Strategies for overcoming stress eating?

-don't keep snack foods/chocolate in the house
-replace snacking on food with drinking water or tea
-substitute exercise to reduce stress
-eat at set time

I recommend keeping a journal where you sit and write down what you're feeling before you start eating. Look at where you are on a hunger scale of 1-5, with 1 being starving and 5 being stuffed. I find that the act of actually assessing my hunger levels and writing "I'm stressed and want to eat chocolate" really helps me to stop. Also, I promise myself that if I still feel like that in 15 minutes, I'll reassess then.

I have sweets in my house, but I don't keep the ones that I want to binge on. For instance, milk or white chocolate makes me want to eat the entire bar, but if I have a bar of quality dark chocolate, I'll eat 2 squares and put it away. I know I have one bar to last the entire week, so if I eat it all on Monday, I'm SOL the rest of the week. I can't keep oreos in the house because I don't yet have the willpower to eat one serving. However, my end goal is to be able to have any food in the house and enjoy it in moderation (but it's not smart right now as I'm working hard to have a healthier mindset when it comes to food).

I keep ice cream (not my absolute favorite, but still a kind I like) in the freezer in the garage. I have to make extra effort to get to it, instead of it being in the freezer in the kitchen. I don't spent my evenings in the living room attached to the kitchen, but rather, I sit on the patio or go upstairs away from the kitchen. The point is that I try not to put myself into a situation where I will eat from stress and not think.

Also, make sure you are getting enough calories early in the day. When I was struggling the most with binging, I would eat less in the AM because I "knew" I would need those calories later when I "got into trouble." I've been seeing a dietician, and she stresses the importance of eating plenty early in the AM and at lunch so I don't feel that afternoon/evening need to binge. She encourages me to have fruit or veggies with every meal and I think that's helped too. It's easy to scarf down a bowl of cereal, but it takes a few minutes to peel and eat 2 clementines. I also write down how long it takes me to eat and at what pace. If I'm eating quickly, I have to stand up and walk away because that's not giving me time to recognize fullness level and it's the start of a binge.

I would recommend seeing a dietician because that's been the biggest help to me to overcome stress eating. I would also recommend seeing a counselor to help with the mental aspect of this struggle. You need a team approach to help you learn how to have a healthier relationship with food.

Interesting in following this thread for responses too, as food has tended to be a coping mechanism in the past when it came to stressful times.

Re: chocolate, I always found I could never have just one piece of milk chocolate, as the added sugar in it always made me crave more. Switching to dark chocolate has helped a lot, although you may need to transition gradually, ie milk chocolate -> moderate cocoa chocolate (40/ 50%) -> High cocoa dark chocolate (60/ 70%) -> very high cocoa dark chocolate (80%+), if you decide to go this route.

Obviously you can stop at any point you want, but I found this a highly effective way at containing the amount of chocolate in my diet, and to be honest these days eat almost one small little bar (25g bar) over the course of the day, as I find dark chocolate a great appetite suppressant if I eat a piece (1/3 of a bar) and wait a couple of minutes. I do this 2/ 3 times a day, and find it very effective.

Alternately you could of course just find similar moderate calorie foods that do the same for you, and replace the chocolate with those.

1) Create a journal to record my feelings before I start eating and to record the scale of my hunger out of five.
2) Stop accepting the free chocolate, drink tea and water instead.
3) If I am feeling stressed about an assignment, I should go for a walk, clean my car, or do something else that is productive instead.
4) Choose foods that take longer to eat so I have more time to assess my hunger levels before I reach for something else to eat.

I think this is a great plan.

The advice I'd give is quite similar to that you already received. I had a stress eating problem most indulged in while at work (so no way to remove the food--it's in our work kitchen and candy bowl). Journaling was extremely helpful for me, as well as just deciding that I would eat only at meal times. Even if I decide to include a treat, I typically do so at the end of a meal (so basically as part of a meal time) or in a pre-planned way (like the host of my book group loves to bake, so I schedule in a treat then). If I'm wanting to eat because I'm stressed, I know it's not a meal time and there's no actual reason for me to be hungry, so I tell myself to wait.

At first this was tough, so I brought things I was willing to snack on (carrots and celery, that kind of thing) when I felt the urge. Just being able to munch was enough, and pretty quickly I got over that need.

Now, occasionally, I'll want to eat when I know I'm just stressed/upset, but from experience I know that working out will almost always deal with that, so I either go do it or if I can't focus on getting whatever I'm working on finished. Invariably the feeling goes away, and even if it doesn't waiting a few hours until a planned meal is no huge hardship.

Also, find something to do with your hands. Snacking became a habit for me when I was on the computer or watching tv, and most of the time I wasn't aware of how much I was eating until I started MFP last year. Now, when I feel like snacking, I do something else with my hands (usually art of some kind), and that diverts me if it's just habit or stress snacking.

Did everyone already say record everything in myfitnesspal? Amazing how tiny snacks add up if you don't see the math. Sorry if already said ad nauseum.

I find that tea is great for stress relief. To keep things interesting, I keep a variety of teas at my desk - fruity, savory, etc and add stevia when I crave something sweeter. I am definitely guilty of stress eating though. Tea is one way to cope though:)

Find other ways of dealing with stress. Exercise, playing music, meditating, reading, talking to friends . . .

Wow there are some great ideas on here. Not what I was expecting. It's hard to answer unless you really know what stress eating means. I think not keeping snack food is a huge thing. I still eat a dessert every night but I literally go buy something that has one serving when I get off the train after work, and that's it for the night....Other wise it's tomatoes and I guess stress eating tomatoes wouldn't kill you.