I so often read that we only eat because of emotional things etc. and that there is always a 'reason' behind our eating. But sometimes, I really do wonder, what if it's just a habit? I'm in the habit of eating chips everytime I work (about twice - three times a week) because I used to do it when I worked full time and was stressed out with the workplace...and I think it has become habit now. It always seems to be drummed into my head that 'there has to be an emotional reason' , but I wonder if eating emotionally has *led* to eating out of habit? What do other people think?

I think it can be both. But you have to recognize that it's a habit & either break it altogether or make a healthier choice.

I'm not saying I don't want to do something about it because it's a habit or that I don't want to break the habit , just curious if others have similar experiences

I totally believe that it is largely habit as much as emotion for overeating. Or that even if it is emotion or some deep seated reason(s) for overeating in a large sense ...so what? I know a lot of people are going to jump on me but that is ok. This is just my opinion. And I need to explain a little bit. Of course there are multiple reasons why someone overeats or doesn't exercise enough, emotion, habit, laziness, likes the taste of 'bad food' etc. Are dealing with all of these necessary before you can eat well and exercise well? Heck no. You can decide to change your habits. It is not like you are sleeping when eating (well for most people). You are awake and aware. You don't have to sit there and say well I am going to eat this and it goes back to those experiences 10 years ago and I really must get to the bottom of everything in my life before I change. Nope, no way. An individual may never ever ever get to 'the bottom' of everything. I haven't

But when I was over 330lbs I said no way, no more, this is not right. I started changing my habits. And it worked. My goal was to lose weight and I looked at the decisions I made every day and had the will to change them. I focused on the reasons for losing weight not why I had bad habits. Does that make sense? I didn't need to know why I was eating badly because when I decided to eat well I sure as heck knew the reasons why I was eating well. I wish I could explain this better but you don't have to hold weight loss hostage to the underlying reasons. Just Do It! Change the habits and you will find you have much more energy. I mean MUCH more energy to deal with the other things. Of course things are connected but Dr. Phil et al. of that ilk go way too far in not giving credit to just doing it and needing to clear everything up first. I mean if you have a short temper you don't need to go over your whole life history to figure out why to start working on controling it better because you know you should control it (although it might help to look at the past you can still work on the temper thing). Losing weight is the same way see?

Habit!

But not all of it's bad!

I drink about a liter of water every morning before 10am.... strictly out of habit. Once, I had to have surgery, and they wouldn't let me drink any water beforehand. I had to cover my house with post-it notes that read, "No! Don't drink any water!"

But I also have a habit of raiding the cabinets when I get home. Totally out of habit. I'm trying to pick things to do (like walk the dogs, pick up the living room, or grab a magazine and go outside) so I won't be as tempted.

I agree...I think I eat a lot out of habit. For example, I used to "eat a snack" every night while watching tv....I wasn't hungry...I wasn't sad, bored...just out of habit. Funny you should bring this up...because I am trying to break my 6 month old out of his midnight snack. There is no reason he needs a bottle everynight...honestly...out of habit :0

Everybody's different (and every BODY is different too!)

My dh is overweight (less and less each day) and he is not an emotional eater: he just really likes good food.

I, on the other hand am an emotional eater and a sugar addict.

I'm sure other people eat out of habit.

There are lots of reasons I think. But it helps to figure out your own reasons so you can get some strategies to stop overeating.

I do both habit and emotional eating. I used to read and eat popcorn so much that everytime I pick up a book, I still want to eat popcorn.

I think that it is both, habit and emotions. I for one, believe that a lot of my problem began with emotional eating, that turned into habit for me.

It IS a habit, but the great thing is that other things become habits as well, if you consistently do them. For example, I've been exercising religiously for the past few months. Now, even if I don't want to exercise, I do it anyway, because it's become a habit. Same thing with eating. I stop eating around 7pm now, because I've made that a habit. Experts say it takes 21 days, but I think it really takes longer than that....closer to 100 days, probably.

-Peekaboo

Good points... very interesting.

Yes its a habbit and an addiction. I am addicted to food, I think about it almost all the time, once I start eating I can't stop, kinda like a drug addict. .... food is my drug. When i eat I feel great, it gives me such a feeling of pleasure, its like a high. Its no different from any other addiction EXCEPT!!! we can't live w/out food which makes it the hardest thing to conquer.

You can live w/out cigaretts, booze, drugs, gambling, playboy/girl, etc.... but can you live w/out food ? of course not.

I'm not saying any of the above is a breeze or easy to conquer but dang.....food has got to be the worst.

You can walk into a card store and not see drugs, booze, dirty magazines, but I guarentee there's a candy rack at the check out counter.

I'd say its more of an addiction !
In my opinion