i always eat junkfood when i feel down!

[swedputte]

hi
i always eat junk food when i feel down how can i fix this!! i read one book how to eat right and its working pretty good but how did you do???

[Ally]

I have the same problem and have recently just had to lay everything on the table and look at what I am doing to myself.....I have been going through the Calorie King 13 week course, which helps deal with all kinds of issues in regards to food. It helps come to terms with the emotional side of eating, which is great for me....it is free to join and the course is free to... http://www.calorieking.com.au is the link...check it out it may be what you need to get your focus from food and onto dealing with the issies surrounding your emotional eating

[Dee]

Yep this is me too!

I really think the only way to get over this is to be really aware of it and work on distraction techniques - when you're felling like a pig out, try brushing your teeth, picking up a book, picking up the phone and calling a friend (it's hard to talk and eat at the same time,) or even getting moving.

Have you got a hobby? Sometimes the best way to get over a chocolate craving is to lose yourself in your fave hobby - painting, craft, gardening, whatever.

best of luck, and keep us posted with how you're going.

[reester33]

Like any habit we do it because it makes us feel better. When we eat we release "feel good" chemicals thus reinforcing these types of bad behaviours. Exercising also releases similar chemicals and that's why we feel better and are less hungrier after exercise. Doing an activity you really enjoy can also have the same effect.

Perhaps try writing down triggers and times of when you're likely to binge and develop a plan of what to do instead....try and find out what emotional need you're trying to meet by eating. Make a list of pros and cons of why/why not you should eat the junk food. Think about replacing a short term pleasure for a long term goal....reward yourself if you don't give in (massage, manicure, whatever takes your fancy). Write a list of what you will gain by not eating junk food (ie: wear smaller clothes, be thinner, long term health benefits, etc).

Don't lose sight of your vision. It's not easy....but every journey occurs by one step at a time.

Best of luck,
Maree

[thefatsmartgirl]

i think alot of us do this. i know i do it when i get bored, mad or sad.

[Jo_21]

Hi,
I know what you mean, i think i emotional eat every single day. And its always bad food. We go to McDonalds a lot. Even though i dont like it that much.

I have to stop myself now, otherwise i will continue to put on weight.
I used to think i was an emotional eater, but was sadly mistaken, when i actually did become one.

At the moment i am fighting the urge to eat. Ive already had breakfast and morning tea. But my baby didnt sleep as long as usual, which means i dont get as much time to clean the house let alone sit down and relax. So that stresses and upsets me. My first thought is run to the fridge.

Some how i need to get over it, and maybe replace it with exercise.
Somehow i need my bady to see exercise as being good and making me feel good, not food.

Its really hard, if i didnt get into this habit, i wouldnt have troubles losing weight. But this is one of my biggest obstacles.

[kate_turner2000]

hi jo i find that having a big bottle of water with me all the time really helps because when i feel like going to the kitchen i just have some sips of water and it helps fill that void. also i find the Extra wildberry drops are really good. theyre sweet and they help with the sugar cravings.

[reester33]

Good idea Kate. I've been doing this thing online called "Hunger Coach" (followed on from the emotional eating site I was on before) and it was really, really helpful. I've C&P'd some of my first session for you to take a look. I'm sure you'll find it helpful. I've had to post it in a few posts as it's too large for one. The website can be found at:

http://www.shrinkyourself.com/home.asp?bhcp=1

M

What You're Hungry For
At the beginning of this Learning Session what you knew for sure was that you sometimes have uncontrollable urges to overeat and you give in to them. Basically, you feel hungry. Then you eat too much. But as you've just seen a lot of things happen before, during, and after you've eaten. All of these things happen very quickly.

Key
You aren't just hungry. You're hungry for the Food Trance and the "time-out" from reality that it provides. But the Food Trance, like any other escape, comes with a crash.
Right now, we're just looking at the urge and the Food Trance. In the Learning Sessions that follow, we'll look at the other three reasons you overeat. Each of the reasons has a secret that makes the Food Trance seem like the only way to get relief from the stresses and strains of your life.

[reester33]

The Parts of Overeating
There are actually three parts to your urge to overeat. Here is how your specific urge breaks down:

1. The first aspect is the physical urge - your hunger. This consists of the actual urge and how you want to satisfy it.

2. The second aspect is the relief, the Food Trance. This consists of the change in your state of mind, including the amount of relief you feel and how long it lasts. This part is the SECRET of what keeps you turning to food again and again.

3. The third and final aspect is the consequence of eating in this way, or the price you pay for the temporary relief of the Food Trance. When you choose to eat, you forget how badly it's going to make you feel, or in that moment you decide you don't care how bad it's going to make you feel. The crash includes the guilt or weight gain you experience.

