IThinkICan's Journal, 21 June 2008

You know, there are apple chips (freeze dried apple slices) that one can drop a bag or two into your purse, and what about sf gum and tic tacs? AND, keep lots of bottled water around you. Filling up on a cold bottle of water FIRST leaves less room if you ARE going to eat something "off plan". Most drive thru windows sell water now, too! Hang in there. Life is filled with potholes, but you can avoid most of them by walking consciously. Good luck! 

Go somewhere away from food and stay busy. Work that extra energy off by taking a walk, shopping, go to the park, work in the yard, paint something, whatever. Make sure to take some healthy snacks to work to munch on when you're really feeling the stress. You can be strong. You have a choice here, choose to be healthy no matter what is going on. You can do it. If you must eat for comfort, find a good low calorie dessert or grab some almonds and drink a lot of fluids. Sometimes I'll get some coffee and sweeten it up with Splenda and SF Coffeemate. It can be satisfying and get me through a craving. Good luck! 

I hear you. Emotional eating totally runs in my family, and I really learned over the years to cover all of the uncomfortable feelings with food. Grad school was particularly hard for me, and the biggest weight gain I ever had was from the first year of my current job. When I crave something sweet, I try to have a bar of dark chocolate around. That's lower carbs and I try to savor each little piece, letting it melt in my mouth so that I feel like I'm having a treat. Also, when my job gets to me, I take short walks around the building. It's physically and mentally healthier to get up and stretch anyway.  

One way to counter emotional eating habits is to try to surround yourself with healthier foods. That's what I had to do. So that way, when you're stressed you'll still be eating healthy. Put some fruit, or some trail mix in & around your work desk/area. Pack your purse or work bag with healthy snacks & prepare your lunch at home instead going out. When I was an emotional eater I just ate whatever was around, especially at work where there's tons of food from meetings, potlucks, & birthdays, plus the vending machine which right in front of my office. So since I now keep healthy stuff in my office I haven't even touched that friggin machine in over 5 months (and I don't even miss it either) and rarely eat the food from around the office. So overall, try to plan what you eat, so when you get stressed out, you'll be eating better foods and doing your body good, instead of eating the junk foods. I wish you well