Any emotional eaters out there?

Have you come up with any strategies that are working for you when you feel the need to use food as a coping mechanism? I have been using food as a way to deal with emotions since I was old enough to figure out that food = happy feelings. And I've tried all the usual substitutes like going for a walk, writing my feelings down, calling a friend, deep breathing, engaging in a hobby to distract etc etc - but nothing works as well as scarfing down a chocolate bar or two. I'm worried when I get to my appointments and they ask me how I plan on dealing with this habit of eating to numb out from what I'm feeling, I'm going to give them the standard answers (thinking that's what they'll want to hear) but in reality I know I try those things for a few days and inevitably go back to my usual sweet fixes. Of course I will tell them the truth, that what I've tried before hasn't worked (otherwise I wouldn't be there) but every doctor and psychologist I've been to gives me the same distraction strategies I've listed above. It's not that I don't want this bad enough to just stop eating junk... But it's like I get in a zone where all I can think about is the food I want. They say a craving only lasts twenty  minutes and if you wait, you can figure out if it's just a craving or you're really hungry. Well I have waited days, lol, and the craving is still there. And just not having it in the house isn't good enough - when I'm in that head space of feeling overwhelmed by an emotion I'll just get in my car and go get the sweet or fatty or carb-loaded thing I'm craving.

So, after that big long rant what I'm really looking for is what you are doing to cope, if you have dealt with similar issues. Last year I lost 60 lbs on a low carb diet - I ate chicken and spinach for every meal for six months. And I mean for real, six months straight with very little cheating. So I know when I start to lose weight that spurs on happy feelings and the desire to treat emotional overload with food goes away... But then I gained all that weight back plus twenty pounds when my grandmother died in September. I was right back where I started, using donuts to deal with how I felt about her death. Now I knew the diet I was doing wasn't healthy while I was doing it (despite it being doctor supervised!) and totally unrealistic - no support from the weight loss clinic I was going to at all - so I was bound to fall off the wagon at some point. And my grandmother's passing was that thing that put me over the edge... But there has to be a way to get this figured out. I feel like my head is in the game and I really want to lose weight, but I just can't seem to keep it off.

Anyway, end of my vent session! What has been working for you? Or do you deal with the same type of issue and are looking for a strategy that works too? 

Yes, I deal with the same types of issues and would love to hear how others handle the head game. I know I have to keep busy that's for sure.

I totally understand what you are saying. I do not drive to get food but I have felt pretty out of control. I guess I am lucky because it lasts for one night and then i am back in control. I have nothing in the house that can harm me too much. Also i get full pretty fast from whatever I eat. For me right now it is crackers. I like my new body. So my coping is getting back on track the next day. The fear of gaining weight keeps me on track.

Also I am currently looking to hear from the clinic. I am going to try therapy to see if they have any answers.

Good luck with your search for an answer.

Hi, I am not sure if your doctor's office has a dietician but mine does and I have gone to see her for a year.  Their office also offers a course I just started called Craving Change.  It is all about emotional eating and how to change the habits you have developed.  I just started so i can't give you details but I am hoping it will help. It is ran by both a dietician and therapist.  Maybe you could see if your doctor's office offers something similar? It is a course that is given throughout Canada...other provinces charge for it but Ontario doesn't.  Hope you find something  Sue

I feel ya girl! I eat cause the sun came up or because of the sad puppy on tv.  I'm working on it too, with my therapist and have recently been approved to start Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Which is going to teach me my emotions and how to deal with them without using cake or chips, but in real time. I am hoping beyond hope that it works cause it's going to be an intensive process. But it will help me figure out why i react the way and thusly i'm praying  that it will suss out all my eating issues. I start next week, but if you like I'll let you know if it's working, and maybe you can look into?

*hugs*

We'll figure this out! You're not alone doll!

get into a CBT program.. this is behavioural and the more you make the connection between food and emotion, the harder it is to break.  Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a great way to break down the moments leading up to eating and what to do if you start to eat and realize this isnt how you want to be dealing with your emotions.

In this sort of thing, practice makes perfect.. the more often you deny yourself food during emotional times and sub in another copign strategy, the less likely you will go to food the next time, until the eating behaviour trails off. 

It is a long process, but one worth working on especially if you want to stabilize your weight. Good luck and I can empathize. I was a swedish berry "it is going to be a **** day" sort of person.. it is worth the effort and know it will get better but you have to work on it

Agreed Kat. I still want to kick CBT out the window at times, and I do just that...SCREW YOU CBT I say!! But more often than not I use CBT by logging in MyFitnessPal, writing on OH, and doing the ABC that you mentioned above, and figuring out how to take a step back and break down those crappy moments before a binge starts coming to mind.

Great idea to start now! I wish I started earlier. But I saw the issue fast and got in like Flynn, as they say!

I knew someone who would go to an AA meeting (recommended by a psychologist) - mostly because they are happening all the time. A few times she explained why she was there and they were completely supportive and gave kudos for having the commitment to think outside the box.

Do whatever you need to do.

With regard to using the AA program for food addiction, we must realize that many foods are "AN ADDICTION"  Sugar and bad fats (ie icecream, etc.) are just as addictive as alcohol or cocaine. One recent study suggested that if sugar was introduced to society today, it would be a "controlled substance" like morophine.  I really have to look at those foods as a drug. I just can't say no once I've started. So for me, it is, and always has been, all or nothing. So today I choose no sugar at all.

I also know that when I completely eliminate sugar from my system, after a few weeks there are no more physical cravings. Anything after that is emotional eating. I have to deal with the emotions.

The first three steps in the AA program are:

1.  I can't

2. God (or your higher power) can

3. I think I'll let Him.

In other words, I can't do this on my own. I need help. God or whatever higher power you choose can help you and will help you - if you let Him or if you ask for help.

I needed to accept complete defeat over this drug. Acceptance is the main issue. I had to  admit to myself that I had no control, no power over my eating when it came to sugar and that my life was unmanageable. My life revolved around my eating, my comfort foods and how much icecream was in the freezer!

Today, when I ask for help, I have a good day. I have been sugar free for a month now (AGAIN!) and this time, I hope it will last for the rest of my life - one day at a time -.

I don't know if this has helped anyone else, but it has helped me!

Take good care everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9v1BAJaY3s

here's a bit of info about cognitive behavioural therapy, (as an added bonus, that's me on the video, introducing our chief of psychiatry).

CBT is used for all sorts of addictive behaivour.