If you are an emotional eater, how do you control the urge to eat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take 2 Benadryl and go to bed.

OP here. I am typically not hungry in the evening, but morning through the afternoon. Plus, with a preteen in the house, it's not like I can go to bed when I want to. I wish!

Morning through afternoon is easy! Just have some coffee or tea, milk is fine, but no sugar!

It’s tougher with night cravings because you can’t have caffeine or go for a walk or something.

[Anonymous]

Tea with a splash of milk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tea with a splash of milk.

I was going to say tea is the only thing that helps. I drink it all day, black in the morning, green at noon/afternoon, camomile before bed.

Also vaping. I used to smoke, quit long time ago, but recently discovered that 0 nicotine vapes weirdly enough have some calming effect on me. And also help my focus. It’s all about blowing smoke out. Must be some kind of residual from the old habit.

[Anonymous]

I drink Matcha Toasted Rice tea from Numi (Yes has it). For some reason it kills my appetite. No sweetener, milk or anything - just steeped for 2 minutes. I love it.

[Anonymous]

Evening time after dinner is what kills me. I am fine during the day, it's just that afterwards I feel I "deserve" a variety of delicious treats until I go to bed, and it's very hard to stop.

Here's a few things that have worked:
1) Celestial Seasonings Bengal Tea--herbal, no caffeine, but tastes sweet due to the cinnamon;
2) Sugar-free Werther's Butterscotch (10 cal each);
3) 1/8 cup mini M&Ms or chocolate chips--takes a long time to eat;
4) Celery with a thin smear of PB.

It's not about hunger, alas!

[Anonymous]

Why does this thread make it seem like most of you just drink liquids all day to distract yourself from eating food? It's not emotional eating if you are hungry - it's just nourishing your body. Surely some of you need some amount of food? Very odd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does this thread make it seem like most of you just drink liquids all day to distract yourself from eating food? It's not emotional eating if you are hungry - it's just nourishing your body. Surely some of you need some amount of food? Very odd.

I'm one of the PPs. I'm 5 feet tall, late 50s, post-menopausal, sedentary job, I don't need that many calories to maintain/function/exist. Even factoring in exercise doesn't move the needle that much.

[Anonymous]

What kind of emotions are causing the eating? If it's something like depression or anxiety, it's best to manage the depression or anxiety. If the emotion is boredom, what I've found helpful is an eating schedule. It doesn't cut out boredom eating entirely but I've learned that a lot of the eating I was doing after about 7PM and before 10 AM was out of boredom. I now eat during a 9-hour window, generally speaking. When I want to eat before and after that I just find something else to do.

[Anonymous]

Drink a lot of water. Don't keep much food in the house. Go on 5 mile walks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a single mom especially a fat one

Not sure what this means, but I'm a fat single mom and many of the single moms I know are also overweight or obese. I have not found a way to control the emotional urge to eat. I tried Ozempic/Mounjaro but it did not quiet the food noise as others have said. Listened to Weight Loss for Busy Physicians. Didn't find it as helpful as others in this forum. Tried a weight loss clinic for a year. They had me on a very high protein diet but it still didn't stop the urge for the dopamine hit of eating sugar. Tried a therapist who supposedly focused on eating issues. She was useless, but I think I need to try this again with a better therapist.

Try Transcendental meditation training.

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/a19946225/transcendental-meditation-benefits-and-how-to-get-started/#

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a single mom especially a fat one

Not sure what this means, but I'm a fat single mom and many of the single moms I know are also overweight or obese. I have not found a way to control the emotional urge to eat. I tried Ozempic/Mounjaro but it did not quiet the food noise as others have said. Listened to Weight Loss for Busy Physicians. Didn't find it as helpful as others in this forum. Tried a weight loss clinic for a year. They had me on a very high protein diet but it still didn't stop the urge for the dopamine hit of eating sugar. Tried a therapist who supposedly focused on eating issues. She was useless, but I think I need to try this again with a better therapist.

Try the National Center for Weight and Wellness/NCWW. Multi disciplinary approach and very effective for me.

[Anonymous]

Temptation ~ I don't let it in the house.

I might eat things I shouldn't, but not because they are in the house tempting me.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried therapy? Or intuitive eating? Some therapists specialize in this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does this thread make it seem like most of you just drink liquids all day to distract yourself from eating food? It's not emotional eating if you are hungry - it's just nourishing your body. Surely some of you need some amount of food? Very odd.

This poster asked explicitly about emotional eating. I posted about matcha tea above. No milk. No sweetener. The ritual of tea distracts me from eating a bunch of random sh!t from my cabinets. I eat normal, healthy meals and am a normal, healthy weight. And this way I don't binge on junk I'm not actually hungry for, but I sure used to -- and it really sucked feeling out of control like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Temptation ~ I don't let it in the house.

I might eat things I shouldn't, but not because they are in the house tempting me.

Do you work? My kitchen at home has healthy food, but my office has all sorts of tempting sugary and salty snacks to binge. You name it, we have it. Chips, bars, cookies, bowls full of bite size candy all around, nuts (but honey roasted, salted, trail mix, etc.), catered weekly lunch meetings, and that's not even counting the birthday, happy hour, and other special celebrations or the weekly doughnuts and bagels (separate days, respectively), all of which I find easier to skip. The offerings have been increasing post-pandemic, presumably as an incentive for people to return to the office. It's hell for someone with emotional eating issues.