If you used to stress-eat (or any emotion in my case) and don’t anymore...

[Times10]

How did you manage to stop? Every morning I think this will be the day I stop eating my emotions, but by lunch time I’m already halfway through a packet of biscuits, and won’t stop until bedtime.
I need to stop this, as it’s basically a self-destruct habit, but I just don’t know how. What worked for you?

Yes I think I’m going to keep a journal (or at least in my head) every time I go towards the kitchen, and try and figure out if it’s hunger or something else.

I definitely need to up the exercise too, as I’ve become really sedentary this year. I’ve also noticed that everything and everyone is annoying me way more than usual, and I guess it’s a trigger for more food.

For me it's intermittent fasting. A blanket "no" to any and all food outside of my eating window helps. Like it just doesn't come into consideration to me to break that most of the time. That takes practice but becomes effective.

I personally haven't found having a hobby as such works for me, I think I'm too lazy! I am quite busy though anyway.

A while ago, I realised that binge eating doesn't make me feel any better. Not whilst I'm eating (well, not after that initial taste hit when I put it in my mouth), not an hour or so later when the sugar jitters and headache hit and not the next day when I was feeling lethargic. I was also somewhere recently - can't think where given lockdown! - and overheard a snippet from a radio programme where the presenter was describing just how much research goes into making foods have the exact combination of tastes to make them addictive and it really annoyed me.
I've also tried having some savoury foods available. I've realised rocket salad and anchovies are the best for me. Neither can be eaten in quantity, both are low calorie and, with their distinctive taste in my mouth, there is no way I could eat a jar of marshmallow fluff or lotus biscoff.
I also started taking Spatone (iron), B12 & VitD daily which seems to have helped with then underlying lethargy. And, now my children are upper primary age so can be left alone for a bit, if I'm feeling knackered mid afternoon after a couple of bad nights sleep, I'll go and have a nap or at least lie down & read rather than push myself to keep going.
This could all go out of the window come 12th April when I'm back in the office!

@Times10

Yes I think I’m going to keep a journal (or at least in my head) every time I go towards the kitchen, and try and figure out if it’s hunger or something else.

I definitely need to up the exercise too, as I’ve become really sedentary this year. I’ve also noticed that everything and everyone is annoying me way more than usual, and I guess it’s a trigger for more food.

I find the MFP 'Notes' function really useful for this.

Remember to keep yourself well hydrated and tote your water bottle around with you. In the past I never drank enough water and would end up being quite dehydrated and tired, at which point I would reach for a sugar boost.

I emotionally ate (and drank). I thought the drinking was worst so decided to stop in January. I replaced my beer with alcohol free so I still got that mental thing of "and now the day is done you can relax" but less harmfully.

I didn't snack on biscuits, more cheese, crisps etc. Not drinking helped me have better control and I use MFP to track. I can still have that stuff if I want it but limit the amounts. I also started daily yoga to deal with stress better. Had never done it before but found online videos and I love it now.

Having said all that, I had to be in the right mindset to start it all. Thinking back a few years to when I was in a horrible job working 12 hour days every day, none of the stuff I have done would have worked. I just had to quit that job.

I think you need to work out why you are eating and see if you can fix the root cause or if its just a habit you feel you need. Good luck.

Drink coffee which made my teeth brown but I've had them whitened so all good

This is really depressing but I just stopped buying all foods that I ‘like’. Started only cooking dinners that I was a bit ‘meh’ about - not stuff I hated, just stuff I didn’t love. It completely changed my relationship with food and made me view it as just a necessity to survive rather than something to be enjoyed. But it is very depressing when I write it down like that!

Combination of therapy and intermittent fasting.

I don’t eat anything until lunchtime. I drink tea and coffee, with a splash of milk, and that’s it. I just made this rule. And I stick to it. It helps that it’s not my hungry time of day.

I guess if you’re a breakfast kind of person, you could skip supper.

Then I have a veg heavy lunch, including some soup and protein and salad, but I don’t stress about calories.

Then I’m normally so full, I last until about 7 when I eat supper... which is whatever I like.

So far so good....

But on the days I have therapy, on the days my STBEX gets in touch to harangue me about our financial resolution, or on the days that I feel wobbly for any reason... it goes to POT. I’m trying to keep those to a minimum, but it’s work in progress.

I’m not losing shedloads of weight, but I’m not putting it on, either.

