The Blobby Policeman arrests COMFORT EATING.

Buttep01
Buttep01 Posts: 5 Member
in Motivation and Support
yeah the title is correct.. I'm that fat policeman who's huffing and puffing up a flight of stairs who's uniform fitted him when he was measured for it but then proceeded to put on two stone in 6 months... I hold my hands up at this.

My defence well I'm a CLASSIC COMFORT EATER.... anyone else... do you eat when you get stressed or learning something new (like my in my new cop job)
Why is it that we on this website resort to COMFORT EATING when we're upset, emotional, stressed..... I tend to yo yo diet.... SO from now on I'm going to put on my diary WHEN I've been stressed, etc etc to see if there's a pattern with eating. Does this make sense to you?kf10lpgwlvhi.jpg

Replies

  • Abakan
    Abakan Posts: 361 Member
    Yes I can relate to this, I comfort eat when bored, stressed or upset and then I'm upset with myself for comfort eating so I eat some more. The only way I find to deal with it is to distract myself by going for a walk or having a bath , reading a book or just going to sleep. Hope you learn to beat your comfort eating.
  • Soopatt
    Soopatt Posts: 563 Member
    I used to deny that I was an emotional eater, but since I have been strictly weighing and logging all my food since April, I have been forced to fess up to it.

    This has been a roller coaster year. I have had job offers which have not panned out which involved loads of jumping through hoops, meetings, interviews and planning. I got over that and got head hunted and find the whole process starting up again. I have traveled extensively for work to strange and exotic climes. I have had landlord issues and massive admin around trying to purchase a property while supporting my partner in his business as the sole breadwinner. A year of massive stress.

    I find that when I am under pressure, it is not so much the volume of food I eat, but what it comprises of. When I am stressed I live off traditional comfort food. Fast food burgers, pizza, that sort of thing. When I am feeling calmer and more balanced I don't have a taste for that sort of thing. It is all too sweet and salty and over the top. I think I use flavorful things to self-medicate my stress and make me feel better.

    I have not got past that. What I have managed to do is control my portions, during those stress-feeding times. I eat the same array of junk, I just eat it in amounts that fit in my calorie allowance. It can be done! By doing this, I have continued to lose weight over the months and have lost 11kg so far. Have a look at my diary if you think I might be exaggerating my strange food choices in the past few weeks. You would be surprised what you can fit in.

    Good luck! Don't try to be perfect. Do what works for you. Being self aware is half the battle won.

  • kat_princess12
    kat_princess12 Posts: 109 Member
    Soopatt wrote: »
    I used to deny that I was an emotional eater, but since I have been strictly weighing and logging all my food since April, I have been forced to fess up to it.

    Yes, this. I used to not log if I was discouraged by a day I knew I'd overeaten. Forcing myself to log everything, even when it made me feel bad, made me face up to what my bad habits were. On the positive side, I also started to realize how much "comfort food" I could fit into my goals if I made sure to moderate it.

    Stress eating is hard to deal with because stress isn't always fully within our control and eating is. Are there other coping skills you could use? I've had good luck with yoga (all that purposeful breathing is great for stress) - does your job offer a gym membership, or if you don't want to try yoga where others can see, could you find a good online tutorial or podcast? I've also found coffee and tea to help. During the most stressful job I ever had, I used to drive around country roads playing music for an hour or two if need be - it felt like getting away from it all. I encourage you to do a little research, online or with your coworkers/friends, to find some ideas for non-food ways to deal with stress that sound like something you'd be able to try.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I tracked my mood for a while like you are planning to do, to find patterns. I use this app: http://www.inexika.com/imood

    I didn't think I was an emotional eater but then I didn't recognize that I ate out of anger or boredom. Also, if I've had a stressful day, all my willpower is used up. That's when I'm most likely to make poor choices.

    Self-knowledge is the key to unlocking potential. I have strategies for each of these.

    For instance, if my willpower degrades all day, have a slow cooker meal ready for me in the evenings so I don't have to choose between a nutritious, well-planned meal, and KFC.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    Makes perfect sense. Focus on just logging for a week or two, and use your notes to help you identify your eating patterns. Once you identify them, you can decide how you want to change them. ^_^

    And I don't eat emotionally that much. My comfort food is a good steak, not sweets. Which is kinda weird, but if I'm feeling down, eating a steak dinner makes me feel better, while eating sweets or 'junk food' doesn't do anything for me. I guess we all have our oddities!
  • Buttep01
    Buttep01 Posts: 5 Member
    Some really great and insightful replies there. I shall do some more research into the psychology of overeating and report back to you all... many thanks The blobby policeman
  • wen69lee
    wen69lee Posts: 1 Member
    Hi there I'm a comfort eater tooooo. Is nice to see I'm not on my own here. :D


  • sukkara
    sukkara Posts: 51 Member
    edited October 2015
    The book "Eat what you love, love what you eat" helped me understand my emotional eating and develop strategies to minimize it. I still do it from time to time, but it's much less than before. Logging, especially pre-logging also helped alot.
    Good Luck!

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