A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Emotional eating

Posted: Mar 4, 2013

I have put on a lot of weight in the last few years. Several people have suggested different things on this board to help with appetite. What can be done to control emotional overeating? In the past I have not tolerated antidepressants and have had to go off of them due to worsening depression. I know food is used often to cope with stress, and I truly think it also becomes a habit that is so hard to break.

;

I go to the gym, not only to get out my frustrations, but to work out the - kinks in this old body from sitting so long, nm

[ In Reply To ..]
.

gym buddy here - Snow Bunny (the original)

[ In Reply To ..]
We have a gym down the road from us that charges $15 per month for a membership.

This may sound stupid, but.., - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
you can give food to other people. You can give people donuts, cookies you make, whatever your weakness is when it comes to emotional overeating. Have some yourself, don't deprive yourself, and set off a binge - but giving it to other people, that's emotionally satisfying. Of course, you don't want to dump a bunch of calories on somebody's who's struggling with food issues, but not everyone is. I once made chocolate chip cookies, stuck them on a big platter, and gave them to a homeless shelter. Needless to say, they were GONE, and much appreciated. That felt good to me.

Use food to connect you to other people, and not isolate yourself. Have some for yourself, but give the rest away. There are many hungry people out there, who don't get treats. Treat 'em.

What I Do Now - See Msg

[ In Reply To ..]
I munch on carrots, sliced green peppers, cucumbers, apple quarters, things like that. It's not as much fun as something decadent, but you'd be surprised how satisfied and full you feel afterwards. I've also nuked up a bowl of frozen broccoli flowerettes after sprinking some salt, pepper and garlic powder on it and eating it with my fingers.

To make your snacks more fun, you can add some peanut butter to the apple and a little bit of ranch dressing to the veggies.

For breakfast, I eat a huge bowl of oatmeal with some fruit in it. Or, a nice bowl of yogurt with cereal in it. It's very filling.

Lunctime, I'll make a big smoothie with almond milk, and put bananas or whatever fruit I have, peaches...strawberries, anything. I'll eat a handful of roasted almonds with it. The stores sell cocoa roast almonds and cinnamon roast almonds. Satisfies that decadent thing we all crave. Almonds are no calorie bargain, but they are very good for you.

I gained 40 pounds in the past couple of years due to this work stress stuff, but I took it off doing the above instead of eating chips, ice cream...those were my poisons. I still have them once in a while, but I don't snack on them anymore--except for Special K chips. They are only 110 calories in 27 chips and are delicious. My favorite is the Southwest Ranch, but they also have cheddar flavor, popcorn flavor and sour cream and chives flavor.

Give it a shot, anyway.

I still have pizza once a week! Nobody is taking that away from me.

I have a food addiction - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I lost over a 100 pounds years ago and still not even sure how I had that much dedication to it. My life is a DAILY struggle now though with food. I got so much attention for the weight loss that now I feel almost like people are watching me closer, hoping I fail or gain weight back. I do gain a little here and there and have to get it back off.

I usually pick an actress or something that has a very good body and I look at her pictures. I motivate myself towards that. When I want that piece of cake (or the whole cake) I ask myself....Will this cake make me feel better than a great body? And usually I put the cake down. I do reserve one day of the week to cheat on my eating and eat whatever my little heart desires.

Popcorn - Bindi

[ In Reply To ..]
A while back I popped up a large batch of popcorn (dry), made too much, so put the extra in a clear Tupperware-type container and placed it on the kitchen counter. Unexpectedly, I was amazed at how much this helped to curb my appetite. Normally, I am always looking for something to snack on or thinking about what's in the freezer, what's available.

Just the act of seeing this popcorn sitting there on the counter and knowing it was there for me to eat at any time actually helped me not eat. I actually walked past it several times the next couple days, but didn't open it AND, amazingly, I didn't look for or eat anything else except my normal 3 meals. No snacking. I guess I just needed to know it was there if I wanted it. Funny, how our minds work. (This popcorn will stay fresh too when placed in one of these containers.)

I also have cut up different crispy vegies, carrots, celery, jicama, plus mushrooms, etc., mixed them together in a plastic container, and this makes a great snack while watching TV.

Emotional Eating - Been there

[ In Reply To ..]
Emotional eating is more than appetite. You are trying to fill a need, stifle a need, etc. I had a really bad childhood. Later in life, I noticed that whenever I would see my family, I would stuff myself--still grieving my childhood and making food hide it away. My hubby feels like he has to compete for food, grew up being hungry much of the time. Neither of us learned to eat "right". You may have some PTSD issues, lonliness issues. I would say, see a counselor. Then get a dog that needs walking. Then try not to eat as many carbs. Be good to yourself and reward yourself with trips to the library, discount stores, estate sales, etc. Eat some carrots, take a hot bath, walk the dog. Once a week plan a nice meal with some wine and dessert. Good luck.

This is a great post - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
I wish I had a couple of cats and a great big park with a few trees on top of a hill, to take them to. Like I used to be able to do.

I predict - Power of positive thinking

[ In Reply To ..]
You have a great spirit and someday everything will come together for you again. In the mean time, you will keep finding the positive in your life and because of that, new opportunities will present themselves. Sounds like a fortune cookie, doesn't it? But true.

