Emotional Overeaters - Anyone want to join me in losing weight

[3mum]

So clearly I am not going to be slim in time for Summer, but I have decided that I am going to embark on a weight loss journey now anyway.

Realistically I'll be doing this for at least a year as I have about 4 stones to lose. I have always been an emotional eater, but a shitty marriage and an even shittier divorce have seen me turn to food for just about everything: entertainment, company, self-soothing, rewards, self-abuse, you name it, I do it.

I don't want to be that person any more and I know I need to change not just my eating habits but how I deal with emotions too, which is a very scary thought.

Anyone in a similar boat interested in joining me for mutual support? I'm planning to follow a low carb approach, but I think the route you follow is less important than actually doing something and sticking to it.

Just to be clear, 'carb flu' (if you suffer - not everyone does) should only take 2-3 days

I have suffered it but not sure I was low carving properly as I didn't really research it. So if I start on a Friday I should be through it enough to cope with work on Monday? I might just give it a try then. I'm coeliac so don't have bread/cakes/biscuits very often anyway

If your diet isn't very high in carbs normally then you may well not suffer. But yes, if you start on Friday you should be fine by Monday.

The first time I started low carbing I felt like I had flu for 5 days.

Dealing with carb flu:

drink plenty of water
eat plenty of fat
keep your electrolytes up/balanced, so:

sodium - add salt to your food/cook with salt and/or drink a hot drink made with Oxo or Bovril/Marmite

magnesium/potassium - eat spinach, avocado, salmon, natural full fat yoghurt

And don't suffer - if you're in pain, take paracetamol!

hope I'm not speaking out of turn, low carb may well be the answer but I could really do with some help with the emotional side of the problem really hoping this thread can discuss that too.

Fourforksache, me too. I want to be able to eat in moderation, so have some chocolate when I fancy some, but not stuff it in and it never seems enough ...

it's the crazy "never enough" thing that gets me too, I feel out of control sometimes.

Me too. I had a very stressful day at work today and at lunchtime sat in my car and ate nearly a whole bag of chocolate peanuts ... and that's not the first time ..

I'd like to join too. My diet is pretty low on refined carbs as it is since I'm gluten free but I make up for that with chocolate/sweets in times of emotional distress/boredom/days ending in Y...

what did you feel like during and after?

for me, I'm like a robot and then I'm disgusted.

vic, hi, boredom is a big trigger for me too.

Yes, like a robot describes it well ... I just keep putting them in my mouth - afterwards I felt sick and disgusted with myself. But I know I'll do it again next time.

yes, same, I need to find out,how to break this cycle, none of it feels good!

Have you seen Paul McKenna's book, Freedom from Emotional Eating? It includes a cd and dvd. I borrowed it from the library, but didn't get round to reading much due to having so much work on at present. Might be worth a try. Let me know what you think.

I do the robotic thing too. I know it's bad, I know it will make me feel worse but I can't snap out of it.

Last time I tried not buying snack food for the house I ended up eating nutella with a spoon

I'm a huge overeater too. I've got a pic on my fridge that says "whatever the problem, the answer is not in here" sadly the chocolate isn't in the fridge.....

nor is the bread I'll have a look at that mckenna thing, thanks.

I don't buy treat stuff in the weekly shop, then go out in my lunch break and buy chocolate.

I'm sure I used to be able to have one piece of chocolate without going mad.

I have taught myself not to overeat. I have temporarily slain the sugar dragon but if I have one piece of sugary nonsense all my hard work unravels. I eat a pudding if we eat out at a particularly good restaurant, maybe once a month....but I make it a rule never to indulge at home and I attempt to keep the cupboards treat free which is better for all of us. I stopped snacking - this was harder than anything else, it's taken me nearly a year to not think about eating outside if meal times....it's no longer an effort and it doesn't require will power because I broke the habit but it was a bloody hard habit to break!

I am in the same boat, have never tried low carb. Does anyone know where the ten rules are? Good luck everyone with getting out of this.

Hope you don't mind me posting. I have been feeling down today and looking for info on depression and diet and this paragraph made me think of this thread "Research has also shown that individuals with symptoms of depression also consume diets high in carbohydrates, with carbs acting to raise levels of serotonin and temporarily make the individual feel good. When the effect of the carbs wear off, and there is a mental crash, as well as a crash in overall energy, the individual finds themselves on a roller coaster ride that can contribute to depression." . I am not saying anyone is depressed but it makes sense that people would therefore comfort eat by eating carby/ sweety foods that then quickly boost seretonin - in a sense our bodies are doing a logical thing to help us feel better rather than something we should feel guilty and crappy about? Guess its finding some foods that can give us the boost without the crash that follows that is the problem! Here's a link if I find more and anyone is interested I will post again. www.livingpaleo.com/diet-and-depression/

I've been reading through the boot camp stuff, its definitely not for me at the moment, though I might try it in the future

If no one minds though I will be continuing to post in here as I think the support with the emotional eating will help

Hello! Emotional eater here also...although I over eat when I'm happy and forget to eat when I'm sad,

I'm at the top end of a healthy weight at the moment (5:2, low ish carb knocked five stone right off me) but erm, I'm extra happy at the moment and struggling to keep myself away from crisps and white chocolate.

I'm going to focus on getting back to lower carb and on distracting myself in the evenings. I have found lots of knitting and crochet while watching TV useful...I'm a single parent and the evenings can seem terribly quiet!

fourforksache - absolutely get you that low carbing isn't 'the answer'. However, there are two things that might help:

• low carbing as a WOE (way of eating) will keep you satiated. You won't experience physical hunger, like you would if you were calorie counting, for example. And if you're not experiencing physical hunger it can be easier to avoid emotional eating

• on the Bootcamp threads there is a huge amount of support from others in the thread, and lots of posters are also emotional eaters, so sharing feelings/triggers can be hugely important.