Anyone else an emotional eater?

jaffacake22 · January 2016

And how do you overcome the cravings?

I'm very much like "oh I deserve this cookie, I've had a bad day", or "I'm so happy I'm going to have some chocolate!"

It never ends!

kf1834 · January 2016

I am but I have no advice for you

BoaRestrictor · January 2016

"When people make you feel like a trash can, don't prove them right by eating garbage."

adamgheli · January 2016

This has started working for me for a few weeks now. I take my people anger out on food and say crap like "You Don't Deserve Me" to the food. And I take my people anger out during workouts. Sort of like channeling your anger and sadness to work out better and stay away from food. I keep telling myself "Food is a Friendly Smiling Deviant". It will always stab me at every turn.

Sorry if I sound like a lunatic.

tracie_minus100 · January 2016

I was. I guess I probably always will be, but I've worked very hard over the past year to overcome my emotional eating.
I would use stress or a bad day as an excuse to eat something delicious (and LOTS of it). "I had a bad day, I deserve to eat a pizza for dinner then have ice cream for dessert" was my mindset pretty much.
I started forcing myself to exercise when I was feeling stressed, and when I'd had a bad day. It was SO hard at first. I just wanted to eat so badly. But the exercise actually made me feel better, whereas the food would only help temporarily, then end up making me feel worse afterwards. So it got easier as I kept doing it because the exercise helped tremendously, and also aided my weight loss, of course.
For months, my first instinct when I was upset or stressed was still to eat...but now it doesn't enter my mind nearly as much (though still sometimes). I haven't done ANY emotional eating in just over a year now.

dotti1121 · January 2016

ME.

withypoll · January 2016

Raises hand! My best defense is to not keep binge/trigger foods in the house.

ARGriffy · January 2016

Last night i had to literally say out loud to myself "you only want that chocolate because you feel sad, stop it youll feel worse for a binging after " and at least I didn't eat it! Food IS emotion for me!!

LHWhite903 · January 2016

I do eat emotionally, sometimes. When I am excited or stressed, I tend to eat whatever I planned out quicker than normal. It leaves me unsatisfied so I have to consciously slow myself down. I have a hard time with that, although I don't eat for a while after one of those times. Social pressure can also do things to me. However, I've made some changes with that. I don't eat when I'm sad. I wait until I've calmed down, first, then see if I am really hungry. Slowly, that became my habit. When out with friends/family, if I've already eaten and we're all having something, I order a cup of tea, fruit cup or something small and healthy, and usually sweet, from the sides like that. That way, I can still enjoy their company and be sociable without going too far into my calories. I look at it as being about them rather than the food.

This does not mean that I am 100% perfect at controlling myself. I still have my moments, just less than I used to.

jordyngiulio · January 2016

You really captured the struggle perfectly! I find I have the urge to eat unhealthy food or an excessive amount of food regardless of the positivity or negativity of the emotion - really any strong emotion will trigger me to want to shove something in my face. Sometimes it's not even that I want something 'bad,' I just want A LOT of food. Had a great day? Treat yo' self! Had an awful day? Go on, treat yo' self. It's a never-ending loop!

What I have found helps is to be mindful of what I'm eating and ask myself questions about why I want it and how I'll feel afterward. The most helpful thing I do is to ask myself "Is this fuel or is this fun?" I will also wait 30-60 minutes after I get the urge to process whether or not I really want it or if I'm just feeling emotional.

What really helps is allowing myself occasional, controlled indulgences throughout the month that still fit within my goals. That way I don't feel deprived of anything and have fewer urges to, oh I don't know, eat an entire bag Cool Ranch Doritos . . .

benzieboxx · January 2016

Will power is just like a muscle. It doesn't get any stronger if you don't exercise it. I used to be an emotional eater, but I discovered that eating when I was upset just made me even more upset because now I'm feeling guilty on top of my already crappy feelings. Why am I doing this to myself? What's the point? It doesn't aid my weightloss or my bad mood. I started filling in those blank spaces, where I would normally binge, with other activities. I'd make some tea instead. Or maybe go draw or start that book I've been wanting to get into. Hell I'll even do some school work. Just anything to get my mind off of food because I know I'm not hungry. I'm just trying to eat my emotions.

gramarye · January 2016

Yep, though mine is 80/20 for bad emotion/good emotion eating.

I agree with @jordyngiulio above. I asked myself, "Are you hungry or do you just want it? Why do you want it? Do you have room in your calories for it? Can it wait until when you do? Do you care?" Usually this process slows me down enough to stop me from overeating for no reason. But you know what -- sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the answer to, "Do you care?" is no, and I choose to eat a fourth slice of pizza or eat a bag of chips while watching TV. Life is going to be a balancing act for as long as I do it, and I need to be able to sometimes just not give a *kitten*, lol.

Exercising when you're feeling emotional is also hugely helpful. Not keeping foods you know you'll binge on easily helps. A lot of times laziness takes over -- "Do I want this enough to leave the house for it?" (You can also, once you have a system in place, reintroduce them to your pantry. I can keep ice cream around, I can keep chocolate around -- but it's still iffy on bags of chips/pretzels, and I've been at this for yeeeeears.)

It's a process, but it's a totally manageable one.

LatreiceSoHealthy · January 2016

Anyone else an emotional eater?

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