make me any less bored". I wish I could bottle that moment, because it was HUGE.

    That said, I still definitely have days where I eat emotionally! (And out of boredom, too!) And all of these are real, valid feelings that are OK to have; it's just that we're trying to address them in a different way than we're used to. I don't have a magic bullet, but there are a couple of tricks that have helped me.

    1. If you have trigger foods, try to either keep them out of the house or only let them in in limited quantities. I will destroy a bag of potato chips without a second thought, so I've stopped buying them for the most part, and when I do, I buy the smallest bag I can find.

    2. Recognize when you're feeling triggered, and try to address your feelings another way. I try to exercise (dancing, walking, workout video on YouTube) when I'm jittery and anxious; if I'm overwhelmed, I make myself tea and read a silly book; if I'm in need of a treat, I buy myself a new bottle of nail polish and/or give myself a manicure.

    3. If you're bored- look into new hobbies you might enjoy! I took up knitting, which I find very relaxing. And as a bonus, it gives me something to do with my hands.

    4. Plan to indulge /a little/ when you know you'll be under pressure. I have a huge project coming up at work, and I know I'll be buying more croissants and eating more lunch M&Ms as I deal with the stress. But it's temporary, they're delicious, and I'm going to fit them into my current goals.

    Interested to hear what other people's tactics are!

    ^^^ I agree heartily with everything above, especially #2. In my head I call it replacement. There are tons of ways people deal with stress. Once you know you're stress eating, you can try to replace that with something else you find calming besides eating. Hobbies are great for this... something with your hands (i.e., not TV because you can sit there and eat at the same time). Personally I've found reading, embroidery, and (surprisingly) cardio to work well, but everyone has different interests.

    Knowing you're even doing it is 75% of the battle. My comfort foods are baked goods, usually doughnuts, cupcakes, or cookies. I would eat 3-6 bakery yeast doughnuts in one sitting. I don't keep any of that stuff in the house anymore, because I will eat ALL OF IT. That temptation is always there, just vastly muted. Good luck!
  • footiechick82
    footiechick82 Posts: 1,203 Member
    bump - I'm the most guilty of this ever... half a loaf of bread just yesterday!
  • RunWinterGarden
    RunWinterGarden Posts: 428 Member
    As a dude I am one of the worst at emotional eating. I let myself get upset about things and use food to make myself feel better, when in reality I know I'm just punishing myself. The best thing you can do, at least that I do, is find people to talk about and to walk you off that ledge when you are starting to eat too much because you can. Ultimately though, it's all about will power.
  • RunWinterGarden
    RunWinterGarden Posts: 428 Member
    Emotional eaters are funny to me because they don't think of the most obvious thing...don't buy the food. Just stop buying it. Then, there's nothing to emotionally eat except meat and veggies. Dont buy ice cream, crackers, etc. Just don't.

    Except when you are really being emotional over something you just order a pizza and that takes care of it for you.
  • 19TaraLynn84
    19TaraLynn84 Posts: 739 Member
    Emotional eaters are funny to me because they don't think of the most obvious thing...don't buy the food. Just stop buying it. Then, there's nothing to emotionally eat except meat and veggies. Dont buy ice cream, crackers, etc. Just don't.

    Nobody ever said emotional eaters only eat junk food.
  • 19TaraLynn84
    19TaraLynn84 Posts: 739 Member
    Emotional eaters are funny to me because they don't think of the most obvious thing...don't buy the food. Just stop buying it. Then, there's nothing to emotionally eat except meat and veggies. Dont buy ice cream, crackers, etc. Just don't.

    Nobody ever said emotional eaters only eat junk food.

    The OP did.

    Sorry. She was only speaking for herself, though.
  • LVCeltGirl
    LVCeltGirl Posts: 473
    My tips for struggling with emotional eating.

    Drink a lot of water, as in every time you go to reach for the high calorie, "low other nutrients" foods (candy, cake, chips, anything fried, etc) drink a glass of water first and wait 20 minutes. Then check in with yourself and find out why are you eating before you even have that first bite. If you can get through those and still need the high calorie, "low other nutrients" food, then eat it and log it. You do have to log it (that's another wake-up call, logging it).

    If it's eating for boredom, finding a hobby that requires you to use your hands such as knitting or crocheting will keep you from eating. Can't mindlessly put food into your mouth if your hands are busy.

    If it's eating for depression, get up and move, go for a walk, jog in place, do jumping jacks, dance, etc.....Yes, I'm talking about cardio here (strength training doesn't keep depression at bay as easily). And that depression advice is from someone that suffers from it and has been for at least 30 years, possibly more (diagnosed and actively controlling it for the past 16 years, mostly without meds, sometimes with maintenance prescription of meds). Added benefit of this one, count the cardio for the day!

    If it's eating because of stress, depression suggestion will work with that too.

    I've tried other things for weight loss and one of the things said at a Weight Watcher meeting has always stuck with me....Work on becoming an "Emotional Exerciser" instead of an "Emotional Eater". Wouldn't our journeys be so much easier if we all could become "Emotional Exercisers" instead of "Emotional Eaters"?
  • nomorelazy2014
    nomorelazy2014 Posts: 4
    Haven't read much past the first post, but here are some of my triggers, hopefully this'll help someone realise their triggers:
    1. WEighing myself (if I've gained - whats the point and i binge, if I've lost-I think I can relax and binge)
    2. HOme alone for prolonged periods of time,
    3. Stressed, sad or bored.
    4. When I fall out of the school, work, hobbies routine and miss a couple.
    5, When my plans to exercise get cut short/cancelled and it freaks me out or if I know I'm eating out that day.
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
    The only thing I can tell you is that whenever you're feeling bummed, remember that you'll feel worse if you make unhealthy food selections and you'll feel better if you make healthy food selections. Bad moods happen. Whether you eat healthy or unhealthy during those times is a choice you have. Don't double down on bad ish.

