How to stop emotional eating. For REAL.

[Leigh 87]

I am an emotional eater, and simply eat because it taste good, and as something pleasant to do.

I eat extremely healthy, I just eat too much. I will go and get another portion because I feel like eating more. Even though I am no longer hungry.

I know I need to simply find something else to do in place of eating too much. I have things I am going to do instead of over eating, or eating for emotional reasons.

Has anyone else successfully stopped over eating, where the just ate when they were not hungr anymore?

 

It seams so simply in theory, but it is so in built in my that ... HEY, I am a girl who loves to be slim and fit, and I know very well how to go about it, yet I DO NOT STOP my had habits.

I am not looking to lose weight, just eat when I am actually , and not alwas have super large portions. I am 130 lbs, very curvy build, at 5 ' 6 ish, and I am a huge eater and always have been - I have always eaten a lot relative for me size.

I get away with a lot, but I am not that young, and my huge portions are slowly catching up to me. I binge - over eat, and now i actually gain weight from it, because I am not out running daily, or eating in moderation in general.

We all know we can over eat one day and it will not show - cos your healthy normall.

 

I need support:( I am getting a slight gut, well, my stomach is not wonderfly FLAT at all and has a firm bump.

I wish I could just stop eating more than I need daily - I will just keep over eating to once a week, and to instanced when we ALL do it.... because it never shows on me if I am healthy otherwise.

I know I just have to stop eating too much. I know I have a will do it and am slowly trying harder every day.

 

I could get away with it before, because I was slim, at 120 lbs, I can easily get to 126 ish pounds and look thin and have a very slim and fit body... now though, I have no wiggle room.. if I gain more, I am overweight for my body type.

[fucpcg]

Are you sure you are eating healthy? Cause healthy cooking never tastes that great to me to cause me to overeat that much. If I make grilled chicken and veggies, its not bad, but I don't crave an endless amount. If I make pasta with chicken and tomato cream sauce, I can pound a few plates down for sure. And while that is not a bad meal, it is high calorie and not what I would consider healthy eating. As far as not eating bad, make sure to never go to grocery stord hungry. Don't pickup things like chips, dips, pastas, sodas, breads, etc. I grab skim milk, tuna, bagels, ground beef and chicken, eggs, shrimp, and that's about it. If summer, veggies, chix breast, steak for grilling.

[FitChick]

You might find this article interesting. Morty Lefkoe's wife finally won the battle of the bulge after a lifetime of fighting her weight and failing. Part of it excepted below:

 

"The Lefkoe De-conditioning Process ... de-conditions stimuli so they no longer result in emotional responses. For example, eating will no longer produce positive emotional responses (other than satisfying hunger or enjoying the taste of food). In other words, eating will no longer produce the "rewards" it had produced in the past. In addition the LDP de-conditions the behavior so that merely desiring the emotional reward no longer automatically and compulsively leads to eating.

 

"The essence of what makes the LDP so effective is having the client experience that she wanted the "reward" (e.g., feeling loved), not what got rewarded (e.g., eating). In other words, you want to get rid of loneliness or boredom, you don't want to eat. It's just that the eating produced that reward earlier in life. You want to numb your pain, you don't want alcohol or drugs. It's just that alcohol or drugs numbed you out earlier in life. You want attention, you don't want to be sick. It's just that being ill earlier in life got you attention. The client realizes that the reward is not contingent only on that particular behavior, but can be found in other ways. "

Edited June 21, 2012 by FitChick

[Leigh 87]

Thanks fitchick, I am going to reach the article soon!

 

 

 

 

I do eat healthily, I know what healthy eating is; that said, I do not over eat grilled chicken and veggies, either. Yuck. It taste great when I am hungry, when I have nt had chicken for days on end, and when I put a great sauce with it, and salt, though!

 

The foods I over eat, I consdier to be healthy foods, but in moderation:

 

- peanut butter , my biggest over eating indulgence..... I eat a whole jat in two days when I have an over eating eposide

- CHEESE. Enough said. I can put away a lot of it without feelig full or sick.

 

And then, there are every day healthy things I just have too much off, for instance:

 

- I love gluten, dairy, sugar,a nd chemical free fruit bars, which are these fruit filled bars covered with chickpea gluten free flours. It is a little snack bar, really soft and nice...

 

.......I will have once of those when I am not hungry, for instance - but do it daily.

 

Another example, is that I am trying to lose weight and eat slim pasta for dinner - pasta made from konjac, an asian seaweed...

 

It is very low cal, but looks and taste like noodles or pasta - I throw it in with broccoli, a protein ( chickpeas or tuna, normally) and a sugar free tomato sauce or hummus

It is low cal and delicious to me, to be honest - yet, because it is LOW CAL, I go and eat TWO meals like this!

