What is your (emotional) weakness, and how do you overcome it?

  • What emotional triggers drive you to eat?

    I've been attempting to identify the things that motivate a desire to eat in myself. So far I've discovered unexpressed anger. When I am really angry and can't express that anger properly for whatever reason, instead of hitting, crying, or breaking something I want to eat.

    This week I experienced it twice. I managed to resist but the motivation was excruciatingly powerful. I'm not sure next time I'll make it.

    How do you overcome emotional eating triggers?
  • My emotional weekness is definitely stress, a feeling of hopelessness, and a feeling of impatience. I combat these by identifying what the urge is and speaking to myself out loud: OK, you're stressed, not hungry. You want to see a loss this week, so stop. Eat food when you are hungry for food. I've never been this honest with myself about food before. So far, it's working!

    Good luck to you - and start speaking your mind!!! When I was younger I would eat, binge, and starve out of unexpressed anger. It sucks because you feel so out of control and you start feeling angry with yourself! It's like self harming...
  • One of my triggers at work is frustration. It's not consistant, thankfully, but it happens often when dealing with one particular vendor that is giving us loads of trouble. Plus, this past week, another vendor has turned unscrupulous in their dealings with us. Whenever I have a run-in with them, I usually end up at the perpetual M&M bowl sitting on the counter in my department.

    I'm not sure why, but the only thing that seems to help is drinking water. There's something psychological about it for me that takes the edge off wanting to eat when I don't need to. I keep a couple bottles at work to sip on throughout the day, and a couple more at home for the evening. It's not a perfect preventative, but it does help.
  • I'm an emotional eater, I eat when I'm stressed, bored or depressed; then I get depressed that I've over eaten. I think that unexpressed emotions are a reason as well. i've tried drinking water some times, it works some times.
  • My biggest emotional triggers for eating are probably boredom and exhaustion. If I'm bored, I will eat because I have nothing else to do, and because it tastes good. If I have had a hard day, and I'm exhausted, the LAST thing I want to do is spend any time at all cooking a healthy meal -- I'd rather stop by the McDonald's down the street or Boston Market.

    And of course, joy is a big one. If something great happens, I always go out to eat to celebrate. This is something my family does, I think it's cultural or something.
  • Stress or boredom. I generally try to find something to do to get rid of boredom and keep my mind off stress before I catch myself eating to solve them.
  • Loneliness is a big one for me - tied in with homesickness. I can relate to the old work stress one as well. And our management buys us junk food when we are busy, which does not help! They have started getting in fruit as well though, on my insistence.
    Exercise helps me a lot. I schedule my exercise for times when i know my urge to eat is at its worst, like Sunday afternoons (I have just got back from the gym!)
  • Worry/anxiety is my worst trigger - my mind can go into worry overdrive, and when I'm like that nothing can pull me out of it, and I just eat whatever I can get my hands on.

    I'm trying to nail some anti-anxiety techniques so that I can stop the worry before it gets out of control, and hopefully that will help with the emotional over-eating too.

    Kind regards, Janey
  • Stress
    I would always cave at this time and now I just try to work thru my stress and know that I can not run to food to make anything easier to deal with because it will still be there when I have done eating and I will feel even worse because I ate the wrong stuff.
    I also work out my stress at the gym alot of stress that I have from work is worked out at the gym rather than eating something I think will make me feel better and it never does.
  • Apart from celebrations (eg at a restaurant or MIL's house) when I try to plan ahead about what I'm going to eat, and stick to it (although I don't always of course)
    My big trigger food time is when I'm tired, overwhelmed eg straight after I get home from work, baby crying or sick, dogs barking for their food, dinner to be prepared quickly b/c DH needs to go out etc. Or even as a reward for getting through these overwhelming times - sit down in the quiet and HAVE SOME DESSERT or DRINK THAT WINE, why not, I deserve it!
    I try to overcome it by having alternative foods availble eg lo fat yoghurt or flavoured rice crackers instead of bread or icecream, or putting off the wine until, say 9.00 and then if I still want it then I can have it, b/c I want it not b/c I'm reacting to the tiredness.