I emotionally eat. I cope through calories.

Low carbing does drop my appetite. But I'm not listening to my appetite. I ask myself (when I think of it) if I am really hungry. I have stopped mid meal and set the fork down from this.

I kept telling myself I would deal with it as soon as I got past: (pick one) *this economy, *refi on the house, *various construction projects, *always something. Stress is relative. And relative to everyone else, I have an easy/good life. But I can't get a grip on this issue. The more anxious I get, the 'hungrier' I feel.

Have any techniques to deal with this?

How do you stop yourself from mindless eating?

Acknowledge the stress and its underlying feelings (happy, sad, angry, scared, ashamed, excited). Figure out why you feel the way you feel and acknowledge it.

You are entitled to feel the way you feel - regardless of "relative to everyone else."

I've realised that I have an addiction to food and I need to treat it like an addiction. All of the excuses are very similar to excuses an alcoholic might have for drinking - 'I just need it to get through this'. So for the last few days every time I want something processed, and give myself an excuse to eat it, I counter the excuse with 'those are the thoughts of an addict, do you want to give in to your addiction?'

Its only been a few days, and so far its working. Before this I was finding it almost impossible to get to the end of day one plan.

Lee

I had problems until I started intermittent fasting. For whatever reason limiting the time I eat on most days really makes me pay attention to what it feels like to be hungry and keep out of the fridge for other reasons.

If you even did this once you're ahead of the game.


Your awareness and honesty is admirable. I think thats half the battle. Now, I think you have to internalize why its so important as well as the end result of staying on point.

I think an easy way is to realize you will be eating another meal in just a couple of hours that will be just as good. And will for each meal following. No need to overeat since there's always another meal waiting.

This may not help but it may give a little more perspective during.

I did think about this option. When I was 20-30s, I ate one meal a day. It was a 22oz steak, but it was once a day.

I would have problems with my bg crashing if I went all day without eating. But I have quit eating breakfast. I was never hungry for it, and it just set me up to be famished by lunch time.

I do know the emotions are there. I’m fine with them. I just don't have a better way to cope with them.

This is not to say that I stand there eating while my life implodes around me... I am very proactively working issues to resolution/driving home deliverables. Matter of fact, I thrive on it. But I have a drumstick in one hand, and a salad in the other.

It just dawned on me that I was eating a lot/often when I wasn't hungry. In searching why, I find that eating helps me tune out/zone out.

Wow. I meditate through food. I bet I could get my behind to a Yoga class if they offered a buffet.....

Food for thought. Is there a support group for people like me? Overeaters Anonymous?

I'm going to write on all my containers "Are you really hungry?" in perm. ink. Hopefully I can catch myself before Nosh Therepy starts.

Hi Bonechew I think emotional eating applies to many overweight people. For me, the more I diet, the more often I go into binge eating. So, is your body forcing you into eating more because you have been depriving it from whatever it needs? This can apply to not enough food to not the kind of food and nutrients your body requires. Naturally slim people also have emotional issues, but eating extra food simply does not occur to them. In fact, they often eat less food. I didn't eat emotionally when I was naturally thin, I wasn't really much overweight when I went on my first diet, but since then I have never been able to stay slim. Yes, I can get slim, but eventually gain it all back, plus some. I am well aware that you most certainly know this yourself. All the naturally slim people I know have never been on a diet and all the overweight people have been on a diet. All the naturally thin people I know, know diddly squat about calories, fat grams, carbs, nutrition etc. yet they are slim and seemingly healthy. All the overweight people I know, are very knowledgeable regarding these things, yet they are fat. I think that there are many extremely knowledgeable people on this site. I have tried everything, including conscious eating. When trying to only eat when hungry and listen to my body I have always ended up fatter. The reason being that I am not really doing it properly. Sometimes I try too hard and I am monitoring myself too closely, at other times I completely let go and try to listen to my body. It doesn't make any difference because whatever I do I am still fat. I don't know whether this will work for you or not because I only tried it last night. In desperation I asked my body why everything I tried didn't seem to work for long. I have done this before and got the same answer. This time I had a long conversation and listened more. Today, I was much more relaxed about eating. I will have to wait and see how it goes. You will probably think I am mad to be talking to myself, but the answers were good. Good luck.

Bonechew, I really admire your thoughtful analysis of your feelings and your actions. Eating helps me tune out too! I really LIKE eating. It is a true pleasure, even when I'm not hungry. I wish I didn't have this relationship with food... I wish food was just something that I ate so I didn't die. Since it isn't that way for us, we have to just keep on buggering through...I am powerfully reminded of the bumperstickers I see sometimes from AA..."Take It Easy" and "One Day at a Time." Those slogans are fantastic for any addiction.