 

The last thing I do wrong, BESIDES not exercising enough, is:

 

- I have a habbit of eating late at night, and then eat a smaller lunch, and a smaller dinner, with maybe one small piece of fruit inbetween...........

- it DOES NOT MATTER WHEN you eat a calorie- it is the total intake that matters - BUT.. eating late at night means I will feel deprived that I have to eat less during the day.

 

 

 

 

More than anything, I am just a big eater, who is also an emotional eater.

A bad combination.

I tend to be able to eat a LOT more than most women my size, without feeling full, and I also tollerate very high fat foods, without feeling the least but sick.

 

So. It is more about logic for me - I know the portions I should b eating, to lose and maintain weight.

I am a personal trainer who has been extremely fit before, I know WHAT to do, I just have trouble enacting it:(

 

I have not emotionally eaten today

I have been better lately

[Leigh 87]

I am still over eating, but I am very positive about it still! Literally - I just KNOW that I can stop.

 

I feel it is within my control, and I know literally what to do. I can see myself doing it.

 

I am over eating a little less and I am eating mostly healthy food; I allow myself one block of sugar free white raspbery choc a week. I can have it in one day, or over a period of a 2 - 3 days. As long as it is just ONE block of it.

 

I am a fit and thin girl at heart, I cannot see myself continueing down the over eating road. It is the difference between being average or heavy, and slim and fit.

[kiss_andmakeup]

Well the first two go-to foods you listed - peanut butter and cheese - might be healthy in the sense that they are high in good things like protein and calcium. But they are also LOADED with fat, saturated fat, and sugar. Your typical creamy peanut butter contains tons of sugar and partially hydrogenated oils, making it a high-sodium, fatty, caloric snack. And cheese...oh gosh. I love it too, but I would never consider it "healthy" unless in extreme moderation. Lots of fat and saturated fat.

 

I hear "I overeat, but on healthy foods" and I think carrot sticks, apples, greek yogurt, etc. Overeating on cheese and PB is simply overeating junk food. I'd cut it out all together if you can...I bet you'll notice a significant improvement. I have a jar of Jif's "natural" peanut butter in my cupboard: 190 calories per serving. The jar contains 15 servings. That's 2,850 calories per jar!

 

The easiest way to knock these out, if they're almost at "addiction point" for you, is to just stop buying them. Go to the grocery on a full belly and buy only healthy snacks - fresh fruit, veggies, nonfat greek yogurt, lean protein bars, etc. Then when you're jonesing for some PB at 11:30 at night, it simply won't be there, and you'll have to reach for the carrots or an apple instead.

Edited June 28, 2012 by kiss_andmakeup

[mario_C]

Something you can do is start a food diary. Keep track of EVERYTHING you eat, as much as you can remember, and chart not just calories and fat grams, but carbs, sugar, sodium, cholesterol and ounces you eat at a sitting. I was never a calorie/fat grams/carb counter kind of person, and I've found online calculators are very useful: MyFitnessPal and Slimkicker are what I use regularly. I've heard Fitocracy is very good too.

Portion control helps. I have a rule, never eat more than half a pound of food at a sitting.

 

The other thing is do a lot of cardio to lose the gut. That motivates me to eat less, because I hate cardio...but it's the only way to burn fat. (Sugar and carbs are worse for causing you to bloat, though.)

 

My take. I struggle with these issues too, so all I've really got to say is be strong, and good luck!

[kiss_andmakeup]

Yes! I agree with the above poster...MyFitnessPal is your friend if you have an iPhone or Android phone. Sometimes it's so easy to lose track of how many calories you're actually eating...especially when you realize how small the typical "serving" is. Most people eat 2-3x the recommended "serving" supplied by the food packaging. This app has you enter your weight, your goal weight, how much you exercise, and then you enter every single meal, snack, and beverage (other than water) throughout the day, in the appropriate portion (and you have to be honest - if you eat half of a jar of peanut butter, you can't enter "1" serving!!). It keeps track of your calories and tells you how many you have left for each day if you want to eventually reach your goal weight.

 

It's a really great app.

[FitChick]

Actually, I just heard the news on my radio that researchers compared low fat diets and low carb/high fat diets and low fat dieters lost less weight, had higher triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. The high fat dieters did much better overall. Dr. Andrew Weill had an article on his website about full fat dairy products being better for you than low fat because of a certain enzyme or something. Google for more information.

 

From personal experience, I know that eating real butter, olive oil, nuts, cheese, full fat Greek yogurt did not have an adverse affect on my weight or my blood tests which my endocrinologist recently did. He was very pleased.

