Any Emotional Eaters Out There?

[MsWordSalad]

For as much as I wish I didn't, I deal with emotions, including loneliness, using food. I go through phases with foods and of course carbs are always the go to. Right now it's cinnamon graham crackers, and it's the sweet, earthy flavor of the cinnamon sugar and the physical feel of biting and crunching that distract me and divert my thoughts from the fact that the television is the only thing talking in my apartment. It starts off innocently enough, one cracker here, another after a half hour or so, and so on until it's like spinning in a revolving door and finally jumping out of it to find an empty wax paper wrapper stuck to the bottom of my shoe.  When the numbness wears off and the oh my God sick feeling from eating all those crackers settles in, all I can think is, tomorrow, I'll go work out. That's phase two. Sometimes I go and sometimes I don't. 

As a Gemini, I thrive on communication so being alone is like solitary confinement for me and I don't do well. Daytime is easy enough to handle, it's the evening and late hours that lead me to the internet to find other distractions in hopes of avoiding the appearance of the revolving door. 

If you're an emotional eater, how do you cope with fighting off loneliness and avoiding your own version of the revolving door?

 

[Enpatsu No Shakugan]

Thankfully I am not. Everyone likes a pleasant snack or something when feeling down, but to really gorge yourself to overcome grief is the making of an eating disorder in my mind. At least the notion of tying it directly to your emotions; it's playing with explosives, basically.

 

[Joturbo]

Thankfully I am not. Everyone likes a pleasant snack or something when feeling down, but to really gorge yourself to overcome grief is the making of an eating disorder in my mind. At least the notion of tying it directly to your emotions; it's playing with explosives, basically.

Yes i'm pretty sure i used to be.I used to regularly eat chocolate or crisps when either stressed or lonely.But now the combination of trying to become a vegan and gaining a couple of good friends has helped conquer it i think.I also have a new distraction on a Friday night which was a vunerable time for me if not going out so that has been a godsend. Two days ago whilst going through a very stressful situation with my kid my wife had left out six small hersey bars.The relapse was instant i put them away so fast and felt so guilty and even more determined to keep with veganism..vegetarinismif the food options aren't there.
I also find exercise helps also but im pretty sure veganism and being lucky enough to gain two friends that i can talk to about anything was the key for me.

Apologise hit the reply button...its been a while since i've been on ALL.

 

[MsWordSalad]

Thankfully I am not. Everyone likes a pleasant snack or something when feeling down, but to really gorge yourself to overcome grief is the making of an eating disorder in my mind. At least the notion of tying it directly to your emotions; it's playing with explosives, basically.

Yes i'm pretty sure i used to be.I used to regularly eat chocolate or crisps when either stressed or lonely.But now the combination of trying to become a vegan and gaining a couple of good friends has helped conquer it i think.I also have a new distraction on a Friday night which was a vunerable time for me if not going out so that has been a godsend. Two days ago whilst going through a very stressful situation with my kid my wife had left out six small hersey bars.The relapse was instant i put them away so fast and felt so guilty and even more determined to keep with veganism..vegetarinismif the food options aren't there.
I also find exercise helps also but im pretty sure veganism and being lucky enough to gain two friends that i can talk to about anything was the key for me.

Apologise hit the reply button...its been a while since i've been on ALL.

Glad to hear you found some friends and a focus to get away from eating. It's amazing how a stressful situation can trigger that food to mouth reaction. It's been ten months since I had an in-person connection with someone and what's fueling my emotional response is my brother. After being married 3 years (engaged and living together for 5) he came home a few days ago and told his wife he didn't love her and he had found his "soulmate." This has had a profound effect on me and cranked up my feeling of loneliness tenfold. To me, they were happiness personified. There was no indication that anything was wrong. He totally blindsided his wife and all of his family. He shattered the image that I had my hopes on. It was okay that I didn't have a marriage, but I was happy he did and I guess I was living vicariously through their wedded bliss. They went on trips, they entertained, they had money and contrary to his declaration, they were both in love- they got forever tattoos on their ring fingers after they got married. She is now devastated and he can't wait to be with his "soulmate." I feel her pain and I'm so pissed at him I can't stand it. The whole situation has left me feeling very alone, sad, and empty. 

 

[Dr_Pixel]

