Dysfunction in families and not to stress eat this weekend!!

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AmysNewBeginning
AmysNewBeginning Posts: 244 Member
in Motivation and Support
DYSFUNCTION...please tell me we all have this in our families!

Family and friends are everything to me. Today we share Easter with Kyles (my husband) side of the family (dysfunction there) and tomorrow Easter Sunday with my family and dysfunction there.

I am a stress eater.

I am so not stressing about things now, but they are on my mind as what today and tomorrow holds. I am praying for great days, but I'm a realistic person and know what "could" happen. So those of you that have some type of dysfunction in your lives, how do you deal with it. I don't want to eat to feel better. I will not ruin what I have done so far!!!!!!!! I feel great I lost 4.5 lbs my first week on here, I want to celebrate Easter for what Easter really is, and by golly I will...(but just curious on how others deal with it just in case.) :) Thanks gang!!!!!!!!!!

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  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    DYSFUNCTION...please tell me we all have this in our families!

    Family and friends are everything to me. Today we share Easter with Kyles (my husband) side of the family (dysfunction there) and tomorrow Easter Sunday with my family and dysfunction there.

    I am a stress eater.

    I am so not stressing about things now, but they are on my mind as what today and tomorrow holds. I am praying for great days, but I'm a realistic person and know what "could" happen. So those of you that have some type of dysfunction in your lives, how do you deal with it. I don't want to eat to feel better. I will not ruin what I have done so far!!!!!!!! I feel great I lost 4.5 lbs my first week on here, I want to celebrate Easter for what Easter really is, and by golly I will...(but just curious on how others deal with it just in case.) :) Thanks gang!!!!!!!!!!

    I hope none of them are on MFP or your in troublllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllle. lol
  • KittMahan
    KittMahan Posts: 106
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    I am so there Amy. And there's alot of it going on for me right now too.

    I make food that can be eaten in some volume, like veggie sticks, salads, veggie burgers, nonfat puddings, sugarfree jellos, and have them front and center in the cabinets and refrigerators at times like these. I know I'll eat more than I should; if those are my first choices I can do so and still not go way over calorie counts.

    Also, a long walk is a great way to deal with stress in the house. "I'm feeling kind of full and sleepy, I'll be back in an hour" is something they've learned to expect from me at stressful times. Gives me more room for eating and is healthy too, it reduces my stress. Two birds with one stone.

    Hang in there, even if you overindulge tomorrow you can get right on track the next day. Every day is a new day :)
  • HaleyAlli
    HaleyAlli Posts: 911 Member
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    That's tough. The way I got to how heavy I am is because my dad used to take us out to restaurants ALL the time... Then my parents got divorced (which involved a lot of fighting and stress before, during, and after)... Then I got in an abusive relationship... So yeah, I would be interested in hearing any tips, too.

    The only thing I can think of is, try to exercise or take a walk as your stress reliever, NOT eat. Sometimes taking a walk to clear my head makes me feel sooooo much better than reaching for that chocolate bar :)
  • Aileen46
    Aileen46 Posts: 176 Member
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    I'm a stress eater as well. I have a funeral to go to today for my brother in laws son who passed away on Wednesday. I made most of the food for the wake so I KNOW what there is to eat. All comfort food. Sandwiches with mayo and butter in all of them. Cheese and crackers, dessert stuff. UGH! There is a fruit and veg tray but both have dips/sauces to go with them. I have no idea what the calorie intake will be for the day but I figure today is going to be a definite cheat day!

    Good luck with your situation for Easter too!
  • WolffEarl
    WolffEarl Posts: 379 Member
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    First of all, I am blessed to have little family dysfunction in my life but stress (I teach teens:) and eating I know well. For me what works is being proactive. I find that doing some exercise Before I go into a stressful situation really helps to make me feel more relaxed, less prone to being stressed and looking for a food relief.
    Secondly plan ahead: Be ready to say to yourself: Oh this is getting stressful. Time to leave the room, find the pillow and pound it or go outside and climb the entry stairs 10 times or run into the kitchen and do 20 push ups against the kitchen counter. Have a stack of carrots handy in a bag. You suddenly grabbing a large carrot and noisily crunching it might just stop a round of dysfunction all on its own. Like your chewing your stress away:)
    Thirdly, think ahead: Realize that all that stress eating will only make you feel worse a few days later. Developing healthy ways to deal with stress is a hard thing to learn.
    Lastly: Be a friend to your body: After all it wants to be your friend, do not mistreat it with bad food choices. I sometimes pretend that my body is another person/loved one that I am meant to protect and treat kindly. Stuffing it with so called treats (chocolate, cake, etc) is actually mistreating it. Surely you would not do that to a friend.
  • FunRun08
    FunRun08 Posts: 203 Member
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    I have to deal with this too and I know how you feel, Ironically my family makes me not want to eat. There are a lot of overweight people in my family and we have watched their weight go up and down over the years. The last 2 years since I have lost all the weight I feel like they are always watching me waiting for me to start putting the weight back on. We were at a birthday party and my Grandma says - oh, your allowed to eat cake on your diet. Well Im not on a diet its a lifestyle change, and I ran 4 miles this morning but thank you for judging everything I am eating (she has a history of being very hurtful to me about my weight). Feeling like everything I put in my mouth is being watched helps me stay focused. I also plan to workout before I go to the parties in hopes of having a little extra room in my calorie count since I have no control over what is being served.

    Good luck this weekend, maybe think of tracking everything you eat so you know if you over eat you will have to write it down.
  • sduncks
    sduncks Posts: 3
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    I completely feel for you. I have some pretty serious dysfunction in my family, to the point where i was having anxiety attacks on a daily basis. I too am an emotional eater, stress = food.

    What helped me was talking through my problems and running.

    I don't know your family situation, but for me talking to someone on the outside really helped give me the perspective i needed to see that the stress i had put on myself because of them didn't need to be there.

    Running also gives me time to think through my problems and figure out how to handle them. It gives the stress an alternative outlet that is not eating. Its a lot easier for me to make a healthy choice after running than before.

    So my suggestion really matches what HaleyAlli said: try to exercise or take a walk as your stress reliever, NOT eat.

    Good luck! :)

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