"There are two kinds of people in the world: those that turn to food when stressed, angry, bored, upset, depressed, frustrated, and even happy - and those who turn to food when hungry."
I definitely am the first type of person - using food to fill emotional or social gaps; however, I'm using it less and less in that way. I no longer want to overeat when I'm happy or sad - am working on the "boredom" and "tired" triggers. At least now I'm aware of how I'm feeling when I eat and can choose another path - getting out of the house, calling a friend, exercising, going to bed. I'm seeing progress - there are times I'm so wrapped up in an activity that I actually forget to eat until my smomach makes a loud grumble! Then I realize, "Oh, I guess I should eat something right now!"
What kind of person are you and how have you been changing?
Oooh, I'm the first kind. Boredom or stress are the worst feelings for me. When I'm bored my mind comes up with these weird formulas that, almost through alchemy, turn butter popcorn into brain food.
Now, if I snack on something it's watermelon. Or I go get a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. And I don't eat at all when I'm bored until my next meal.
i'm definately the first...however, i'm slowly converting exercise for food. So if i'm stressed or bored, i try to get moving. That helps. But don't get me wrong...i definately have my slip up days.
We had a poll on our home page once to ask if people overate from actual true hunger, or if they overate due to stress, boredom, etc. Over 10,000 people responded and only 6% overate due to true hunger.
I am definitely an emotional eater. I especially eat bad when I am angry. Lately, I've noticed that when I am in the company of others (besides my husband), I eat like crap. It's a free-for-all. I think I just need to be more aware of when I am doing these things and substitute something for eating.
I'm a combination, but mostly #1. I was a total #1 before starting my weight loss journey. I came up with every excuse to eat. I'm MAD! *chomp* My day is depressing! *chomp* Life just SUCKS! *chompchompchomp* YESSSS life is GRAND, let's CELEBRATE! *chompchomp* PMS! *chompchompchompchompchompchomp* Today is boring, I'm going to eat to entertain myself. *Chomp* I had a hard day at work. Time to unwind! *CHOMP!* This is my weekend! It's time to relax! *CHOMP!* I'm not out with my friends tonight, I guess I'll have a good time indoors. Should I raid the popcorn, the chips, or the ice cream first? Oh, don't worry, I'll get to them ALL, I just wanna know which to dive into FIRST!
I'm definitely #1. Mostly being frustrated over something made me turn to food. One of my biggest challenges has been to consciously think about why I'm eating, every time I eat something. I don't think I'll always have to do that, but it's been pretty amazing how often it isn't hunger that's driving me into the kitchen.
Number one. So much so in fact, that in the old days, number 2 was not really an option- I never had the CHANCE to be hungry. I was always eating and therefore didn't get hungry. Oh my.
That's why now, I need a scheduele. It doesn't work for everyone, but for me, I need to actually plan not only what I'm going to eat, but WHEN I'm going to eat. I need to eat often, every 2 - 2 1/2 hours so that I don't get too hungry. I don't like that out of it, rumbling feeling especially since it's pretty new for me, see above paragraph.
I'm both. I have one trigger emotion, boredom, but usually other emotions don't push me to eat (especially not happiness nor anger; these days, the latter makes me feel like committing a murder and decorating my next Christmas trees with the victim's guts rather than eating). I will eat when hungry and will never skip a meal, though--of course, then the danger is to make bad food choices if I'm too hungry, which has always tended to happen regularly enough in the past.
Combo....definately depends on the emotion....anger or stress anything like that I either go shopping or I workout (gotta get that emotion out or it bottles up)......sadness and here comes the pizza.
What kind of person are you?
*chompchompchompchompchompchomp* Today is boring, I'm going to eat to entertain myself. *Chomp* I had a hard day at work. Time to unwind! *CHOMP!* This is my weekend! It's time to relax! *CHOMP!* I'm not out with my friends tonight, I guess I'll have a good time indoors. Should I raid the popcorn, the chips, or the ice cream first? Oh, don't worry, I'll get to them ALL, I just wanna know which to dive into FIRST!