Hang in there honey!

i have this problem too and i think, unfortunately, one of the only ways to truly stop it is to address your anxiety. and i think you can only truly do that is by being involved in a community, and possibly therapy. i think people overeat due to isolation and alienation (well, and the effects carbs have on us). people are communal creatures, we need community activities to keep us happy and also keep us busy and healthy. maybe there is a place or two you can start volunteering, or something you can join, nothing high stress. i'm sure people would appreciate your involvement, and you might be surprised by little magical things that come your way to help you. i'm trying to do this. it takes some trust that the world will sorta be there for you, but i think it's true that it will. good luck to us both, and the others who struggle with it too.

Thank you all for sharing, and your great ideas on how to curb this behavior. I'm glad I'm not unique with this eating disorder because it kinda scared me.

I do see that it is worse on the weekends. So I joined some Meetup groups so that I do more group activities and stay active. Fortunately, most activities are not food centered, which is great.

I noticed going to the gym gives me a high/a different way to tune out, so I am trying to do that in the evenings instead of watching TV. It amazes me how much I eat while watching TV.

I agree there is an axiety that underlies this. I made a doctor appointment. We will see where this leads.

Thanks again everyone.

This might help when you are feeling anxious and get that 'must eat' feeling to soothe you. I know it is a dreadful feeling because you want to stop and yet you seem forced into eating. Instead of putting food into your mouth relax and allow your true feelings to be present. Really feel how you feel and breathe into your feelings. In a short time those anxious feeling begin to dissipate and you feel more relaxed. I then put in some very positive and happy feelings. I do not binge eat anywhere near as often as I used to. In fact, I thought it had gone away until something really upset me a short time ago and once again I was into a binge. I knew what had upset me so I sorted it out. I said what I had to say and then let go of the situation. In other words I forgave the person who had said something which wasn't very nice at all. By forgive I mean 'let it go' When you truly let go, it no longer bothers you. You know what occurred, but it no longer has the same effect on you. An easy way of finally letting it go is for me to remind myself that it is for my own self-preservation. Hanging onto stress and negative feelings is simply bad for me. There is always going to be something which upsets you. Pushing it down doesn't help, which is what we do when we stuff food into our mouths. These are just suggestions which work for me, but it is up to everyone else to do what works for them.

I don't know why most peeps have bought into this notion of eating to suppress anxiety. Bottom line....I like the taste of food, especially, sweets. What keeps me inline is do I want to be healthy, active, feel good, and not worry about fat rolls bulging out through clothing OR do I want to suffer with the high probability of developing Diabetes, Hypertension, Sleep Apnea, skin issues, Cancer, Depression, etc. I feel awesome when I let the sugar, potatoes, breads, beans, and FRUITS go. I have no pain. On the days that I forget why I feel so great and slip back into those foods....3 days later, I pay the price.....my back and joints ache, ache, ache. I let go of the crap and I'm back to feeling awesome within 2 days. I, also, have a dog that was born with hip dysplasia. If I feed her regular dog food, she, literally, cannot get up onto her feet and she cries when she tries. I removed her from all dog food and feed her ground fatty beef and only one meal a day. Other meats work, but that one keeps her satisfied. Within 3 days, she was up and is up still running and zipping about. She has no pain that I can see. I don't feel deprived because I now look at those foods as a slow killing poison. I want to live life feeling GREAT and not taking pills just to survive.

I'm totally convinced that sugar is the backbone to numerous health issues. Don't take my word for it, put it to the test. Do a 2 month experiment and don't waiver. My advice is to get past the holidays because they are right here upon us. But I don't believe in the psychological crap about that's what we use to make us feel better. Once, I was told that I ate a lot because I was unhappy with my childhood and thought that if I ate then I could make myself grow up faster. I thought about it, but then I decided that was incorrect. I was born underweight and my family fed me to get me up to normal weight, well by then I had a habit of eating all the time.

The feeling of fullness is not uncomfortable to me, like it is to my slim husband. He can't stand the feelings of fullness. So my choice is to feel pain free without drugs and be active. And I have to tell you that I LOVE the taste of ice cream and I do breakdown now and then, but when my system starts breaking down, then I think about what may be happening inside my body and I shut 'er off. It's not easy....just decide what is important to you.

Low-Carber, I understand what you are saying, but when I eat off plan it is a binge to deal with something unpleasant. Definitely different than just liking how food tastes.