@TheBlackTower I never spotted the notes function, will try it out today

I think I’m going to try adding supplements to my day (although my track record of taking daily pills is rather uninspiring, but maybe a whole mindset shift might do the trick)

I’ve read about IF, but I have found that if I get to the hungry stage I eat everything in sight until I’m full (more than full) so I need to train myself to not do that before attempting IF again.

@aintnocoffeebigenough my dad is someone who eats for fuel, and I don’t know how he does it! But I should probably try that too.

@BewareTheBeardedDragon

I don't really know why, but it was like a switch flipped during lockdown 1 and I just decided I would stop comfort eating and started logging what I ate on mfp. I think my focus shifted from getting comfort from eating crap to getting satisfaction from feeling hungry in between meals because that feeling means I'm doing it right. I also started regularly exercising at home, and it was a bit of a revelation for me because I realised that with YouTube all the exercise classes you could want are there at your fingertips. I have found that exercise makes me feel good in a way that overeating didn't, and has the bonus knock on effect of reducing my appetite afterwards. I lost 2 stone and have kept it off (so far). I do have off days - today being one, but the horrible stuffed feeling at the end of the day is now so unpleasant that it is enough to make sure I don't slip back into my old ways.

I could have written this! Had exactly the same experience during lockdown.

Lost two stone, now exercise regularly and hoping to keep this mindset and routine for life.

The exercise makes the biggest difference in stopping binging I found. That taking care of yourself aspect is good, and it really does help deal with hunger. I can start a run with my tummy rumbling first thing and then finish feeling like I'm not hungry at all.

I agree with getting snacks ready to keep you from eating the unhealthier ones. I find that a packet of biscuits is so quick to just snack from, no prep and it's delicious. Plus there's no danger that someone was planning to cook it for dinner either. I need to start keeping better snacking options ready in the fridge.

Sooo, I’ve lost three stone. One more to go. Here’s what’s worked for me so far:

• I don’t eat before lunchtime
• I log my meals the night BEFORE and try and stick to 1200 calories as much as I can
• Aim for 10,000 steps a day
• Veg. Piles of it.
• Tackle the underlying cause. Are you tired? Get some early nights. Are you drinking enough water? If you’re stressed or emotionally depleted- why? If you can tackle those things even a bit it will help.

I also eat calorie controlled ready meals a few nights a week. I love cooking but I’m crap at sticking to my budget when I do so now I don’t do it every night.

Good luck. It’s hard x

Intensive therapy. Two months in of weekly sessions, no emotional or binge episodes.

Expect to continue weekly for another four months, then gradually decrease sessions over the next six months.

Luckily I have top quality private health insurance (AUS) and can afford the small gap payment.

Therapy
Meditation
Exercise
Just not keeping sweets in the house at all
A period of abstinence then only eating treat foods as a social thing w others - like an alcoholic I've realised I just can't do sugar in moderation
Little rituals to displace cravings, treat hand cream, essential oils diffuser
Really good drinks that feel like a treat, fresh mint teas, dehydrated fruit and fizzy water in really nice special glasses

I find planning some quick meals helps MFP too. At the moment I've got a batch of soup in the freezer, it makes 5 portions. I regularly do a chicken casserole in the slow cooker too. We had Mindful Chef for a while and that's good for portion control, expanding what veg you eat, quick meals and finding meals that are filling but not full of cars. I'm dipping back into those at the moment.

I had hypnotherapy. Seems to be working

similar to @friedbanana

I realised that I was associating pretty much every emotion with eating. Happy? Eat! Unhappy? Eat! I also ate a lot of sugar/ refined carb as was probably constantly sugar highing and lowing. I was also binge eating/ compulsively eating.

I just realised that if I didn't take action to stop it I would be like this when I was 30/ 40/ 50/60/70. Forever basically. I decided that I need to get back in tune with when I was hungry and when I was sated and eat and stop eating according to that.
Like Friedbanana I didn't cut out any foods. Instead, as my eating was so abnormal, I decided I needed a structure to normalise it until that became intuitive. I was basically retraining my body to normal eating. So I got myself a smaller place ( I always overate) and would eat what was on that. I was allowed a sweet/pudding only meals and a small amount. I tried not to snack but if I did it was something like oatcakes/ nuts/ fruit. I decided this was a long haul and falling off the wagon at times was an inevitably part of the process rather than a failure. I did not keep 'trigger' foods like biscuits/ sweets/ icecream etc in the house. It took about a year but it worked. My eating behaviour was completely reset and I now eat when I am hungry adn stop when sated. I don't feel the need to eat when I am emotional. I can have sweets etc in the house and not binge on them. It was hard work and a long haul, but I am so happy I did this. Its brilliant just to have a healthy happy relationship wiht food rahter than it being a source of stress. I'm 20 years on now so it really has been a life changing thing for me.
Good luck OP, you can do it!
(Oh, I also found protein with every meal helps you to fill up better and stops a sugar low).

