Need Help Staying on Track! Advice Please.

Well, here I am struggling day to day as so many of us are.  After reading many wonderful posts on this site about successes and getting out of tough spots I often come away feeling refreshed and motivated. 

 However there are 24 hours in a day and I'm only at my computer for one of them and having both a full time and part time job  leaves plenty of opportunity for stress to arise and believe me it does! 

 So here is my weakness, when stress, frustration or sadness set in  I turn to food. Now, sometimes I'll remember to check if I'm eating because I'm hungry or eating due to emotional discomfort, unfortunately I only remember to do this once in a while.  Some days I'm better at it than others.  My question is to those who have overcome this behaviour:  How did you do it?

Advice Please!  Losing steam here.

Anyone :(

What works the best for me is to plan my food ahead.  I eat a preplanned breakfast every morning.  While I am logging my food, I choose what I want to eat for the day.  I usually have a big salad for lunch, then plan a couple of snacks and make them up ahead of time.  I like to have a delicious wrap of some kind made with Don Pancho's low fat/low carb/high fiber burrito size wraps.  I don't care so much about the low carbs as I do about the high fiber.  I like to put in some kind of low-fat protein like lean turkey or imitation crab or something of the like, with whatever tasty things(condiments etc) in there that I can think of to go with it.  I also like low-fat yogurt with a small serving of breakfast cereal or an apple and some almonds.  I find that if I plan my meals ahead and especially if I make things up ahead of time, I am much less likely to eat something that I shouldn't.  If I have gone to all the trouble of making something up I feel like I need to eat it.  If I am going to be out and about I take a cooler with me with my lunch in it. 

Here's something else that can help you to remember to think before you eat:  HALT!  Am I Hungry?  Am I Angry?  Am I Lonely? Am I Tired?  If you are eating because you are feeling any of these things, remember that FOOD WILL NOT SATISFY ANY BUT THE FIRST OF THESE!  And when you do eat, you want to feed yourself good, healthy food, not junk. 

Try working on one meal at a time if planning for the whole day seems like too much for you.  One step at a time will turn it into a habit and before long you will be able to begin planning for another tasty meal ahead of time.  Baby steps will get you there so you don't burn out.  Peggy <*)))>< ~

Peggy, thank you so much for the advice, I'm tagging it!  I especially like the part about baby steps and how planning healthy meals will turn into a habit.  so good to hear from you, thanks again.

Moon

I agree with planning your meals for the day in advance. I do this every morning, and if I vary from my 'schedule', well, you can always change the food log! Another thing I've started is making myself stop eating after a small portion of food (1 peice of fruit or a small sandwich, etc), and *leave the room* and do something, like drink a glass of ice water, or go to the bathroom, or take out the trash, *then* come back and if I'm *truly* hungry still, then I can have more food.  It's helped me manage my portions a bit better.

Plan, plan, plan!  Make sure you have easy to grab, healthy snacks available.  When you get the urge to eat, have a little something and a glass of water and then wait at least 20 minutes.  The feeling of hunger should be gone.  Make sure you are eating enough nutritious food.  Don't drop your calorie level too low and make sure you get a nice balance. 

Also, we all need to learn that hunger is not a danger signal.  Our bodies signal hunger when we don't need food.  Feeling hungry won't harm you.  It took me a long time to come to grips with that and just wait out the hungry spell and stick to my program of 3 meals and 3 snacks.  I never feel hungry now.

I am very much an emotional eater, and I suggest that you plan for a different response to the emotions that trigger your eating! Yes, plan your food, but also take some time to sort out why you eat.

You say you do that sometimes..what did you learn?

For me, I eat when I'm lonely. So now, when I realize I'm hungry for companionship rather than food - I get a can of diet soda and call an old friend and hang on the phone with her for an hour or so. It works every time!

When I'm angry, I get a piece of paper and a pen and I write down everything ugly that I can think of about the situation...I let myself feel the anger rise, and stay with the writing until it ends.. then I throw the paper away.

When I'm hurt, I think about what makes me hurt and let myself cry about it. Then, I try to think of what would make me feel better (besides eating).. a bubble bath? A funny movie? Play a game?

