Emotional Eating -

Fitness-Mom

Fitness-Mom

Cathlete
I am hoping someone can share how to overcome emotional eating. As we speak I am munching on a bunch of chocolate that someone left in the kitchen here at work. I'm not even hungry....
I cant seem to stop, even though I want too....
I am having problems at home. I don't want to work out, or eat correctly....If I could I would just sleep!

Any advice on how to break this?

"Today is a Gift, Have Fun"

~Jennifer~

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Are you sleep deprived lately?

I've been feeling this way off and on for a month or so. I really have to push to get my workouts done. I used to be so excited to work out...now nothing.

Get control of the eating first. Its not called emotional eating for nothing so which emotion are you eating away and deal with something related to it. For me, boredom is the worse for my eating so I try to make changes as best I can to alleviate boredom. Maybe if you work out a complete eating and exercise plan for a week and then just decide to follow it...no matter what. Write it all down too to keep yourself accountable.
 
i would recommend the book intuitive eating. its very informative and has helped me with my emotional/binge eating.
 
I have struggled with emotional eating for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was a child. I got away with it when I was young because I was tall and grew really fast. However in high school and college I really put the pounds on. I used to be obese and now I am just slightly chubby. I am still chubby even though I work out with Cathe 5 days a week because when I went through some hard times I let my emotional eating get the best of me again.
These are not new ideas but these are the things that work for me.
1. Brush teath with strong minty toothpaste when done eating what you want to eat.
2. Chew sugarless gum
3. Find another way to deal with stress. I write in a journal sometimes.
4. Is it possible for you to just remove all the tempting food from the house? If you do not have chocolate in the house the chances of you running out to the store just to binge or lower than if it is right there for you and you can just eat without thought.
5. Log into sparkpeople.com every day and read the site for motivation (or Cathe boards).
5. Also when I log into sparkpeople EVERY day I make sure I log EVERY bite that goes into my mouth. No uhhh well I slipped up today so I will just keep eating poorly and not log my food and start new again tommorow. That sort of mentality really got me in trouble. I find when you see how much damage you are doing in actual numbers it takes the mindless out of mindless eating.
6. Vending machienes a problem? What are the biggest problems? How can you avoid them? I work overnights so I can go to school during the day. Around halfway through the night my energy would slump and I would hit the VM for something bad. So I started not caring my wallet with me to work or only caring larger bills. Now I have a cup of hot fruity tea instead.

I am not over it 100% yet but I am way better off than I was years ago when I weighed 225 pounds. Good Luck

:)
 
Hi Jennifer,

I wish I had some great advice for you, but I'm going through the same thing right now. Mine is stress related. I am doing the 12 week challenge knowing that I needed to get back on track. It hasn't been easy even if it has only been 2 1/2 days. I just have to tell myself that I canNOT eat all day long. I look at the clock alot seeing if it's "time" yet for my next meal, but I will get past that at some point, just not sure when.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone. We need to identify the problem and go from there.

Take care!

Sally
 
Thank you all for the great advice.

I am too working on another challenge, BFL. The last time through I was able to eat clean for 6 weeks, and then I lost control eating everthing in site.
Just trying to get back to my clean eating again, but it is so hard and I am always catching myself saying, "not today, I will start Monday."

"Today is a Gift, Have Fun"

~Jennifer~

="http://images.meez.com/user07/3/8/4/4/4/4/8/3844448_bodyshot_300x400.gif
 
I know what you mean! I will eat clean for about 8 weeks and fall off the wagon hard! The biggest advice I could give you is don't buy the crap and don't eat out very much. I find it unbarable in the grocery store not to buy a bag of chips, they have a flippin display right when you walk in, or jar of peanut butter, I am a recovering PB sandwich addict :), it's sure hell but I stay strong and get to the check out and get out of there. I was just saying to my husband that they sould use yellow caution tape on the isle with all the chips, crakers, and cookies, because everything there is evil. If you eat out just make the decision to eat wisley, ask for no mayo, or cheese, or small portion like on the kids menu.

For cravings I'll have tea, chew gum or eat an apple. For bordum and kitchen grazing I will try reading, playing a video game, or have a hot bath.

I was really stressed out last week for obvious reasons, inlaws at christmas time, instead of plopping that box of chocolates on my lap and hittin the rum, I threw on my workout clothes and did cardio fusion. It really cleared my head and I felt amazing after, that work out is tough. I was too tired to stress out over the small stuff.
 
