How do you overcome emotional eating?

[FutureAshleyDukes]

Hi, I haven't posted here yet, but my wedding is in May and my goal was to lose 20 pounds before the wedding. Luckily I have already lost 5 pounds (I didn't start trying until late Feb.) and then I lost my "little sister." My little miniature dauchsaund passed away, I've had her since I was 5 years old, and I have been grazing since. Luckily I haven't gained any weight yet, but I just can't seem to stop eating chocolate, twinkies and cheetos. This has been a really hard loss considering I had to put her to sleep about two days ago. Any advice on how to deal with emotional eating?

 

[Rachie0507]

I'm sorry about your lose. I lost my friend Baby, a tabby cat I had for 14 years, last month. It is such a hard thing to go through.

My best bet to get through the emotional eating thing (which I have done my fair share of ) is EXERCISE!! That is my big stress release. Basically, it is good to find something else to concetrate on and I always figure if I want to be eating all the time, then I need to exercise a lot too. Pretty soon, the desire to eat all the time goes away. I hope this helps, I feel like I have been rambling

 

[Christine]

I'm still trying to figure it out myself. I will do fine for weeks or months and then something will trigger it and I will fall badly. My biggest trigger is stress. If the kids activities get me running around to much and I feel stressed I just start grabbing everything in sight. Exercise is a good thing to counteract it, but in my case, I get so busy that I *can't* do the exercise. So I eat.

Try to just get up and go outside or do an exercise tape.

 

[lmhall2000]

Ashley...make a promise to yourself in small increments...I made a vow on January 20th to not eat french fries or white bread for 100 days. I'm less than 35 days away from making that happen! If chocolate and cheetos are your downfall...then mark them OFF your list...if you live alone...just don't buy them....fill your pantry with snacks you can have..nuts/mozzarella sticks/fruit/carrots anything you can grab quickly..also keep bottled water handy so you can drink instead of eat.

I marked off french fries and white bread so I would never have an excuse to buy a value meal on the go...I now really like salads if I have to go fast food. I've lost 16 pounds since January 20th...and I've had some cheats here and there...I had 2 homemade chocolate chip cookies on Monday...but I've not had one single Girl Scout cookie of the 10 boxes in my house...so don't feel like you can't cheat at all...just limit them to a one time event. and knock out those that are the biggest culprit altogether! YOU CAN DO THIS!!! Congratulations on your wedding!!!!
Tara

 

[DVC Jen]

Emotional eating especially stress eating has always been my biggest downfall too.

I used to eat for ANY emotion. I was able to pretty much get a handle on that when I lost so much a few years ago (just to gain most of it back because of STRESS).

I am really sorry about your loss. Allow yourself to cry and feel sad. Ask for a hug, call a friend who understands, come here and vent. Do anything you can think of to NOT eat. Maybe your "little sisters" is hanging out with my furry family members that have already gone.. and they are all looking down on us and wishing us well.

 

[rcyannacci]

First, sorry about your loss. Loosing a pet can be really painful; they become such a huge part of our lives.

The only thing I would say is to try and be kind to yourself. And, if possible, try to think of nice things to do for yourself that doesn't involve food. It is so easy for us to be hard on ourselves, and I sometimes notice that if I'm in a bad mood I will go ahead and eat what I'm not suppose to because I'm already down. Lately, I've been trying to combat that by thinking of what I can do to break the mood instead of prolong it. Not sure if any of this makes sense, but I'm sure you'll work your way through. Good luck

 

[Beach Club Dreamer]

I am sooooo angry with myself. It has been crazy at school, and I wound up spending the weekend grading essays, calculating averages, and stuffing my face. No matter how carefully I manage my food and exercise, I go stampeding back to all of my bad habbits when I am under extreme pressure. If I weren't headed to Disney World next Monday, I'd be positively despondent. I can't beleive that I'm seriously considering hypnotism to get myself under control. Grrrrrr!

 

[Pumbaa_]

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. When we lose our furbabies it is very traumatic. They are such a huge part of our lives and if you have had her since you were 5, you have hit every milestone in life with her. Mourn her loss, just as you would any other 'family' member.

when you are feeling better (and not consumed with wedding plans!), put together a photo album or scrap book with your favorite memories. And don't be afraid to get a new pet (again, with your wedding so soon, maybe not a great time right now), but a new pet really helps with the loss. You are not 'replacing' your friend,. but bringing a new friend into the house.

I have no advice for stayng away from emotional eating (i could only wish ) Stay out of the kitchen, work on your wedding and exercise. Take care of yourself!