Emotional Eating

[DeeDee]

In one way this is one of those things that makes me exactly like all the other women in my family, we all use food as a crutch when we are dealing with emotional issues, a hard day or a horrible, teary or depressed mood often leads to that almost automatic reaching for chocolate, or sweet biscuits(cookies) or stodgy comfort carb filled food like mac 'n' cheese and pizza.

I am trying my best to lose weight, and I know exercise will help the most, even though I mentally struggle to drag myself out the door instead of going back to bed, but having had a really sad morning I had to literally stop myself from buying a chocolate bar when I was picking up something for my sons lunch and mentally tricked myself by buying a chocolate advent calendar that I can't eat yet.

 

Has anyone here ever managed to break that food dependancy pattern?

 

[Jackie C.]

Break? No. I've been managing it though by finding healthy alternatives and drinking more water. I still have the occasional bad day food binge, but I try and keep the "locusts attacked my kitchen" days to a minimum. Another way I manage it is to not have any (well, much, Susan has a stash) of the foods I KNOW that I'll binge on in the house. Also, for "bags of things" (I'm looking at YOU trail mix), I always take out a serving sized portion then go eat it in the other room. That helps to keep me from just swallowing the whole bag.

 

Hugs!

[DeeDee]

@Jackie C. Yeah, I know what I should be eating, but soup or a salad just doesn't hit the same emotional sweet spot as a homemade cheeseburger and I get bored of them easily.

I have limited the amount of crisps and sweets I buy in now, and am pretty much forcing my son to eat the fruit and yoghurt he says he likes instead of buying the chocolate, but that impulse to get it at the shop is still there lol.

My one win is that I have managed to pretty much cut bread out of my life as up until a few years ago the food did not exist that I wouldn't consume in a sandwich and even going gluten free just made me more determined to find or make good gf bread.

Trying to find alternatives for those wee snacks and the nightly rummaging around the cupboards is what gets me too. I need a cupboard that smacks my hand when I open it.?‍♀️

[Jackie C.]

There are still healthier ways to do that. For example: I made Korean fried chicken last week. I used the air fryer to keep the greasy bits from piling up and a spray to keep everything nice and moist. My friend Ray lives on eggs, salmon and nuts. I can't do that. Just no. I do what I can and exercise though. It seems to be working (keeping in mind that I'm down to 190 pounds from 300).

Cravings need to be at least partially indulged as soon as they arrive. If you put it off, you'll binge harder. You don't generally need a lot though. Just a little bit.

We've got a good GF bakery around the corner and down the block. Necessary because my wife has celiac disease. So yeah, everything I eat is gluten-free.

 

I do soup and sandwiches twice a week for dinner. Tomato basil soup with grilled ham and cheese is awesome. Learning to do it with GF bread was a little challenging, but I got it eventually. I do pretty good GF stuffed French toast on the weekends too when the mood strikes me (if I haven't already eaten all the eggs). I just make sure to limit my carb intake for the rest of the day so I can have a good splurge.

 

That's working for me anyway. If you're craving something, eat it. If you're emotionally eating (which I don't do as much anymore, the exercise and therapy helped with that), recognize that you're doing it and take steps to stop it. Exercise and transitioning so I don't hate myself so much was a winning combination for me. That and wanting to be as fit as some of my friends. The gym is a big motivator. I keep thinking, "OH! I want to look like that!"

 

Hugs!

[Gabriel]

This topic should come with a warning. I wasn't hungry and was planning not to eat anything more tonight and now I'm craving dipps.

 

To make it worse, I can't even help you. The only thing that works for me is making myself some herbal tea normal tea that I fancy (that's why I have so many different kinds of tea at home), with stevia. It works, except when it doesn't.

[DeeDee]

5 hours ago, Jackie C. said:

Exercise and transitioning so I don't hate myself so much was a winning combination for me.

❤️ Thanks Jackie, I honestly hadn't considered that I am still mistreating the body I don't care about. I need to remind myself that I have to turn these moobs into boobs! ?

I have made some good changes but still need to do more, when I am out and exercising I love it, but it is always hard to get out in the first place.

I found that 1 cup gf flour, 1 cup oat/soya milk and 1 large egg makes a superb thick and creamy pancake batter - my kids love them. Though I should add they also love it when I make them sushi rolls for lunch.

