I am majorly impressed at all the momentum going on in this, the 5th week of the challenge! Your successes are phenomenal :) Great job, everyone! Every little fraction of a pound and every sixteenth of an inch moves you one little step closer to your goals of revealing the real you from within!
Today's post is going to be by Sarah, to Sarah, and for Sarah :) But maybe some of you will gleam a tiny morsel of insight from it, too... hehe
Emotional EatingWhen things are going great for me mentally, emotionally, at home, at work, the whole shebang, I am stellar with an iron will for working out and eating healthy. But toss a really rotten, stressful, good-for-nothing, universe-against-me kind of day in the mix, and then the torturous "who the heck cares" rationales creep into my mind and bad decision follows bad decision. I know this. And that makes it more annoying. I know what I'm doing, I know I'm trying to find comfort in foods that are bad for me, but either don't care or I don't know what else to do. I'm sure you've all experienced this at some point or other; I can't be alone in this boat. Perhaps your downfall is the weekend- when peer pressure or when the "I deserve it because my weigh-in was so good" rationale creep into your mind? Whatever the reason is or the rationale you tell yourself, emotional eating is simply eating for a reason other than hunger.
Here's a good article that explains what emotional eating is, but most importantly, how to start overcoming it (other than spending a lot on a therapist :P ) And here's my tactic! "Identify any healthy coping skills you use in response to the triggers. Maybe you don't use food for comfort all the time. How could you begin to use the healthy coping skills you practice more often?"
Shopping does the trick for me. Ok, now I know you could argue that shopping is just as bad, moving one vice to a different location and bam, another vice, but still, if it's not putting cheesy food in my mouth, then it's good by my book. Next time I feel overwhelmed, I am going to swing by Marshall's and see if I can find a cute workout top (I'm not letting myself buy expensive clothes or non-workout clothes at this point in my journey). Then I'll feel motivated to workout to relieve the stress! And luckily working out does relieve the stress, but getting from an angry mood to a pumped up and ready to workout mood is hard, and so this little tactic of mine has helped and will help me get in the mood to workout. And be way cute, which is important :) hahaha I only get this all-consuming emotional need that needs feeding perhaps once a month or every other month (just so happened to be with lunchtime yesterday), which is lucky for me I guess; I am grateful I don't have it more often than that. Other healthy coping skills that work for me are snuggling up with a good book or taking a little nap.
Have any of you dealt with emotional eating? Have you found a way to substitute a healthier coping mechanism? How did you recognize it was in fact emotional eating and not hunger? How do you keep those moods at bay in the first place?
I can't wait to hear all your great ideas :) You girls will never know how much you help me, and well, all of us help each other, actually. Love you all!!!!!!
For my vice, I like to shop at St. Vincent Depaul, it is hard to spend too much money, unless I get furniture and that usually won't fit in my car.
ReplyDeleteemotional eating is pretty sneaky, I probably do it without even realizing it. My current coping skill (and I am not yet a weight loss rockstar) is to try and be aware of what I am doing and stop myself from eating third or fourth cookie, even if I have already trashed my calories for the day.
I would say that I am more of a bored eater than emotional, but my tricks can apply to both. To prevent myself from indulging in unnecessary food is to not keep it in the house because if it’s there I’ll eat it. Sweet/salty/fatty, they are all down falls to me, so when I go grocery shopping I make sure I’m picking up things that I know I won’t crave in those moments of weakness. Convenience is also a big factor, so if it takes to much prep work just won’t eat it.
ReplyDeleteTo prevent these moments I just need to keep myself busy, anything that takes my mind off eating usually work. Reading, cleaning, and working out seem to work the best. If the urge is too much, I just need to get out of the house; taking Charlie on a walk is usually my go to escape.
I'm totally an emotional eater. And I would love some more ideas about how to change that.
ReplyDeleteSo far, my attempts are similar to Leah's, prevent bad things from even being in the house. Because if they're not around, I don't even have the option to rationalize eating them.
I have also found that I gain a great amount of self-confidence, maybe even self-worth, from accomplishing something. So, when I'm having a bad day and want to indulge in food to make myself feel better, I try to accomplish something from my to-do list instead: organize a closet, clean the bathroom, finish a sewing project, or anything that has an actual start and finish (laundry and dishes don't count). It makes me feel really good about myself.
When I get a cravin' I stop and ask myself if I'm hungry or just munchy. I take my dogs on a brisk walk (which makes them very very happy) and then if I'm still a cravin' when I get back--I let myself eat whatever I'm cravin'.
ReplyDeleteI've been amazed lately that if I eat crappy, I feel crappy. sometimes the stuff I used to overindulge on (mostly sweet sweet sweet sweets) now makes me cringe just looking at it. Like more than 2 or three oreos makes me feel like vomiting--they taste pretty good, but I can't handle too many of them. It's a welcome change for me. I've notice a huge change in the types of foods that 'sound' good to me when I'm thinking about cooking or eating out.
I think the most important thing that I've learned is patience. The changes do not come quickly--it has been a very gradual lifestyle change for me. First starting with consistent exercise (almost 6 months now!) and then incorporating some changes in my diet. I've only NOW begun to see a weight change--but have totally noticed a huge change in the shape of my body. I LOOK GOOD and FEEL GREAT!
When I feel munchy - I drink a bunch of water. Sometimes it helps me with the munchies and I'm not so hungry. I also like to just munch of something like a pickle or cucumbers or something very low cal if I really need to munch. I also do better when I'm out and about. As a stay-at-home mom, I can't really do that much, but I just know that if I'm stuck at home all day with the kids, I will struggle more and I have to be more aware of what I'm doing subconsciously.
ReplyDeleteI am not an emotional eater but rather eat out of boredom. So definitely the key for me is to stay busy. Right now I have a "to do" list that is pages and pages long and so that helps me keep busy, however, sometimes I find when I am caught up in all my projects, I tend to forget to eat. So I am trying to find a balance.
ReplyDeleteI'm also starting to feel cooped up lately with the winter weather and I am really looking forward to being able to get out more as the weather starts to change and because I am not a shopper, I am trying to get creative in finding things that I enjoy. I love to walk and I love to ride my bike and I feel so much better when I am able to get out of the house once in a while and give myself permission to do things for me.