emotional eaters?

I have fallen way off track due to a lot of stress in my life. I am an emotional eater.



Can you just remind me with some positive outcomes that I can do this?

I know I can..I just need to hear it again.

What do you do when you're an emotional eater?

Message edited 7/10/2013 7:56:13 PM.

Re: emotional eaters?

no help to offer but wanted to offer fellow emotional eater right there with you...

Re: emotional eaters?

I think many people struggle with emotional eating. I mean, if we all ate just because we were physically hungry and stopped when we were satisfied, no one would be overweight! I think even celebration eating (not just stress, sadness, anger, etc.) is emotional eating.

I always just try to tell myself that I can be stressed (or sad, tired, angry, happy, etc. -- insert relevant emotion) and a healthy weight, or I can be that same emotion and be overweight. But food and eating won't change the emotions, but it can impact our weight (which impacts how we feel about ourselves, in the long run).

I also think it helps to try to identify the emotion that is driving you to eat and try to address it in another way. If you are tired and feel like you need a pick-me-up, maybe you can get a mani-pedi, or even just treat yourself to an uninterrupted hour of watching bad TV, like "The Real Housewives" or something, or reading a fun magazine or book. Or if it's stress, maybe taking a walk, calling a friend, etc. Finding a non-food way to comfort yourself is key, rather than just trying to suppress the feelings.

Finally, I haven't read it, but I've heard others say that "The Beck Diet Solution" by Martha Beck is a great book to read about emotional eating. It's more about addressing general emotional eating, I think, and not a specific diet plan. A lot of people who follow WW have read and recommend it.

Hope this helps and you feel better!

Re: emotional eaters?

For me I try to exercise, even if it is just going for a walk.

It turns out to be a win win situation. You didn't eat and you burned calories, which in turn helps me feel better about myself.

emotional eaters?

Thank you all for your responses. It really is so difficult. Glad to know I'm not alone.

Re: emotional eaters?

For me, it took getting fed up with myself and seeing how awful I look in pictures to make the commitment to stop.

I just joined the gym again and have been following their recommendation really closely with eliminating carbs in my diet.

I snuck a cookie at work today after not eating many carbs all week and it didn't even taste good to me.

It's baby steps but I've also been getting up early all this week before anyone else is up, to go to the gym.

Re: emotional eaters?

I find that the Weight Watchers meetings provide so many little motivational ideas and insights into emotional eating. I find that stopping to breathe, remember how awful I feel at this weight and imagining how great I am going to feel when I return to my comfortable weight helps a lot. Stress eating is very difficult to control and I also battle with this every day. I try to remember that the most important thing is that I am not giving up. Best of luck!