Emotional Eating

[louale]

Hi All,

I've had a really really bad day at work, one of them days when you just want to leave. Normally, I would come home and cook my favourite comfort food, then have something sweet, then I'd feel better.

I came home and had an extra bar as I just couldn't face a shake or soup (I'm fed up with the flavours and wish there was more choice). I really wanted to eat something to make me feel better, but obviously wasn't going to do that.

I'm only on week 5, but don't feel qualified or experienced enough to know what to do or how to deal with situations like that. I wonder how you now deal with these situtation, if you can't have a glass of wine or whatever makes you feel better?

Having a bath really doesn't make up for the fact that I want to make myself feel better and having a nice meal and a glass of wine often hits the spot.

Sorry for moaning, but fed up this evening and don't know how to deal with these emotions now I don't have my comfort food anymore.

Any words of wisdom or tips really would be appreciated!

Louale x

 

[Blonde Logic]

Hi Lou

Sorry you had a bad day. Days like that stink!! And it can be amplified by the diet sometimes.

It's hard to answer your question - it's different for everyone. I did find a bubble bath was a great distraction for me - and it really did take my mind off food. BUt, I LOVE water, and LOVE baths - so a long luxorious bath was a treat. If you don't love them, they won;t work for you. You need to find some distraction that you really enjoy - and try to make it something you don;t get to do every time you want to - that makes it more special.

SOm people used to keep treat baskets....they'd have a little box or basket filled with various things form manicure/pedicure sets, to girly mags (not the boy kinds ) a new CD, evercise DVD, cute cozy cuddly socks, etc....just all sorts. If they were having a toughtime they'd dip in and pull out something from it to cheer them up. I think they also used it for rewards, etc.

It really just comes with time. Week 5 is still pretty early in the game. At least it was for me - I think I went 35 weeks or so - would have to count. So, it is early days. And it DOES get easier to manage. Thats what its all about - is learning to manage. It will get easier, where you will sail through adversity without any thought of food. Usually, when that happens - and you realise you had NOT thought of food - thats a real penny dropping moment when you think "Well what good would food have done anyway!!??" And then from there it gets super easy and we can start to see how crazy it was to use food in the first place - it really solves NOTHING other then hunger. End of. It is that simple, but not meant to sound glib at all.

Hang in there - all these little struggles come with big rewards and big payoffs.

Set your mind on ZERO TOLERANCE TO TEMPTATION, and stick to it. It will pass, and you will feel so good for getting through it, the next challenge will be that much easier.

Hope that helps somehow.


xx

 

[pete10141748]

I had a similar day today, I felt hungry all day and was bored at work, plus the weather is crappy, and a whole other bunch of stuff I won't go on about; sufficed to say, if this week had been a normal pre-LL week I probably would have gained a fiar few lbs by now from all the comfort eating.

As BL said, it's about finding what is realxing for you; for me, it's watching a DVD. So, fed up today, I went and treated myself to a couple of new films after work. Watching the second one now, and feeling much much better

Have a think about what you like to do - it's often these things that will help you out. For some it's a bath and an early night, for others it might be a workout using a punching bag, or a good long chat with a friend.

Things always look better after a good night's sleep as well.

It is tough, especially to start with, learning how to deal with emotions and feelings that normally would have been a direct route to eating; the important thing to realise is that the f**d didn't ever solve the problem, it merely gave your mind another pre-occupation to help you forget about it.

So find a better pre-occupation

 

[louale]

Thanks BL and Pete,

Some great advice, as always.

Louale x

Just tried to rep the both of you, but got to share it around - sorry lol!

 

[daisydoll]

hi
how are you feeling today, did you get through ok yesterday?
daisy x

 

[somewhere_inside_is_me]

Wise words from BL and Pete there. Hope today is better for you.

None of us Jan starters are experts yet. We'll all have our bad days and trigger moments. And I totally understand you saying that a bath or whatever is simply not the same as F*** or W*** or C******* or whatever your particular comfort would have been. But why isn't it? And what was it about those things that 'made it better'? What else might give you similar feelings?

I guess we all need to stop (as we have physically by being on LL, but now we need to work on our heads) smothering or replacing feelings of despair or pain of being unloved or unappreciated with f*** and facing up to the feelings like adults (in a TA sense). Why was it a bad day at work? What can you do to avoid it happening again? Too much work? Too little work? Colleagues problematic? Do you have regular reviews or a line manager with whom you can discuss how to make the job better for you (and thus you better for the job?).

So glad you stayed strong yesterday. Remember why you're doing this. That glass and something sweet will still be there at the end of the abstinence...but hopefully you'll find life itself sweeter and more intoxicating than yesterday's props were.
{{hugs}}

 

[Huseyin]

Hi Louale, we all have these days, emotional eating is a side effect, try Gym workouts like Boxing or Box Fit if you can it wil vent the frustration, you have to channel the emotion and vent it though something other then food.

I have to admit at the start my hardest thing was coming home from a hard and wanting to sit down and eat a good meal that would satisfy me. i think this is more or less the same as what you describe, but what i did was ignored my craving drank my shake or ate a bar (by the way leave bars to the last thing as a treat) and played some games on the xbox or went gym and hit a punching bag. Works very well

Dont despair we all get annoyed and you are human.

21lbs is fantastic you are simply awesome!!

 

[louale]

Awwww, thanks all for your responses, I have tried to rep you all, but you're all such lovely people and have already supported me, as I keep being told I need to spread it around - so a big Hug for you all instead.

I do feel a little better today, I just ate my bar, then made some crisps in the evening. I'm going to have to find some things to do in the evening, for times when I feel like I did yesterday.

Thanks again,

Louale x

 

[skinnyminnycow]

Early days for me too so i cant give any advice yet But im sorry to hear you had a rubbish day. I know exactly how you feel, i always turned to food after a bad day, good day, happy day, sad day....the list goes on. Ive heard it gets easier!

 

[Huseyin]

Bad days are temporary, they all pass

Remember food will always be there in all its glory, whats a few weeks going to do.

 

[skinnyminnycow]

Ive just bought two books on emtional eating....I want to learn more about it than over the course of 14 weeks at LL....

 

[somewhere_inside_is_me]

Ive just bought two books on emtional eating....I want to learn more about it than over the course of 14 weeks at LL....

Which books? Are they making sense?

 

[skinnyminnycow]

I bought Eating Less: Say Goodbye to Overeating by Gillian Riley, and Breaking Free from Emotional Eating by Roth Geneen.

I havent recieved them yet, but ive read good reviews on them. Ive had my suspicions for a while that i may be an emotional eater - but i thought i just loved food! Now im convinced i have from this plan, and i intend to read more about it.

Will let you know how they are,

 

[daisydoll]

i'm half way through the gillian riley one - its going to take a couple of reads i reckon to get my head round it all- but yes, its making sense.
basically the message i'm getting is i can eat anything i like, no one can or will stop me
but
i must be prepared to face the consequences

totally simple - i know this already - BUT for the first time, seeing it in black and white, its actually beginning to sink in!

let me know what you reckon to it

daisy x

 

[somewhere_inside_is_me]

Thanks for the titles skinny!

 

[westiegirl]

Thanks for the titles skinny!

I've got them both (and trying to read them again after I originally read them before I did LL last time). I'll bring them on Monday if you'd like for you to look at to see if you think they're worth getting.

 

[somewhere_inside_is_me]

I've got them both (and trying to read them again after I originally read them before I did LL last time). I'll bring them on Monday if you'd like for you to look at to see if you think they're worth getting.

That would be great, Sarah, thanks! Got to do something useful with my days!