Sweetie...sounds like you're a boredom eater to me. Are you bored when you eat?Or did something trigger you to eat? Write down in a journal what you ate and what triggered it. Maybe you'll find out why? Deppresion is one reason why people eat for comfort.

Hang in there...we're here for ya!'

emerald dragonfly

A lot of people think they eat when they are bored...I was one of those. But the truth is, it is not boredom in the true sense of the word. To really fight those urges to eat you have to dig deep to understand what you are truly feeling when you turn to food. For me it was sometimes to avoid doing something I didn't want to do, which caused me stress. Other times it was just to avoid having to feel potentially negative feelings. We very often use foot to help numb us, which makes it hard to really understand why we are eating in the first place, when it seems like we are eating for no reason at all. There are a number of ways to be more conscious about your eating. A food diary helps, giving you the opportunity to objectively review specific eating patterns and then subjectively work at discovering the true feelings behind mindless eating.

The bottom line is if it's not satisfying your physical hunger or if you are not truly enjoying it, then the item is something you are eating for emotional reasons - and not just because you are bored. I hope you can work to find out what's really going on, and then you can move on and learn new behavior to deal with those emotions (or desire not to feel emotions) and no longer allow that to be a road block to your success.

Oh boy, I'm right there with you. I have been known to eat every 2 hours...or even every hour. I think the PP's have it right on in saying there is something deep in there making you do it, and you need to find out what it is. Avoidance is a PRIME reason for bingeing, I find. I personally binge to avoid overwhelming feelings. (But have been doing fairly well lately.)

Journaling is a great idea. If you happen to have any thoughts you want to record at the same time--good or bad--jot those down too. You may start seeing a pattern.

I don't think CO'ing is something that has "one" cure. I think it's a journey for those of us who do it. Don't get discouraged if you fall back once in a while. Just keep thinking about it, don't let yourself just "numb out" during the binge...make yourself think, "Why exactly am I doing this?" NOT in a judgemental way but in a curious way. Just ask yourself the question and eventually some answers may come to you. There ARE answers. I'm convinced of that.

Coqui, I love your photo!

The girls are right... there's got to be a reason (other than boredom) for your eating. (if you find out what it is, let me know, okay? heh heh)

Journaling is a great idea. And maybe you need something to keep your hands occupied. Knitting?

I don't include everyone in this, but I know that for myself, I'm lazy when it comes to "looking within myself" for the reasons behind my overeating. When I want food, I'm usually tired (there's one reason right there! Eat some protein or take a nap!), and the last thing I feel like doing is "sitting down with myself" to figure out what's going through my head. I think it's something that'll take practice...

Good luck, hon... we're all together in this...

Coqui, those are cute, too, but I meant your photo on your blog! You're beautiful, girl!

Hello Coqui and everyone else!

I can SOOOO relate to all that is being said on this thread! I am a stress eater....and whenever I have a spare moment...also one who eats out of boredom! (Maybe it is the stress of finally having a spare moment and not knowing what do to with it!) I do know that my control or lack of control is up to me! ...and that I have to WORK to fix things!

I am currently a WW gal...and having success, most often! I've been enjoying my Winter Break from school. I did well with the first part of it! The last 3 days of being at home with a house full of Christmas sweets has been a disaster! Because I gave in......and gave in and gave in....Duh!

Ellis, I agree.... I can sit and talk to most anyone! I find "sitting down with myself" very uncomfortable and hard to do! At one point in my life, I paid a "shrink" to sit down with me and lead my discussions with myself! I ran out of money! ....but I do know that those conversations made such a huge huge impact on me! Sigh!

