I really thought I had it under control but today it took all my strength not to eat everything in sight.

My oldest son is 3 and he's always struggled with breathing problems. Right now he has croupe so he feels miserable. My youngest is almost 15 months and he has a cold and he's teething. I had to run to the grocery store. 5 minute drive there, 2 minutes in the store to grab two items and 5 minutes back. So neither of the boys wanted to go but I told them it would be quick. So we got to the store, bought our items and then went to leave the store and my oldest throws a HUGE temper tantrum (very unusual for him). Throws himself on the ground and smucks his leg on the cart.

So finally we get outside of the store and he throws himself in a snow pile and is screaming, screeching, squeeling and just being really loud. We are in a busy parking lot so I'm just trying to stay calm. I ask him to please stand up, he won't listen. I try and pick him up and he just flails all around so I can't pick him up. He's still screaming. I'm holding my youngest in my arm (he's wearing pajamas so I can't put him down). People are walking by staring at us like deer caught in headlights. I am embarassed, angry and sad. I shouldn't have brought him out when he didn't feel well but I had to get some things. So I just burst into tears. Nobody even offered to help me. There were at LEAST 20 people who walked by staring, whispering, etc, and all I needed was someone to come ask me if I needed help. Finally I just walked the 15 feet to my car, put my youngest in while my oldest threw his tantrum, then went back and had to carry my oldest like a football back to the car. I had to sit int he parking lot for a few more minutes because I was crying so hard.

Anyways, we got home and first thing I did was head to the kitchen. I wanted to eat something that i shouldn't eat because I felt so crappy. I grabbed myself 1/4 cup salted corn nuts and sat in the living room on the floor.

I am feeling better now but I am just amazed at how old habits come back when a similar situation comes up. I haven't had an urge to binge eat for quite a while now and today it hit me like a ton of bricks.

How do you all handle emotional eating? Sorry this got long...it turned into a bit of a vent.

disregarding my splurge & post on fried chicken eating , one of my strategies for coping with emotional eating is making and sipping hot green tea, which is supposed to be calming. But just taking the 20 minutes to sip down piping hot tea is almost always long enough for those emotions to pass. Coffee does the trick too unless it gets you jonesing for doughnuts or other unhealthy breakfast goodies.

Hi, I am so sorry you had such a crappy day. I am a emotional eater also, but I have just begun to try and change my bad habit of using food for comfort but it is a hard habit to break. I usually try to call someone to talk to for a few minutes until it the urge passes, but if the emotions are too strong and I need to eat something I will get a cup of ice that has been working for me so far, the biting down and the loud crunch of the ice for some reason seem to sooth me I dont understand why but it is working for now so I go with it, maybe it will work for you too.

Now there's something I still haven't mastered. I think you did an awesome job handling the situation... When I feel the urge to emotionally eat, I generally pick something up to try to distract myself, something I know I will get totally absorbed in. Which usually means I have to do two things at once (I'm hard to distract) -- knitting and watching a movie; typing something and listening to music.... haven't figured out how to distract myself with reading yet, need to find a second thing I can do simultaneously.

And remember, those people who were staring and whispering have probably never had to deal with a sick 3 year old. Throwing a tantrum. In a snowbank. You did a great job, imho.

Good job handling the tantrum. My youngest, almost 3, does that at times as well. I know what you're going through, both of my boys are asthmatics and have dealt with croup MANY MANY times.. Kids just don't feel well and they don't act like themselves.

As far as the emotional eating goes, I grab some more water and suck it down fast! That's what works for me. For you it may not. I agree with the others, find something else to do to focus on something different.

I agree with sipping some hot tea. By the time your done you feel a little better and the craving for something you shouldn't eat so you can cope tends to go away. That's something I do anyway