How to curb emotional eating??? Suggestions???

Let me first say I am very sorry to hear about your mother. That must be very hard for you.

I only had two suggestions. The first was to just be aware of your eating and your emotions. I am also an emotional eater and it's very hard to get a handle on that because it's a very bad habit to break. What usually works for me is to ask myself, am I really hungry or am I bored/sad/anxious/etc. If I can step back and logically think about it I usually find I'm not actually hungry.

My other suggestion is this: maybe you might want to eat at maintenance level until your life is not quite as stressful. You won't be losing, but you won't gaining either. You've got enough stuff going on, maybe put this on the back burner for a while and come back to it when you're ready.

Good luck.

Geneen Roth has a good book on emotional eating. I think being aware is the most of it. I have to remind myself this is stress, it is not hunger and food wont help.

I'm so sorry to hear about your mother, I can imagine I'd be in the same mindset as you!
I also tend to eat more (or at least more unhealthy) when I am stressed out. What helps me is when I'm feeling a snack attack, I ask myself if its my stomach that's hungry or if I'm just bored/stressed/whatever. I will chug a big cold glass of water & wait maybe 5-10 minutes to see if I'm still feeling "hungry". My stomach will usually let me know after that if I still need something else to fill me up. Not sure if that's good advice or not, but for me it's trying to be mindful of my emotions & triggers. Hope that helps

Very sorry to hear about your mom. Something that may help is getting rid of most of the junk food and unhealthy stuff from the house so when the mood to eat strikes, there's really only healthier options to choose from. It sucks at the time when you really crave junk food but is good in the end.

Oh no that's such terrible news.

I'm an emotional eater, too. I do gaze into the cupboards a lot still, but I just have to tell my feet to please redirect me to something else.

I was doing this last night and realized I don't have anything "good" in my house anyway so I can't do much damage. (I had a graham cracker and some milk- woohoo!) so it's best for me to not have tempting things around. I also tell myself that it won't make me feel any better. I've also tried doing my squats or stretches when I find myself wandering into the kitchen.

Do something soothing for yourself. Relax, give yourself a foot massage, paint your nails (can't eat when your nails are painted), put on a face mask, take a bath, drink a big cup of tea (fills you up, no calories), distract yourself by taking quizzes online until the urges pass. What you're going through is not an easy battle but with the right tools, you can make it through anything.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

I honestly still struggle with this. I have a few things that have helped though. First off all, I tell myself that I'll eat everything I want AFTER I brew a pot of tea. Surprisingly, after I drink the tea, I calm down and feel safer (weird but the tea is super comforting) and don't want to eat anymore. If I still feel anxious or sad, I call my best friend. It's really important to talk to someone you trust, even you just hear their voice, knowing someone cares about you really helps. She is really understanding and even if we don't talk about anything important, the stress is released and I feel better. Lastly, I don't beat myself up over it. This sounds really cliche- but it's true! You WILL have a binge every once in while. So just drink a little extra water afterward, and tell yourself you'll do better tomorrow. DO NOT restrict yourself the next day, though. You will just set yourself up for disaster. Try to have a normal day and go back to the tips to prevent a binge from happening. Hope I helped (even just a little). ;-)

shannishan05 wrote: »

Hope this gets replies... I truly need help.

Here goes... Recently my mom has been placed on hospice. Though she's had cancer for a while... I just wasn't ready for THAT news. Nonetheless, I'm determined to enjoy each day.... My issue is with everything going on, I literally can't stop eating!!! I just can't get a handle on this mindless, emotional eating.
Any tips on how I can reel myself back in?
How do you curb emotional eating?

Thank you in advance

shannishan05 this has been my life long problem. Three months ago the rheumatologist asked me to research Enbrel to manage arthritis pain that has grown worse over the last 40 years and the cancer risk got my attention when doing my research so I said "later" to Enbrel but read more about uses of coconut oil and that lead to studying about nutritional ketosis.

After 90 days my arthritis pain has really declined. I am finally off of sugar/carbs and taking 5-10 tablespoons of coconut oil daily. Now that I am in a constant state of ketosis my unreal carb cravings have greatly reduced and the nice thing about a high fat diet is I seldom ever really get hungry like when I was on a high carb diet.

I am sorry to hear about your mom's health and I am sure that is very stressful.

When I learned could get cancer from trying to manage my pain (that is at least in part is due to sugar/carbs, that I could develop Type II diabetes, die from a stroke or heart attack like my grandparents did in their late 60's (I am 63) if I did not address my 'nervous' eating I think that gave me the will to Google until I found options that might work for me. I do not know what would work for you but work Google hard and filter through the trash and she what you might find to try that might fit you.

Best wishes for you and your mom.

eliminate the foods that trigger your eating and get counselling. I can't stress the latter enough. If you are struggling and its causing you to overeat your seratonin levels are down. They may not be down enough to warrant medication but you need to get yourself up to a happier place.

Also eat a wide variety of interesting and healthful foods especially lots of vegetables.

if you binge, avoid your most problematic foods. I've written at length on this in the diet and nutrition section. One how to manage your out of control sweet tooth.

Anyway please get some supportive counselling. You need to vent to the ears of a professional.

I'm very sorry to hear about your mom.

I think what everyone has suggested is spot on! Emotional eating is a deeper issue and the solution isn't "just don't do it." Remember to be kind to yourself during this stressful time, and take time out of your day to do something nice for yourself (take a walk, take a bath).

I have found that drinking water helps me A LOT! If I'm chugging water, I'm too busy or too full to munch.