emotional eater and food addict

azeria
azeria Posts: 527 Member
edited September 30 in Motivation and Support
Hi all,

I'm willing to admit that I am a food addict and emotional eater, but now what?

How do I deal with my emotions without being depressed.... I don't want to be that person. Also, how do I stop my body from wanting food all the time... it's used to snacking and everything... if I don't give it food... I feel like I'm starving. How do I do this?

Replies

  • fat2fab4life
    fat2fab4life Posts: 253 Member
    well seeing that you have lost about 30 lbs now i think u are doing great

    i say exercise more so you can eat more

    i know how you feel, i too struggle with this

    one thing that helps is finding the reason why you over eat. if you are bored start getting outside more. if you are emotional eater like you stated find out what emotions trigger it and battle it head on. talk to someone or brainstorm and come up with things to do to handle those issues. or find a healthy food you eat like grapes or watermelon when u are in that emotional area. good luck
  • jenbk2
    jenbk2 Posts: 614 Member
    I would like to know this too. I am good for a week or two- but then I binge- and have been binging now for 2 months and up 10 lbs.
  • lfinley2010
    lfinley2010 Posts: 27 Member
    drink water or snack on nuts or something crunchy like carrots or celery to give you that crunch satisfaction....or just say busy keep your mind occupied. Its all a mind thing.
  • RedPlanetClaire
    RedPlanetClaire Posts: 5
    If you can afford it, get some therapy.

    I went to a hypnotist a few years ago to help lose weight. She said that she could put suggestions into my head to lose a bit of weight but it would only be temporary and really what I needed to do was get to the crux of the problem, to have therapy.

    And there was no simple solution as it was a tangle of experiences and emotions throughout life. I never realised that being scared to keep food in the house was unusual or a problem, I'd lived with it that long! But now I'm NOT scared to keep food in the house. And don't feel guilty if I eat something nice and I don't hate my body anymore. I've since gotten married and I have a step-son who has loads of chocolate in the cupboards yet I'm never tempted. I never thought that could happen. Before you can fix your body, you have to fix your head. Now I'm at a place where I can lose weight.
  • DieSuperMario
    DieSuperMario Posts: 8
    I used to be like this too.

    The thing that works for me is cheat meals twice a week.....only 1 MEAL and not a cheat day. you have to remember to eat the planed cheat meal even if you don t want it, otherwise you will binge and undo all the effort you put in throughout the week.

    I used to try and not have a cheat meal and just go cold turkey......it worked for a week or two then something would happen that would upset me and BANG....packet of cakes and chips 4000 cals later I felt even worse.

    Good luck
  • RedPlanetClaire
    RedPlanetClaire Posts: 5
    drink water or snack on nuts or something crunchy like carrots or celery to give you that crunch satisfaction....or just say busy keep your mind occupied. Its all a mind thing.

    Sorry, but I find this to be rubbish. If it was as simple as that, there would be barely any fat people in the world. An emotional eater wants to eat bad food.

    I've tried snacking on healthy foods as a substitute and at one time ate so many carrots I turned a wierd shade of yellow - no joke. It works for a while, but ultimately you break. quite frankly, if you crave something, just have it or you'll eat your way around the kitchen and at the end of your journey, you end up eating what you craved anyway. So you eat even more.

    Because all the time you are eating carrots, celery etc, you are really thinking about nice stuff like chocolate and biscuits. Obsessing until it builds up in your head until your head blows and you binge. As I said, you need to solve the issue as to why you are an emotional eater. This isn't not easy as you fear putting on more weight in the proccess but it's the only way off the very destructive diet rollercoaster.
  • SunshineKisses_2012
    SunshineKisses_2012 Posts: 471 Member
    If you can afford it, get some therapy.

    I went to a hypnotist a few years ago to help lose weight. She said that she could put suggestions into my head to lose a bit of weight but it would only be temporary and really what I needed to do was get to the crux of the problem, to have therapy.

    I agree with RedPlanetClaire. You now know you have a problem. Fantastic! That's always the first step, however now to deal with that problem, you are going to need to seek professional help, or, at the very least, a Celebrate Recovery program through the church. I don't know your religious affiliation, but Celebrate Recovery is a God-centered 12 step program that helps people with any habit or hangup they are dealing with. This is how I dealt with my emotional eating a few years ago since I couldn't afford to go to a doctor or a therapist.
  • nukebhs83
    nukebhs83 Posts: 158
    it is hard to retrain yourself. i know---i used to hide food in my dresser and when my daughter would go to bed or go to her dads for the weekend i would eat everything that i denied myself or felt embarrassed to eat in front of other people. to be honest, i was cleaning out my dresser this last weekend and found 2 candy bars and a pack of powdered donuts that i forgot was in there---had to really restrain from eating them right there--expired donuts and all but i hurried up and threw them away and put them outside in the garbage then ALMOST pulled a "george kastanza" and thought about getting it out of the garbage--i mean they were still wrapped and all. (talk about food addict--emotional eater :embarassed: ) i eat because food makes me feel better (until i am finished then i am disgusted with myself). i have had to learn that food is not the friend it seems to be. there are other options--if feasable--take a short walk, eat a light snack (if you are sweet hungy--weight watchers/ skinny cow candy is wonderful and will satisfy my sweet tooth, salty craving--low fat ritz crackers and some laughing cow cheese is good). it will take a while for your body to adjust to less food but if you try healthy options instead of junk food then soon your body will want those foods instead----also, i try to eat around the same time every day (3 meals plus a couple of snacks) that way my body knows it is going to get food regularly and i dont seem to be as hungry.

    another thing---have friends that you can talk to, that know how hard this is for you and are there to help you. (i will be one if you want to friend me---there isnt too much that i havent been thru---it is a hard road that we dieters--food addicts--emotional eaters--have to travel and the best way to do it is with others on the same journey)

    Sherri
  • RedPlanetClaire
    RedPlanetClaire Posts: 5
    I thought I was the only one who hid food! Sometimes when bingeing I'd hardly remember it, like a drunk at the booze. I hated eating in front of people and would never go out for a meal, yet I'd sneak off to the shop, buy some chocolate and eat it before anyone could see me. Then eat more and more. Then get really depressed and hate myself for being fat.
  • angswank
    angswank Posts: 2
    I to find myself binging eating..it took me awhile to admit it. that i had a problem, but, when i started to eat like crazy when noone is around..yea..thats not a good thing..i could control myself in front of ppl though? I don't know how to control this..as it too put me over weight.. :( Noone knows but me that i have a problem, they just see me make bad food choices..
This discussion has been closed.

Categories