Took me 2 years to get things under control - Here's What I Did

[ In Reply To ..]
Great suggestions about food from other posters. I had been on every diet known to man--even on Optifast where I didn't eat anything but Optifast for 4 months and lost 80 pounds--which I promptly gained back. I did learn a lot of things during Optifast, and one of them is that you want to eat even when you're not hungry (sounds simple but I didn't get it right away). Try to identify those times/situations when you typically want to eat but are not hungry and substitute something you enjoy doing--listening to your favorite songs, give yourself a manicure, browse through a catalog or home design website. Distract yourself! I discovered I could not succeed long term on a really restrictive diet, so what FINALLY worked for me was treating food almost like medicine. I had a menu plan for 5 days and kept to it strictly. Two days out of the week I told myself I could eat anything I wanted. Oddly enough, when I *could* eat anything I wanted to, I often still ate my healthy foods, maybe a cookie. I don't know what it was, but taking the "you can't" out of the equation worked for me. I also sweat my brains out on an exercise bike 5 times a week. I started out being "perfect" and doing 7, then I got sick of it and quit exercising completely. For me the key was to not try to be perfect with eating or exercise or anything else. Your emotional eating trigger might be different than mine, but these techniques might help you, too.

Unrealistic Goals - see msg

[ In Reply To ..]
First, don't make unrealistic goals. It's not realistic to think you are going to exercise like crazy 5-7 days a week. It's too much of a burden. Also don't say "I'm going to lose 50 pounds this month." Keep goals small. I'm going to lose 1-2 pounds this week. After you've lost 10 pounds, just say to yourself, "I only have to do that 4 more times." DO still keep your weekly weight loss reasonable.

The faster you lose weight, the faster you'll put it back on later. Also, don't forget--the body gets freaked out and thinks it's being starved when you lose weight too fast, and it automatically slows the metabolism.

I lost 30 pounds just doing the suggestion of eating healthy things, but allowing yourself something really fun one day a week. Mine was pizza and beer once a week! You pick the day and try to stick to the day of the week--it'll always give you something to look forward to, and you're less likely to willy-nilly have pizza and beer whenever you want it.

Thanks to all of you - So tired of it

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks to everyone for your help. I got some wonderful ideas from all of you, and I am going to start making changes. It is true that I am trying to fill voids and comfort myself. Wish me luck!

Similar Messages:

Sep 13, 2012
Another installment of Michael Lewis' fascinating series, beginning with the downing of an American pilot in Libya, but then going back to the man he followed around for several months to help understand his decisionmaking. "The other aspect of his job I have trouble getting comfortable with is its bizarre emotional demands. In the span of a few hours, a president will go from celebrating the Super Bowl champions to running meetings on how to fix the financial system, to watching people on ...

Dec 22, 2011
from now until 12/24 Restaurant.com is selling $25 certificates for $2 if you put in the code word "joy" in the promo box when you check out. ...

Feb 28, 2011
Okay, so my husband has been eating in his sleep. Sometimes he remembers doing it, and sometimes he doesn’t. And he eats really weird things. For a while there, he would drink pancake syrup right out of the bottle multiple times a week. Last night, he “woke up” standing over the kitchen sink, eating a plate full of sour cream. Could his sleeping pills be causing this? ...

Apr 24, 2010
Hi everyone! I am an avid animal lover and find I am feeling increasingly guilty about eating meat and poultry. However, I have put on some weight and want to cut way down on carbs as well. Can any of you very informative, intelligent people out there give me some guidance? My niece is now reading a book about whether or not to eat meat. She said it is brutally honest about the treatment of farm animals. I need to make a major change, not only because of ...

Jan 27, 2014
I've been generally slim my entire life. I'm in my early 50's now and into menopause. Recently, I put on a lot of weight all of a sudden. I developed a huge gut, and it was definitely fat, not bloat. It got so big so fast, it actually felt like my fat "hurt." I had read about the diet of hunters-gatherers over 20 years ago, but I kind of forgot about it until about 2 weeks ago, when I picked up The Paleo Answer and started eating the Paleo way. ...

Mar 16, 2017
Too funny!!! ...

Jun 22, 2017
#MAGA ...

Mar 15, 2015
that I could pass on to him. I will tell him first to check with his doctor but he is feeling so fatigued with the treatments is talking about what would happen if he gives up on them. I have had no one really close to go through treatments but others here might have and just asking for anything that would be helpful to him. He told my husband no one had said anything about how bad he would feel so any kind of help would be appreciated. ...

Jan 18, 2011
For a while now, after I eat and become very full, my left shoulder starts to hurt and sometimes radiates up into my neck. I have had my gallbladder removed, have had angiography that was clean but again, this hurts and is driving me crazy. Has anyone ever experienced this? TIA ...

Nov 11, 2012
Am I to assume that the dislikes regarding the post "...geting pie and eating it.." means that you think that government should have the right to force businesses to make decisions that will impact their profit? That becauses businessses should be frowned on for making decisions that will actually protect the people who already work for them in order to give others jobs that could cause the business to default? If businesses don't make profits then they don't stay open.&nbs ...