redgirl1974's Journal, 13 February 2019

I have loads of "shit" moments and going through major stress and depression and mindlessly eat. Then in the morning I lay in bed thinking of the things I ate the day before and again promise myself I won't do it today. 

I just sent you a message! You are still a rock star because you will never give up! 

I would recommend trying to focus that energy on a hobby or activity instead of eating. When stress starts giving the urge to eat I usually go out to my yard, smoke a cigar and listen to some music and the urge goes away. Maybe instead of a cigar you can have zero calorie soda or flavored water. Anything to fool your brain and make it think that you binged 

Maybe have something on hand that is still keto but would help in that moment??? Remove every food that may cause you to cheat from your home and workplace (I know, I know). Have lots of water bottles around to put something in your mouth when you need. If you can go for walk when things get problematic... No easy solutions so keep on going.  

Had a hard week last week, and did some emotional eating.... But I had pecans handy, so my only issue was that I ate a bit too much of a very healthy food.  

There will be days like this, especially at the beginning of your weight loss endeavor. A conscious decision to refuse a cookie eludes us at first but once you can consider your health over a cookie, you will refuse the cookie. Refusing cookies empowers you to refuse more and very soon, all cookies. There's nothing more exciting in weight loss than having to get rid of large clothes and feeling great in smaller clothes. Changing other habits helps, too. You're doing great and have a great attitude for staying on track and not allowing bumps in the road to detail you. 

I'm also an emotional eater. Stress triggers a compulsive response in me that has me looking to food to deal with that stress. I've been part of Celebrate Recovery group at church for a while, and it has helped me to really see this for what it is and identify things in my past that have made me that way. It's helping me to see it for what it is, and to find other, healthy ways to deal with the feelings/emotions other than eating. So instead of eating in reaction to the stress I can do other things...like take a walk, listen to some uplifting music, read (often some bible verses on my phone) and take some time to think about what I'm feeling tempted to do. By taking the time to do other things and give it some thought, I have the opportunity to change my compulsive eating behavior and make smarter choices. It helps to have some healthy things available to eat so there's a good eating choice as a substitute. In worst case scenario, sometimes I've taken what is tempting me, chewed it up thoroughly, then spit it out without swallowing and rinsed my mouth with water. I get the satisfaction of the chew and the taste, but don't ingest the offending food item. Just some ideas that might hopefully help. :) 

De-rail, not detail.  

Totally understand. We have gossipers in addition to normal work stress and the gossipers make sure they down people big time, who are not in their click. I try to make sure I have low-calorie foods or try to eat less of something. (Don't really want to hit the gossip group's doughnuts nor do I want to buy high calorie food from our snack bar.) I keep stuff like Good Thins Sweet Potato Crisps, which are 90/bag and stick to 1 bag. I also have bite sized chocolate and remind myself not to chew it. Just let it melt in my mouth. (This way I only eat 1 or 2.) When emotionally eating, I try to focus on how good I look or will look in my new clothes, eating SLOWLY, limiting myself to just 1, and pretending to blow bubbles. Yes, I blow invisible bubbles because it makes me exhale slowly.....exhaling slowly helps to release tension, so I can focus on the task and not the person. Also, I have a rule to never eat at my desk. (Been there, done that.) I have to at least walk to the break room or my car and eat my lunch. 

I am reading a book called The Power of Habit. Chapter one starts off with explaining how we set habits and the cycle is: trigger, behavior, reward creates craving, so the trigger will launch the behavior after a while without you thinking about it. You said it: you don't know how to avoid eating crap. Well, planning ahead will help. Get the bad food away from you - tough, I know, I have been trying to avoid cookies but can't, they are everywhere. But I work on having substitute stuff around instead and also been working on recognizing that I am hurting myself with the cookies on top of being stressed out about whatever. Hang in there, you will get this! 

I'm in the same boat...Just keep trying, be accountable and move on. 

Keep better food choices handy helps. 

Im in the process of cleaning out my office from all the crap in my drawers but growing up poor, I have a hard time just throwing it away. I work with 4 people in my office and they wont take my junk food and I dont want to take it home so not sure what to do with my "snacks". I did stock up today and came prepared, have a good lunch planned. I also find that if I eat a good hearty meal, Im less likely to binge BUT heres my problem.. I dont have nearly enough time to eat breakfast bc Ive been working out before work so I was gonna do interment fasting and just have a snack before my 11am lunch bc I just dont have time.. this is my weak zone.. 8-11am..Then if my day goes south,the excuses set in... I just need to figure this out..  

Just throw it out! If it is unopened with a good date you can donate it to a foodbank or something. Your coworkers do not want it for a good reason. I think that it is better to skip the fasting if it causes you to get oo hungry or to cheat. You can premake crustless quiches for breakfast. Leftovers make great breakfast just nuke it. I often do quick shakes that I can grab and run with if I have to.  

IMF REALLY REALLY helped me, this is the thing, though, for it to work I had to fast for over 36 hours. It gave me a chance to realize hungry goes away, I won't die, and how to think of other things that wanting food. At about 9 and 18 hours I was ready to give up, but I wanted to stick to my commitment, and figured I didn't want to waste all the time I had already invested, and I made it (some of those hours are sleep hours, and that parts easy). NO FOOD, NO SNACKS, just water, tea, and coffee. It reset my perspective on what I "HAD TO" have. I proved to myself that I AM THE ONE IN CONTROL, not my terrorist children, my control freak husband, or my psychopathic boss (Just kidding guys, you are great ;P (uh-huh, everybody gets a blue ribbon)) They don't get to bully or criticize me into sabotaging myself. In fact, now I enjoy relishing in the power they DONT have over me. You know why I am doing this? BECAUSE I CAN. You can too! Its the easiest thing in the world once you make up your mind. Don't let those toads control you, they are only bringing you down because it makes them feel better about themselves. You don't need a therapist because you are the best thing that happened to you, you are asking all the right questions and you WANT to get it done. Everybody fails, but what happens after that makes all the difference. You CAN do it.  

Sometimes when you are having a crap day just getting away from the cookies helps, but when you are stuck in the office it is tough. We used to have a food day every Friday so I know how hard the temptations are. I was probably in front of the line when it was time to eat. Take a deep breath and shrug it off. Take a walk on your lunch break. 

I’m a stress eater also and I’ve.had a very rough year and what really helps me is when I take my mind off my problems and pray for others and read scripture for a few minutes. When I’m done, my urge to grab is usually over and I’m in a better frame of mind. Bible app in your phone is awesome! 

I'm also a stress eater (and a bored eater). A couple things I've learned is that if I drink a big glass of water and then take just a 5 minute walk, I'll feel a lot better than if I'd eaten something. It took a while to recognize that I was stress eating before I could actually do something different. Recognizing the problem is the hardest part. Altering your behavior is the 2nd hardest, but it gets easier with practice.  

Herbal tea with a little honey to satisfy the sweet tooth. And I read a lot. 

why does this happen.. I just had a "moment" here at work where some jerk tried to throw me under the bus.. Im extremely emotional today bc of TOM and naturally I wanted to start balling then eat a darn cookie.. I sucked it up but I could honestly see myself eating that f**king cookie in a moment of weakness.. Im passed it but annoyed that it was even a thought. I just kept reminding myself of my long term goal.. I want to wear shorts this summer.. I want to wear cute clothes..I want to be healthy.. I want to feel better.. a big f*** you to that cookie !!!