Emotional eating

[Tricia Lea]

I know I mentioned it before on here but  I have realized lately how much of an emotional eater I am. I can go and eat very little and be good at loosing weight but then stuff starts coming up and its like I am eating all the time and ruining the weight I already lost.
I thought I would start a thread on this as I was wondering if others did this or it was just me?

[iridiscente]

So when you get stressed out you eat more? Is there something you can do to replace eating for coping with stress?

[The Purple Fuzzy]

I know I mentioned it before on here but  I have realized lately how much of an emotional eater I am. I can go and eat very little and be good at loosing weight but then stuff starts coming up and its like I am eating all the time and ruining the weight I already lost.
I thought I would start a thread on this as I was wondering if others did this or it was just me?

I think that's a problem for lots of folks.  I know that when I feel bad or am overly stressed, I tend to throw good eating intentions out the window.

[Sis]

I'm the opposite. When I get that tense, I quit eating. When I was getting divorced, I went down to 80 pounds. When you start at 98, any loss is really obvious. My stomach is tied up in knots and I can't eat without getting a sickly feeling, so I don't.

I gained it back ok when the stress went away.

[BeccaBoo]

I'm like Sis...

But I dont get stressed out alot either...yet...

[iridiscente]

I'm the opposite. When I get that tense, I quit eating. When I was getting divorced, I went down to 80 pounds. When you start at 98, any loss is really obvious. My stomach is tied up in knots and I can't eat without getting a sickly feeling, so I don't.

I gained it back ok when the stress went away.

So it's a testament to Stevebert if you gain any weight, right?

[Sis]

Stevebert is the calm one. He calms me down. Usually with a kiss to shut me up! 

[The Purple Fuzzy]

  Whatever works.  Right?

[SippinTea]

*chuckles* at Sis and Stevebert

Tricia, I've done that too. And I think Dina's idea of replacing the food with something else is a good one. My tea drinking thing is partly because I enjoy it, and partly because it's a de-stressing thing for me. If I'm sipping on tea, then I'm less likely to go looking for chocolate. *wry grin*

I seem to react both ways to stress. I guess it depends on the type of stress I'm facing or something. Sometimes I go looking for food, but if the stress gets REALLY bad (and particularly if there's nothing I can actively do to try to 'fix' the problem), then I can't eat. And believe me, that's not a fun way to lose weight. Erg.

I'm proud of you for noticing the pattern in your own life, Tricia. It can be hard to identify and work through things like that, but it sounds like you're tackling it head on.

[iridiscente]

Tricia, I've done that too. And I think Dina's idea of replacing the food with something else is a good one. My tea drinking thing is partly because I enjoy it, and partly because it's a de-stressing thing for me. If I'm sipping on tea, then I'm less likely to go looking for chocolate. *wry grin*

I've only recently tried the hot version of teas and I have to agree that it helps calm down. I don't know why or what causes it, but it definitely helps de-stress.

[Tsalagi]

'cause if you don't sip it slooooowwly, you burn your lips off?





Ah, Sis, the "divorce diet".  Starting weight Me = 255,  7 months later Me = 185

*Whew*

[The Purple Fuzzy]

*chuckle*

[Melody]

I do that Trisha.  But I've learned to eat healthy things.  You'd be suprised how many baby carrots I can down..lol  withOUT ranch.  With denying myself the "junkfood" satisfaction I tend then to more clearmindedly seek for true satisfaction and then I really do feel better all around.

Junk food is loaded with chemicals, those chemicals affect your body and especially your hormones.  I really haven't much success about the not eating part, but I have overcome the junk food. 

I am not good about excercising at all either, BUT my sister says that when she excercises it releases all her stress cause of the endorphines. 

Just find, like everyone else has said, the healthy alternative.  We are built to react, how is up to us.

[RainbowJingles]

Tricia:
I started reading the book "Lose it for Life."  Haven't finished it yet, but I've gleaned some useful information from the book and the radio show that the authors have (New Life Live).

The other day I was in the kitchen baking cookies, and I felt this peaceful feeling, and I thought...  WHY does this make me so calm?  What is it about baking that does this to me?

