[lori5780]

I eat bc I am lonely, bored, depressed, angry, anxious, and I do it to not focus on how I feel and stuff my feelings. I need suggestions on what to do when I have the urge to eat. I know I shouldn't eat but I eat anyways. I want to stop doing this. Somebody please help me!

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[TealOrca12]

I hope other people will send feedback to you, too! I know how hard it is to sit on this when you're suffering and feeling "out of control" with eating.

I think most people, whether or not they'd admit it or realize it, have engaged in emotional eating. It's on a continuum, of course, so it doesn't necessarily cause major problems for everyone who does it. However, when it gets to the point where it's interfering with your life (and upsetting you), it can become a major issue.

Are you in therapy right now, for this, or other issues? A lot of times, emotional eating is a symptom of a greater issue. It sounds like you have insight into your feelings and notice the connection between the feeling and the eating. You are ahead of the game in this respect--some people don't even recognize that! I could sit here and give suggestions on what to do, but I am not you--and what works for me, may not be best for you. I think it helps to think about why you are doing it, and notice when it happens when you are not in the throes of an eating episode....like, keep a food diary or something like this. A lot of these behaviors are deeply ingrained in us (or learned from the environment) and are really hard to change. Don't feel alone--you are not!

I hope this wasn't too "therapizy." And, I hope you find more support and take steps to change this behavior and feel better!

[lori5780]

Thank you for writing me. I am in therapy but I am working hard on my ocd issues that I am not dealing with my emotional eating. I have too many issues. I just feel so frusterated with myself and angry at myself. I need to get myself under control. I am going to try to keep a food diary. I like that idea. I just need to stop eating!

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[possum220]

One things you could do is start writing when you feel you want to eat. Go for a walk........ and just breathe. Do something physical. Have a hobby. Dont buy food that you binge on. You cant stop eating. Food fuels your body. Just try not to use you body as a garbage bin.

Good Luck.

[SoupDragon]

I guess many of us on here do all sorts of things to cope with our feelings, I won't list them on here, but food can just be another way to do this and I think in some ways as we all need to eat, it is easier to do.

But then we can get into the cycle of eating, feeling guilty and then eating to cope with the guilty feelings.

So I think the "solution" is to try to get greater awareness of our feelings and work with T is a good place to do that.

I don't think there is a quick fix though and maybe by just trying to be kind to yourself and not giving yourself a hard time right now may also be helpful, particularly if you are already working on things with T. You don't need to feel criticised by yourself - like we would support a friend through this sort of thing and not say to a friend the things we often say to ourselves.

You sound like you want to make some changes in your life right now and you are doing something about that in seeing your T - I would just be patient with yourself. Soup