how can i stop comfort eating?

[boobesque]

i really need help, i have been a comfort eater from a young age and am desperate to stop, i have lost weight through weight watchers and its great, but i still have trouble controlling my emotional eating and when i do it i feel worse cos i feel guilty and i find it hard to get out of.

have any of you managed to break the cycle? how did you do it, what changed?

please help, i cant stand feeling like this.

[Scarlett]

I think if you turn to food when you are happy/sad/bored/tired etc, it is very difficult to break those habits. There are some things you can try though, such as having a cup of TEA or coffee BEFORE you eat anything-- NO biccies! And see how you feel after. Sometimes a nice cup of tea is all you need! You can also banish rubbish food from your cupboard, and fill it with lower fat snacks like crab sticks, grapes, nuts, snack-a-jacks, oatcakes.. your taste will soon change so you won't yearn for choc and sugar in the same way.OR you could take up a hands-busy hobby like knitting/crochet/addressing envelopes/whatever!! I also find when I am stressed a good SING does the trick for me, but I realise this is not everyone's cup of tea!!

[flump1]

oh boobesque, bless you ,hold on you can't change it all straight away.  Scarlett is dead right when she says these habits are hard to break, and thats all they are bad habits!!  Most of us have vices we might like to give up and can't. You have achieved so very much recently,don't be so hard on yourself. Adopt the advice Scarlett gave ,buy the less tempting goodies and habits will start to change but it is a gradual process . Remember a bit at a time. And if you do give in   don't worry try again. You might find it harder than you thought but you will get there  X

[maggie01]

try and stick with it . I have lost weight more times than I care  to remember on my own and through slimming clubs. Like you I comfort eat. Theres no easy answer but each time you put the weight back on the harder it is to lose it. Stick to going to weight watchers each month and perhaps this will help keep it off (this is something I didn't do) When you feel like eating, have a bath, pamper yourself anything that will make that moment pass. As Scarlett said  have a drink. Sometimes we eat first and drink after. Good luck stick with it. Reward yourself whenever you can with something new to show off your new figure.

[tranquility]

all of the above suggestions are really helpful, i sympathize with you. as you know trying to loose weight is not an easy thing. it makes it even harder when you hear people have done it - but you feel that you can't. from personal experience, I think that any body who succeeded, especially emotional eaters, they must have gotten themselves to a state of mind where it's feasable for them. and once they got to this point, bingo! it's like hitting the jack pot! they found a way to reach to this point first, then this new state of mind did most of the work for them. every one has their own method for reaching this point. for me, deep prayer was helpful. just saying one sentence of prayer each night while i was falling asleep - it's the best moment to drop the prayer in the subconsience where it's most efficient. ei: ( please dear God help me to reach to this state of mind where I can look food in the eye and say "NO" ). everybody has their own

[El D]

Until you realise that you are in control you won't ever stop - you see yourself as a comfort eater and it is part of your identity. Change this and the rest is easy - this calls for constant positive mental reinforcement. It's hard but the rewards are worth it.

[hannahjo]

Hi boobesque. All the above advice sounds really good, and although I�ve never suffered with comfort eating myself I sympathise and hope that what I have to share can be of some help too. I�m hypoglycemic, which means my blood sugar levels go up the spout if I eat sugar, so therefore I�ve practically had to cut it out of my diet which was hard seeing as one of the symptoms of hypoglycemia is a severe sugar addiction! I never thought I�d be able to do it, but even after just one month of no sugar it got easier, and I really felt the benefits. Sugar really changes your taste buds, and now that I�m off it I can notice natural sugars and flavours much more, so now when I feel I need something sweet fruit really hits the spot. And as fruit is so good, you can eat loads of it! Maybe if you tried to train your taste buds in the same way it could help you? Also, next time you feel like hitting the biscuit tin, brush your teeth instead � I find the mintyness takes away the craving for sugar and plus, everything tastes disguting after you�ve brushed your teeth! Hope it all goes well for you.

[Grimalkin]

Go for a walk/run instead; running is especially good.  Since running I have found that instead of junk I crave nutritious foods, and if you do end up eating calorific foods you have at least had some exercise to burn them off.  Also, you can't really eat anything for about an hour before (like swimming) so that's one less time to eat.