It dawned on me while I was in the kitchen that I never ~quite~ felt like I lived up to what my mother wanted for my life,
BUT
she taught me to bake.
She taught me to bake WELL.
We spent a lot of quality time in the kitchen, and she approved of me when I baked well and learned the tips she taught me.
She even let me do the baking for major wedding cake orders.
We spoke the same language in the kitchen.
Perfect cookies remind me that she really DID approve of something in my life.
Perfect cakes remind me that I actually WAS good at something that she wanted me to be good at.
Excellent meals conjure up memories of her approval and affirmation at the dinner table.

My mother loved me a lot, but she wasn't as vocal in her affirmation as I may have needed at times, and it left me feeling like I had a hole in my life.

I think that sometimes I fill that hole with food.
My weight loss goals include finding non-food things to fill voids in my life.

If seeking approval sends me to the fridge, then I need to figure out how to resolve my approval addiction, not necessarily my food addiction.
Perhaps I need to seek further to know that God approves of me.  I have also looked to try to focus on those non-food-related times that Mom was proud of me.

[The Purple Fuzzy]

I'm going to make a comment, not sure if this is the BEST place or not, if it doesn't belong here, I apologize.

My sister had weight loss surgery.  I can't remember the exact one, but it re-routed some stuff in her stomach and such.  She lost a lot of weight at first, but she's not what I'd call healthy cause she's always feeling bad.  She's gained some of the weight back, not a ton, but some.  Now, what I was getting at is, she's drinking alcohol.  She just traded one comfort or addiction for another and didn't solve her problem.  What Elona posted, made me think of my sis.  Sometimes you have to get to the real root of the problem for it to really do any good. 

[RainbowJingles]

THAT is what I've been learning, Sandra.

It's not as much about trying to lose the physical weight.
Sometimes it's more about losing the emotional weight/baggage that we don't really even realize that we have.

WHY do we eat?
What is at the root of the eating?
It goes beyond "emotional eating" to pinpointing WHAT EMOTION causes you to eat and why.
It often moves to forgiveness and release issues, of which I have found MANY in my life.

[iridiscente]

THAT is what I've been learning, Sandra.

It's not as much about trying to lose the physical weight.
Sometimes it's more about losing the emotional weight/baggage that we don't really even realize that we have.

WHY do we eat?
What is at the root of the eating?
It goes beyond "emotional eating" to pinpointing WHAT EMOTION causes you to eat and why.
It often moves to forgiveness and release issues, of which I have found MANY in my life.

very true!

[Sis]

I posted a whole long thing and when I hit the space bar the whole thing went away AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

I don't care much one way or the other about food. That's why, since I have lost my appetite, I forget to eat. Here it is 4:00 and I'm just eating for the first time today. Sometimes I feel a little hungry but not often and not much.  If I'm busy, I can override it. This all came with the thyroid stuff.

I was always able to go all day without eating even when I had a high metabolism. If I get busy, I'm more interested in finishing what I'm doing than interrupting it just to eat.

My mom loved to cook and we loved her home made stuff. She used cooking, even peeling potatoes as her quiet time. She would kick us out when she was cooking.

I learned to cook in home ek at school in Jr. High. Well, I learned the basics and what many of the terms were, which was important later when I taught myself how to cook.

When we go on trips, I can just as easily forget to eat or run into Mickey D's to get a salad. Stevebert is the opposite. Food is important to him. I suspect his mother used it to make him feel better when things went bad at home. We ate meals and when we were hungry there was always fruit around.

Maybe that's why I hate junk fook when I'm really empty. I think in terms of meals, soups, stews when I think about food. Don't get me wrong I love to snack, but celery with cream cheese on it is better than a bag of chips to me.

[RainbowJingles]

*nod*
Makes sense, Sis.
It seems that often our home lives shape our views on food.

[iridiscente]

BBQ!

*nod*
Makes sense, Sis.
It seems that often our home lives shape our views on food.

[Sis]

Sick of BBQ. Stevebert wants to all summer. Get so ............. oh never mind.

[The Purple Fuzzy]

I understand.  I get tired of it too.  We have that giant smoker and it cooks really good, but it gets old when you have it too much.

[almondjoy]

I was never an emotional eater...until the last few weeks.  Before, I was one that didn't eat when stressed.

[CDAGeek]

I just...don't eat. Regardless of whether I'm stressed or not. 11 years of conditioning yourself to not eat isn't easy to shrug off overnight. When I get emotional, I tend to punch walls.

[Sis]

So how many years have you been fed through an IV?  And I feel sorry for your parents. Does your dad fix the damage or do they pay someone?  Have you learned to fix your own damage from holes in the walls?