How'd you overcome emotional eating? or "Next time I'll do it" attitude?
Okay.. I have two huge diet "blockers"... One of them being that I am an emotional eater... eat if im happy.. mad.... upset... depressed, all the time really!... when I try to get on a diet plan, I start out really motivated and have every intention to lose all the weight possible... and feel good about everything going on in my life... and theeennn, about a week into it... (even upon losing some weight).. I still get suckered in to those fattening foods... and I'll just tell myself "next meal or snack I'll make up for it... or do good"... and then I'll do it again a few hours later, saying the same thing... it's like an addiction, that i can't quit! Does or has anyone had the same problem?? If yeah, what did you do to overcome it?? or get past it.
I am a classic emotional eater. and comfort eater. and generally I'm the first to give up.
But this time, I don't know, it's a bit different - I made a decision not to take comfort in food. I am quite a loner, I don't have a partner or family or really many friends (I have just relocated to a different continent ) - so this has been really really hard.
The main thing is, I think, I have been very regimented this time - recording everything I eat, counting calories, saying no to chocolate! And I've stuck at it long enough to see the difference, so i'm just going to keep going!
Also I have been trying to meditate to relax if i'm feeling a bit stressed - or just breathe rather than go and stand in front of the fridge.
I don't expect to keep counting calories forever - the more I do it the easier it is to estimate etc.
I've still got to quit smoking though. Eating? under control. Smoking? not so much.
I don't know if this has been useful, but do hope that you find your own ways and means of sticking with it.
While I would like to say that my cravings to eat bad food and to eat when upset/etc have gone away, I can't. I don't know that they will ever completely go away. I have to make a concious choice everytime to not eat. The other day I was so upset... then I found myself in the kitchen rummaging through the cupboards looking for something. I may never know what that something was, but I knew for a fact I won't find it in the kitchen. So I removed myself from the situation. I went to the farthest room in the house from the kitchen and turned on my nintendo ds. Soon, the "craving" if you want to call it that passed. Will I have that feeling again? Maybe. But now I KNOW that I can overcome the feeling and avoid doing bad things to my body with food.
Best of luck with your journey and feel free to pm me if you like.
I just had to replace it with something else. I tried to get a handle on my emotions and be happier. Then I turned eating into a game instead of an emotional thing.
My sister-in-law gave me her old Weight Watchers books when she re-signed up and I decided to try it. The points are like a game to me, I really get into it, and it's the only thing that ever worked for me.
Why I stopped, I can't remember. I am back on track now.
I had an emotional moment today, though.
I saw three options:
a) binge to make myself feel worse
b) starve to be stubborn and try to gain a feeling of control
For some reason, I had the idea to try to cool off and not be upset. I went upstairs, away from the kitchen, and I've calmed down. I am actually pretty impressed with myself. Now I am going to head downstairs and have a sensible dinner.
Last edited by FatGirlTale; 07-09-2009 at 07:13 PM.
Reason: more to say
I have found that at times when my emotional needs are being met that I dont have a desire to eat for any reason other than hunger. Can you think of a time when you were on holiday or doing something when you felt really calm and happy with yourself and your life . . . you know like those afternoons on a weekend when the house is clean, there is no one bugging you or needing anything from you and are reading or listening to a great CD and just loving being you - it is in those moments that I cant imagine you would be looking at a family pack of chips and needing to eat them.
I have not got it 'down' just yet, but the more I focus on life and what it is that I actually need the better it is. And I know from past experience that it does get better with time and the less you rely on food the less that you will do it.
There is light at the end of the tunnel! Thank you for reminding me that there is a light at the end of my tunnel too
Like a couple others on this thread, every time I'm in a certain mood that really makes me want to eat (stress!) or had a craving for something I've had a really strong craving for something, I sat down and tried to get my mind off of it. Sometimes it's reading, sometimes it's a fantastic game of Pacman. Sometimes it's weeding the flower bed. But seriously, it helps me to stop thinking about the craving and to really concentrate on something else. Before I know it, the craving goes away.
I'm trying really hard to disassociate food with emotions. Like, when I look back over some of the choices I've made, I'm amazed by the power I give to food. I mean, what would a birthday party be without cake and ice cream? Or if I'm stressed at the office, why is it that I think a candy bar will make me feel better about something that's unrelated to food or hunger? Instead, I'm trying to remember that food should be about fueling my body first. And I say trying because it's definitely still a work in progress!!
Oh I've had this problem so many times. And this works for me, but it might not work for everyone. Whenever I'm at work and I get the urge to eat a cookie on break, I grab a fitness or Self magazine. Some healthy magazine to look at and get me motivated again. That way lunch wont be bad and I can finish my snack, not beat myself up over it and get back on track.
OK so I am your typical emotional eater I eat for all occasions and feeling. just the other day my bf said he'd been with his current company for 2 years and I'm like "let's celebrate with dinner!" I find that when I know I'm gonna emotional eat for whatever reason it may be, I can call a friend, write down my thoughts or feelings whether it's in a journal or just on a piece of paper I have handy to get the feelings out, or go for a walk move around. I know when I'm bored I like to eat and it's really hard on the weekend, so I make my weekends full of activites and I get out of the house. Whatever works for you do it. It may take time but that's all we have in life.
I'm like that. Usually, if it's not mealtime, I try to distract myself with reading or knitting, or reason with myself (Yeah, that brownie will taste soooo good, but how will you feel *afterwards*?) I won't lie- it doesn't always work. But after awhile, when you start noticing the other benefits (I just feel *better* when I don't eat junk), it becomes easier to reason with yourself.
How'd you overcome emotional eating? or "Next time I'll do it" attitude?
) - so this has been really really hard. 
