Hi,
Just thought I'd start a new topic. I'm curious as to when and why other people started comfort or emotional eating...my story (condensed) below.
I was really thin when I was younger. My family teased me that I was in the wrong family. I would eat two bites of something and be full. Puberty changed all that. I had gained some weight, but was not fat, just no longer "skinny.' Another words, I started getting hips.
My mom panicked-you'd think with me being her third daughter she'd know better, but she dragged me to Weight Watchers with her. (my ENTIRE family, both sides has weight problems). I was almost five feet eight inches tall, fifteen years old and weighed 128. I would kill to weigh that now-actually, I think I would look too skinny at that weight.
So my weight struggle began. According to weight watchers I should have weighed 120. I think their charts are more forgiving now. I lost the eight pounds. Then I gained it back plus five more-mom dragged me back to Weight Watchers. This went on all through high school. I started to sneak food-namely sweets, which I hadn't done before.
When I went away to college I did something unusual-I lost fifteen pounds my freshman year. When I moved back home, the comments from my mom got to me again, and I started sneaking food more-it was a lot easier since I then had my own car.
I gained more through college, then moved in with my fiance. He was working the three to eleven pm shift. I didn't see him at night at all. We lived in a new town where I knew nobody. I started to go out to eat by myself and bake at night. Food was my company.
It's eleven years later, and my husband still works nights-but a better shift-he doesn't leave til eight thirty pm, so we have some time together. I"m still doing the emotional/comfort eating at night.
I can't seem to stop this cycle. Food is just always there, is comforting, can't hurt your feelings and doesn't make it seem as lonely.
If anyone has any ideas/or help for this topic, I'd love for you to share.
I don't want to pass this eating pattern on to my son. I want him to see food as a form of nourishment, not entertainment or companionship.
Please help,
Sherry