Emotional Eaters Unite

As I was scrolling on some of my Facebook groups this morning I came across this great table that showed you ways to figure out if you are eating because you are hungry or are you eating out of emotional hunger. This really made me sit back and pause and really think about all those unhealthy choices I have made and still sometimes still make. What I have figured out is that 99% of the time I am eating from an emotional hunger stand point. This of course is NOT a good thing, and it is something I struggle with on a daily basis and I have admit I do not have this thing licked yet. Heck yesterday I worked out with 3 1/2 hours of water aerobics and I ate good and what do I do last night on the way home from the gym? Stop at Starbucks for a Mocha Frappuchino! But the best part is that I ordered it with skim milk, and no whip or chocolate syrup on top so that saved me 280 calories, but still did I need that Frappuchino? Answer of course is heck no, but in my mind I was rationalizing "Angie you worked so hard today you deserve a treat" and you know what I did for the rest of the night??? Sat there and beat myself up, yelling at myself in my mind saying why are you sabotaging yourself Angie?

The truth is I will probably fall more than I will rise during this long journey into a healthier lifestyle, I will make those unhealthy choices in life and I will screw up. The difference though is will I pick myself up this time by the boot straps and start eating healthier and striving for a better life and the answer of course is YES. Over the years I have really learned that to me food became my best friend, it was there for me when no one else was. When I was going my horrible divorce and feeling all alone with no one to talk to, guess who was there to comfort me? Food. Food has been the one constant thing in my life, that no matter what happened my friend food never left me, never walked out the door, never gave up on me, never was disappointed me, never talked down to me  or abused me. Food was there to pick me up and again and make me feel warm and fuzzy again when my world was falling apart all around me.

But as we all know food really was never my best friend, because while yes it did make me feel so much better to eat a package of cookies than dealing with the fact my husband left me for another woman. Or eating a bag of salty Lays Potato chips rather than dealing with the fact that I no longer can stand to look at myself in the mirror. See while food felt like a best friend to me who was always there for me, when others weren't, food of course was ruining my life far worse than anyone or anything else.

The hardest part of being an emotional eater is like unlike being a drug addict or alcoholic, they can leave their addicted items behind, but with a food addiction we have to eat food every day to survive. So what I am learning is that you have to find other ways to deal with your emotions other than turning to food, which can be easy said than done. One of the things I have am having to work on is, the core root of my emotional eating and there are many things and reasons why I eat with my emotions, and learning these and dealing with them will help in the end. One of the things I personally try to do when I go and reach for a cookie or piece of cake or just anything unhealthy is I try to really think about that piece of food. Is that a good choice for how many calorie points I have left for today? Is this going to make me feel guilty after I eat it? Am I really hungry or do I think drinking a glass of water might satisfy this craving? For me personally these have really helped me out, and may help you out when you tend to reach for those wrong items instead of healthier choices. How do you deal with your emotional eating and making healthier choices in your life?