I work in a daycare. In the infant room. Because we are such a small daycare (located in a school, only board of education employees kids can enroll) the infant room is newborn till age 2. I had 5 babies yesterday. 2 10 month old girls, 1 11 month old girl, 1 17 month old and a 22 month old girl. Yesterday they were a bit more fussy than normal. The 11 month is currently going through a phase where if I leave the room she screams and cries for like 30 minutes. I was very stressed out over all of the fussing and crying and screaming that we had going on. My first instinct was to go find all of the junk food I could and eat it.

Now I am on WWers. So I eat what I want as long as I stick to my points. I have 3 reese eggs and a payday ( I dont need them do not ask why I am tempting myself) in my room. I wanted them pretty bad. I would not eat them though. Then something clicked in my brain and it was like a light bulb going off! Why in the WORLD would I eat because I am stressed? That is not going to help ANYTHING!

That will only make me in a worse mood which will lead to a worse mood for the kids. So I do not know where this whole idea of emotional eating came from but I am trying to desperately break it! I think I have been an emotional eater since I was about 4 years old. I have to stop. So I don't know what you call this. A breakthrough? A NSV? I do not know. I will admit this though last night (because I had the points not for any emotional reason) I did eat part of the payday. I had the points so I opened it I broke off a piece of it and ate. I realized I did not want anymore of it after I had the taste. It was good and I enjoyed it and gave the other 2/3rds to my mom. Some may say I gave in but I am proud of myself!

Sounds like a breakthrough to me! Congratulations, it can be very difficult to break emotional eating. You are well on your way!

Excellent! I think you did great! Emotional and stress eating are really hard to deal with, but realizing that you are eating for stress is a huge step towards breaking the habit.

That was SOOOOOO hard for me to get. But wowwy, wow, wow. What a whole new world when it clicks.

YAY YAY YAY!!!!

Congratulations!!! It's a tough habit to break, I hope I have the same strength when I reach my breaking point!

Hey, this is good! I don't know what those foods are, but if they contain carbs... That would release serotonin, calming you down mentally. There's a totally valid physiological reason for emotional eating! But you can also learn to get the same effect in other ways, and it sounds like that's what you're doing, so nice work!

5 babies?! You sure do have your hands full! I'd definitely say it's an NSV for you but I think it's even more than that. You are learning new skills and implementing them into your daily routine. Like you said, you had the points for everything. That's not giving in, that's careful planning and budgeting! Good job!

Good for you!

It sounds like a breakthrough, an NSV, and essentially an important life lesson for some of us. I couldn't be more happier for you! (I'm an emotional eater as well.)

That is fantastic!!! Job well done!

I don't think you "gave in" at all. Giving in would have been if you ate the entire payday and the chocolate eggs out of stress. You ate enough of the payday to satisfy your craving and had the power to get rid of the rest! You should be very proud of yourself!

Thanks everyone. I am really trying to think about everything I eat before I eat it. I ask myself how many points? Is it worth those points? Am I hungry? and why do I want to eat this?


I don't always do that but I try. I am so thankful to have the support of everyone here.

Definitely a breakthrough! I had a similar one very recently while under a lot of stress from my current job and realized that stress is a HUGE trigger for me, so good for you for figuring out your triggers! The beautiful thing about changing your lifestyle is discovering more about yourself along the way!

Thanks everyone! I was so proud of myself!!! I was very excited to share it with everyone here too!

That's so wonderful!

That's a big breakthrough! Keep those "It won't help anything to eat" thoughts close. I've been seeing a counselor, and she helped me see that, just as you discovered, eating won't HELP anything - in fact, it will probably make me feel worse. It's an illusion.

I was having trouble with a particularly annoying coworker, and after confrontations, I always wanted to eat. My counselor described how different people have different reactions to stress - for example, someone might go out and buy gifts for the person they had a confrontation with in order to "make up" and make things better. I told her that's absurd. I wanted to slash her tires (not really, but you can guess how mad she makes me) not spend my hard earned money on her. And she said, eating cookies at that point would be just as absurd. And,it finally clicked.

Until then, I really thought that I WANTED to eat, and I NEEDED to eat. And she helped me see how ridiculous a response that was to my anger and the stress. It's great when things click like that. You've made a BIG discovery, and it will take you far. Just remember it.

PS -- You made a conscious and controlled choice about the candy bar. Don't think another thought about that. You ate it. You had planned for it, and you enjoyed it. End of story. No guilt, no heartache. You go girl!