[kiss_andmakeup]

Actually, I just heard the news on my radio that researchers compared low fat diets and low carb/high fat diets and low fat dieters lost less weight, had higher triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. The high fat dieters did much better overall. Dr. Andrew Weill had an article on his website about full fat dairy products being better for you than low fat because of a certain enzyme or something. Google for more information.

 

From personal experience, I know that eating real butter, olive oil, nuts, cheese, full fat Greek yogurt did not have an adverse affect on my weight or my blood tests which my endocrinologist recently did. He was very pleased.

 

I believe that completely and of course everyone has things that work for them. But you are probably good about portion control, considering your knowledge of health and fitness. OP stated that her biggest problem was "over-eating", which is a problem if the things you're over-eating are things like peanut butter and cheese. That's why I suggested she try to keep other things to "snack on" around that had less of a caloric impact. That way she can snack all she wants, or even "over eat", and it won't matter because it will be fruits, veggies, and lean proteins.

 

Eating an entire jar of peanut butter in two days breaks down to over 1400 calories each day on peanut butter alone. I'm assuming she also ate regular meals in addition to that. So regardless of whether it's good for you or bad for you, portion control on foods like that is a serious problem for the OP. That's why I suggested snacks like veggies, where portion control is almost a non-issue.

Edited June 28, 2012 by kiss_andmakeup

[Els]

First of all, I don't see a problem in enjoying eating things that taste good, in itself. I think it's absolutely something that people should allow themselves to enjoy sometimes. So, no, I don't think you need to stop emotional eating, though you do need to stop yourself when you find yourself emotional over-eating. So, if you love peanut butter, put a huge thick spread over a slice of bread.. and STOP. Put the jar BACK, and don't touch it again. It can be done. I don't think the solution should be to throw out all the food you enjoy or to only snack on stuff like celery/yogurt/etc, IMO. If you can train yourself to practice moderation in this, it would be a good exercise for everything else, too.

[yongyong]

I am like a cow. If I get stressed out, I don't want to eat lol

 

this has been my problem since I am going to gym and trying to gain weight.....

(every time I say 'I am trying to gain weight, people look at me WTF are you talking about hm...)

Let's say I eat good for a week. I might just get by eating 2 meals for several days due to stress. then I am just back to start....it has been like that forever....

[FitChick]

I am like a cow. If I get stressed out, I don't want to eat lol

I never knew that about cows. I guess cows are happy because I've never seen a skinny cow (except in the ice cream section of the supermarket).

[Leigh 87]

Well the first two go-to foods you listed - peanut butter and cheese - might be healthy in the sense that they are high in good things like protein and calcium. But they are also LOADED with fat, saturated fat, and sugar. Your typical creamy peanut butter contains tons of sugar and partially hydrogenated oils, making it a high-sodium, fatty, caloric snack. And cheese...oh gosh. I love it too, but I would never consider it "healthy" unless in extreme moderation. Lots of fat and saturated fat.

 

I hear "I overeat, but on healthy foods" and I think carrot sticks, apples, greek yogurt, etc. Overeating on cheese and PB is simply overeating junk food. I'd cut it out all together if you can...I bet you'll notice a significant improvement. I have a jar of Jif's "natural" peanut butter in my cupboard: 190 calories per serving. The jar contains 15 servings. That's 2,850 calories per jar!

 

The easiest way to knock these out, if they're almost at "addiction point" for you, is to just stop buying them. Go to the grocery on a full belly and buy only healthy snacks - fresh fruit, veggies, nonfat greek yogurt, lean protein bars, etc. Then when you're jonesing for some PB at 11:30 at night, it simply won't be there, and you'll have to reach for the carrots or an apple instead.

 

 

 

 

 

Agh, your right, I am going to have to just stop buying peanut butter.

 

I have thought about that before, but figured " well, I am going to should BE ABLE to have PB in the house and not bloody binge on it!"

 

............ Several jars lof pb and blocks of cheese later, I think I will do better just eliminating them.

 

I actually love low fat Greek Yoghurt, berries, apples, carrot sticks dipped in low fat hummus or a lemon honey mixture, and sweet potato crackers with hummus.

 

I like low fat and healthy foods.

 

I guess it really is that simply; if I want to be thin and fit again, I have to go for daily runs ( the exercise I enjoy and have chosen to keep thin with), and NOT constantly over eat a lot of cheese and pb.

 

I am eating high fat pesto fetta type of dips, and peanut butter almost every day.

 

 

Goddammnit.

[Leigh 87]

KISS and make up- and I am into clean eating, and there is no way in hell that I would eat the usual peanut butter on the shelves... which is loaded with added sugar!

 

I have sugar free pb. I only eat foods few minimal ingredients, and no added sugar, and I try to keep honey and maple syrup to treats and occasions.

