Emotional Eating???

Hello,
I know I do, there are times i recognized that i am just eating to make myself feel better and that i shouldnt but i do it anyway. I think it can stem from subconsciously relating food to celebration. Its your birthday lets take you out to dinner. just got a new job or big promotion lets go someplace nice. and so when you are feeling down you are subconsciously looking for something that makes you happy or reminds you of something happy. taste and smell are the stranges memory triggers. which lead us to want food when we are down.

I struggle with that as well. I do one of two things..I go ahead and eat that burger and then make up for it later by not going over and eating less for dinner..OR I tell myself that eating that burger is not a choice that I'm going to make. Regardless of the fact that I'm mad or upset..the world is not going to stop for me AND I'm accomplishing nothing by eating that burger. It's NOT going to help me feel better in the long run. It's only a short term solution that when looked at later....is soooo not worth it!! Stand up to yourself!!! You can do it!! :O)

Hugs!

I struggle with this from time to time. I tend to eat when I am upset or stressed. I tend to say forget dieting and let me just comfort myself w/ some ice cream! LOL We just need to learn to manage our emotions and not let them get the best of us. I will pray for you if you will pray for me! We can defeat this thing!

yes, I was once a huge emotional eater, which is where i gained the majority of my weight. I was a wendy's #2 girl, that was my biggest guilty pleasure of binge food. I had to start asking myself a series of quesitons: are you really hungry? Why are you really eating that? Will this make me feel better or worse at the end? is there something else I can do? could i save the money i'd spend here and instead put it towards something better i.e. shoes, clothes, bills etc. (kinda silly but it stopped me from eating when i bribed myself :-)

I also stopped keeping anything sweet/triggers like cookies, cakes, ice cream etc around the house because I couldn't stop once I started. MFP has also been helpful to me. I will get on here when I feel like bingeing and check and see how my friends are, write a blog, look through the forums, and just get the support i need to get past it. My emotional eating is much better now and if I have to do it i use foods like grapes, celery with peanut butter, cocoa dusted almonds etc. Not as unhealthy to munch on and I don't eat nearly as much!!

Good luck on finding what works for you!!

This is a comfortable place to talk about your feelings and struggles. It's a great resource for us. I also struggle with emotional eating. I tend to want to eat many times after work. I teach 3rd graders and usually when the last one is out of the door, I want to go for the chocolate. I have found the best thing to help me is to not have it around, then I won't eat it. If I Really want it I have to go to a store and get it, by that time the feeling has passed. Of course, going past the burger place after work is a little more tricky. Can you keep something healthy with you for those times (Fruit, veggies, cheese) Sometimes just munching on something like that can keep you from stopping. Another thing to think about is joining a gym and go to it right after work or when you are feeling like you want to eat. When I go, I don't want to eat for a while afterwards and then when I think about food, I think about what I just did during my workout and don't want to hurt my efforts. Writing in a journal about your feeling can help you get them out also. It's cathartic to write about what's bothering you or making you feel emotional. You can write a blog on here for that. Maybe getting a friend you can be accounatable to would help also to keep you on track. I hope this helps. Good luck. If want to add me as a friend, you are more than welcome to do so.

I too an am an emotional eater. Instead of expressing myself when I am angry or upset I tend to choose food to make me feel better. One of my friends jumps on her treadmill or chooses something else instead of giving into the food. So, by choosing something other than food she gets her "feel good" feeling from something healthier.

Good luck to you on your journey!

ughh, yes. i eat whenever i get bored.

I think almost everyone who is overweight deals with this at some level. I have two tricks: one is to promise myself that if after I walk 30 minutes and drink 8 oz of water if I still want the item I will have it. IT works quite often when its stress or anger I am feeling.

The other is to substitute. If I am going to indulge in chocolate I choose a very dark high grade of chocolate that is much lower in sugar than your typical candy bar. It cost more, but I eat less and in the end is $1.50 of indulgence that doesn't land on my hips worse than 75 cents that does? But don't go right to those prepackaged low sugar low fat foods.. in my opinion the chemicals aren't worth it. Just have less of the real thing.

Lastly, if at a party or special occaision where I really want something on the menu. I remind myself of a mantra a nurse who had overcome weight issues once told me: "Remember, the first and last bite taste the same as all the bites inbetween, so just have the first and last bite."