Does emotional eating fit in here?

The closest thing I have to an eating disorder is eating when I'm:

bored
angry
sad
upset

I've started to get a handle on it lately and trying to avert my attention elsewhere. I now know that eating isn't going to make things better. In fact it's going to make me feel worse because I'm trying to take off the 10-15 pounds I'd put on since summer, and it's going to undo the gains I have made this past month.

It's still hard to not want to comfort myself with food when I'm feeling bummed out.

Oh yea for sure. It all stems from some type of emotion, I'm sure. When I engage in my eating disordered activities, even while I may not know the cause, it's related to an emotion. A big problem I have is that I struggle to know what an emotion is and so while I may be doing something detremental to my health, it's hard to see that it is caused by emotions or events that trigger emotions. I also struggle to know how to define an emotion. But, I think reactions such as eating disordered activities totally have to do with emotions.

Okay, not sure any of that made sense by the end and I think I kind of talked in circles, but I do think, yes, emotional eating fits here for sure.

You're doing great though to be able to get a handle on it. Keep up the good work, I know it's hard!

i know its hard to distract yourself. my husband eats when hes stressed or sad or angry and i know that no matter how i try to divert his attention, its an urge he has to fight. dont know if this might help you, but i've found that getting out of the house for a while, away from the fridge and the pantry, seems to help a lot. if its not too cold, go for a walk outside. not only are you away from temptation but if you want to lose weight, walking is a good place to start. it also helps to keep things around that you wont feel guilty eating. . . crunchy carrots, sweet apples, fresh peppers, or blueberries with nonfat yogurt.
wishing you luck and am happy to hear you have a handle on things.

Thanks guys.

GF, I was thinking of the healthy food thing too, but the thing is, I'm still eating to stuff the feelings, so it's still self defeating. Catch-22

It's been really cold the past few days with the wind chill. I go jump on my mini trampoline for a few minutes until the urge to eat passes.

Yes, you better believe that "Emotional Eating" fits in here - it is the number one health problem in America.... we turn to food for comfort at all corners - heck that is where my extra 40 pounds if from...... Eeeek!
The best I can do is to work on my issues and then maybe (just maybe) I can let the FAT go that is helping to protect me, if only for the moment - for in the long run I hurt even more than I was when I ate the whole thing - another Eeeek!

((((((( HUGS )))))))) ~ ~ ((((((( HUGS ))))))))


LoVe,
Rhapsody -

I have an extra 80 thanks to emotional eating. sure wish I could get rid of it *sigh*

Sigh,,,,,it works the other way too. When I get stressed, I always end up feeling so sick to my stomach that I can't eat & end up way below 100. Luckily I am only 5'2" but anything below 104 puts me at risk & it usually goes down to the low 90's or low 80's.

Neither way is healthy & both seem to be control issues. But if you look at the DSM-IV, eating disorders also include body image issues like thinking I look too fat when I weigh so little. The body image is a big part of the DX for an eating disorder, & without that, it truely isn't an eating disorder. I actually realized that I looked like a walking skeleton but felt so sick I just couldn't get any food down. The DX in the medical hospital where I was getting the central line with the TPN was anorexia, there was a big argument by the DR's as to the actual DX.

I found out that any time your eating & weight is not within it's healthy range it is named anorexia or overeating however the treatment has to help with the issue that is causing the eating problem & not the body image which the eating disorder centers concentrate on. The only real problem with it is that the Dr's want to take the easy way out & try to force you into an eating disorders center. When looking for treatment after being in the hospital for 2 months being treated for my anemia & mal nutrition (anorexia), I was told my an eating dirorders treatment center that they couldn't help treat me for my weight loss cause & that I should look into a PTSD treatment center....(unfortunately they didn't know how to treat the trauma I went through either).....just typical of everything I go through.

When you are having a problem that is causing an eating disorder, it is important to treat the cause & not the condition otherwise the eating issue will not go away.
Debbie