Peggy did a fantastic job of teasing out the problem.. food won't fix what's hurting unless its hunger pain. You need to think deeply and carefully about what is hurting, allow the pain to surface, then compose yourself for another day... Soon, you'll be pleased to see that you don't trigger nearly as often if you attend to the wounds and let them heal..

God bless...

becb and Clairlaine

Thank you for the tips, they sound very practical and easy to work into the course of the day.  Though planning meals with such a hectic schedule will take some getting used to, I can see how it will be well worth the effort. 

mspriff

I really like the way you have been dealing with your feelings rather than numbing them with food, as I have done for most of my life. 

I have started journaling in an effort to explore the relationship between my feelings and my eating patterns.  And I have just started to learn to check in with myself to see if I'm really hungry or eating to be soothed. 

The hard part about this is that I often  forget to do it! But as Peggy mentioned earlier ( thanks Peggy for your encouraging words) it starts with baby steps and I think I need to remember that too and to be more patient with myself.

One question, alot of the reflective/soothing/healing activities you do seem very effective and are probably best kept in a private setting at home, what do you suggest one does during a stressful work day, with no place private to go and lunch is just around the corner and you're frustrated and just want a hit of chocolate/fried food or gooey melted cheese  to feel a little better and make the day a little brighter?

(by the way, I am going to try the writing when angry and pampering when hurt, sounds great)

Hi, maybe get one or two of those little squeeze balls to vent off energy in a quiet way.  Pray, Pray, Pray!  Sometimes I end up brainwashing myself repeating over and over I can do it.  I can do it. I visualize and repeat one number less than what I currently weigh.  Just don't give up, it does get easier!    

PS You can be praying and not look like your praying.     

When I get stressed at work, I get up and walk away from my desk...go for a short walk, run up and down a few flights of stairs...anything physical.  I think an important thing to do is to replace food with something healthy.  I always turned to food and cigarettes to deal with anything stressful in my life (and I have a VERY stressful life).  When I gave up smoking and eating crappy food, I had to replace it with something.  I chose to replace it with exercise.  Now that has become my stress reliever.  Exercise and music...I bought a relatively cheap mp3 player and put on the headphones, crank up the volume, and escape from my life for anywhere from 15-60 minutes.  It works.

Songchild

 Yes, I can see how  positive mantras/prayer, a little constructive brainwashing and a squeeze ball can go a really long way. 

Thank you for sharing.  

p.s.

Hearing from you that it will get easier is inspiring in itself!

Ginger, I totally agree, it's a great point you make.  I really do need to replace the comfort of food with a positive activity and exercise sounds perfect.  Even if it's a short walk perhaps even a trip to the bathroom where I can say a few mantras or burst into song (sounds silly but it used to do the trick for me when I was little)

I feel really lucky to be getting all this great advice.

This steep mountain is starting to feel more like 1,000 feet high instead of 1,000,000 feet high.

Thank you everyone.

I used the HALT method when I quit smoking (cold-turkey, six months ago).  It really helped me see my cravings as emotional reactions that I had control over, rather than percieving them (the cravings) as commands. I bet it would also work well for emotional eating.

Hi lisa819, thank you for sharing your success with becoming smoke free using HALT.  Yes, I have started using it since Peggy suggested it.  For me it's just a matter of remembering to use it in the heat of the moment, which I am getting better and better at.

Yay! This site and its members totally rock!

The answer to your question about how to control emotional eating at work is - - do the private work long enough and you'll find fewer triggers for emotional eating, whether at home or at work.

There's been some very good suggestions for ways to distract your attention... use these tips. And as you work on the true emotional issues, you'll find yourself learning the difference between true hunger/hunger pains, and wanting to self-medicate with food. You'll be stronger in spirit, and will choose to not eat just because it will feel good for the moment.

Blessings to you, and all others who struggle with emotional eating.

Hi mspriff, thank you for the great advice in both your posts.  Yes, I have already noticed that as I practice the private work it is making me more aware and patient with my eating and in general while at work.

  Pretty fast results, naturally I'm keeping at it.  I especially like the writing when I'm angry till it's all out.  I can actually feel it leaving my body and feeling relaxed and lighter in Spirit when I'm done. 

There has been so much great advice on this post, every single reply has helped.

 Again, thank you for sharing everyone.

Best Wishes,

Jen