I was allowed a sweet/pudding only meals
that should have said only after meals.

I'm also putting some effort into smarter snacking when I use MFP. So, I have snack bags of Butterkist popcorn, raw carrots, fruit, Snackajack rice cakes, dark chocolate. I aim for a maximum of 65 calories.

I think getting to the point were a bad day is just a bad day was a turning point. It was no longer a reason to stop trying, just a normal blip.

I'm struggling a bit with being more active and not overeating afterwards. I'm agoraphobic so getting out of the house is always an issue. What's helping so far is being kinder to myself. If someone else was facing this I would be kind to them and not judgemental so I'm going to kind to me too.

I had the same epiphany already mentioned by PP, in lockdown 1. Lost 2 1/2 stone with about another 1-1 1/2 stone to go. I’ve taken each day at a time and my loss has been slow as not gone too extreme in my dieting. 3 good meals a day with a snack if needed. Avoid buying crisps, choc etc in and if I really want it I need to go buy it. Not perfect but i rarely binge or overeat now. In fact on the odd occasion I have eaten too much I’ve realised how awful it makes me feel physically, which reinforces the idea that it’s not something I want to do anymore. It doesn’t make me feel better, just worse

I've noticed that different emotions or different states of mind cause different problems.

Tiredness = grazing on sugary snacks
Too busy / stressed = skipping meals and mindlessly eating carbs
Nerves e.g. pre-interview = need to nibble on things
Driving = need to eat sweets to keep awake
Boredom = mindless eating
Anxiety / conflict = bingeing on anything until I feel a bit sick.

I'm tackling them all a bit differently. I've already realised that on long drives a bag of lettuce works just as well as fruit pastilles. I've been to the gp for help with insomnia and HRT is helping.

My biggest downfall is the office biscuit stash which is just too readily available for moments of stress, boredom, mid-afternoon slumps etc. It's been a very stressful year.

It's the big binges I think I need some support with.

I'm a recovering alcoholic and have been sober 13 years. It's extremely common to transfer the addictive tendency to food, once you put the drink down - obviously a lot less harmful to anyone else, but the emotions involved are pretty similar. I therefore approach food in a similar although not identical manner - I know beyond all reasonable doubt that if I buy a multipack of chocolate bars, with the intention of having one a day for a week, the likelihood is that they'll be gone that day. Or that they will be calling to me from the cupboard. I therefore accept this, rather than trying to fight it, and limit my consumption by having it only on certain days, like tomorrow, when I will feel no guilt at all.

I'm sort of lucky in that I only live with DD23, and we buy largely our own food, and I wouldn't dream of stealing hers, so I have total control over what's available. Luckily she hasn't inherited the addictive gene to the extent that her chocolate often goes "bloomy" and white, and I then question whether she really is my child.

Is this the bright lines book people are referring to Bright Line Eating
Book by Susan Peirce Thompson

Yes, I can recognise the similarities with alcohol abuse. I actually had a few months of drinking a lot more heavily last year, and realised it was a very slippery slope, so have forced myself to cut down drastically. So I’ve obviously got some kind of willpower hiding somewhere, but not with food.

I’ve logged my meals for today in MFP, and if I manage to not snack in between meals I should be able to lose some weight. Maybe knowing what the next meal is will help my brain realise I’m not about to starve.

It’s very tricky at home though, because DH is very skinny, and the DCs too, so they can have snacks and not overeat. I can’t tell them not to eat in front of me, but I then feel like I’m missing out a special treat and then end up eating more. So having healthier snack options for me might help with the feeling of missing out.

@wizzywig

Is this the bright lines book people are referring to Bright Line Eating Book by Susan Peirce Thompson

Yes. It is extreme. It advocates very limited food, and you measure it all out in scales, even when at a restaurant. It is in ounces, so I've no idea if the portion sizes are reasonable.