Help! Emotional Eating Urges Kicking In...

AlwaysLightlyOver
AlwaysLightlyOver Posts: 11
edited September 28 in Motivation and Support
Hi everybody - I'm pretty new to this site, and everyone seems so nice and supportive of each other. I'm looking for some support now. I'm not really overweight, but I've always a bit of a problem controlling what I eat - but lately, over the past six months, I've noticed that I've started relying more and more on food for emotional comfort during times of unhappiness or loneliness. This is probably because I recently moved to a completely foreign city to move in with my boyfriend, and I don't know very many people in the city yet - and my boyfriend and I have been having a lot of issues lately, so whenever I get sad, I just start eating. And because I eat really, really unhealthy things, to an almost compulsive degree when I'm feeling low, I've gained about 20 pounds.

Things have been getting a little better, and I very recently joined MFP in hopes to start losing the weight I've gained these past 6 months, and slowly earn my healthy life back. So over the past week, I've been logging all my food and exercises, and things have been going really great. I feel happier, more motivated, and reading through the forums on MFP make me feel more hopeful than I've felt in a long time.

That is, until tonight. My boyfriend and I just got into another terrible argument, and immediately afterward, all the old urges and compulsions came rushing back like a train. Even now, I feel the contant itch to get up, go to the corner store that's 2 minutes away, buy a bunch of horrible junky food, hide in my room, and eat it all in one sitting. I know I shouldn't - for a variety of good reasons - but most importantly because whenever I do give in to these urges, it takes me so many days - weeks nowadays - to pick myself back up again, and I always feel so, so ****ty after I eat all that crap. But I just CRAVE it. I feel almost helpless against the strength of this craving, and although I haven't give into these impulsives tonight yet, thinking about having to control myself tomorrow when I wake up, and the day after that, and the day after that - just seems so, so incredibly tiring. It almost doesn't seem like it's worth it right now, especially right now, when I'm feeling low.

For the emotional eaters out there, how do you get over those cravings? They're so strong, and when they come, my mind starts rationalizing like crazy, and more often than not - especially these days - I just can't seem to muster up enough willpower to care at the moment about what the food is going to do to me.

Replies

  • bkennedy1612
    bkennedy1612 Posts: 68
    I'm a HUGE emotional eater. Yesterday my husband was almost 3 hours late getting home and I was freaking out, and all I wanted to do was eat. I got over it by doing stuff around the house instead, taking a walk with my daughter, and working on stuff online. I find it so motivating to see everyone on here succeeding and me being so new, I want to be just like them in a year from now. I think my urge to succeed is so high at this point that when I think about eating these snacks I think about what I could become if I keep eating like that. I'm ready to make this life change for the better, and when I think about eating over stresses and upsets like that (my husband and i have those fights sometimes) I try to turn it around for the better. Instead of eating....work out and get some endorphins pumping!

    If you need any motivation, or just someone to talk to, feel free to friend me!

    Good luck with everything!!!
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    When I first started this journey, I struggled TERRIBLY with emotional eating - heck, it was how I ended up at 203lbs. I've worked really hard at learning to distract myself when I feel the need to eat simply because I am upset, sad, etc.

    I take a walk (but if this walk will lead you to the corner store - DON'T go that way!), I grab some carrots and read a book, watch something on tv, get on here, go to the gym and workout, turn on my Tae Bo dvd, call/text a friend, ANYTHING to take my mind off it.

    I'm happy to say that I've come a long way and I don't tend to turn to food for comfort anymore. It takes time.
  • melbaby925
    melbaby925 Posts: 613
    I've been struggling with emotional eating for years, and rationalized it every which way to get to eat what I want. Now, I meditate. I walk the dog. I clean. I text my friends or come online here and read the forums.

    When the cravings get really bad, try and identify why you're having them and tell your brain to shut it. Seriously. Your brain is throwing a temper tantrum because it wants that dopamine hit that you get from eating sugar/fat/salt - whatever turns it on. Go have some water and tell the voice in your head to go find something else to do.

