I am an emotional eater, and I know it. I'm getting pretty good at telling the difference between when I'm hungry because I'm hungry and when I'm hungry because I'm stressed out/bored/happy/sad/fill in the blank. HOWEVER, I'm still struggling with convincing myself not to eat during those situations.

Lately I've been pretty stressed out (final presentation for my master's degree is in 30 minutes , planning a move from Rhode Island to Indiana, my fiance is looking for a job, etc) and I feel like I've been eating like crazy. I haven't been eating anything really BAD, but I'll do stuff like have a bowl of oatmeal at 2pm because I'm freaking out, or eat an entire pint of strawberries, and sometimes I snack on reduced calorie munchies too (skinny cow ice cream sandwiches, homemade low-cal cornbread, etc). I know it's better than pigging out on donuts or something, but I also know it's way more calories than I need to be eating when I'm not even hungry.

So my question for you ladies is: What do you do instead when you feel the urge to eat emotionally?

My short answer: Exercise, exercise, exercise!

It works for me like nothing else does... just helps me channel my energy into something else positive. I find the more exercise I get, the less I want to overeat. And the endorphins, particularly from cardio, just make me feel better and less stressed out overall.

Failing that, I find that drinking something (especially something hot, like coffee or hot tea) usually helps.

I'm still learning this stuff, too... my first instinct is still to eat *something.* Like you said, while it may no longer be Krispy Kremes and instead be a bag of frozen organic strawberries, it's still a relatively unhealthy dependence on food!

One thing that works very well for me (when I remember to do it) is to delay. Wait 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes is usually pretty easy and about half the time I get distracted by something else and I don't have to worry about it any more. The other half the time, I have to figure out what to do. That could be wait another 15 minutes, eat something healthy, exercise, call someone on the phone, etc.

Anne

I'm an emotional eater too. Stress just sets me off. This is the biggest obstacle I've faced so far in trying to lose weight. Anyways, I try to stave off the attacks by drinking water or coffee (never Diet Coke...it makes me want to eat). I also will just get up and walk somewhere (to the mailbox, around the building...usually its a short walk, but enough to distract me). Or I'll check this website. It's helped a lot.

I'm also thinking about taking up knitting or some other hobby that ties my hands up. If my hands are busy, I can't use them to shovel in the food!!!

I do all the things suggested above.

Plus I make myself name the emotion that I'm feeling, instead of stuffing it down with food. I actually will say it out loud: 'I'm lonely.' 'I'm sad.' 'I'm tired.' 'I'm stressed.' etc. Just acknowledging what I'm feeling seems to help.

Something else that works is journalling my feelings. It can be so cathartic to type (or write) it all down -- and it keeps my hands busy and out of trouble. By the time I'm done, often the urge to eat has passed.

Sometimes I go for a walk or have a bubble bath or call a friend & vent.

All of the above.
I've actually knitted about 5 scarves this winter while pedaling on the recumbent bike (at home...I'd never live it down at the gym )

Other things I do: go through my closet and try on all the tightest clothes, or the ones that look best. This can backfire if you get depressed because the tight ones really are tight!

Clean a bathroom. No one wants to eat while scrubbing a shower or toilet

Read posts here!

Go walk around the mall and do some fantasy shopping. Real retail therapy gets pretty expensive if you are very emotional, but new nail polish or a candle can perk you up without the calories.

Hang in there, you've had great success

Mel

The distractions that work well for me are:
- coming to this site
- taking a bath
- doing a Sudoku
- exercising
- reading exercise magazines
- having a coffee or tea

Hi,

I do
- come to this site
-try to name the emotion (mainly tiredness in my case)
-meditate (not necessarily when I have the urge to eat, but doing it on a regular basis keeps me focussed)
-have a glass of tea or hot water
-read a book
-do a sudoku
-do chores around the house

rabbit

At the moment I... eat emotionally. Still trying to get that one under control I'm afraid! Still, my comfort foods of choice are at least more nutritious than they used to be. The one thing I do sometimes resort to is going upstairs to watch tv or surf the internet from my bed, and I set the burglar alarm downstairs to that if I go downstairs to the kitchen I will set the alarm off. Of course it's no trouble really to unset it, but it seems like the audible alarm when I set foot on the stairs is enough to remind me what I'm doing and turn me round! Maybe I should work out how to set it to just alarm the kitchen then I can use the rest of the house!

Unfortunately there are times when I give into emotional eating. I'm still working on this one.

I head out the door and go for a extra long walk
Read a good book
Read motivational weight loss stories
I watch recorded weight loss shows. I have tapes of them.
Cross stitch
Sew
Put on some good music and dance
Trying to learn to meditate but that hasn't worked so far. My mind immediately focuses on food lol

Mel you can knit and ride your bike, you are talented.

I am an emotional eater too, I eat when I'm sad, stressed, bored, happy (ok, all the time ! )
To avoid eating bad, bad food (cause carrots just don't have the same appeal as a nice chocolate cookie), I:
- try on my thightest clothes, especially bikini
- find some inspiring before/after pics
- come to 3FC
- drink tea with looooots of aspartame

Thanks for the advice everyone! I will definitely try out your suggestions. Now that it's warming up outside, going for a walk is looking more and more tempting as a distraction!