Comfort eating

[scotland757]

Hi! I feel a bit upset even writing this as pre baby I was so into my diet, health and fitness and had never comfort eaten in my life. I had my LO 8 months ago and I just feel like it's so hard and tiring all of the time with very little time for myself that I have turned to food as a 'comfort' which is never something I've done before and I never understood it. Some days are so 'uncomfortable' with a baby e.g. not enough sleep, no time for breakfast, constantly on the go making sure baby doesn't choke, eat something, hurt themselves etc, driving a car around aimlessly to try and get them to sleep etc that food has become my comfort and where I can feel happy and almost as if I'm having a bit of 'me' time or a 'treat' to make my day seem less hard. I have out in weight and really lost confidence - I'm a shadow of my former self but even if I tried to diet I would struggle to put any time and effort into it. For example, today my LO clung to me all morning and wouldn't nap so I went for a walk at 10am and realised I hadn't had a drink or anything to eat - so I bought a bag of minstrels and water. I went for a drive to get the baby to sleep in the afternoon as he was still clingy and got a drive thru Costa sandwich and coffee. Baby goes to bed and I'm sitting with a wine and a pizza just to have some sort of relaxation. Anyone else the same? And tips on how to combat this?

Ps I know I could cook myself some healthy meals etc but I really don't have the time and am just craving salty, sugary foods and some sort of feeling of comfort. I think my body is just out of whack and not getting enough of what it needs so it's in survival mode. I really miss being in control of my feee time x

Not really any useful tips to offer but just wanted to say I can totally relate!! I have a 7 week old and need to lose 2stone but feel so drained that I’m always craving the sugary treat. Also pre that lockdown hasn’t helped as any enjoyable socialising or evening activities were taken away so chocolate etc became the main treat. Are you going back to work as that may help when there is more of a strict routine? Otherwise the tips I’ve been given are to try and find other ways to treat yourself eg a nice bath but I find it hard to do.

Yes!!!! I’m ten weeks post baby number two, baby number one was last year so I never got to lose the first lot of weight, starting to now. Food is even more important than exercise! I make extra healthy stuff at meals for the next day to have in a hurry and have a healthy snack stash! Fulfil bars are great for on the go. It’s very tough though I’m a notorious comfort eater even though I was fitness mad prior!!!

I totally get why you're doing this but there might be a couple of little things you could do to try and make things a bit better for yourself.

Could you prepare some overnight oats when she's asleep for your breakfast or if you have a DP/DH could they get up with her in the morning and give her breakfast so that you can have a shower and get ready for the day?

Could you walk a bit more as well? Maybe arrange to meet a friend and go fir a walk with them?

Do you think there's a chance that you could be getting an addiction to ultra processed foods as well? Perfectly understandable when you've got an LO and you're tired but UPFs could be contributing to how you feel

I used to comfort eat, I did this when I was frustrated I was not pregnant before my LO and a family member was hospitalised. I felt alone a lot, I would write my feelings in a journal, and food was my only friend who understood me. I put on lots of weight, I got fat-shamed but I still kept eating anyway. But, after some time, the things that depressed me started to change, my frustration decreased and good things were starting to happen. I was getting help from doctors to get pregnant and there were updates from the family member in hospital. Believe in miracles, things can always change.

Yes can totally relate! Drive through anything should be banned. I am 6 months post baby and really need to look at improving my diet but it's catch 22. Sometimes my energy gets so low i need a quick fix.

Plus food becomes a treat - so a hard day and sit down for takeaway.

For me to make the right food choices I have to be disciplined about it - ideally not have bad stuff in the house but I have a toddler so banning biscuits isn't going to be easy.

So my plan is to restart something like weight watchers or slimming world - once I have a clear target and know I am going to be weighed. I find once the losing starts - it's helps the motivation

Also - not sure how easy this is where you are with covid but I actually quit baby clubs at 6 months and joined a gym with creche.

So I could have me time while doing an exercise class. Baby was fine