Overcome emotional eating?

jdbly3373
jdbly3373 Posts: 26 Member
edited August 2021 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I've been wanting to lose weight for a while but I find it really hard to keep a deficit. I am going through some very difficult things in my life and find it just feels very heavy when I'm in a deficit at all. Its like all the emotions come to the surface. I feel better when I am eating maintenance calories. Do any of you deal with this? How do you overcome? I really could use at least 30 lbs of weight loss for health and to reduce physical pain.

I don't even find exercise helps, though it does help your body feel better and stuff. The emotional pain from life issues is still there. I don't want to have to pay someone an exorbitant fee to talk to me. Think just talking to regular people would help.

Replies

  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,479 Member
    If you think talking to "normal" (er...maybe not exactly normal ;) ) people might help, feel free to send a friend request. Sometimes just having someone to vent to can help relieve a lot of pent-up emotion/stress/etc. The forums are good for that in general though - loads of people are willing to lend a sympathetic ear to help get you over whatever hurdle you're facing, and/or bouncing some ideas around as possible ways to cope with the problem when it's acute.

    Depending on how often you have these bad days, it may make sense to just eat maintenance some days, or at least reduce your deficit. I mean if your mood/emotions hit hard an average of once or twice a week, allow yourself to not be in a steep deficit those days so you have a little more ammo to ride out the dark wave. It might slow down your overall rate of loss, but if it helps preserve your mental health/stability and you don't have a medical necessity to lose weight as quickly as possible...sounds to me like a reasonable trade-off?
  • missmeggg
    missmeggg Posts: 8 Member
    I am definitely an emotional eater. And, building new habits is hard when your emotions are high. I try to find foods that keep my mouth busy to satiate that need, but also aren't completely unhealthy. Sunflower seeds in the shells are good ones. I bite the shell off and spit it out in a cup and then eat the seed. I get the satisfaction of eating, but it's not a complete gorge-fest.