Alternatives to comfort eating at times of emotional stress

[NoNewClothes]

What are your comforts?

I’m not apologising for putting this in chat rather than weight loss because this question applies to those of you who don’t comfort or emotionally eat.

I’ve just started on weight loss injections and OMG the revelation how much I turn to food for comfort. 90% of the time I eat well, exercise, know all about good nutrition etc.

I received some really bad news last night, I asked my DH if we had any hidden chocolate stashes almost straight away. Managed to resist going out to the shops, no hidden stash!

I need some suggestions for alternative activities that can apply anywhere & anytime.

Chewing gum, bathing, reading, crosswords. drinking warm water.

To me it would be smoking or vaping but I wouldn't recommend starting those obviously!

I guess you could vape zero nicotine but I think that's still unhealthy.

Chewing gum is a good one. Or brushing your teeth. Eating sucky sweets but that's not good for your teeth.

I guess exercise is good too. Literally just dance around the room energetically to your favourite song.

I try the following:
a nap
2-3 sugar free sweets
a really nice herbal tea or hot chocolate and sit down for 20 minutes to drink it
an ‘old favourite tv programme, in my case something like Motherland

Knitting and a box set with a cup of tea.

Sorry to hear you had bad news 😰❤️.

This is a good idea for a thread OP. I've gone to so many weight loss programs including a very expensive one to one nutrition based one, and they all love to tell you what to eat, how to plan etc.. but I've never really found a good enough mental exercise to consistently say no, sometimes I'm strong but it's too much to maintain when I get upset or exhausted. People don't realise that I don't say no 4 times a day, I say no at maybe 20 minute intervals 15 hours a day which is exhausting. On maybe one occasion I forget to say no and I cave, and hence to the world I'm a fat person who can't say no to anything.

If you tell yourself "i better not have that" or "i mustn't" you instantly want what you can't have. Give yourself permission to have whatever you want, whenever you want & take ownership of it. With practice you end up wanting it less

A double shot coffee.

When I was insanely anxious after some surgery last year and basically a nervous wreck, I found coffee with two shots of espresso got me through the day.

I can't eat when I'm worried or stressed, but I enjoyed the taste and effect of the coffee (whilst bearing in mind the caffeine didn't help the anxiety one little bit 😂)

It depends if I'm wiped out or pumping with adrenalin (both used to prompt binge eating). If I'm wiped out, a mug of hot water or tea and watching a drama that really absorbs me, preferably with a cat on my lap. If I'm pumped with adrenalin, going for a run or doing a hiit routine from YouTube. I go swimming in a lake once a week and that has done wonders for my mental health and disordered eating.

^this

Pausing before you eat, deep breaths, if you still want it, eat it - slowly so it's more satisfying. Eat it with intention and enjoy it, don't make it forbidden, think about how it makes you feel.

The “what else would comfort me now?” is a really good question.

For me:
—talking about it with DH

-hot bath

-watching TV with a cup of tea

-lying down somewhere quiet and just trying to feel and process the feelings rather than avoid them.

Sorry you had bad news.

Some really great suggestions, and insight, thank you all for sharing your thoughts.

How could I forget a good old cuppa!

Ear pods & music are probably one to add to my own personal list, I just need to change the habits of a lifetime to introduce other ways to give me comfort.

Hot chocolate and a Disney film cuddled up on the sofa with my children.

What made a huge difference to my weight was discovering yoga. So many people within western culture only think about it for movement (which it is wonderful for), but the aim is to create a more comfortable way of existing writhing your body and mind in order to meditate more/be more mindful. The conscious linking of movement and breath helps settle you physically and mentally and you truly feel how much the whole of you feels brighter when you walk your life with mindfulness.

So…instead of reaching for food, I will either move my body, practice calming breath-work, practice mindfulness maybe with a meditative walk or maybe make my cup of tea drinking in to almost a tea ceremony (love doing this), tune in to the relaxation response with meditative repetitive movement (knitting/colouring in/swimming/jigsaws, etc)…it’s all yoga.

When I get very stressed - supporting elderly relatives, work emergencies, child medical issues- it’s almost always something that needs immediate short term relief. I mean if my work phone is blowing up, and at the same time my 94 year old aunt is repeatedly calling about her missing cat, and I’m also urgently trying to contact my son’s doctor, and I’m late to meet the school bus, all at the same time - and my heart’s pounding and I feel like my head will explode, then I really can’t take a bath or do yoga right then because I have to push through the next hour. I can’t take time out - that’s the problem

I have some luck with a mug of savoury miso soup (just takes boiling a kettle) I can sip while dealing with whatever is causing the stress, rather than throwing biscuits down my throat. But it’s very hard.

Great thread. I’ve always really struggled with this. The other thing for me is that I tend to reach for UPF when stressed so avoid having it in the house as much as possible

A 20min walk outside if you can. Biologically, it’s as powerful as taking anti-anxiety medicine.

I know what you mean, I am a stress eater and since using Mounjaro I realised how much I relied on chocolate to escape.

With the jabs the cravings will go down so you will feel that it will be easier to stop relying on comfort food but obviously you need to learn to break the habit long term.

I read my favourite books, channel the stress into practical things like ironing or tidying.
Taking a bath or even a shower, treat yourself to some toileteries
Candles/wax melt
Colouring
A walk
Some new tea you can drink without sweetener/sugar.

@GrannyTeapot I completely agree with you - so much so, I'm currently doing yoga teacher training! The whole philosophy of being intentional and self-regulation is helpful, not just with food!

@LadyBlakeneysHanky I love miso! It has that warming umami flavour. I add it to lots of cooking too, it's very nutritious as well.

I've started a skincare routine. Partly because my son liked playing with a mirror a lot and my skin looked fucking awful.

Now it's my little ritual in the evening, olive oil, hot steam, then 3-4 serums.

Walking/being outdoors

Some kind of creative outlet

Cleaning or declutterring

Journaling

Going for a nap

Praying

I found the Paul McKenna hypnotherapy very useful. It’s called ‘I can make you thin’. It’s a terrible title but it does cover a lot about overeating and being unaware of the signals for how hungry we actually are. I’m not overweight but I have ADHD and can binge eat when I’m avoiding doing things I don’t want to do. I found this book and the hypnotherapy (you do this with headphones on at bedtime) to really work. I started questioning myself like from 0-10 how hungry am I? I’d drink water/tea as sometimes it was simply thirst (I obviously had to keep telling myself this as all I wanted to do was eat!!)
I also crochet to keep my hands and mind busy.

Go outside, I go for a run. Even when I feel least like it, it always helps. If not a walk to some angry music helps too!