Resolving Emotional Eating

How have you been able to resolve your issues with emotional eating? I mean, I understand why I eat: because I am bored, sad, lonely, anxious, for pleasure etc. It's just that I don't know how to control this. I feel frustrated and sad because I really want to lose this weight (roughly 20-25 pounds in total). I have several events coming up in the next few months and I want to look my best. I'll lose some weight and then I fall into a hole, and the cycle continues. I've used food to comfort me my entire life. How have you been able to resolve your own emotional eating? And by the way, yes, I do exercise so using it to control my emotions probably won't work. I work out a ton: 4-5 days per week, lifting weights, and walking around town a lot. That's another frustrating thing-- I feel like I'm pretty toned but I have fat covering my muscles. Thanks for any input/advice! Have a good day.

Sat. Feb 23, 3:05am

I haven't been able to control it 100%, but I can get through days, weeks and sometimes months without slipping. When it seems especially tough for me to stay on track, I have a running dialog with myself in my head. Really just acknowledging how I feel, why I feel that way, and telling myself that food isn't going to fix the emotions. Good luck!

Saturday, February 23, 2008, 8:46 AM

I was were you are about a year and a half ago. I would binge on food to get through the day (I used to binge several times per day). I'm not sure when it changed, but I just kept telling myself to stop eating, realize what's really bothering me (husband not cleaning, work taking advantage of me, etc.), and decided how I was going to handle life without my crutch (food). I seemed to become a big bitch, at first. Getting things off my chest. Telling people how I really feel about a given situation. It felt so good. Then I realized, I wasn't being a bitch, I was just being a person. A real person who is allowed to have real feelings and opinions about what goes on in her life.

Don't get me wrong, I still love food. I just don't use it to hurt myself anymore. I have been able to lose 21 lbs. and still working on losing a little bit more (5-10 lbs.).

I'm just a normal girl, OP. If I can do it, you can do it. Don't be afraid of yourself. You deserve to voice your wants and needs. You have every right to participate in this life 100%. You don't have to sit on the bench.

Please, keep us updated!

Saturday, February 23, 2008, 9:22 AM

I haven't yet been able to control it completely. But I have come to choose foods that are really low calorie like pickled veggies or frozen fruit. Something that takes a long time to eat and has some crunch to it.
I know this is one area I still need to focus but for now this is all I have been able to manage.
And with one crisis after another (litterally) since I have started losing weight it is working well.

I also allow myself a snack at night. That is my most difficult time, probably because it is quiet and all the negativity creeps in.
Good luck op I am rootin for ya.

Sunday, February 24, 2008, 12:23 AM

i struggle with emotional eating and even though I know why I do it, when i'm doing it and that i shouldn't do it a part of me is still comforted by it and I haven't been able to stop. have any of you seeked counseling? i wonder if this is something i should look for help with or if i should save my money and try to get support through programs like this.

Sunday, February 24, 2008, 12:12 PM

Thanks everyone for all of your input. I appreciate each and every one of them.

I especially liked what you said, 9:22. It really hit me. Actually, on Saturday, I continued to eat whatever I could find in the house and I started to cry because I knew what I was really doing was filling a void. And then I started to think about what you said about not letting myself "participate in this life 100%" because one of the things is that I allow ppl to take advantage of me. I also care too much about what ppl think and that affects how I live my life. For example, I'm scared that when I get leaner, ppl will get jealous and make comments.

12:12, yeah actually I've been in therapy for some time now. However, when I bring up binge eating and my weight, my therapist doesn't see it as a big deal because my emotional eating doesn't qualify as "binges"...which I agree but I still use food to comfort me. Also, since I'm not huge, my therapist doesn't see me as a person who needs to lose weight. Actually, before losing some weight, my weight was considered to be at the beginning point of overweight but now I'm at the high end of a normal weight. For me it's not about being skinny, rather fit, in the middle range and striving to attain a healthy relationship with food.

Again, thanks everyone! I'm back on track now.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008, 8:52 PM

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