In need of emotional eating tips/tricks

Veil5577 wrote: »

I have even found the weather can trigger me.. if it's suddenly gone cold after a warm streak I get into cozy mode and want to overeat while at home snuggled with my cats.. it's a comfort thing.

You may be onto something here... I just recently worked through a very stressful period at work and stayed laser-focused on not falling into the usual stress eating trap. But the last week or so (since the weather turned nasty), the stress level is near zero, but I've been fighting off eating impulses left and right...

First I ask myself 'am I hungry?' if the answer is no, then I know I'm choosing food for an emotional reason... and I stop myself. Knowing what you're doing is the first line of defence! Sometimes I'll have a rather nice fantasy about eating it and that satisfies the craving (that's the cheat way!). Sometimes I have to reason with myself: I'll look at a donut I want for emotional reasons and tell myself 'that's 350 calories, you could have LUNCH 350 calories, that makes no sense... Do you want to lose weight? How happy will you be to get on the scales tomorrow morning and see an actual loss? What will you feel like if you don't? What if you don't lose weight and in a year's time you're just where you are now, or even bigger? etc.' Occasionally I lose this battle. These are the days when I bargain: I don't have the entire donut, I have 3 bites, because that's enough to satisfy me. Then I know I've eaten some donut. The one thing I never do is eat while watching TV - that's when you eat a day's worth of calories without even realising it and then feel hungry afterwards!

If I decide I'm hungry, but I'm a little way from my next mealtime I'll do some exercise, brush my teeth, distract myself with reading, or 'snack on' a bottle of water. If I'm a long way from my next meal I'll have a nutritious low calorie snack AND some water (this helps wash the food down, so your body realises that you've eaten). I get a Graze box once a week, filled with 'low cal' portion appropriate snacks - I keep one punnet in my handbag, one in my raincoat and two in my kitchen - so they're on hand when I need them. That way I don't find myself out of low cal options and buying something at a supermarket which doesn't fit the bill. These snacks always feel 'special' too - they're something a bit different, they feel like a reward not a punishment. Or, when I have the extra time, I make something low cal e.g. popcorn, a fruit salad etc. Hope this helps! Just remember, if you go over your calories it's not the end of the world and you can always do a bit of exercise to earn more calories!

I start by reminding myself that stress doesn't burn calories, which kind of helps me because first, it's kind of funny so that uplifts me a bit, second, it's true. Then, I ask myself, if there was no food around me right now, what would I do to de-stress? Sometimes all it takes is taking a few long breaths, sometimes it's talking to someone like friends and family. I personally opt for the obscure solution of singing, which is not only uplifting, but it also occupies your mouth so you can't eat.
Above all, think about the stressful situation, and try to understand why it stresses you out and how you can deal with it? Solving the actual problem is the best best method.

One more thing, I know this sounds weird, but if I eat something healthy and then go to the gym for strength training, by the time I get back I am really not that ravenous as much as I was when I got home from work. Not sure this is for everyone, but just tossing it in since it works for me.

I had this issue... and I used to eat whenever I was bored too. My advice is to just tell yourself that you'll feel even worse if you do, because whatever made you feel bad hasn't changed, and then you'll feel guilty on top of it. A strategy Ive used is if I am going to eat something, I come here and log it FIRST, and then look at the numbers and decide if I really want to eat it. Sometimes I do. But I make sure to adjust my calories elsewhere, if possible. I also had to get out of the 'rewarding with food' mindset... If I had a difficult day Id think "Oh I deserve to go eat at the buffet"... I had to stop that. Instead I reward myself with other things... like getting a game I wanted, or buying tickets to an event...
Basically I just try to redirect the energy/thoughts away from food and eating... and I got obsessive about logging...
And I go rid of all the food that I deemed 'bad' (too many calories for too small a serving)... I had a problem of wanting to eat stuff just because it was there, and I hate letting food go to waste... so I gave all the 'bad' food to a student who worked in my office. XD

drink water or tea or coffee, and chew gum

Absolutely fantastic advice here! Thanks everyone. I usually eat when bored, also I've become trained to do it in front of the tv, (I know, that's the worst one.) I tried veggies or fruit, but still wanted the snacks. I finally found that tea tends to shut me up. I'll have an herbal tea, with a bit of sugar (15 - 30 calories) and that generally makes me happy. It takes a while to drink, and the slight sweetness takes care of the cravings.

I'm an emotional eater as well, and one thing that has worked for me is cleaning as well but I try not to buy super duper junky foods that could lead to a super duper big binge (whichis the case for me normally.) SO, if I do end up eating I'll do something like carrots or celery, which are better than chips.

Also learn to recoginze if you're actually hungry or if you're just emotional. Ask yourself "Am I hungry?" I tend to eat large amounts of food when I'm really upset, so that's helped me, because most of the time, I'm not hungry and just eating to eat and then I get an upset stomach. Tea and water are also a good idea.

Thinking about or actually finding someone else to help will get me focused on something else besides myself and what is bothering me. This is how I do it: If I am restless, irritated, bored, etc., I stop and think for minute to decide why I think I deserve to eat.... happy, angry, resentful, afraid, selfish, etc.? (Probably a lot of how we are feeling could come from selfishness... someone didn't do want we wanted, we didn't get what we wanted, etc.) Then I ask God to remove it (anger, etc.) from me. I will try to talk to someone about it, or say I'm sorry if needed. Then I will go find someone else to help or think about how I can help someone in the near future. Focusing on helping someone else instead of obsessing over myself really does help - its like magic!