I over eat when I think no one is looking.... I need to remember " the calories I eat in private, I wear in public"

I'm learning I am an emotional eater and I look to food for a feel good feeling and it works...but only temporary. In short it is my drug of choice, but like all drugs the high is short and the fall is great. I'm reading a great book about this and it is really helping me understand (and for me if I understand why then I feel more likely to overcome) what emotional eating is and why it happens. It's written by Susan Albers 50 More Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food. Thought I'd share since I am loving it, maybe someone else could benefit from it also

anxiety- sometimes I don't even realize I'm eating
procrastination-avoid doing things I don't want to do - eat instead

wifeyy wrote: »

I tend to overeat when i am stressed!
Or when i cook something i really enjoy eating as well for my family
it is so hard to eat just a bit of it.:noway:

I also overeat the day after my weigh in and once i do that it is always soooo hard to get back on track the next day!

What makes you overeat?

Feeling sorry for myself makes me eat. I have gained 30 lbs since December and I'm feeling a lot of shame and discouragement. My mother passed away less than 2 years ago and my father and I became estranged at Christmas. Since our falling out I have relied on eating to feel better. I'm looking for other emotional eaters as I need a better support system. Please add me. I look forward to getting to know you in the group.

Now that I'm actually paying attention and trying to understand myself, I realize I eat to relieve boredom, loneliness and of course, stress. My problem is two-fold; I LOVE to cook but I also LOVE to eat and the foods I turn to are "comfort foods". So, thousands of calories in cheese on pizza or in a pasta, chicken wings.. you get the idea. I have to retrain myself to remember that just because it's homemade and includes healthy ingredients, doesn't mean it's healthy eating.

Hi what makes me over eat? Stress, losing control over a situation, drama! Plus not going in to detail but, mental abuse form my so call dad for 19 years. Happily married almost 22 years in Oct. of this year! At 51 still have a lot of work to do. Like losing weight. And control portions of what I eat. I love food and I get bore easily too!
Love chocolate and have a Italian husband who like to cook and eat like I do!

Also,
I'm not good at portion control with the tasty foods yet..I'd almost rather not eat them at all, because I don't just want to eat a little bit!

I overeat when I am tired or stressed. I don't average a lot of sleep, usually 3 - 4 hours a night. While I am working or at school I need to eat so that I do not fall asleep in class or at my desk. When I get crazy stressed out I also over eat. The only positive is that lately Ive been over eating healthier foods. But overeating is overeating...
The worst part is the lousy feeling I get afterwards though:/

I'm really trying to pay attention to my feelings around food now, and I've noticed a couple of things. Sometimes I overeat because I'm not busy enough, ie bored, and when I catch myself about to eat that way I've been trying to redirect my energy to food prep - cooking down vegetables form my farm share, cooking beans, etc. I've been pretty successful at that since joining MFP.
The hardest is overeating because I'm anxious or distressed - I'm trying to force myself to sit with the feeling but I'm so new at actually feeling my feelings that its pretty hard to identify - but I'm finding at least taking some time to try is diverting me (sometimes) from overeating.
And sometimes I overeat because I'm just stupid - I read about, see a photo or commercial of an attractive food and want it, and I can always figure out a way to rationalize eating it, even though in my heart I know it will lead to a binge.