emotional overeating?

I have been away a while and just getting back into the groove the past 2 weeks, and I am wondering if anyone else struggles with emotional eating lately? I have really been dealing with alot lately and i cant seem to stop my old bad habits. Im very frustrated with myself right now for not having a better way to deal with stress. Any advice? Thanks Kathryn

You are certainly not alone on that one Kathryn. Before WLS I ate emotionally really badly and very consciously too. I've been working really hard on it, knowing it is something I needed to conquer and heal on this journey just as much as I needed to lose weight. I still do it, although not nearly as much now. I go to put something in my mouth when I am mad/angry mostly now. But as I reach for it I tell myself that I am hurting myself, not the person/cir****tance that I am reacting to. Ultimately, it is me it will affect long term. Each time you know you are emotionally eating, talk to yoursef internally and work out which you want more. Yeh, I know probably at that moment in time the food will win out rather than long term satisfaction If you are anything like me that is But the thing is that you are re-training your mind, flexing and strengthenign that muscle, just as you would in an exercise class. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. I dont' mean to give you a pat answer - there isnt' one and it's a tough road. Take one incident at a time and give yourself credit when you succeed - even if the success is that you didn't eat as much as you normally would have - you had 10 cookies instead of the whole packet!! It is still sucess and you can build on it - you need to build the foundations before you can build the house - if you get me? Sorry this is a very long reply, but it is somethign I am dealign with too. When I am stressed my eating goes chaotic. There are lots of de-stress strategies to try - keep tryign til you find one that works for you.

This was posted on another board. its all stuff we know but dont think to do.. i hope it helps or just reminds you of some strategies you can use.... Emotional Eaters by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. Emotion Eaters are often at a loss to explain why the pounds they've lost creep back again, and they may blame themselves for their lack of willpower. But, in truth, it's really a lack of self-awareness that's to blame -- not being aware of what it is that drives them to eat so much. Here are the characteristics: The Emotion Eater only overeats when she's feeling a strong emotion, such as anger or depression. The Emotion Eater frequently overeats immediately after getting home from work. The Emotion Eater tends to eat whenever she is bored. Sometimes, out of the blue, the Emotion Eater finds that she is incredibly hungry, and she almost feels as if she's starving for food. The Emotion Eater usually feels uncomfortable openly displaying or talking about her feelings. The metaphysical basis of emotion eating is a belief that other people keep interfering with her attempts to fulfill her life purpose. She believes that if only her children, neighbors, boss, co-workers, teachers, parents, and lover would cooperate, she could get to work on her purpose. The affirmation for the Emotion Eater is: "I am the sole creator of my life. I choose now to put loving, creative, and consistent energy and enthusiastic effort into discovering and fulfilling my life purpose. I take total responsibility for structuring my time." One of the main "problems" that Emotion Eaters face is that they feel hungry a great deal of the time. Their solution in the past has been to eat every time they felt hungry. Unfortunately, since they were often so hungry, this meant that they would eat a lot of food and gain a lot of weight in the process. Step #1: Identify Your Fattening Feelings If you are someone who eats to quell emotions, it's important, at this point, to start paying attention to your feelings of hunger. What you'll probably discover in doing so is that much of what you've labeled hunger is actually something else -- anger, boredom, fatigue, depression, or loneliness. There are huge differences between emotional hunger and physical hunger, as the chart that follows outlines: The Eight Traits of Emotional Hunger Emotional Hunger: Is sudden. One minute you're not even thinking about food, the next minute you're starving. You hunger goes from 0-60 within a short period of time. Physical Hunger: Is gradual. Your stomach rumbles. One hour later, it growls. Physical hunger gives you steadily progressive clues that it's time to eat. Emotional Hunger: Is for a specific food. Your cravings are for one certain type of food, such as pasta, chocolate, or a cheeseburger. With emotional eating, you feel that you need to eat that particular food. No substitute will do! Physical Hunger: Is open to different foods. With physical hunger, you may have food preferences, but they are flexible. You are open to alternate choices. Emotional Hunger: Is "above the neck." An emotionally based craving begins in the mouth and the mind. Your mouth wants to taste the pizza, chocolate, or doughnut. Your mind whirls with thoughts about your desired food. Physical Hunger: Is based in the stomach. Physical hunger is recognizable by stomach sensations. You feel gnawing, rumbling, emptiness, and even pain in your stomach with physical hunger. Emotional Hunger: Is urgent. Emotional hunger urges you to eat NOW! There is a desire to instantly ease emotional pain with food. Physical Hunger: Is patient. Physical hunger would prefer that you ate soon, but doesn't command you to eat right at that very instant. Emotional Hunger: Is paired with an upsetting emotion. Your boss yelled at you. Your child is in trouble at school. Your spouse is in a bad mood. Emotional hunger occurs in conjunction with an upsetting situation. Physical Hunger: Happens out of physical need. Physical hunger occurs because it has been four or five hours since your last meal. You may experience light-headedness or low energy if overly hungry. Emotional Hunger: Involves automatic or absent-minded eating. Emotional eating can feel as if someone else's hand is scooping up the ice cream and putting it into your mouth ("automatic eating"). You may not notice that you've just eaten a whole bag of cookies ("absent-minded eating"). Physical Hunger: Involves deliberate choices and awareness of the eating. With physical hunger, you're aware of the food on your fork, in your mouth, and in your stomach. You consciously choose whether to eat half of your sandwich or the whole thing. Emotional Hunger: Does not stop eating in response to fullness. Emotional overeating stems from a desire to cover up painful feelings. The person stuffs herself to deaden her troubling emotions, and she will eat second and third helpings even though her stomach may hurt from being overly full. Physical Hunger: Stops when full. Physical hunger stems from a desire to fuel and nourish the body. As soon as that intention is fulfilled, the person stops eating. Emotional Hunger: Feels guilty about eating. The paradox of emotional overeating is that the person eats to feel better, and then ends up berating herself for eating cookies, cakes, or cheeseburgers. She promises to atone ("I'll exercise, diet, skip meals, etc., tomorrow"). Physical Hunger: Realizes eating is necessary. When the intent behind eating is based in physical hunger, there's no guilt or shame. The person realizes that eating, like breathing oxygen, is a necessary behavior. (SOURCE: from Constant Craving : What Your Food Cravings Mean and How to Overcome Them, by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D., published by Hay House, Inc., 1995)

I struggle with it daily, but so far I won't completely give in. I don't want to be fat again

I'm in the same boat and I keep paddling forward even if it's inch by inch as opposed to mile by mile like i'd like. ANDI