[Deilla]

Lately I've been eating because I've been upset. Often, I wake in the middle of the night and stand in front of the fridge until I find something to stuff my face with. I don't know why I'm doing that. I know I'm really stressed and I think not sleeping well makes your cortisol levels higher which causes more emotional eating.

I will try to be compassionate with myself and keep working on my emotions in a healthier way via yoga, meditation, journaling and art. How do you try to deal with the urge to overeat?

[Yzen]

I try to add delays into eating. I have trouble snacking on sugary food at work whenever I'm stressed (which is most days ). When you feel the emotion that triggers wanting to eat, try to delay the impulse to go get food. Tell yourself, you will eat later and then think to yourself about the emotions you are feeling and how you can response to those emotions in a way that aligns more with who you are. At work, I ask myself 'why does this situation stress me?' and 'how can I respond to this feeling in a way that will help me?'.

For me, it takes breaking the automatic response with adding a delay. If I don't stop and delay and think, I will just automatically get something bad to eat.

[thelovelylies]

Try to stop and think about what you're doing, if you can. Think about how destructive it is to you, and how it's not a good coping mechanism. I know from experience.

[Deilla]

Originally Posted by Yzen

I try to add delays into eating. I have trouble snacking on sugary food at work whenever I'm stressed (which is most days ). When you feel the emotion that triggers wanting to eat, try to delay the impulse to go get food. Tell yourself, you will eat later and then think to yourself about the emotions you are feeling and how you can response to those emotions in a way that aligns more with who you are. At work, I ask myself 'why does this situation stress me?' and 'how can I respond to this feeling in a way that will help me?'.

For me, it takes breaking the automatic response with adding a delay. If I don't stop and delay and think, I will just automatically get something bad to eat.

That is a great approach! Thanks for sharing. I will definitely give that a try. I'll let you know how it goes.

Agree.. there is a book called "delay don't deny" that might be a helpful slogan. I am doing "time restricted eating" and I have to say.. it has killed my "eat eat eat" voice. The *science* behind it says that eating all the time (and eating sugar) just makes you want more all the time. If I really want something I say ok I can have it, but tomorrow. And almost always, tomorrow I decide I don't really want it.