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Emotional Eating - ugh!
Is anyone else here an emotional eater? How do you overcome it when you are frustrated with your situation?
Tonight I was mad at my daughter (who's 12 going on 30 and not talking to me though I'm not sure why). She was SOOO frustrating to deal with! The rest of the family had eaten lasagna and garlic bread for dinner and there was quite a bit of garlic bread left - so I ate nearly all of it! Then I was frustrated at myself for eating the garlic bread so I have some vanilla ice cream.
What the heck was I thinking? I've been doing SOOO good and am so proud of myself and then I go and binge on **** when I wasn't even particularly hungry, just because I was mad at my daughter!
I also have thought about the fact that I *really* need someone (namely my DH) to tell me he's proud of me ALL THE TIME for sticking to my healthy eating plan. He's tall and skinny and has no idea what its like to not be able to eat the foods you want to eat. It shouldn't matter whether or not he tells me he's proud of me - *I* should be proud of me, but for some reason it does.
How have you found ways to combat emotional eating? Do you just try to do something else?
Tonight I was mad at my daughter (who's 12 going on 30 and not talking to me though I'm not sure why). She was SOOO frustrating to deal with! The rest of the family had eaten lasagna and garlic bread for dinner and there was quite a bit of garlic bread left - so I ate nearly all of it! Then I was frustrated at myself for eating the garlic bread so I have some vanilla ice cream.
What the heck was I thinking? I've been doing SOOO good and am so proud of myself and then I go and binge on **** when I wasn't even particularly hungry, just because I was mad at my daughter!
I also have thought about the fact that I *really* need someone (namely my DH) to tell me he's proud of me ALL THE TIME for sticking to my healthy eating plan. He's tall and skinny and has no idea what its like to not be able to eat the foods you want to eat. It shouldn't matter whether or not he tells me he's proud of me - *I* should be proud of me, but for some reason it does.
How have you found ways to combat emotional eating? Do you just try to do something else?
Every1 said great things!! Listen to Starry she has the right idea!! Even when i thought oh heck my diet is blown and i wont lose this week i toughed it up got the scale and i did lose at least a lil bit!! (that was the week i had to stay at my parents and diet was shot)
Lonely-Dont worry bout those lil things you are doing right keep your mind off the bill!! I so know the feeling I moved 3 months ago but the electric company took 4 ever setting us up and even shut us down for a week!! needless to say they are fixing to slap us with a 3 month bill!! I'm just staying focussed on my exercise and saving up what $$ i can so when they do get us i will be ready!!
Lonely-Dont worry bout those lil things you are doing right keep your mind off the bill!! I so know the feeling I moved 3 months ago but the electric company took 4 ever setting us up and even shut us down for a week!! needless to say they are fixing to slap us with a 3 month bill!! I'm just staying focussed on my exercise and saving up what $$ i can so when they do get us i will be ready!!
Well said Starry!!
Yes I eat when I am stressed as well. I opened the electric bill and saw a huge increase in the bill went straight to the cabinet and grabbed a box of cheese nips and sat and ate them. We do it to make us feel better but in the end we feel ten times worse. Since then I have learned to go for a walk when I am stressed or the thing that helps me the most is putting on the radio and singing songs. Or dancing with my kids. I take my mind off the bill I can't do anything about until I get paid anyway and I don't over eat out of stress.
I am sorry your husband will not encourage you but hang in there we are all proud of you!! Mine don't encourage or say he is proud of me but will help me cook a healthier meal even though I am the only one in the house that is overweight. Hey it never hurts to teach my kids to eat healthy now. Plus he looks at it as eating better for his health not weight.
Find something that helps you to destress and use it as your weapon of defense against overeating or binge eating.
Yes I eat when I am stressed as well. I opened the electric bill and saw a huge increase in the bill went straight to the cabinet and grabbed a box of cheese nips and sat and ate them. We do it to make us feel better but in the end we feel ten times worse. Since then I have learned to go for a walk when I am stressed or the thing that helps me the most is putting on the radio and singing songs. Or dancing with my kids. I take my mind off the bill I can't do anything about until I get paid anyway and I don't over eat out of stress.
