What causes you to eat when you're not supposed to??

I eat to feel in control.  Which is sad because I'm obviously not in control, other wise I would not be overweight.  Stupid psychology.

Anyway, what causes you to eat unhealthy??

procrastination...somehow its more justifiable to not do the things I have to if I'm eating something!

The stupid feeling that I "deserve" a treat...and I ration it out like, "well, I haven't realllllly eaten that much today"  I hate when I do that.  I have to remind myself that the feeling is very shallow.  It's so hard though...

It used to just be habit, which I think carried on for so long because I was depressed about the habit...viscious cycle etc.

Now, I only ever eat "bad" food or too much food if I haven't exercised that day, or if I'm particularly bored. Social events or hangovers don't help either but I've been steering clear of alcohol which is making it easier.

When I'm in a social situation I eat whatever snack food is available. Not sure why - not particularly hungry. I dunno. 

I also sometimes overeat on accident. I come home starving from school and I'll quickly eat two big bowls of soup. Had I waited 10 minutes after eating the first bowl, I wouldn't have been hungry for the second. So I'm trying to learn to pace myself!

jcl76:  You and I have similar tendencies when it comes to eating too fast - all is well until I come home after a long day at work or school.. and just start trying to fill that tummy of mine.  Unfortunately, my tummy is a bit bigger than yours (you look awesome by the way).  Do you play sports or anything??

Applemilk1:  Yeah staying away from alcohol really helps.  Alcohol numbs your inhibitions (which in our case is eating junk food) and causes us to fall into our temptations.  I've been abstaining for a while too :)  Good for you!

Samoacookie:  Your mind is the biggest obstacle in weightloss.  Keep trying!!  If your subconcious suggests that you "deserve" it, make sure that your concious self is aware of that.  Maybe you do, maybe you don't - if you do deserve a treat, give yourself a guage (like once/week you have a treat) so you know that it's not your subconcious taking over.  Keep goin!! :)  You're doing great.

Maxx:  Sounds like selective procrastination?? =P

Ditto on the alcohol! Like it's not bad enough going way over maintanance on the nights I decide to drink (limited to about once a month thank gawd), but the worst is the hangover the next day where  I just want to eat and eat heavy carb loaded, fatty foods and nothing seems to fill the gap...sucks!

I've been known to eat when I'm bored. Since coming to CC though it's helped keep it in check because I always know where I stand for the day.

Mostly social situations.  I'll be out drinking with my friends and I get a little carried away.  Also, when people at work bring little snacks and share them.  I feel rude if I turn them down.

When I'm tired I want to eat- hungry or not. 

i eat whenever i accompany my friends to cafeteria in offic and somehow even if i taste the food, i feel like eating.

Also i just break all the rules when i am sad.The feeling that "no one cares" is just so strong that i eat anything and everything. :(

I have to over come both of these.dont knwo how!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Original Post by luzd:

When I'm tired I want to eat- hungry or not. 

..ditto, and ditto to the procrastination thing.

I live by myself in Europe at the moment, I've had to move into the school dorms as my live in boyfriend broke up with me and I couldnt afford our studio alone. I generally overeat really late at night when i'm lonely. emotional eating =BAD.

Thank god I have to walk a good 15 min to get to the nightstore. I find I'm too lazy to walk to buy crappy food and if I dont buy it when i go grocery shopping I obviously can't eat it.

Often it's because I'm bored and need something to distract me. Other times it's because I can't quite figure out what my body is craving and I eat a little of this and a little of that to 'test it out'.

I too have the problem of overeating - both because I often come home starving and just want to eat everything in sight or because of habit. If I make toast, I'll put two pieces of bread in the toaster because I've always done that -- I've never even tried to see if one piece would be enough to get me full enough to last out the hour(s) until dinner time.

when the food is really REALLY yummy, I have a hard time stopping. And I'll sneak back in for "one more bite"...

I make bad choices when I’m in physical pain due to going to long without eating, so when I’m starving.

I eat when I'm angry and/or when I should speak my mind and don't do that.

-Anger and sadness!  I am angry that I didn't start the day with a good breakfast, so I eat that third cookie to make myself feel better - which does the opposite, so I guess it's a form of punishment??

-Lack of Discipline:  If I don't plan meals ahead of time, then I'm always running late to cook and I end up eating whatever comes to eyesight...

-Social situations:  for some reason (and this happened yesterday and was silently aware of it), sitting with friends with snacks in front of me... I snack and snack and snack, even if I'm not hungry, just a bad habit to reach over for that chip and dip!!  =/

I have a little of many... 

I eat when I'm bored - the most common and probably the one that always gets me b/c I eat without thinking and often forget that I ate it and then wonder why I'm not losing weight (forgetting that I ate another 200 cal of snacks)

I'm lazy - If I'm not in an area that has healthy food it's too easy to go to Sonic and get onion rings. This is similar to when I'm with friends and it's just easier to let myself have a little extra. I still reward myself this way, but it's bad if I have a extra social week.

I eat when I'm mad at myself  - Strangely this often is when I feel ugly or fat or I'm angry at myself for lack of discipline. TOTALLY the worst response. This is the worst though doesn't happen as often. It just is when I eat the most food or the worst for me. 

I eat to "reward" myself - This works well for me except if I'm in a good mood for too long and feel like indulging as a reward over and over. 

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I fell into these traps every time I tried to watch my weight in the last 4-5 years since I've gained weight and eventually I felt like I was on an eternal diet with no results, because I fell off the diet so often due to the above excuses. I've found that what finally worked for me was routine. I know it won't work for many people, but for me it's safe and dependable so I like it. I eat pretty much the EXACT same thing EVERY week day and on the weekends I let myself eat WHAT I want, just 1/2 the portion and try not to snack too much and go overboard. Since doing this I've lose 10-12 lbs in 8 weeks. It's been steady and it was SO wonderful to see my scale hit that 10 lb mark after only 5 weeks. My next goal is to step it up with more excersize. 

silverdoves:  it's great to hear you've had success!! stick to that routine girl cuz you're doing awesome!!   They say it's different for every person so I'm happy you found your thing.

Like other folks here, hangovers are the worst for me, they make me feel depleted and starved!

I have found tomato Cup-a-Soup (not the generic ones) helps, though it's LOADED with MSG which I normally avoid, but one of those and a chunk of cheese, then a big glass of fruit juice, goes a long way towards repairing the damage.

Usually though it's any feeling (like deprivation, or entitlement) that overcomes my desire to be back at the weight I feel best at.

boredom.