I think you are already on the right track. I find distraction is helpful. But it works best when you do something enjoyable. If you distract yourself with a chore you need to do, it will not be nearly as effective. I also found calling someone just to chat for a while and boost your mood enough to lessen the desire for emotional eating. I've also used a nice hot bath or shower (occasionally while singing) or a walk or just spending time outside in the sun. Maybe read a good book you can really get lost in. Anything like that, I find helpful.

Here's the book I was thinking of....Intuitive Eating...

http://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Evelyn-Tribole-ebook/dp/B006ZL3P4G/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1407879726&sr=8-9&keywords=eating+mindfully

I'm working on self soothing without using food.
I think that eating is a comfort - it creates delicious sensations in the body.
So I look for other things to soothe the physical "energy" I feel when I'm emotional.
(Usually anxiety for me)

Hot showers, drinking hot cocoa (instead of a bag of chocolate candy or a cake), progressive muscle relaxation, have one of my kids scratch my back, cuddle with one of my kids, and exercise has been a true savior... I sometimes start walking and don't want to stop...

When I experience a trigger to emotionally eat, I ask myself "What am I trying not to feel?". I talk out loud to myself, if I am alone, and ask myself what emotion am I trying to avoid. Why do I feel that emotion. Why is that feeling something that is triggering me to want to eat etc. And feelings are just feelings. Eating something will only delay the emotion. And then it also adds the self-loathing I experience after eating something that I shouldn't have.

This is a learning process. I hope by asking myself those questions, that I will learn more about myself and my emotions. I hope that, over time, this behavior will become automatic.

I agree with BigSoul...I love the suggestion to ask, "What am I trying not to feel?" I definitely need to use this. I also have the problem of my emotions becoming muddy making it difficult to figure out exactly what is bothering me. Thank you for sharing this!!

Hi I"I'm new in this groups too but i've done a lot of work on this sort of stuff in my own life and i've got my diet under control really well now too.

From your post i'd say that you are not in touch with your emotions. One good solution is to get into the habit of naming them. When an unpleasant emotion starts to arise, see if you can name. If you have trouble try eliminating things it is not. If you are still struggling and as a general tool, draw up an extensive list of adjectives to describe feelings to enlarge your vocabulary. This will increase awareness significantly.

Then you need to figure out where the feeling is coming from. I wonder if you had recognised that you were hungry. Its something to recognise on the way home and think of how you are going to address it once you get in the door.

I think its quite acceptable to feel tired and sluggish after a long day of doing work such as you describe and its normal to feel hungry at that time. When we are tired we tend to make decisions that are not as smart as usual so that's why you went to the cake. We also tend to want carbs when we are tired out like this. It's completely normal.

if you've got weight issues, then i'd also make sure not to have cake or other sweets in your fridge or even in the house. Keep temptation far away but have something else ready that is easy. Like a dinner that only needs heating up. The other day i noticed on coming home from work feeling much as you did that the last thing i felt like doing was cooking a meal but i did really want to eat. I was hungry. Next time i will be more prepared and have my dinner ready so all i have to do is heat it up as soon as i get home. On that day i started cooking and had the first course - a miso soup - which didn't take long. Had a break to eat it and then continued cooking the rest at a leisurely and relaxed unhungry pace and state.

If i'm not actually hungry, or its way before dinner time, then i often find a glass of wine just takes the edge off all those feelings and makes me feel good. But i only drink one glass.

I've got lots of emotions i try to resolve quickly too. Generally i try to find solutions to the problem or find someone to help me find solutions like a councillor. Sometimes a solution is just finding a different way to think about the problem so that its not so big or is not a problem at all anymore. Sometimes its making a plan to tackle it and deciding when i will do it, then i can let it go. Other times i need to talk it over with a good listener before i'm able to relax.

4. Sleep. The desire to binge hits me at night. I have discovered just going to sleep helps. It feels ridiculous to go to bed at 9 at night instead of my usual 11, but sometimes the desire to binge is really a desire to sleep.

I agree with the idea of sleep. I think a lot of my evening binges in the past have been due to feeling tired. When you eat (usually carbs/sugar), the spike of sugar in your blood makes you feel more alert (temporarily). I try to watch for that and go to bed earlier, which is not always easy. But just being aware that I may be tired instead of truly hungry helps.

On this roller coaster with you all. From the slightest bit of stress to the most amount of boredom a binge or near-binge comes on. Most times I try to take 15 min. and stop to check out my emotions, or what I really need to eat, or drink a glass of water... other times I just act, and order takeout online (always online, like secretively) with a second thought. Starting to lessen, but still very hard to deal with. Also hard to talk about with friends, which is usually what I am needing more than pizza or nachos. Thnk goodness for the groups!

I love the idea of a self-video - i will have to try that.

I have put together a couple of Pinterest boards - things for comfort, my vision board & sunflowers.

The things to do for comfort board has simple activities to try to remember to do instead of a binge - like writing, meditation, reading and so on.

My vision board has symbols of being binge free - breaking chains, feeling light as feather (emotionally & physically) & a pink balloon.

The sunflower board is just something nice to look at and work on collecting unusual sunflower pictures -

Here is link for 100 things to do http://bingeeatingtherapy.com/2011/02/02/101-things-to-do-instead-of-binge-eating/

I had a excellent summer since rejoining MFP (been binge free) - but I am still so afraid that I will get derailed and will not be able to pick myself up.

Great thread and good tips! I come from a family with very destructive comfort techniques. Eating and drinking mostly. It made me realize I do have to be very aware and stop myself when I'm merely repeating that pattern.

Sometimes it's not possible to soothe myself in healthy manner. I was a gaming addict for years. But it was better than a lot of other addictions like narcotics, pills or gambling.

Whatever works for you, honey:-) As long as I'm able to steer comforting methods into healthier or more productive ways. Once I attended this expressive therapy that involved drawing or making collages or physically expressing our feelings. It was very uncomfortable, but unlocked many things that were hidden away from me.

When I'm angry or frustrated I go for a brisk walk uphill or spinning class. I also use the foam rolling to comfort. Not only does it relax very tense muscles, it is also quite painful at start so the beta endorphine gave me instant pain release. A very good pain indeed. Natural hiiiigh...:-)