when feeling stressed/depressed in evenings how can you deal with this apart from eating junk?

[yummytummy]

so, have had a really crap time lately and have been doing a lot of comfort eating and i need to get out of this habit. am a single parent and was much easier when married as i used to do a couple of exercise classes in evenings and was busy with work in day. now am looking for a job and no childcare in evenings. unfortunately rather than being productive i have just been eating rubbish in the evenings as i just can't get out of feeling bad and then obviously its a cycle so you feel huge and less likely to do anything. when i did do a class recently i felt really conscious as am much bigger than i used to be and felt embarrassed.

so anyone have any tips for evenings how i can not turn to food and what else i can do? i tried doing home workouts from youtube but not being in a class just isn't the same. i do swim when i can but again can't in the evening and thats when i feel really down and lonely

What’s you evening routine? We don’t usually eat until at least 7pm, and are usually in bed by 10pm, so with everything in between there isn’t much time for snacking. What’s your routine like?

Not sure tbh. I used to binge eat, and when I stopped, my alcohol consumption started to creep up. Now I've stopped the booze, I want to eat all the time again. I'm pretty much just taking myself to bed really early most nights to avoid that.

I lift weights in my kitchen, when DS is in bed. I am going through a bad patch at the moment, and this is the only thing that stops my mind whirring. Well, this and booze...and Im trying to avoid the latter.

evening routine kids eat early around 5.30 then bedtime, bath,homework etc in bed around 8ish then i eat so it feels like a long stretch of evening ahead

Why can't you eat with them?

Anyway, you can still do exercise, you don't need to leave your house for that. Try fitnessblender.com, it's free. Or any one of millions of exercise videos on YouTube. There is also a vast amount of books on tackling emotional eating and overeating. Good luck.

Ah, just re-read your OP and see solo workouts don't work for you.

Then books on emotional eating and maybe some hobby that will keep your hands busy? I do diamond painting and also Zentangling.

I’d suggest something like cross stitch, adult colouring etc that keeps your hands occupied. I often have some decaf tea with a little square of chocolate which then keeps me going

don't usually feel hungry to eat at 5.30 but i guess we could eat together slightly later for them and earlier for me. will def check out the books. it must be a really common issue. i also want to increase my social circle and have often asked friend around for company in the evenings but most have their own kids, families etc or a partner who works late etc.

Was going to say a walk but see kids are in bed...gardening?
Make something...baking etc then share out the goods. Adult colouring book/painting. Jigsaw. Watch comedians online for a good laugh. Bath. Games online/apps.

Don't buy the food in the first place or limit it...e.g. 1 small bar of really nice chocolate rather than a big bar of cheaper choclate. Low calories drinks. Yoga/meditation app for relaxation rather than exercise.

If you are looking for a job are there any online courses you could do in the evening to add to your cv?

Dont laugh at me! I paint rocks it's really relaxing and you can find loads of designs on Pinterest/instagram. You can use anything but acrylic paint pens are good.
Most towns now have a rock painting page and you can hide the rocks you make (or keep them) and sometimes people post a pic saying they've found your rock.

It also stops me eating loads at night because you don't realise how much time passes while your drawing.

I like doing Yoga with Adriene on YouTube. She’s a real destresser! Or exercise bike in front of the tv. Also you could learn another language with Duolingo app. Or meal prep for some healthy midweek meals. Or ring a friend. For motivation on avoiding the junk food, Pick up Limes does a few brill YouTube vids exactly on this topic. It is hard when you’re confined to the house but once you get into better routines, it becomes a lot easier.

Pampering bath.
Watch a box set.
Draw.
Get into reading.
Paint your nails.
Online games.
Online course - there are some free ones.

There you go - seven ideas. One for every night of the week!

wow great ideas wouldn't have thought of some of these. i do read a lot but the language idea is great and the online courses for cv. are there particular websites for courses? actually all great ideas. i think keeping busy will also help me stop thinking about the split and wallowing. it's really really hard to get used to single life after a long long time

Suggestions:

Reading
Face masks (even a bit of milk and sugar is interesting)
Nails
Comb hair and try out a plaited hairstyle to practice doing
Pinterest
Reading about history- Facebook has lots of active groups
Music
Podcasts
Arts and crafts- drawing, Hama beads etc
Writing- try the 500 words a day challenge, writing poetry or a short story or even a diary
Pumice stone your feet
Tidy up eyebrows
Watch TED talks or TED ED videos on YouTube
Learn a new language
Download a game on your phone and play it
Future learn website
Seneca learning, Quizlet and BBC bitesize to learn something new

I really like reading Phillipa Gregory books and similar when I'm down. The women in those books have ups and downs and even though the books are set in the past, I feel like it helps to gain some kind of perspective, like you can keep going and hopefully it'll be ok (obviously not all the books have a happy ending but going through a bad time and reading someone else going through it is personally cathartic).

I find reading and watching telly is a bit counterproductive because your hands are free so it's easy to start mindlessly grazing.

Could you take the kids for a little walk after dinner? Nothing big if they’re very little, but to a park or somewhere nice? Not especially for the exercise but just to start making the most of the brighter evenings?
I try and eat only between 12pm and 6pm in 24 hours, so lunch and dinner. After a couple of days I find my body readjusts to not eating as much and it gets easier - plus you begin to feel healthier and want to shun the unhealthy snacks as time goes on. Not to say that all snacks are unhealthy, far from it, but I know myself and that I’m an all or nothing person!
Do you have any spare cash to pay a babysitter for a night or 2 a week so you can get out and do something for yourself?

I do cross stitch, keeps your hands busy so not so easy to snack and also don't want food near my stitching. I also find it helps with stress

I do crochet for keeping my hands busy. I need to do it when I watch TV or I bite or pick at my nails/nailbeds, but it works for other purposes, too. The several simple but colourful blankets I produce a year are a nice bonus!