[Leigh 87]

First of all, I don't see a problem in enjoying eating things that taste good, in itself. I think it's absolutely something that people should allow themselves to enjoy sometimes. So, no, I don't think you need to stop emotional eating, though you do need to stop yourself when you find yourself emotional over-eating. So, if you love peanut butter, put a huge thick spread over a slice of bread.. and STOP. Put the jar BACK, and don't touch it again. It can be done. I don't think the solution should be to throw out all the food you enjoy or to only snack on stuff like celery/yogurt/etc, IMO. If you can train yourself to practice moderation in this, it would be a good exercise for everything else, too.

 

 

 

I agree and have practiced emotional eating in moderation. I have easily been able to have a bit or a slice of something without over indulging. I just have insomnia lately and am a little stressed out, and have stopped exercising, and have started over eating EVERY DAY.

 

It is just when losing weight, and when I am trying to stop a serious over eating problem, I think I should just go cold turky without the foods I am heavily overeating with.

 

Of course, once I stop grossely over eating, I will introdude pb and cheese dips back into my diet.

I just cannot get a handle on grossely over eating at this stage, so to remone the two main offenders ( cheese and pb) from my grasp, I can reach for apples and low cal items only, making it easier.

 

I am definately a person who believes in having high fat things in moderation and not cutting them out! I will most likely be able to introduce pb back and eat it occasionally, once I lose weight.

[xxoo]

How are you addressing the emotions which have you overeating? Is it stress, anxiety, or simply boredom? Or something else?

 

One sure way: stay out of the pantry. Get outside as much as possible. Pack a sensible amt of food, and picnic!

[Leigh 87]

How are you addressing the emotions which have you overeating? Is it stress, anxiety, or simply boredom? Or something else?

 

One sure way: stay out of the pantry. Get outside as much as possible. Pack a sensible amt of food, and picnic!

 

I just lack self control and will power.

 

 

I walk into the kitchen to unpack food, and eat a few pieces of dark sugar free, berry choc. Even though I was not hungry, and had just had a large muesie bar and sweet potato crackers with hummus and low fat greek yoghurt for lunch before....

 

 

 

 

......I eat when happy, sad, lonley... although it is primarily driven by negative emotions.

 

The MORE I let my body go, the EASIER it is to keep over eating; where as when I am thin and fit, or in the process of getting into shape by daily running, I DO NOT over eat. I am TOO motivated.

 

 

 

I am writing a food dairy and sticking to a food plan from tomorrow onwards.

 

I went and did my shopping, and I do best when I have a plan.

 

 

I genuinely like veggies, low cal noodles, low fat hummus, canned beans ( no added sugar of course, the bastarrds do add sugar to most brands of caned beans, so I avoid those brands)...

 

I also love greek yoghurt, sweet potato crackers ( no fat, to dip in low fat dips), berries, lean protein in an interesting salad though to make it not so bland, and sugar free dark choc with buckwheat verry pancakes for a treat ( with loads of maple syrup, hence why it is a treat)

 

 

I like healthy food... I love to run daily.... I do not MIND ab work in front of the TV................. WHY am I not doing it?

 

 

............ I eat too much cheese, PB, and aimlessly eat food, when I am not hungry, because it is now a habbit.

 

 

So, my way out is to eat a varity of the foods I love, so I do not get bored of things, and stick to a plan, and go for daily runs.

 

 

After a week of daily jogs and not over eating, I always tend to be super motivated.

 

 

Wish me luck, I am going to come on here when I have the urge to over eat. And I am going to keep a good journal.

[pureinheart]

You might find this article interesting. Morty Lefkoe's wife finally won the battle of the bulge after a lifetime of fighting her weight and failing. Part of it excepted below:

 

"The Lefkoe De-conditioning Process ... de-conditions stimuli so they no longer result in emotional responses. For example, eating will no longer produce positive emotional responses (other than satisfying hunger or enjoying the taste of food). In other words, eating will no longer produce the "rewards" it had produced in the past. In addition the LDP de-conditions the behavior so that merely desiring the emotional reward no longer automatically and compulsively leads to eating.

 

"The essence of what makes the LDP so effective is having the client experience that she wanted the "reward" (e.g., feeling loved), not what got rewarded (e.g., eating). In other words, you want to get rid of loneliness or boredom, you don't want to eat. It's just that the eating produced that reward earlier in life. You want to numb your pain, you don't want alcohol or drugs. It's just that alcohol or drugs numbed you out earlier in life. You want attention, you don't want to be sick. It's just that being ill earlier in life got you attention. The client realizes that the reward is not contingent only on that particular behavior, but can be found in other ways. "

 

This is excellent FC, thanks for posting it:)