emotional eating

[kariev]

yuck! since i don't have a job and i'm a little stressed about finding another one, all i'm doing is emotionally eating. i've tried getting out of the house and tried staying busy but there is only so much i can do during the day so i'm just stuffing my face its such a quick relief when i eat and then all the guilt that comes a long with it makes it worse. i'm still sticking with my workouts but the diet is out the window. i've already eaten 2000cals today with loads of carbs which is making me even more emotional. any tips on getting out of this cycle?

 

[mgm1]

I have been there many times so I know how it feels. The only thing that worked for me to break this vicious cycle was to cut the carbs to the minimum. I would eat meat, veggies, eggs, some nuts, yogurt, olive oil, ghee and the craving will subside dramatically after 2 days. In order to keep this under control I stick to a low carb diet. Since I don't eat grains at all it is fairly easy for me to stay low carb, as long as I keep the fruit to the minimum. Once I start eating fruits during PMS I loose control and eat excessive number of calories. Low carbs does wonders for me. Take care

 

[pjlippert]

Hi Kari,

I know what you mean. I tricked myself into believing I wasn't an emotional eater- yeahhh, right! I try to just walk away and get busy doing something else like laundry, go for a drive, try on the pair of Ann Taylor pants and realize I still can't zip them- nope not even a bit!! I'm a total carb junkie as well! I also love salty & crunchy... oh please, carrot sticks? I allow myself a small amount of the "real" food and then run away from the pantry as fast as I can!

What do you do for a living? Do you know about Linked-In? It's a superb free networking site. My hubby just got laid off and I directed him towards it and it's working really well. I got into it about a year ago. As a recruiter and Cathelete I can tell you that keeping focused on finding a new job could help keep your hands really busy! If you'd like any advice, I'm happy to help you (no charge of course!).

Hang in there!

Pam

 

[kariev]

I have been there many times so I know how it feels. The only thing that worked for me to break this vicious cycle was to cut the carbs to the minimum. I would eat meat, veggies, eggs, some nuts, yogurt, olive oil, ghee and the craving will subside dramatically after 2 days. In order to keep this under control I stick to a low carb diet. Since I don't eat grains at all it is fairly easy for me to stay low carb, as long as I keep the fruit to the minimum. Once I start eating fruits during PMS I loose control and eat excessive number of calories. Low carbs does wonders for me. Take care

thanks. may i ask what your diet looks like during the day? do you find that your energy levels lag without carbs? how many cals do you eat a day? i've thought about low carb too but haven't committed to it as i'm afraid it will aggrevate a binge on carbs which i'm known for

 

[kariev]

Hi Kari,

I know what you mean. I tricked myself into believing I wasn't an emotional eater- yeahhh, right! I try to just walk away and get busy doing something else like laundry, go for a drive, try on the pair of Ann Taylor pants and realize I still can't zip them- nope not even a bit!! I'm a total carb junkie as well! I also love salty & crunchy... oh please, carrot sticks? I allow myself a small amount of the "real" food and then run away from the pantry as fast as I can!

What do you do for a living? Do you know about Linked-In? It's a superb free networking site. My hubby just got laid off and I directed him towards it and it's working really well. I got into it about a year ago. As a recruiter and Cathelete I can tell you that keeping focused on finding a new job could help keep your hands really busy! If you'd like any advice, I'm happy to help you (no charge of course!).

Hang in there!

Pam

thanks for the tips. i'm a physical therapist. there is a lot of jobs out there so i just need to relax and get going with the interviews. i think that since my last job ended so abruptly, it just shocked me (even though i was the one who quit, it was unexpected). I'm dealing with a recruiter as well who is helping me greatly.

 

[pjlippert]

Hi Kari,

I try to eat a combo of good quality lean proteins, complex carb (occassionally not so complex!) and a small dose of health fat every two to three hours. Now, that's on a pefect day. I am trying to increase my protein intake but would just pass out without carbs from major drops in energy- which as we all know is catastrophic with Cathe's workouts. I'd say I most closely follow Phase two of SouthBeach. Phase one is great for quick weight loss but energy levels are devastating.

Hope that helps!

Pam

 

[hokypoky]

Hi Kari! (My sister is named Kari!) .... I've found that I have to break the carb cycle, and I can't do it cold turkey. I don't like being "forced" to eat certain things, or at least have the perception that I'm supposed to do this or that. It just messes with that emotional component. I would suggest that in between your carb eating, you go for the protein.

Try alternating carbs with protein, until the percentage is more protein. You could start with (what I think of as) cheat proteins .... nuts, peanut butter. The nuts will give you the crunchy part - which means you are stressed and agitated. Peanut butter is more soothing because it is smooth. I had to really work at it yesterday, but kept eating turkey jerky and peanut butter until whatever was throwing me off went away.

You don't want to cut out all carbs, but eventually get to the point where the carbs you are eating are complex, nutritious and well thought out, so they don't trigger eating.

HTH!