Some of my thoughts on emotional eating

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  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    Thanks Wendy!
  • lbesaw
    lbesaw Posts: 267 Member
    I agree-and it IS or can be such a long process to overcome. I am in the struggle frequently though not DAILY now and I have been working on it for almost two years. I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel for me but I have not lost my compassion for people that struggle with this too. There is a great benefit to beginning the journey and it is so worth it! Good luck to everyone that knows life as a food addict. :)
  • Jenna70
    Jenna70 Posts: 130 Member
    Thanks so much for this post. I've literally copied the entire thread into a Word document so I can re-read it frequently. I've had a problem with emotional eating for a long time and known I need to do something about it. But, as I'm not very good at introspection and self-analysis, I hadn't made much progress. Then I saw this post a couple of weeks ago.
    Everything you say here is dead-on in my opinion. You clearly and simply illustrate the various facets of the problem in a matter of fact way that makes sense and makes is sound fixable. Not easy to fix, but over time, with attention to self and practice as you've stated, it can be overcome. So I will keep working on it, thank you. :)
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    You're welcome, Jenna!
  • walkdmc
    walkdmc Posts: 529 Member
    Wow, thanks for this thread! Any tips on how to journal "properly"?

    Also, thanks to the poster who included the list of emotions...very helpful!
  • sloeginlin
    sloeginlin Posts: 12 Member
    Thank you from me too. Amazing writing, I am going to try and find all of your words of wisdom
    Linda
    xx
  • camcd831
    camcd831 Posts: 11 Member
    Great post!
  • brilliantcoe
    brilliantcoe Posts: 35 Member
    For me the solution is Overeaters Anonymous. I am not a normal eater which is why I got to be 294 pounds. It is free and accessible online as well as through face to face meetings. Has saved my life.
  • littleandysmom
    littleandysmom Posts: 173 Member


    Once you identify your actual emotions, You should also familiarize yourself with how you tend to respond to them.

    This likely seems silly to some of you, and if so, I'm not talking to you. You likely have no sense of what it's like to lack coping strategies for your emotions.

    For those of you who this does jive with... once you get better at identifying and analyzing your emotions as indicated above - beyond simply being more aware, present, and objective - you can also begin to replace your responses to various emotions with more productive behaviors.

    This isn't easy. It's like building a good body. It takes time, patience, forgiveness, acceptance, lots of practice, and even more consistency.

    But this is a start to the direction many emotional eaters need in my opinion.

    Thanks so much for the post! I've been struggling with emotional eating for quite awhile, it got worse after a loss in the family..... but getting older and my hormone issues, I haven't realized the impact of EE until a couple of years ago. I've never written down the emotions that I'm feeling at the time ...it makes so much sense to start identifying exactly what I'm feeling and to be more intentional about changing my response to an emotion. Thanks also for the poster that posted the list of emotions. I'll start an EE journal today.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    I'll start an EE journal today.

    There's a couple of apps that you can use to track your emotions / feelings if you prefer to go down the electronic route. I think MyMoodTracker is probably the most commonly used on. Over time if you consistently record your moods and what they correlate with you will have lots of useful data.

    I am not an emotional eater but I am a huge fan of setting goals / making lists of what I want to do on daily / monthly / yearly levels. I use Colour Note on my phone to do so and considering I pretty much always have it with me. It makes life a lot easier.
  • littleandysmom
    littleandysmom Posts: 173 Member

    I think MyMoodTracker is probably the most commonly used on. Over time if you consistently record your moods and what they correlate with you will have lots of useful data.

    What a cool idea...thanks so much!!
  • sbrownallison
    sbrownallison Posts: 314 Member
    Can't read all these right now, so am bumping for later. Great thread you've started and thanks for the insights you're sharing. This is an area of mystery for me: I read about "emotional eating" as I do engage in it periodically (less now than in years past), and I've spent some time trying to figure out the underlying emotions (with only limited success). I also believe (as Alabaster noted) there's a triggering component to certain foods, so for me it's definitely a contributing factor.
  • walkdmc
    walkdmc Posts: 529 Member
    Thanks for the MyMoodTracker app recommendation! I just downloaded it and can't wait to use it regularly...so far, looks great!
  • juliepoe208
    juliepoe208 Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks Steve. This truly puts things in perspective, even when we lose our way within our journey. This is something that could truly help my family, not just in the food realm. God bless.
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
    great post! I went to WW about 4 years ago. I started the point system and eating low fat foods, taking skin off chicken, etc. and then got really sick. I am sure I did it the wrong way and was not getting enough nutrients or whatever I needed. Probably ate too much junk for my points or too much low fat foods. ANyway I found myself vomiting and getting nauseated when I ate greasy foods,etc. I gave up and decided just to eat whatever I wanted and felt better but got fatter. Now I know I was feeling sad and anxious and did not know what to do. With MFP I eat everything in moderation and it has worked but had no idea what emotion I was feeling. Sad was the emotion, who knew?
  • KimberDG9966
    KimberDG9966 Posts: 27 Member
    Tagging to re-read this again later.

    Thanks so much for posting!
  • msdeb424
    msdeb424 Posts: 36 Member
    A great post that deserves a second read. :smile:

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