I am definitely an emotional eater. For quite a while now, I have been paying attention to WHY I eat and trying to only eat when I am hungry. I have been noticing that sometimes I eat to reduce anxiety. Anxiety about what, you ask... I have no idea. Last night, I just wanted to scarf some food down to relax, but I am trying to break myself of that... so I had a Rum cream drink. Yes - it is a lot of calories, but the rum calmed me down and at least it was different than scarfing pizza or cheese sticks. OBVIOUSLY, I can't use booze as a crutch to reduce anxiety.

What do you do to reduce anxiety and chill out?

Exercise.

Honestly. I pick something I like and I find that later, I'm much more relaxed.

I started many years ago with yoga and I noticed that helped me with my stress level tremendously.

Now, I just do whatever sport/exercise I'm into at the moment. It always helps me relax.

Yeah, exercise. Also sleep. I can sleep off anxiety, usually. We have a hot tub. I love that. A phone call to a friend is priceless. A good movie with healthy popcorn.

I'm an emotional eater too. I clean when I'm stressed. Or plan meals, look up recipes or, if I can, go for a kid-free walk.

Exercise and cleaning. Both do wonders for my anxiety.

Rana: I was just thinking about Yoga... I could probably do a few stretches in my LR and feel better. I haven't exercised in 2 weeks, but I am running tomorrow. I am wondering if my laps in exercise is what has been feeling this way.

Eliana: SO JEALOUS. A hot tub would DEFINITELY do the trick for me... ~sigh~ Maybe some day.

Pint Sized Terror: I like the idea of looking up recipes! I have some cooking magazines I need to go through and tear out the good recipes... I should set those out.

Lol! My BIG plans for the weekend are to do some cleaning with my mom. Her and my dad are visiting from out of town. We are going to have a little wine and get scrubbing. I just know, I am going to feel SO much better after a weekend of cleaning! I love when my house looks all sparkly and smells good... and when there are no cheerios or krispies on the floor...

I'm an emotional eater and I have 'generalized anxiety disorder' (which basically means that my anxiety levels are always on high alert) along with panic disorder (so sometimes 'high alert' becomes 'Defcon5').

When the issues were of a more mild nature I found that exercise really did help. It gave me something to do (so I wasn't eating) and it actually helped decrease my stress levels so I wasn't so tempted to binge to soothe my emotions.

Unfortunately my anxiety progressed to the frequency and intensity that required me to seek medical intervention. Now I'm on meds to control both the GAD and the panic attacks.

Good luck!!!

Music. I like to listen to upbeat music. It's really a tension-breaker for me. If I am having a good day physically, I even dance around some and get some exercise.

I usually succumb to snacking late in the evening, after dinner. To combat this I try to give my hands something else to do - needlework, or play a video game, or call a friend - so that I'm not tempted to use them to shove more food in my mouth. And good music is great. I play piano and ukulele so sometimes I will even make my own instead of listening to it.

Also scented candles or incense are a nice way to distract your senses - if you try to eat anything it will taste like incense; yuck! Haha.

Finally, I've found that brushing my teeth as soon as I'm done eating makes me way less likely to keep eating - I can't, I brushed my teeth already... and nothing tastes good with mouthwash aftertaste!

I love this and I agree.

I HATE exercising but love cleaning. Playing music and jamming/dancing around the house seems to help too,

Well, exercise has had an enourmous impact on my depression/anxiety, so I definitely recommend it. Unfortunately, you can't always just break out into some workout routine, though.

While it doesn't always work for me, sometimes it helps to have a catch phrase to help you mentally get out of the moment. Anything that helps to reframe the situation or identify it for what it is so you can push through it.

I've used

"It will be there tomorrow, so why not wait 1 day?"

"I'm ________________ (anxious, stressed, tired, thirsty, etc.), not hungry. Food will not fix it."

"I do NOT have the energy to lose this weight again. Do the right thing."

"It is just food. It doesn't fix anything."

"Wait 30 minutes. If I still want it, I can have it then."


Probably seems a little corny, but these have actually helped me through those moments when I have the pantry open & a box of unhealthy whatever in my hand.

Cleaning to really fun and loud music helps as well as making myself a really yummy cup of herbal tea. I am drinking one now called 'Get Lost', and it really does reduce my cravings, has a slightly sweet, chocolaty taste. It has carob in it.

I do all the ones mentioned here; plus reading novels with good endings, including fluff romances. I crochet blanket squares; clean or sort something; play soothing music (not too loud or irritating); sit outside in the the sun with my dear fido and read; go for a walk; go window shopping or maybe book hunting; read the bible, esp the Psalms which are very soothing; sing or play my piano or organ; play games with DH; or go for a nice, long drive in the country (maybe to a favorite lake) ...