I Connected Experiencing Emotions to Wanting To Eat

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ncraig627
ncraig627 Posts: 11 Member
in Motivation and Support
I'm having some frustration on a project at work and for the first time since I started this diet...this is day 4. I physically wanted to just go eat. Like cake or cookies or ice cream or chips or fried food. This surprised me because I rarely connect feelings I'm having driving me to eat as a stress reliever. I've always just felt like I "liked" to eat and that emotions didn't have an effect. Surprise!

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  • Praying_Mantis
    Praying_Mantis Posts: 239 Member
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    Good for you. Mindful eating. Or.. not eating. :smile:
  • tekkiechikk
    tekkiechikk Posts: 375 Member
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    I relate. Just finished a book that is changing the way I view food... like Praying Mantis said, it's about mindful eating and distinguishing between brain hunger and actual physical hunger. Very simply, it's about stopping and thinking about why you are about to open mouth and insert food. Glad you made the connection between emotions and eating early on.
  • totaldetermination
    totaldetermination Posts: 1,184 Member
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    If I don't feel hungry (from my stomach), then I know that it is not hunger that is making me want to eat.
    I often ask myself whether this feeling of wanting to eat would go away if I ate something. Often the answer is no. It will go away *while* I'm eating but will be back again *after* I have eaten. That's not hunger.
    I have learnt that these urges to eat pass, and that eating does not make them pass any quicker. Sometimes they go on for minutes, or hours. but they do pass. they are not hunger.
  • pjcfrancis
    pjcfrancis Posts: 121 Member
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    Yes! I'm experiencing the same thing. I started by asking before I ate if it was my mouth that was hungry or my stomach. Then it began to get more clear to me that my eating was emotional. Of course, I've known for a while that when I had a challenging day at work, I would bolt straight to a store for chocolate afterwards. Now I'm seeing more subtle versions of that.
  • MindySaysWhaaat
    MindySaysWhaaat Posts: 401 Member
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    For years I pretty much never actually felt what hunger was. I just ate when I felt like it. Now I try to push it and make sure I'm really hungry when I first eat in the day.

    I coped with anxiety by eating for a long time. I didn't really realize it until a few years ago when I was out with my fiance and a friend and we had just eaten. We went somewhere else, and my fiance was playing this game where he wouldn't let me get out of the car where I'd try to open the door and he'd slam it shut (this was playful- he wasn't trying to be mean), and without thinking I exclaimed "Stop it, I'm hungry!" and he just looked at me like "Huh...we just ate...."
  • ncraig627
    ncraig627 Posts: 11 Member
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    Wow! Thank you all for such open responses about making the connection between emotions and eating. I will take some of the advice, especially to ask myself if I'm eating because I'm hungry before I eat. That is rarely the case to be honest. I never miss a meal so I'm wondering if I will even be able to answer that question with a yes at meal time.

    It's an effort to be mindful of eating...not just for me I see.
  • mdabney1073
    mdabney1073 Posts: 6
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    This is what is scary for me. I stress, I eat. I am nervous, I eat. I am bored, I eat. I have been doing it so long that I don't know if I can break the habit.
  • areallycoolstory
    areallycoolstory Posts: 1,680 Member
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    mdabney1073 wrote: »
    This is what is scary for me. I stress, I eat. I am nervous, I eat. I am bored, I eat. I have been doing it so long that I don't know if I can break the habit.

    You can break the habit. Any habit can be broken. I have lived much of my life the same way. Eating because of boredom, exhaustion, anger whatever... Knowing that this is the case is half the battle. Only half the battle because there have been times, years at a time, where I allow myself to eat anyway. The other half of the battle is eating mindfully, which includes planning and thinking. Planning meals ahead. Thinking before, during, and after eating. Starting small. Taking one day/hour/moment at a time to build consistency.

    Truth be told OP I don't even think eating because of emotion is that rare or just something overweight folks do. There have been lots of jokes, usually at the expense of women, about sitting at home wolfing down a quart of ice cream or box of chocolates because of some major disappointment. I just think perhaps folks who are prone to overeat do it for minor disappointments and discomforts.
  • FitOldMomma
    FitOldMomma Posts: 790 Member
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    I've come to understand that a lot of my mindless eating was just a bad habit- not necessarily tied to emotions, be they good or bad. Being mindful of what and when you eat is the first step to successfully getting a handle on overeating.

    Sometimes in the evenings (when I could snack endlessly) I now find something to do to keep my hands and mind active. This also helped me quit my smoking habit.

    So many believe it is simple willpower to overcome weight issues, I've found it to be building new habits and being aware of what I'm doing.

    Good insight on your part!
  • pacemakerbabe
    pacemakerbabe Posts: 8 Member
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    I am still struggling with being an emotional eater. Not sure how to make that change in my head. Have a family reunion in 4 months. Would love to be looking and feeling better about myself. Look forward to any insight from anyone who had been once challenged by being an emotional eater and now is not. Would love to know how to have better control~CM in Philadelphia.
  • margolinville
    margolinville Posts: 127 Member
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    Just remember your tounge taste food only. Your body uses food to nourish or make you fat it doesn't care what it tastes like!
  • 30chubchub
    30chubchub Posts: 1
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    I am reading a book called "The Rules of Normal Eating"... so far it is an excellent take on this issue... one I've been struggling with my whole life, but only recently noticed. There is also a workbook that you can get, and I am eager to see what comes of it. Just noticing that I get emotional cravings has helped, and I am learning to "listen" to my body better. It's amazing how often I eat even when I'm not hungry! There are lots of situations where it would be appropriate to eat (watching TV, out with a friend, dinner time...), but you might not be hungry, and that's ok! Apparently people learn to ignore "normal" signals of being hungry/full from when they are little and their parents or someone made them eat or made them finish their plate. Sure was the case with me! Good luck.... and check out her book.
  • margolinville
    margolinville Posts: 127 Member
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    Stop using food incorrectly primarily for enjoyment start using food to nourish your body. If you don't, your body will store the excess calories you had fun eating and make you fat!
    3500 calories will turn into 1 pound in your body!
    It was programmed to do this by nature!
    ncraig627 wrote: »
    Wow! Thank you all for such open responses about making the connection between emotions and eating. I will take some of the advice, especially to ask myself if I'm eating because I'm hungry before I eat. That is rarely the case to be honest. I never miss a meal so I'm wondering if I will even be able to answer that question with a yes at meal time.

    It's an effort to be mindful of eating...not just for me I see.
    mdabney1073 wrote: »
    This is what is scary for me. I stress, I eat. I am nervous, I eat. I am bored, I eat. I have been doing it so long that I don't know if I can break the habit.
  • margolinville
    margolinville Posts: 127 Member
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    1. You don't have to break a habit.
    2. You need to understand first why and how your body uses food to make you gain weight!
    3. Have a plan that works evertime.
    4. My plan is working here it is ...
  • ncraig627
    ncraig627 Posts: 11 Member
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    margolinville wrote: »
    1. You don't have to break a habit.
    2. You need to understand first why and how your body uses food to make you gain weight!
    3. Have a plan that works evertime.
    4. My plan is working here it is ...

    Not sure if the plan you are using came through...I don't see it margolinville.

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