I am sorry your husband will not encourage you but hang in there we are all proud of you!! Mine don't encourage or say he is proud of me but will help me cook a healthier meal even though I am the only one in the house that is overweight. Hey it never hurts to teach my kids to eat healthy now. Plus he looks at it as eating better for his health not weight.
Find something that helps you to destress and use it as your weapon of defense against overeating or binge eating.
I use to be one of those eaters when I was bored, nothing to do nothing to watch so i ate when not being hungry. Now with being on a diet, I have kept myself from doing that by just keeping busy when Im bored. Going for a walk or getting back to the habit of making my jewlery. It helps alot to keep busy so u dont eat for no reason.
First of all, don't beat yourself up! You should still be proud of yourself for doing as well as you've been doing. A few setbacks won't erase all of your progress. Next time you you overindulge, don't get frustrated and have that "Oh well I already did the damage, might as well continue eating whatever I want because it doesnt matter at this point" attitude. I used to do this a lot myself, but I realized thats what got me into trouble. Whenever I tried dieting in the past, I would do really well for a while, and then would fall off the wagon in one way or another and rather than picking up the slack and making better choices from that point on, I was so annoyed with myself that I just continued eating whatever I wanted to because I figured it didnt matter. The thing is that is DOES matter. I was listening to Jillian Michaels podcast the other day and she used an analogy that I really liked. Let's say you're driving and you get a flat tire. What do you do? Do you get out of the car and slash the rest of your tires just because you started out with the one flat? No, you fix the flat and keep going. I really loved that when I heard it because I never really thought of it like that.
Theres nothing wrong with wanting and needing positive reinforcement from loved ones. You *should* be proud of yourself, but it's still important to hear that others are proud of your hard work and effort too. Losing weight can be really difficult at times, so you do deserve to be told that you're doing a good job. It helps enourage you to stay motivated and to keep going, even on days when you maybe don't want to.
If you find that you overeat when you're stressed you can try finding other ways to relieve your stress. Next time you get the urge to binge when you know you really arent hungry, stop yourself right in your tracks and literally walk away, like out of the room. Try and direct your energy towards something else to take your mind off it. Talking about what's bothering you with your husband may help, but sometimes going for a walk, listening to your favorite music or doing some yoga or pilates can really help you alleviate your stress level and refocus. Even reading a book or a magazine or taking a bath. Anything that will help you to relax and take your mind off things. Sometimes all you need is 15 or 20 minutes of distraction and then you'll realize that you don't *really* want to binge on whatever you were going to grab in that moment of frustration.
Theres nothing wrong with wanting and needing positive reinforcement from loved ones. You *should* be proud of yourself, but it's still important to hear that others are proud of your hard work and effort too. Losing weight can be really difficult at times, so you do deserve to be told that you're doing a good job. It helps enourage you to stay motivated and to keep going, even on days when you maybe don't want to.
If you find that you overeat when you're stressed you can try finding other ways to relieve your stress. Next time you get the urge to binge when you know you really arent hungry, stop yourself right in your tracks and literally walk away, like out of the room. Try and direct your energy towards something else to take your mind off it. Talking about what's bothering you with your husband may help, but sometimes going for a walk, listening to your favorite music or doing some yoga or pilates can really help you alleviate your stress level and refocus. Even reading a book or a magazine or taking a bath. Anything that will help you to relax and take your mind off things. Sometimes all you need is 15 or 20 minutes of distraction and then you'll realize that you don't *really* want to binge on whatever you were going to grab in that moment of frustration.
I wouldnt say im an emotional eater just that im a junk food addict and i got so used to just eating as i pleased with NO consequences!! So its pretty hard but when i do go ahead and eat that cheeseburger when i know i did not need it i go home and run on my wii fit! I feel guilty for eating the burger but much better knowing i made an effort to burn it off b4 i go to bed!!
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