I miss the happy feeling

I used to use food to cope with stress, loneliness, boredom, frustration, you name it, I "medicated it" with food. Then I discovered endorphins! If you regularly work out and stick with it for about 30 days, you will start to find that same great feeling after a workout. When you can't workout, you can get that same comforting feeling by just doing something nice for yourself, aka, get a massage, go to the beauty parlor and get a shampoo and style, get a manicure or pedicure, take a hot bath while listening to your favorite music and lighting a scented candle, you get the idea. Start looking at food is meant as fuel for our bodies, not a way to soothe our emotions and when you get the urge to cope by eating, find something else to replace the food.

I agree, you need to find something other than food to make you feel "good". Food is fuel for your body not a teddy bear or security blanket. If you haven't yet, start to exercise. As others have stated the endorphin rush is a good replacement for that feeling you're after especially when you've just lifted a weight you previously couldn't or run a tenth of mile further than you could last week.

If exercise isn't your thing pick up a hobby that keeps your hands busy. Color, draw, knit, cross stitch, or paint. There's a great amount of joy to be found in creating something useful or pretty.

I get that happy feeling now from knowing I'm losing weight and eating healthy and all the good things I'm doing for my body. It also lasts a lot longer too. When I'd eat junk food and feel comforted and happy it only lasted as long as I was eating it, but now I feel a lot happier most of the time that's why I've changed my lifestyle and eating habits for good.

I'll add another +1 to the idea that exercise is a good substitute, even something mild like stretching.

But other forms of self-soothing can be good, too - warm bubble-bath, breathing/relaxation techniques, doing a chore or hobby that gives you a sense of completion or accomplishment, listening to music you find cheering, getting some fresh air or sunshine, take some "me time" for an indulgent non-food activity you wouldn't usually let yourself take time for . . . .

In the long run, for me personally - don't know about others - the weight loss has come with an increased literal physical sense of well-being. I don't know what this is from (less inflammation? better circulation? better nutrition? heck if I know!).

There's a big hole in my life but I already know that shoving food into it doesn't help.

I can relate very much. Aside from finding a different, non-food, activity to make you happy, you may have to accept a neutral mood. It's okay to not be happy all the time.

I've definitely experienced a change in my personality since I stopped overeating. I'm quieter, more reserved and observant of others. It's been a good change because although I get to know fewer people, I get to know them better. I feel a depth to my life and interactions with others that I didn't have when I used food as a crutch.

What I'm about to say may be a little crazy, but hear me out. I agree with what other people said about the food-happiness being a false memory, but I think it can sometimes be more than that. Eating can make us happy, but we also can attach a lot of emotions to our eating experience that give us a sense of routine, love, or control. Maybe in dealing with the stress of the day it's one way we can "treat" ourselves, but it's also a way that we can cause our own negative feelings (guilt, embarrassment, regret) and be in control of that aspect too. I think that's true for me. We develop habits around food and we can break those habits by forming stronger/more reinforcing behaviors around something else. A lot of people are saying exercise, and it took me a long time to exercise, but it's a really great option! Be creative and do a lot of different things. Set goals that don't have to do with food. It IS a really big shift for your brain to take on, but the best way to find a replacement for the food-happiness is to look for one best of luck!