Sunday, January 20, 2008

Emotional Eating

According to the weather report, it didn't get above 13 degrees today, and at 7AM tomorrow, when I wake up, it will be 3 degrees. When did I move to the Artic???

Today, I read a post on my health and fitness board about emotional eating. This is a touchy subject for me, especially since I *think* I am an emotional eater. Granted, sometimes I think I eat because I'm bored. For instance, if I buy a bag of chips or cheetos (a big weakness of mine!!), I will easily eat the whole bag in a matter of days. The ironic thing is that in buying that bag of cheetos at the store, I will make a mental note that they are "natural" and that in one serving, I should only have 27 cheetos. Then, I'll go home and eat half of the bag. Argh.

Recently, I bought a tray of Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. There were six of them in the tray. Twice, I ate two of them in one night. Why? Was I upset? No. Was I hungry? Not particularly. Was I bored? Probably.... and I recognize this is a problem. It's especially a problem when I have a refrigerator FULL of healthy alternatives, like oranges, pickles, carrots, grapes, or even sugar free Jello.

I've come to the conclusion that I need to treat myself like any addict and cut myself off cold turkey. Compulsive eating is like smoking... if you're trying to quit, keeping a pack of "lites" around the house for the occasional smoke isn't going to help you quit. Instead, you'll find yourself lighting up more, because you're rationalizing that because they are "lites" it's okay for you to smoke them. Just like it's not okay to have two Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches because it says "Skinny Cow" on the label.

This week, I'm sticking to healthy alternatives. If I'm going to have a treat (which I'm planning on doing on Tuesday night when I go to a job-related dinner), I'll enjoy it there, away from my house, which is a bad-snack free zone :)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

First of all let me start off by saying that to blog this journey is amazing! I read your recent blogs and I can relate to so much...you actually had me laughing. I will be an avid reader and offering advice and support where I can. As a biggest loser fan (I am as well) have you checked out the website? I joined before Christmas and lost 8 lbs. (This is huge since I tend to gain 10 and lose 5 through out the rest of the year!) Also I purchased the newest biggest loser videos. I love them. The last season contestants are working out in it before they got skinny.

Keep things changing...boredom with anything will give you the case of the f*** its!

Jodi said...

Starting by not bringing the bad stuff into the house is an excellent step. If its not there you won't be tempted and you will eventually get to the point of actually craving what is good for you in a month or so. I used to have a 4 20oz Cokes a day habit when I worked for the fire department. I started craving it again during comps and you know what? It didn't even taste the same after not having it around for the last two years. Easy to quite it this time around. You'll find the same thing.

Anonymous said...

OOooh I like your thinking on this!! And I know that for me, I'm addicted to eating too: whether I'm sad, bored, angry - it makes me feel better for a few minutes. *sigh* You're right though - I think cold turkey is the way to go. Good luck!!!

Sam said...

Hey - this is me - I eat when I am bored - am currently trying to ask myself "are you hungry" or "what do you want to do instead" - will have to see how that goes!