From time to time I used to eat when I was stressed. I became a bit overweight but it still was okay. But my diet and eating habits started to change last year. I was trying to be more productive, and I heard that eating a healthy diet boosts your energy. So I tried to eat healthy, mainly trying to avoid everything with lots of sugar in it. Also, I started to exercise too and overall I felt I had more energy. But then I went through a hard time and didn't really exercise for 10 weeks, but I stuck to my diet and didn't eat sugary food with a few exceptions(that dopamine felt good. There's a reason why sugar is more addictive than heroin.) I don't know if I lost weight with my diet, but if I had it wasn't really noticeable. After that, I changed my eating times to eat only 1-2 times a day. So basically I was doing a fast. Eating 1 time a day has its benefits. I can sleep longer(no breakfast), I don't need to buy food at the cafeteria, I only need to brush my teeth once, I can spend less time on eating and I don't have to choose between things I want to eat because I can eat as much as I like in one meal. But you have to get used to feeling a bit hungry when your body hasn't started to burn fat yet(It gets better the more you are used to it). But there is only that much you can eat in one meal before feeling oversaturated, so I ended up eating only 1.5k calories per day(not much compared to the 2k+ I've used to eat before). After weeks I realized that I lost a lot of weight and I was getting lean, so I started to eat food with a lot of fat since everything else with a lot of calories contains a lot of sugar. Also, I eat now sometimes two times a day to make sure I get 2k+ calories. Two weeks later a.k.a. now I already gained some fat. Just yesterday, I ate two bags of crisps. The other was for tomorrow, but I didn't feel well and It wouldn't matter because I need to gain weight, but I don't think crisps are only unhealthy in making you fat.

And know I'll explain how losing weight works from what I've learned(and I've learned that from the so-called YouTube channel):

You already mentioned carbs, so you might already know it. Every time you eat something your body converts its carbs into glucose, so your body can use them as a source of energy. The glucose gets stored in your body up to 240 grams or so, then your body needs to store everything else in fat cells. So if you eat too many carbs you gain fat. Now your body has to lose its fat somehow. When there is not enough glucose left in your body, it starts to burn fat instead. The problem is that with a modern western diet you never really lack glucose, so your body can't burn a lot of fat. There are a few ways to fix that. One way is to eat fewer carbs. But my problem with a low carb or keto diet is, that you can't eat a lot and cooking your own food takes a lot of time. Another way is to simply eat only once a day. This way your body has enough time to use its glucose and start burning fat after that. You also could do a fast but eating nothing for days is probably not so appealing. And then there is exercise or what many would associate with losing weight. But with exercise, you gain muscles and not lose fat. However, it will increase your calorie needs. It helps in changing the ratio between your calorie needs and calorie intake if you don't eat more. You don't have to exercise if you want to lose weight but exercising has other useful benefits.

 

[TheRealCallie]

I used to be, I gained a bunch of weight years ago, then continued to gain for a while. I hated myself, all I did was eat. Then I went the opposite direction, got pretty bad that way. Now I'm fine, though I'm more of an emotional NON eater now.

 

[Ecclesiastes]

Yep. I have a bit of a disordered relationship with food. I don’t have a whole lot to occupy my time, and my current environment is incredibly stressful, so I tend to indulge more than I should.

I’ve been looking more into the carnivore diet/biohacking/fasting-focused lifestyle triad and am hoping to utilize this in curbing carb cravings, getting stable emotionally (the carnivore diet is supposed to be beneficial for one’s microbiome, as the gut microbiome can actually be responsible for mood), and getting lean.

 

[constant stranger]

I used to be a pathological eater. I didn't snack but I did methodically plan and consume four meals a day. I actually anticipated those four meals beforehand with a lust of gluttony. I was drinking a liter of vodka every night too. And I was alone all the time. Eventually I weighed 210 lbs. There were a few untidy and humiliating incidents. So I changed my habits and omitted one of the meals. The other three became smaller and more healthy. I year later my wight was down to 165 lbs. It took another decade or so to quit drinking.
Now my diet is almost entirely plant based and again is very methodical.....but healthy and consumed in modest portions.....methodically. I never regained that overweight.

 

[Nicolelt]

Me me me me me...I am. I need to stay focused on a diet. I need to conscience of what I am doing when eating.

 

[MsWordSalad]

I used to be, I gained a bunch of weight years ago, then continued to gain for a while.  I hated myself, all I did was eat.  Then I went the opposite direction, got pretty bad that way.  Now I'm fine, though I'm more of an emotional NON eater now.

When I worked as an apartment manager I was so stressed that I ate to try and deal with it and like like you, hated myself. After I quit the job (and got some counseling) I managed to get back under control. I think I need one of those blow-up punching bags that rock back and forth to work out my frustrations on instead of food. I wonder if they make some for adults?

 

[MsWordSalad]

I used to be a pathological eater.  I didn't snack but I did methodically plan and consume four meals a day.  I actually anticipated those four meals beforehand with a lust of gluttony.  I was drinking a liter of vodka every night too.  And I was alone all the time.  Eventually I weighed 210 lbs.  There were a few untidy and humiliating incidents.  So I changed my habits and omitted one of the meals.  The other three became smaller and more healthy.  I year later my wight was down to 165 lbs.  It took another decade or so to quit drinking.
Now my diet is almost entirely plant based and again is very methodical.....but healthy and consumed in modest portions.....methodically.  I never regained that overweight.

Interesting, I had never heard of a pathological eater.

 

[Zorananda]

I definitely use food to distract from boredom and unpleasant emotions to the point of it being unhealthy. I'm not very active to begin with so that makes it worse. But it's either food or drugs.