How do you curb emotional eating?

There are a number of different ways I try to combat this. Sometimes, i just get up and exercise. Sometimes I reach out to friends that can encourage me and motivate me. If I am sad, I might pull out my journal and start righting. When i can identify the things that trigger emotional eating habits, I am able to recognize that this is something I can control, and I respond to it in a healthier way.

I admit I have only mild problems with emotional eating, but lately I've been using the anxiety that usually makes me eat to go for a walk or run. Exercise, however intense, usually boosts my mood enough to help me resist the cravings, and keeps me busy enough to not do it automatically. Today I made my fiancee come with me to the beach and walk/sit/talk.

you can't avoid strong emotions for long, so they need an outlet. instead of eating, choose a healthy outlet i.e. exercise instead, or find another activity that allows you to get out stress (some people might write or paint or garden or do some other hobby). if you replace eating with another activity, it will eventually become what you crave when you are having extreme emotions. the point is to create a new habit, one that benefits you and your emotional state of mind.

There are a number of different ways I try to combat this. Sometimes, i just get up and exercise. Sometimes I reach out to friends that can encourage me and motivate me. If I am sad, I might pull out my journal and start righting. When i can identify the things that trigger emotional eating habits, I am able to recognize that this is something I can control, and I respond to it in a healthier way.

I love the journal idea!

I'm in the same boat right now! I really don't know what is going on with me, but something has to give! Good luck on your weight lose journey and may you be able to fight that feeling!

i realize i get more upset if i'm not moving forward in my life... i soooo understand though. this time for me what i want for myself and my health is my focus. i was and stuggle with being a self sabotager. my sister is also doing this with me and that helps. she's a lot smaller then i am but she helps me over the bumps. if you screw up one day don't beat yourself up emotionally, just try harder the next day. good luck.:happy: :smokin: :smokin: :smooched:

I have struggled my whole life with this and I don't think there is a best answer. You may have to try a couple of different things to see what will work for each situation. When I start feeling that way, I either call a support buddy or start cleaning around the house. If this does not work, then this is what I do next. I usually crave sweet things (buttercream, ice cream, and cake), instead I find something sweet but not bad for me. Lemonade, sweet tea, apple, pineapple, fruit yogart, etc. these are not that bad for me, but everything in steps.

You just have to find what works for you... Add me if you need more support! Good luck

What helped me get a grip on emotional eating is going to over-eaters anonymous meetings. They are free and they use the same materials as Alcohols Anonymous.

We are conditioned from birth to have a very dependant realtionship with food.

As babies, we cry and we get a bottle!

As we grow food becomes a reward / a bargaining tool. "Eat you veg and you can have ice-cream for dessert", "If you do your chores I'll take you to MacDonalds"

From a very early age we have a realtionship with food. It is how that relationship progresses that shapes us...

The question should not be why people emotionally eat but why SOME people emotionally eat and others don't!

I used to snack on rubbish if I was feeling crap, eat junk if I was too tired to cook, go out for dinner and drinks if I was rewarding myself for something... The list is endless!

I would turn any mood into an excuse to eat / drink!! Happiness, anger - you name an emotion and I had a food I ate when I felt it! I also ate a lot through sheer boredom.

There wasn't an overnight cure - and although I probably could have done with some therapy I never went down that path.

I think I just looked at myself and decided that in order to find true peace and happiness I had to admit that my current habits were not working for me. Food never made me feel happier, or calmer, or less angry - food made me feel worse!

I saw that there was no point rewarding myself with food as I was doing it so often I no longer felt "rewarded". I was simply being greedy!

I managed to make some small and gradual behavourial changes. I decided to control my calories and make an effort to put healthier stuff into my body .

I made a vow to myself that I will stop eating for any reason other than being hungry and wanting food. I still eat pretty much what I want but I portion control.

If I want to carry on eating after I have had a full meal I always ask myself why? Am I bored? or am I still hungry?

I am always honest with myself nowadays, and I think that is the difference. I recognise that I am feeling emotional hunger as opposed to physical hunger.

There are some days I feel like a bottomless pit, there are some days that I go over my calories, there are some days I don't exercise. I do not beat myself up about this and I do not let one bad evening turn into a bad week!

By slowly reconditioning myself I find that I don't want to over-eat much any more. I don't want to have a blow out., in fact I actively choose [and genuinely prefer] healthier options most of the time!

I also find that I can moderate foods a lot more easily. A bag of crisps is fine (not 3 or 4 bags!)

It is all about living and learning how to be friends with your body!

Sheer will power. I wish I could say anything else... but that's the only thing that's ever worked for me.

I'm in a bad state of affairs and a big transition in my life at the moment, so I'm flat out not tracking, not dieting, notta. Until this wave passes, it's more than my head can handle.

But when depressed, will-power and exercise tend to be your only friends.

AND the message boards

This ^ especially the message boards.

Also, journalling. Get out of the house and out of your head when you want to eat your feelings. Also, see a therapist or an over eaters group, lots of legit support and help there, and people who will have a better grasp on how to help. I should add, I suggest therapy for everything, it's my favorite.

I so agree with Dkmkjkat.

I have recently discovered Buddhism (not as a religion) but as a way of coping with stress and its helped me so much - I used to try to distract myself with exercise, TV, new hobbies but they are short term cover-ups!

Now I'm giving myself some head-time through meditation to work through my stresses and how I might attack/handle the challenges. Its scary and I don't always get an answer right away but its really helped me put things into perspective and keep on top of the challenges life chucks at me.

I thought meditation was for hippies and yoga-types but it's not - it's for everyone if they can "give" themselves a few minutes a day.

Good luck honey - you don't need food to make you feel better - it's a quick fix with a long-term price.

I haven't had a chance to read through other peoples comments, so I'm not sure if this has been mentioned yet or not, but something I found worked for me was to figure out why.

Why do I want food? Am I hungry or feeling emotional?
Why am I feeling emotional? What can I do about this that tackles the actual issue? Is it food related? (fyi, it has never involved needing to eat so far...)

Sometimes I can figure out what to do, sometimes I can't, but the mere fact of realizing that I'm craving food for comfort, and that it won't actually do anything to fix the problem has really helped me curb this.

It's a struggle that you will have to use your will power and determination to get through, but trying to actually figure out the why of it all has really helped me... hopefully it can help you too!!

bump

i eat when i am depressed. and it is usually junk

I can't figure out how to delete. Thought I was posting somewhere else. Sorry.