I noticed something last night...
 

I'm a stress eater and a boredom eater. I think I've always known I was a boredom eater, but didn't know about the stress. Last night when I got home from work, I guess it finally hit me that after Saturday I will be jobless. :( I worked at this really cool place and had a blast while I was there. But unfortunately there wasn't enough business to keep it open. We didn't even make it a year. I guess I'm mainly stressed about finding another job. Because lets face it, money is a neccesity (I'm a horrible speller) when you have bills to pay. *sigh*

I hope I can lose this weight I so desperately need to. :(

You are not alone. I'm definitely a stress eater. My diets go very well until something happens that puts me over the edge stress-wise. And right now, thats a lot of things for me. I'm fighting stresseating every day.

Money is hard on me, too. It's the most stressful, I think. But please don't let that allow you to fall back into bad patterns. I did that before. I was really struggling a few years ago.. and I gave up trying to lose weight.. I told myself "I can't when things are going this bad" and now.. I wish I had that time back again. If I had kept at it, I'd be at my goal right now instead of just starting again. That would be 3 more years of healthy living under my belt that I don't have.. three less years of pain on my poor body.

I've had to find other things to do when I'm stressed and bored as a solution. I used to eat a lot in front of the TV so I tried needlepoint to keep my hands busy, or clipping coupons, or something else I can do at the same time. (The good thing about needlepoint is you have to have clean hands.. so no eating while doing it!) I started reading more books. The more engrossed in a book I become, the less likely I am to eat. And I stopped getting so many food magazines to read. My intentions were good - I wanted new recipes, etc.. but in the end, all they ever did is make me hungry. I'm a very visual person when it comes to food. When I'm stressed I'm trying to get myself to go for a walk for even just 5 or 10 min and when I come back, see if I still want to stuff my face :P Not sure what other ideas people have.

Lately I'm trying to reprogram my brain about food and hunger. I'm trying to tell when I really AM hungry and when I'm full... and when I'm just eating because of a feeling. Journaling helps this. I bet some other people have some good ideas about what to do about stress/bored eating.

I agree with so much the Gina said and if I do them instead of eat they work. I cross stitch and clean hands are a must. Also cross stitching frees my mind of worries and the next thing I know a few hours has passed and the binge feeling long gone. Reading a good mystery also takes my mind off food. Most of the time I do my exercise in the evening because this the the most likely time that I over eat. Working out hard leaves me exhausted and very thirsty but not hungry. Hard exercise puts a stop to my binge thoughts.

Good Luck finding another job and try and not stress eat. I know easier said than done but keep on trying .

I love it when i find something to do that keeps me completely occupied, because i am a HUGE boredom eater. Yesterday, for instance, my mom taught me to sew. I was making a pair of pajama pants, and i was so busy i never once felt the need to eat until i was actually hungry.

Is there such a thing as an always eater? when your bored, angry,tired,happy,sad,glad,or for no reason at all, you always want food?

Yes Maeble

When I'm in binge mode for days or even months at a time, I can't get enough food and always want it. I find stress and anger really can really set me off for a binge. I also notice that when I'm with friends or get-together with family and I'm happy I want to eat lots. Yes for me food is always tempting every day.

Originally Posted by maeble:
Is there such a thing as an always eater? when your bored, angry,tired,happy,sad,glad,or for no reason at all, you always want food?

Yes there is! I'm one of those.

But just think of how you'll feel after you stress eat. You'll feel much worse and more stressed. That is what stops me most days. There's nothing like going to bed knowing you did well today.

*sigh*
I'm just in a bad place right now. I'm not happy. I'm not sad. I'm just there. Its partially because I'm losing my job (the one job I've loved) and now I have to find one thats not gonna have a hissy fit over my school schedule. And I'm stressed because its been a WHILE since I"ve taken a full load at one time...I mean I'm going from doing 6 credit hours to doing freaking 14. I'm starting to second guess myself and thinking WHAT WERE YOU THINKING CRAZY LADY. *sigh*
I need a hobby other then playing pc games because those tend to make me WANT to eat more. Maybe I'll start walking again. I used to do that. Its just so hot/humid here and I don't do well in hot weather.