Emotional eating

One woman suggested on my thread to make a list of why I want to lose the weight, why I have to, and read it in the heat of the moment.

I have the same habit and it’s a hard one to break. Some things that help me:

1. Don’t have any bad foods in the house. Then when the urge to eat feelings comes up, there is less available for easy consumption. Eating healthy stuff is less fun in those times and filling.

2. Talk to someone - venting helps!

3. Go for a walk or clean the house with your favourite music playing. Distract and exhaust yourself. I like to wear headphones bcs it helps me block the negative thoughts. Gets me into the music more.

4. Drink water and allow yourself some food - I’m a fan of air popped popcorn with butter. It’s satisfying and high fibre so how bad could it be?

5. Gum

6. Brush teeth and Go to bed early (this is one of my last resorts when I’m feeling really low).

Learn new coping mechanisms. Exercise is great for stress, anxiety, even depression. I also enjoy journaling and/or coloring when I’m upset.

It takes awhile to retrain your brain to not want food when you are feeling emotional. But you can make great progress by asking yourself “Am I eating because I’m hungry or stressed?” and if the answer is stress do something else to feel better.

So delighted to have found this forum. My weight has been a mess the last few years and have felt totally out of control. I finally realised how much my eating is tied to my emotions and decided to do something about it last week. I downloaded a book called the Beck Diet Solution which basically is like therapy for people who eat emotionally. I’m slowly working my way through it and trying to change habits. Today’s task was to find a weight loss buddy or community in which to be accountable. To be honest I could really do with the encouragement. My weight hasn’t budged so far and I can feel my mood slipping. My goal for today is to just do 30mins exercise and not reach for a chocolate biscuit! 😬

Thanks mulecanter. I managed a fast paced two hour walk. Tomorrow I’m going to try a walk/run combo to get a little more burn. It’s been years since I ran so I’m going to have to retrain my body.