    And if all that fails. Have some of what you're craving. Just a few bits, and toss the rest. I almost dove into the trash the first few times I did this...it's HARD. But you can do it.
  • SLambertAlaska
    SLambertAlaska Posts: 197 Member
    I'm not sure those cravings ever go away . . . But I know you can conquer them. Think about how ***ty you've felt in the past when you ate that junk. then focus on what you're going to do to get through the next 15 minutes. You don't have to wonder how you're going to get through the next days, or week - only how you're going to get through the next hour.
    Drink water / ice tea / etc. and do something you really like to do (other than eat).


    Hang in there - you CAN do this!
  • demure_poetic
    demure_poetic Posts: 73
    I am an emotional eater too...and it sucks... have you ever considered your emotional eating to be something more? such as depression? you should look into it..but don;t worry yourself... check symptoms online and talk to your doctor... goodluck with your weight loss...it takes time but you can do it!!
  • demure_poetic
    demure_poetic Posts: 73
    I've been struggling with emotional eating for years, and rationalized it every which way to get to eat what I want. Now, I meditate. I walk the dog. I clean. I text my friends or come online here and read the forums.

    When the cravings get really bad, try and identify why you're having them and tell your brain to shut it. Seriously. Your brain is throwing a temper tantrum because it wants that dopamine hit that you get from eating sugar/fat/salt - whatever turns it on. Go have some water and tell the voice in your head to go find something else to do.

    And if all that fails. Have some of what you're craving. Just a few bits, and toss the rest. I almost dove into the trash the first few times I did this...it's HARD. But you can do it.

    "Your brain is throwing a temper tantrum because it wants that dopamine hit that you get from eating sugar/fat/salt - whatever turns it on. Go have some water and tell the voice in your head to go find something else to do." ....lol so funny! ...and what you said about diving into the garbage can lol...how embarassing I know that feeling.. thinking about that feeling is a real wake up call... the thought is almost as disgusting as actually going in there after it.... barf! lol....good post!
  • Higglyjiggly64
    Higglyjiggly64 Posts: 136
    Such a good thread!! I just finished a two week long dive, but I'm coming out of it. Such a vicious cycle. Feel bad, so eat, eat bad, so feel bad, so eat more! I got so bad I deleted all my MFP buddies. Two stuck by me tho and resent friend requests. I am sooo grateful to them! Anyway, my best advice is to KEEP LOGGING!! I looked at my diaries day in and day out - black and white- I saw what I was doing and asked myself, "Do I really want to go down this road again?" Looking at what I was eating and seeing how the calories were racking up helps me to pull myself together. We all say it, "This is not a diet, it is a lifestyle change, a new way to live." We are a process, a masterpiece in the making. That takes time. Good luck to you. They say the first step is to recognize there's a problem. You've done that, so keep going!!! <3
  • dcw10
    dcw10 Posts: 29 Member
    Hey I to have issues with this . we had to put down one of our dogs yesterday and of course I was very sad .I was at work when my husband let me know and I held it together all day and when i left work All I could think of was eating anything I thought would make me feel better !
    I had to stop and pick up a prescript for my husband which gave me the opportunity and plenty of options to buy something just to shove in my mouth . (unhealthy of course) reese ice cream bars which I ate 2 on the way home in my car !! Ugghh !
    Then I grazed my way threw the pantry ....................... until I finally just went to bed to keep from eating all night . Of course I felt like crap and didn't sleep good because of all the junk . Now I will just beat myself up today (hopefully no all day ) .
    I really wish I knew how to stop this also before it goes so far off in the ditch !!
  • AlwaysLightlyOver
    AlwaysLightlyOver Posts: 11
    Thank you, everyone, for all your responses. It really helps just hearing that other people go through the same problems and that I'm not alone.

    I'm very happy to say that I didn't cave in last night - I just went to sleep early and tried not to think about it. And now, this morning when I got up, I feel so much better.

    From now on, I'm just going to treat my intense-craving-moods as moments of temporary insanity, and ignore all impulses that come during that time.
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