Emotional Eating: How do you break the cycle??

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Chelle_D
Chelle_D Posts: 33
in Motivation and Support
Hey everyone!

I am an emotional eater. BIG time. How does one break the cycle? I know it's mind over matter, but when the going gets really tough, how did you take your steps to healthier stress management? Any books, forums, advice welcome. Thanks for reading and have an amazing day! :)

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  • kateslife
    kateslife Posts: 39
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    i took the time to plan out my food, so i wouldn't find temptations a lot. try to get big time binge food out of the house for good. i find not totally restricting my fav food but rather only having it once a week can help prevent it a lot. i also chew gum. hope this helps.
  • peggybrant
    peggybrant Posts: 144 Member
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    wish i could help you but I'm an emotional NON eater. I do eat with boredom tho and just have to say to myself, "It's up to you Peggy, do you want to be big or small, your choice" very simple and cut dry.
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,526 Member
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    Running is a GREAT stress reliever. I feel so relaxed afterward!
  • MaryTheIceCube
    MaryTheIceCube Posts: 1,099 Member
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    Being an emotional eater myself (recovering...), I've found that facing the issue that drives you to eat is the best way to conquer emotional eating. As hard as it may be, it really does work. Try keeping track of what/how you're feeling when you go to eat -- are you actually hungry or are you eating to stifle an emotion/feeling? It sometimes helps to write it down, to work through it... then you can release it and the emotional eating right along with it. It's a process, it takes time and patience with yourself. I try to work on this daily... best wishes! :)
  • sabrinafaith
    sabrinafaith Posts: 607 Member
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    When someone yells at me, I yell back. that generally makes me feel better. When its not an option, I go for a walk to cool down. Also, working out daily has helped reduce the emotional eating by a lot. I don't feel the need anymore bc I am less stressed and I don't get upset as easily.
  • katbass
    katbass Posts: 351 Member
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    I dont have one perfect secret trick that works every single time, but I have tried brushing my teeth (nothing tastes as good when you have clean teeth and minty breath!), drinking 16 oz of water, or setting a timer for 10 minutes. If I do one (or all three) of those things and I STILL want to eat the pain/frustration/anxiety away, then I allow myself. Its not easy, and it doesnt always work, but when it DOES work, I feel 100% better about myself and my ability to have control over SOMETHING in my life, since I dont have control over other peoples' actions or words.
    I also pre-plan my food each morning, so I KNOW Im "being bad" or falling off track when I reach for something that wasnt in the day's menu. That has helped a lot, too.

    I agree that focusing on the issue that causes the eating is probably a wise theory....although certianly the hardest one. Good luck to you!
  • gailosborne
    gailosborne Posts: 435
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    Hey there..

    I tell myself that if hunger isn't the problem then food isn't the answer. I try to distract myself with other things. Running has replace eating after a hard day and I never thought that would be the case.

    I'm not being glib here - there is no easy answer and I think its more about chipping away at the way we think when we are stressed or sad and telling ourselves that stuffing our faces is not a way to self-comfort. Its a way to being overweight and feeling worse. If we want to comfort ourselves there are much better ways to do it that will actually take care of our body and mind - a massage, decent food, exercise, a good night out with friends, a hot bath and an early night etc.

    Good luck and keep going. It gets easier. xxx
  • fitnesspirateninja
    fitnesspirateninja Posts: 667 Member
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    Being an emotional eater myself (recovering...), I've found that facing the issue that drives you to eat is the best way to conquer emotional eating. As hard as it may be, it really does work. Try keeping track of what/how you're feeling when you go to eat -- are you actually hungry or are you eating to stifle an emotion/feeling? It sometimes helps to write it down, to work through it... then you can release it and the emotional eating right along with it. It's a process, it takes time and patience with yourself. I try to work on this daily... best wishes! :)

    If you've an emotional eater, it's really important to work on getting your mind healthy as well as your body. I eventually got to a point where I could recognize that I was upset, anxious, or angry. Instead of noshing, I go for a walk. I never feel better after eating a box of cookies. I always feel better after I take a walk.
  • EvilMomma
    EvilMomma Posts: 70 Member
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    I am seeing a therapist for eating and other issues. I'm a big time emotional eater--boredom and feeling put upon by the world; what I call entitlement eating (the world is treating me like crap, I'm entitled to something nice). I'm just starting, again, and just dealt with boredom last night--a big glass of ice water and telling myself that I can have goodies later helped me get through it. A cup of tea with a scant 1/2 tsp of honey finished off the evening. Oh yeah, and the ol' journal got a work-out--why am I bored...

    Good luck! We can all do this.
  • k80mac
    k80mac Posts: 63 Member
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    post before me..."entitlement eating" I hear you loud and clear. I do that. I feel like I deserve to treat myself when I've had a crappy day or when I'm just feeling down in the dumps. I'm a big emotional eater, but i've found that tracking here helps me and I also substitute some of the things I eat now. I make hot tea with honey at night instead of eating a, I mean instead of eating 3 bowls of cereal. LOL I don't keep snacky things that are my go-to foods (cheese popcorn and any type of fresh bread) I just don't allow them to even be available. My biggest conquest with the emotional eating so far was figuring out the triggers and the time of day. The window of 5-9pm is bad for me. So I focus on distracting myself during that time frame.
  • Trjlove
    Trjlove Posts: 28
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    I too was an emotional eater. My first step to breaking the cycle was not to have high calorie binge food in the house. So I stopped buying the chips, cookies, ice cream, and chocolate. The more I ate of these "binge foods" the more I wanted. It is a vicious cycle.
    Next you have to determine what your triggers are. For me it was relationship stress and being a mom. My triggers were not ones
    I could just push out the window. So I had to develop new coping mechanisms. One is to go for a walk. The other one, which is
    served as a middle point was to replace the binge foods with high quality and healthy foods. The higher quality foods satisfies faster and hence you do not eat as much of it. For instance instead of eating milk chocolate, I switched to dark chocolate (one with a high cocoa percent) after one square, satisfied. Another thing was to eat organic foods that do not have alot of additives. I make organic chocolate chip cookies, 1-2 does the trick.

    Anywho, hope that this helps. Let me know if I can help further. :happy:
  • Chelle_D
    Chelle_D Posts: 33
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    You all are awesome! Thanks for the wonderful advice... lots of methods here I didn't even think about. :D

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