[aerotigergirl]

Sorry for the following vent... I don't know where else to turn.

So, I've got a question for you all: once you realize that you're an emotional eater, how do you BREAK the habit?

I've just returned from vacation to a huge pile of work. People are late delivering necessary data for me to do my job. My diet/weight loss have been all up in the air since I left for vaca a while ago, resulting in no loss (but no gain) in the last month. My house is a wreck because I've just moved and I still have cardboard boxes sitting everywhere. I can't find time to sort out my bills and my running log (both Excel projects that I'd hoped to get done last night). I can't find time to exercise because, while people are late on their deadlines to me, my boss still expects me to meet my deadlines. My dog escaped from his outdoor pen today and a neighbor retrieved him, so my boyfriend had to drive my car 20 miles back to our house to deal with the dog, only to find that the cat (!) crapped on the floor. I am reaching the end of my frayed little rope. And what do I do? I eat.

Yesterday, I tried hard to have a "WW Perfect Day". Where I get in all of my water, my milk, my veggies, my exercise, etc. I didn't quite make it, but I did fairly well and I FINALLY made it to a meeting, which I'd been trying to do for a month. I desperately need my diet to stay under control, because, as you can see, it's the one area of my life over which I can still have control. But when I get overwhelmed like this, I EAT!

I do have a good plan for the rest of the workday (i.e. I brought my lunch and I have already accounted the points there). But when I get home, if I'm still feeling this way, how do I BREAK THE HABIT of just wanting to pull up a chair to the open fridge?

[Cheree]

What helps me is to be sure I don't keep foods or drinks in the house that aren't on my eating plan. Always have low point foods available to grab when you feel stressed (if you HAVE to eat - if you are hungry). If you're not hungry, then go for a walk, go to the gym, do a workout DVD, go grab a good book to read, call a friend to chat with, etc. ... find anything else to do to get your mind off food. Other ideas: go take a nice relaxing bubble bath, go lay down and put on music to listen to, go watch your favorite TV show or movie, do some knitting, jump rope, remind yourself of all of the great health benefits from eating healthy and not sabatoging your weight loss, etc.

Just find the strength to make the right decisions for yourself. Will you feel even worse if you blow it by eating things that aren't on your plan or that put you way over your points? If you do blow it, it will only ADD to your stress...

"Being fat is hard, losing weight is hard, CHOOSE your hard."

HOW BAD DO YOU REALLY WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT? I hope that feeling is stronger than your need to not follow your eating plan. Self talk!!!

[suitejudyblueeyes]

That is a tough question, girl. Emotional eating is a huge problem for many of us. I wouldn't be where I am right now without emotional eating in my way, and it is something I see brought up all of the time, all over the boards. Best I can say is go back to your WW meetings. They have really been helping me. I find a lot of the topics discussed relate back to emotional eating in one way or another - whether it's because of stress, or anger, or sadness, or even happiness - eating as a celebration is just another form of emotional eating.

It's such a tricky topic. The only thing that has been working for me is to remain constantly aware of what is going through my mind when I reach for food because of emotion. What do I expect the food to do? What do I think it will solve/fix? What will it actually do to my body? How will I actually feel if I let myself ingest xyz? Would I be satisfied if I just had a bite and walked away? Holding myself up to scrutiny really does help me, if I can logically defeat my emotional eating voice I can head off the binges 90% of the time.

That other 10% though... hoo boy, there is just no reasoning with me.

Good luck with it, you are doing an amazing job, don't lose sight of what you want the most!

[Chey]

Emotional eating... yep, been there done that - still fighting it. Like Suite said, if you know that you are an emotional eater, pay special attention to what you do when you are stressed, sad, angry, etc. It will help that you recognize your trigger for eating and either substitute it with a walk around the house (inside or outside), drinking water, taking a shower, brushing teeth, sewing - those are things I have tried that work for me so far.

This will be a struggle for you as it is for me and many others. The main thing is to recognize what you do and then you can figure out how to stop. Remember, if you mess up - don't let it get you down and don't beat yourself up!