These are all the basic parts of the overeating pattern. When you eat to satisfy your biological hunger with healthy food, there is no guilt or regret. Whenever you indulge an urge to overeat, you can be sure there will be a crash. If you understand this, the easier it will be to reconsider the trade off you make when you overeat. Overeating provides temporary relief but has long-term consequences.

Finding Other Ways to Feel Good
The Food Trance indicates that what you want is to feel satisfied when you have the urge to eat.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with seeking this kind of temporary relief or "time-out." The question you need to ask yourself is this: Isn't there a better way than overeating?
Isn't there a smarter way of getting all the relief benefits without paying the costs of regret, guilt, shame, and extra weight? Of course there is.
You haven't found it yet because you're so used to feeling better by eating. Plenty of people have found other ways of coping with the stresses and strains of life, and this means you can too.

Getting Relief Without Overeating
Let's work on developing a list of other things that can provide you with relief.
There are four basic strategies for getting the sort of relief the Food Trance provides. You can:
1. do something you enjoy
2. do something that relaxes you
3. do something active
4. get some support from someone you know
You may be thinking that none of these types of things will ever work for you in the moment when you're really hungry. I agree that these activities won't keep your urge away for very long. What they can do is buy you some time. With that extra time, you can slow things down and think about what's really going on. What are you feeling? What do you need? What can you do? In addition, these coping activities also represent real pleasures and rewards in life that you may be denying yourself. We all need the little daily pleasures in life to balance out the difficulties of living.

Key
Every time you eat and feel better, even if it is only for a few minutes, it reinforces your belief that food is the only effective way to deal with life. It only takes resisting an urge a few times to begin to understand that there are other ways to feel the same relief that food has provided you for so long.

http://www.shrinkyourself.com/home.asp?bhcp=1

[HappyBella55]

Like any habit we do it because it makes us feel better. When we eat we release "feel good" chemicals thus reinforcing these types of bad behaviours. Exercising also releases similar chemicals and that's why we feel better and are less hungrier after exercise. Doing an activity you really enjoy can also have the same effect.

Perhaps try writing down triggers and times of when you're likely to binge and develop a plan of what to do instead....try and find out what emotional need you're trying to meet by eating. Make a list of pros and cons of why/why not you should eat the junk food. Think about replacing a short term pleasure for a long term goal....reward yourself if you don't give in (massage, manicure, whatever takes your fancy). Write a list of what you will gain by not eating junk food (ie: wear smaller clothes, be thinner, long term health benefits, etc).

Don't lose sight of your vision. It's not easy....but every journey occurs by one step at a time.

Best of luck,
Maree

Thank you for these wonderful tips Maree. I am going to take them on board to help with my emotional eating.

[oostevens]

if i had a bad day or felt useless, i would eat whatever i wanted!

but now, i have kinda been trying to change that, instead of eating, i want to workout makes me feel better and i am losing weight while doing it.

If i am angry, i put in more effort working out.

If i am numb (which happens sometimes, due to being very down/depressed) i go into a trance and work out.

So, maybe set a new habit, for when you are dealing with emotions.

The husband plays his guitar, cos he can portray how he feels that way.

Maybe pick something you love doing? or write, or turn music up loud and dance like crazy ha ha or yeah, but going for a walk seems nice, specially when you are in that trance hehe

[Jewles]

i have sooo many problems with this, i eat when im bored, tired, stressed, hungry, thirsty, upset, happy, angry etc etc

sometimes the fact im walking past a shop is a good enough excuse to eat!

i read on here the other day someone suggested to write down how your feeling and why u want to eat then u can work out the pattern that makes u binge, thats going to be my next trick

all this advice is so helpful!

[Fireball]

I did that Jewles and it was really helpful. I found there was a definite pattern and a range of situations I needed to put in place different strategies accordingly to deal with with them. This has been highly beneficial to my knew found confidence and successful changes that I have been able to put into place. It did take me a while to suss out what was actually happening and how to deal with the different situations and I guess that is unique to each of us. So working out what will work for you is the key.

[help6363]

This is what I did....hope it helps!

One of my biggest problems wass binge eating. To solve this problem, I kept a journal with the aim of trying to figure myself out. Here’s what I do: write down when I feel like binge eating and what I feel like eating. I can look over this at a later date. When I have analysed myself and my actions I came to the realisation that I like to eat greasy food when I am stressed, chocolate when I am grumpy and so forth. Now you just need to replace the habit with something else. Can you drink water when you are stressed instead of reaching for the greasy food? Make strategies that will work for YOU!

It only takes 21 days to form a new habit!

This may take some practice! Hence, just get back on the horse if you do slip up….. it’s really not the end of the world!


Good luck....... I know you will beat this binge eating!