 

Sorry @Gabriel, I am a true omnivore, with the exception of pink fish, mushrooms and liver/offal there is not much I wont eat, and so I just enjoy food in general. It is the quantity and quality that tends to be lacking

 

I like green tea, nettle tea and peppermint tea outside of my normal everyday blends, I have never gotten on well with fruit teas because I want them to taste as sweet as the warm juice I had in my childhood.

[Jackie C.]

1 hour ago, DeeDee said:

I like green tea, nettle tea and peppermint tea outside of my normal everyday blends

 

I've been using peppermint tea to wake up since I ditched the caffeine. Drop in a little honey... lovely.

 

1 hour ago, DeeDee said:

I found that 1 cup gf flour, 1 cup oat/soya milk and 1 large egg makes a superb thick and creamy pancake batter - my kids love them

 

I completely cheat on that. Bisquick has a GF pancake batter mix. I've been using almond milk as a dairy substitute though. I'm a little dairy intolerant and one of my friends is completely lactose intolerant (and sometimes I bake for friends, this Tuesday for example...). Though I originally switched for the extra potassium so I could drop it into a protein shake. It also keeps longer which is nice.

 

1 hour ago, DeeDee said:

❤️ Thanks Jackie, I honestly hadn't considered that I am still mistreating the body I don't care about. I need to remind myself that I have to turn these moobs into boobs! ?

 

Learning to like myself prompted a bunch of lifestyle changes. When I finally started to transition, I had gotten to the point where I went to bed each night praying for death. I hadn't moved more than absolutely necessary since High School and ate like a garbage disposal in a McDonalds. It was not pretty.

Once I started transitioning though, I had this picture of the woman I wanted to be in my head and started taking steps to bring her into reality. There was a lot of, "Does Jackie live in a dirty house? No she does NOT!" and "Does Jackie lay around like a slug? Of course she doesn't!" I'm not living my best life yet, but it's certainly better than it was before.

 

Hugs!

[Gabriel]

10 hours ago, Jackie C. said:

I had this picture of the woman I wanted to be in my head and started taking steps to bring her into reality. There was a lot of, "Does Jackie live in a dirty house? No she does NOT!" and "Does Jackie lay around like a slug? Of course she doesn't!" I'm not living my best life yet, but it's certainly better than it was before.

 

That's uber helpful Jackie. Thank you

[Gabriel]

10 hours ago, DeeDee said:

I honestly hadn't considered that I am still mistreating the body I don't care about

 

Gee, I hadn't see that either, althoug my pattern is more "starve it / binge eat / starve it again"

[DeeDee]

14 hours ago, Jackie C. said:

Once I started transitioning though, I had this picture of the woman I wanted to be in my head and started taking steps to bring her into reality. There was a lot of, "Does Jackie live in a dirty house? No she does NOT!" and "Does Jackie lay around like a slug? Of course she doesn't!" I'm not living my best life yet, but it's certainly better than it was before.

This is absolutely the sort of thing I was hoping to hear about. Thank you!  

[Teri Anne]

I tend to emotionally eat sometimes if I'm feeling down or really bored Since covid and the staying home thing my weight has gotten out of control.

There are times I feel guilty for getting so heavy that I just think what the heck and eat anyway.

[DeeDee]

5 hours ago, Teri Anne said:

There are times I feel guilty for getting so heavy that I just think what the heck and eat anyway.

I do this sometimes too and I recognise it as self sabotage, because in my mind I want to be a UK 12-14 which is what I have always seen as healthy weight, not svelt or supermodel thin, but enough to be able to buy in most places. I may not get there with my shoulders but I want to at least try.

When I go through those phases in my head I start calling myself fat and then tell myself that everyone will laugh at the fat (insert insult here) trying to be a woman. One of my sisters would kill to be down to my weight, but she understands the cycle as she has had a lot to deal with too, our other sisters have always been thin and active. 

By sabotaging through food it lets me off the hook and I can go back to not doing anything, but also makes it possible to have moobs which, with a padded bra, allow for a shape I pine to see in the mirror and am loathe to lose,even if they are hairy.

 

That being said, now I am not hiding behind my internal transphobia I want to fix it and silence my inner critic so I have gone back to my couch25k app and restarted it for the 3rd or 4th time in the last two years and have refused to buy in crisps and chocolate and started drinking at least a pint of water each day.

[Teri Anne]

I wish all the luck in getting to your goal weight.

When I first started dressing I was on the slim side and never thought I looked passable because I had no boobs or curves.

That was almost as bad as being fat really.

At least now I can pass easier to some degree but still its not a female body if that makes sense.