    I actually came up with this simple equation today:

    bad mood + bad food = worse mood

    bad mood + good food = better mood

    Notice that the bad mood is a constant in these equations. What changes the outcome of the equation depends on the choices YOU make with eating/drinking.
  • thursdayswoman
    thursdayswoman Posts: 60 Member
    All the people who are 'just put the fork down!' seem to forget that putting the fork down can also be a sign of an emotional eater. There's those who eat too much, and those who eat too little. And in both cases, the pain that the people are feeling that leads them to a not-good eating behavior is REAL and needs to be dealt with if there's going to be any kind of change.

    I have the emotional eating problem too, and a lot of my triggers are the same. I've found it helpful to think about my eating motivations when I'm NOT emotional....so when I'm just making a regular breakfast or dinner, I ask myself how I am feeling and what is appealing about the food at that moment. Then when I am emotional, I try to ask myself how I feel about the food and life in general later. If my feelings don't match up to how I feel when I'm not having an emotional crisis, I try to make myself not eat, or at least be very conscious of what I AM eating and the potential consequences.

    It doesn't always work to stop me eating, but it's helping me be more aware, and that's helped change some bad habits.
  • CaitlinW19
    CaitlinW19 Posts: 431 Member
    One idea I saw recently that I really liked for myself was to pick up a magazine or book when you are feeling munchy...Usually you will get so engrossed it what you are reading that you will forget about the cravings. If you are still hungry after 15 minutes or so with a book, well then you are ACTUALLY hungry and not just emotionally or mentally hungry.

    I take a bath and pick up my book. I literally can't go to the fridge when I'm in the bath tub. I don't think I'm an "emotional eater" exactly, but I think this technique can work as a distraction for many triggers. It doesn't have to be reading either I'm sure...anything that is engrossing and distracting to you is probably good, though tv (at least in my case) would just encourage mindless eating I think.
  • cortezpj
    cortezpj Posts: 129 Member
    I'll admit to being an emotional eater, but only at work. If I get stressed out or upset at home, food is usually the last thing on my mind.

    I can get stressed out at the office when something needs my immediate attention and the solution isn't right in front of me. I have access to lots of vending machines and food venues within a short five minute walk from my office. Food tends to fill the void and give some re-assurance. I guess I should feel lucky given that I only "binge" on a single serving bag of chips or a single, large cookie instead of a gallon of ice cream or an entire pizza.

    Yes, I like some of the possible solutions that are mentioned above and I can see where people are coming from when they say it's NOT EASY to stop this behavior. But for me the quick and not-very-healthy indulgence solves the problem at hand.

    And yes, I realize this doesn't apply to everyone.
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
    One of the more important moments for me recently was when I was sitting at the computer, bored, and thought about getting up to go eat something. And I suddenly thought to myself, "Eating something isn't going to make me any less bored". I wish I could bottle that moment, because it was HUGE.

    That said, I still definitely have days where I eat emotionally! (And out of boredom, too!) And all of these are real, valid feelings that are OK to have; it's just that we're trying to address them in a different way than we're used to. I don't have a magic bullet, but there are a couple of tricks that have helped me.

    1. If you have trigger foods, try to either keep them out of the house or only let them in in limited quantities. I will destroy a bag of potato chips without a second thought, so I've stopped buying them for the most part, and when I do, I buy the smallest bag I can find.

    2. Recognize when you're feeling triggered, and try to address your feelings another way. I try to exercise (dancing, walking, workout video on YouTube) when I'm jittery and anxious; if I'm overwhelmed, I make myself tea and read a silly book; if I'm in need of a treat, I buy myself a new bottle of nail polish and/or give myself a manicure.

    3. If you're bored- look into new hobbies you might enjoy! I took up knitting, which I find very relaxing. And as a bonus, it gives me something to do with my hands.

    4. Plan to indulge /a little/ when you know you'll be under pressure. I have a huge project coming up at work, and I know I'll be buying more croissants and eating more lunch M&Ms as I deal with the stress. But it's temporary, they're delicious, and I'm going to fit them into my current goals.

    Interested to hear what other people's tactics are!

    ^^^ I agree heartily with everything above, especially #2. In my head I call it replacement. There are tons of ways people deal with stress. Once you know you're stress eating, you can try to replace that with something else you find calming besides eating. Hobbies are great for this... something with your hands (i.e., not TV because you can sit there and eat at the same time). Personally I've found reading, embroidery, and (surprisingly) cardio to work well, but everyone has different interests.

    Knowing you're even doing it is 75% of the battle. My comfort foods are baked goods, usually doughnuts, cupcakes, or cookies. I would eat 3-6 bakery yeast doughnuts in one sitting. I don't keep any of that stuff in the house anymore, because I will eat ALL OF IT. That temptation is always there, just vastly muted. Good luck!

    +2 for above

    Plus, it always helped me in the beginning to keep a journal. That helped me recognize my triggers. I'm bipolar so food isn't always a go to for me but when I was first diagnosed and didn't leave my house for a year it was. That's how I ate myself to 236lbs. Develop a support system of people who actually understand what you are going through and who you can call and talk to and "talk you down" as I like to put it. Another thing that's really helped me was a completely new hobby that required me leaving my house and making new friends, I started riding horses for example (not for everyone). But I've never stabbed myself with a knitting needle either :)

    If someone would have told me to put the fork down I would have stabbed them back then, not now that the shrinks have my brain chemistry balanced with medications. If none of that works you may need to talk to someone to help you get your emotions under control and find your triggers, there is more strength in asking for help than struggling on your own.

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