I had to LOL at the LittleDebbie and SaraLee comment! I had a little affair with Mr. Hershey around Halloween time! I had sworn that man out of my life until I welcomed him back into our home via my children's Christmas stockings! What in the world was I thinking! During my 3 day FreeForAllFreakOut, he and I became reaquainted...... I'm planning differently for Valentine's Day! ...cause I do know that he will be back.....tempting me with his evil charms and caramel again! LOL

Oh, I have found my people. I eat at weird times too. I can snack because I really feel hungry and then when a meal time comes around I'll eat again even if I'm not hungry just because it's that time. Many times my mind is the hungry one, but my stomach can be completely full and I'll eat anyway. I know that this is some kind of emotional/mental problem that I'm trying to work on. The food diary worked this summer when I had time to write everything down and look up calorie counts. I don't think to keep up with it during the school year because things are so busy. I guess my biggest problem is getting over the tired feeling enough to get my bottom off the couch and moving around.

.....and this is also part of my PROBLEM! I know from experience that getting up and moving would give me more energy to move more...I'm just so darn tired that I don't feel like moving in the first place! What a sad case I am!

Yes, my favorite thing to do when trying to avoid chores is to go cook or bake something -- or have a binge. I have lately been trying what Evelyn Tribole advises in her book Intuitive Eating. If you want to eat when not hungry, ask yourself what you're feeling, what you may need right now that isn't food. Often I find that I just need to ask my dh "Hey honey, would you please take that laundry upstairs?" or I need to take some time out to do something relaxing that I (the perfectionist energizer bunny who never sits down to do ANYTHING) would normally consider a waste of time -- polish my fingernails, read a magazine, take a nap...

I've also been trying to remind myself that the food will still be there when I AM hungry. The store will never run out of food, so even if someone else eats whatever I wanted to binge on I can buy/cook/bake more of it -- whenever I want! I could bake cheesecake every day if I wanted -- no food is ever a once-in-a-lifetime proposition.

For years my therapist asked me to keep a food journal. She even had special blank journals for me to use (she specializes in eating disorders). It couldn't have been simpler. I would keep the journal for a week, maybe two, and then I'd give it up. When I would bring the ones I had completed to her, they weren't really accurate. I didn't want to feel the shame of having her tell me "oh you shouldn't have eaten that cookie" (duh!) - but even worse, I didn't want to face the shame of having to admit I ate that cookie or box of cookies. I lived for years almost perplexed as to why I wasn't losing weight - because everything I chose to acknowledge that I ate was healthy. Of course the problem was, all the food I pretended I didn't eat because it didn't fit into my "ideal" way of eating. There were even days worth of eating I just ignored...the story of my life - if something is not perfect or is unpleasant I ignore it, hoping it will go away or change on its own. My thoughts on eating were no exception.

I've successfully kept a food journal since Nov. 21 of this year. (took two days off at Xmas but am back on track). I estimate my calorie count each day, but know that it isn't entirely accurate. What's gotten me to this point of being able to keep a food log with pretty good accuracy over a stretch of time is that I've gotten real with myself. This means accepting imperfection, in my eating and in my life. It also means being honest and owning up to binges and emotional eating. Denying I have the problem, at any level, wasn't working. I've always been very hard on myself, and it's almost like I've had to flip flop my way of thinking when it comes to self talk and discipline. In order to face the hard task of owning up to everything I eat and dealing with the concept of calorie counting everyday, I've had to let go of my ideal surrounding perfectious eating. I've had to be kinder to myself, more encouraging and more accepting of my faults. My self judgement and lack of personal compassion were my greatest downfalls.

As other posters have mentioned, it's very tough to go deep and figure out your feelings to get to the root of why you eat. I've been working hard on this process, and am making progress (but have a long way to go). Proactively digging out your feelings can really help in preventing situations where you crave food - much easier to prevent rather than stop a binge as it is about to happen. I spend time each day (often in the car during my long commute) thinking and self talking. I keep a list of what I call the "bad feelings" - the things I like to avoid feeling, and would often use food to help me avoid (guilt, frustration, saddness, powerlessness, worry, etc.). When I'm stumpped as to what's going through my head, I pull out the list and pretty soon I find that one or several emotions applies.

None of this is very fun, but I will say that each day I wake up with more optimism and excitement about what lies ahead.