Jennifer --

Hey girl! I'm so sorry you are struggling with this. I do want to say that you look great -- really you do! So, you must not be eating THAT much -- maybe just making the wrong choices.

I could tell from the BFL thread that you've been down lately. I wish somehow we could cheer you up. Just know that we are checking in with you daily -- and even when you do go eat that chocolate in the kitchen we are there for you!!! Heck, I ate PERFECT yesterday -- until around 6:00 p.m when we ordered a pizza for supper and I ate 4 -- yes FOUR slices. (For some reason I "forgot" to mention that to the BFL crowd!! he he!) Let's keep that our secret!! :)

Anyway, I've been hungry all day too -- I'm madly chopping on gum right now and its NOT doing the trick. So, know that you are NOT alone!! I wonder if our bodies just naturally go through these cycles.

Hang in there!!
Michelle
 
I've been having trouble too lately. I think my problem is that I started eating sugary sweets during the holidays and my body is having a hard time giving them up again. I really do think that we can develop sugar addictions. I'm trying now to substitute my mid-day sugar cravings with fruit and I eat a protein bar too during the day that gives me my chocolate hit. I know that a lot of people say they are unhealthy, but I adore them and refuse to give them up. Plus I've lost weight while on them and have increased energy. I know that once I curb that sugar craving from all of the holiday sweets, I'll be OK.
 
may i ask what your diet is like right now? Mabe your being to strict with your eating and its fueling the eating? Also, sleep is so important. I get crazy cravings when I lack sleep. Whenever I have a binge relapse when i look back to see what caused it, it is always 2 things:
1) lack of sleep and being over tired
2)having to strict of a diet makeing me feel deprived and unsatisfied
 
Jen,

You are describing what I've been experiencing for the past about 6-9 months. I've packed on about 15 pounds and I had to use my Christmas money this evening, which I was going to use to buy P90X, and go buy pants because nothing fits. I think I was burned out. I had been in school from 2001 to 2006, with only about a semester off between my bachelor and master's degree. I think I just was worn out. I noticed another poster mentioned sleep deprivation and I think that is a good possibility. I have several cats and I have noticed I feel remarkably better when I sleep sans cats. Have you had major stressors in your life lately? Any changes or problems that you've experienced lately that are different from your normal routine? These things can make me want to crawl into bed and just never come out again except to eat junk.

You are not alone!
 
Jennifer,

Something that really worked for me was a book called The 4 Day Win by Martha Beck.

It's all about our mindsets and what traditional "dieting" does to us.

She gives it to you straight, she's funny, she's had problems herself.

Best of luck to you.
 
Miss Michelle.....you thought you could keep 4 SLICES OF PIZZA a secret from the BFL crowd?!?!? Shame, shame! LOL Just kidding of course! And I won't mention it to the others, either! HA!

Jennifer-I'm a HUGE emotional eater and this past summer was to the point of actually considering counselling for over-eating. There were countless times when I would simple eat for the sake of eating. Just to get something down. And several times I ate to the point of being ill. However, I found that thru the BFL eating plan (which, basically, as you know, is just eating CLEANLY), I feel that I have so much more control over it. I'm not sure exactly what PART of the eating plan has given that control back to me. Is it the Free Day concept? Is it KNOWING the actual PURPOSE of the food that I'm eating (i.e. the protein and carbs, and what they do FOR my body)?

You've already gotten some excellent advice. What I've started doing since starting BFL to get control over myself at the times I need it most.....when the urge to eat something that I 'shouldn't' be eating, I will divert my attention to something else. I always have some kind of project that I'm working on, or a book that I'm reading, or a scrapbook page that I'm putting together. If I'm at home and get that urge, I take a break and go spend 25 minutes or so on that particular book/project/page, etc.

I hope that helps SOME! HANG IN THERE!

Gayle

p.s. I would also take the suggestion above, about trying to pinpoint WHY you're eating right now. What is the emotion or the stressor? Understanding that should help some!
 
Man... I should have known I couldn't keep a secret from Gayle. :(

However, mine wasn't emotional...I was just HUNGRY!@@@!!***

Seriously though, I hope it helps you Jennifer to know we are ALL struggling with this. Hang in there!!

Michelle
 
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