Emotional Eating

I eat when ever I have something stressful going on in my life! It kind of stinks I do this as I'm sure if I don't watch it , it could lead to issues. I just have always been that way. I guess it feels like a comfort when something is wrong. Kind of makes me feel less stressed.

I have tried over the years to redirect my stress to other methods of coping and it has worked for me. Instead of eating I actually get out of the house and go for walk. It takes my mind off things and I'm not near the fridge so I don't over eat!
Hope this helps someone in the same situation!!

Danyel

 

This is a study I'd really like to see done. I don't really have an issue with emotional eating, but sometimes if I get bored I'll eat and eat. I try not to sit around and do nothing or I keep snacking. I suspect there's definitely more to it than boredom.

Going for a walk works for me too Danyel, anything to relieve the fact that I'm just sitting around bored.

 

I've heard it said that boredom is a state of stress.

That quite obviously is debatable but to combat that urge to eat, eat and . . . eat, get out of the house and exercise. Exercising, it has been proven is a good remedy for stress. While you work out, your mind will be occupied on the task at hand and helps you for the moment, to forget everything else. Hopefully at the end of it, you'll feel better and won't have to compensate for anything by eating.

 

Comfort eating is when you are stressed or anxious and you need to do something with your hands and often you eat the foods that you associate with your childhood or happy memories. It's psychological, when I'm a bit down, I like some beans on toast or some marmite on toast as it reminds me of my childhood. Basically it makes you feel better and can calm you down, the problem arises when you comfort eat all the time to mask the pain.

The best way I find is to have the dish as a one off and plan to do something afterwards so you don't carry on eating, for example, read a chapter of a book or do the dishes straight after eating.

 

I rarely have emotional eating periods, because we don't really have sweet or crunchy foods at our disposal at home. All you will see is bread, fruits, rice and viand, and the emotional eater will prefer sweet or junk foods to give in to their craving, so that's a good thing. And I noticed that I don't really overeat when I' m sad, but I have a tendency to buy things that I don't need instead of doing emotional eating.

 

I wonder why, too. I am sure that there are many studies conducted already, but I am not familiar with them. When I am stressed or depressed, I tend to eat a lot of salty or oily kinds of food like hamburgers and fries. Doing this is very unhealthy, so I try to stop binge stress eating.

 

I am hopeless at this, I eat when I am stressed, I really wished I didn't! I think some people do it because its a comfort to them. Or others do it, when they are just bored. It's a habit I wish I never had. My husband just eats when he is hungry, I wish I could be like him.

 

When I have some emotional problem, I tend to eat chocolate. Dark, bitter chocolate that comforts my pain or worries. It always works, especially in combination with cashew nuts. Those two ingredients work wonders for me. They often immediately lift my spirits and help me cope with whatever is going on. But apart from this little helping aid in times of crisis, I have never eaten erratically in any way. When I am troubled, I simply don't eat until I feel better or stronger again.

 

I do this as well. I find that especially when I'm feeling down I eat. Not good because i associate happiness with food. Which come on, for most people food does make them happy but it's another thing to use food as a way to cope with feelings. Which is what I was doing. All I can say for what i did, is I now make sure I don't have unhealthy junk food in my house. That way if i want to snack not to make me happy but if I'm feeling a craving there is only healthy choices to choose from. Not the best advice I'm sure, but it has worked for me.

 

When I am feeling a little down I will bake my favorite things, cookies, pies and muffins. Fortunately I have 4 grandchildren to eat my baking. I have found myself making cookies and muffins in the same day when I am really uptight about something. To try and not eat all of the goodies I bake I will drink water before eating. That seems to keekp me full do that I will not eat as much.

 

You know the saying "different folks, different folks"? That's how I perceive the idea of emotional eating. Different people have different coping mechanisms. Some would watch movies; some would sleep all day. Others try to just keep it all in; others write on their journal or blog (this applies to me most of the time). So emotional eating is just one method of coping up with stress. It's not a healthy option (though it depends on the number of times you resort to it). I think the person with this kind of affliction should simply expand his/her interests so that whenever stress sets in, he/she doesn't need to eat the worries or negative vibes away.

 

I do this now and again but when I get the urge I try to distract myself. Usually it passes. I do associate eating with good memories and sometimes will indulge because of that but generally I try to ask myself if I'm really hungry or not. Other activities conjure up similar good memories so I try to do those instead of ones that involve eating.

 

I am sure that every body becomes emotional eater at one point time or other. I believe I overeat when I am hurt by someone very close to me. I just loose control about myself and eat like I have never eaten before. This tendency decreases when I am near somebody as they tell me what to do during those times. Hence the only way I avoid emotionally overeating is by being with someone.

 

I use to emotional eat when I was younger mostly when I was bored, but now I'm more of an "eat to survive" type. But I do sympathize with people who are emotional eaters since I use to be one and I have relatives who have that issue.

 

I don't have a habit to eat because of my emotions. I do it from time to time but it isn't a consistent thing. I have a lot of self control and I think you mention a helpful tip near the end of your post. You stated a method of "ticking something off a to do list," is a way to eat more responsibly. I have a list as well. I keep my focus on getting tasks done throughout my day. Once I have accomplish my tasks, I too eat more responsibly and not just to pass the time or because I am upset. My advice for people who are emotional eaters is to find tasks to keep you focus throughout the day. The more tasks you have to do, the less time you have to think about food so much.

 

I'm definitely an emotional eater. I eat when I'm sad, I eat when I'm mad and also when I'm bored. I do understand what you say when it feels like you're eating to fill a void as an emotional eater. I definitely feel that way sometimes, although I don't know why. I often feel like something is missing from my life and I begin eating. Now that I think about it, us emotional eaters could be eating like this to find pleasure when we are sad or angry(food makes us happy and tastes good). It could also be that we are eating to take our minds off of the feeling of a void in our life by giving ourselves something to do. For sure, it's not healthy and should be dealt with when noticed by the emotional eater, but it's not easy. My husband and brother will often give me this look when I'm eating when I'm upset like, are you going to stop yet? It's just very hard to find another source of pleasure when this has been the "go-to" for so long. Sometimes playing a game or taking a bath will get my mind off things and I won't feel the need to eat anymore. We all have to find alternative sources of pleasure and motivation to keep ourselves healthy.

 

I also eat when I'm stressed and I just try and curb it by keeping myself busy. I find that when I am focused on something productive, I don't think about food that much nor do I really feel all that hungry, and whenever I do, I can ignore it a lot easier because I am getting satisfaction out of getting something accomplished. I also try and pick up some new hobbies so I could channel the hunger or craving into something else. I prefer to just put my unvented energy into something that isn't as unhealthy.

 

I've been an emotional eater since I was about 11 or 12 years old, which is right around the same time I started putting on weight (like that's surprising, I know) and I've always gone towards the savory and salty foods, compared to some other people that eat a bunch of sweets. I was never comfortable with who I was and I used to get made fun of quite a lot so I would go stuff my face with a bunch of junk food and it would help me relax. I still tend to do it when I get upset over something or stressed, and I wish I could stop but it doesn't seem like something that's very easy to just quit.