Emotional Eating

 

 

Eating to feed a feeling, and not a growling stomach, is emotional eating.

 

Emotional eating or stress eating whatever you feel comfortable in calling it is REAL. I have to admit that I am an emotional eater. When I feel overly stressed and not sure how to handle life the first thing I reach for is comforting food such as Twix bar, cookies, and anything I can get my hands on. For some reason for that second that comforting food makes me happy and not think about everything that is going on around me for that split second. The problem is- I regret it as soon as I finish. Emotional eating is a big reason on why I feel that I haven’t lost as much as I could have this year or even last year. I swore that I was going to be at my goal weight at least by June 2014 yet I still have around 60 pounds to go. I have defiantly gotten better with emotional eating but it is still times where I give in!

       I am the type of person who does not handle stress well and sometimes I let the stress consume my life. I typically hold so much in and then once one more thing gets added to the top it just overwhelms me to the point where food is basically my outlet. Being an emotional eater and being addicted to food in general is two different things. I have never been addicted to food but I defiantly have that feeling when I am in a stressful situation. It is common for food to be the first thing that a person reaches for. It is a mental thing that you have to train your mind to stop doing. I have figured out way to handle my stress better such as just going to the gym, going for a walk, calling up and friend and venting about my issues. The top thing that I have done is not to keep bad food WHAT-SO-EVER in my home. If it is something that I want badly I would have to go out to eat it which is not likely. I’m still learning about dealing with it while I am at work since I have a vending machine basically in front of me but I usually do not keep cash/change on me at all to prevent myself from going to it. Food is never the solution to handle your issues because after you eat it you will still have the SAME problems! We have to find a way to deal with our issues instead of trying to avoid them!

Diet vs. Lifestyle change

Diet- to eat less food or to eat only particular kinds of food in order to lose weight: to be on a diet (merriam-webster)

 

Most likely when you hear the word diet it makes your skin crawl. When you think of diet you think of eliminating something completely that you probably always eat. I have tried every diet in the book from Atkins to HCG which are both extreme diets. A diet is something that is meant for a short period of time. Usually it is not something that you should realistically do for more than a couple of months.  It seemed like every week I was doing a new diet where I would just keep gaining and losing the same weight because I was never consistent. Finally I went to the doctor and also did a lot of research where in order to get the results that I wanted I needed to set a long term goal and stop looking for a quick fix. That is where a “lifestyle change” became the answer for me. With a lifestyle change I began to focus more on being healthy instead of trying to drop weight quickly. Of course I want this weight to come off of me as quick as possible but I also want to do it the healthy way. With the lifestyle change I basically eat healthy 80% of the time and then 20% of the time if I have a craving I eat it!!! This is a change that is more realistic as appose to just eliminating certain foods out of your diet because at some point you will probably give in where you will find yourself over eating. With my 80/20 lifestyle change I do allow myself 1 cheat meal a week which typically is either Chipotle or a sandwich from Jimmy Johns which really isn’t a cheat but I no longer have cravings for fast food such as McDonalds (ill never eat there again) Wendy’s, Cookout, ect. If I was to go to one of those places honestly it would be once in a 6 month time period and I probably would be on vacation or something.  With my lifestyle change I never feel hungry I eat mostly protein (some form of lean meat) Greek yogurt (light& fit) fruits, veggies, oats , gallon of water a day, almonds, kettle corn pop corn (100 calories), and when I get a chocolate craving I get Russell Stover’s sugar free chocolate which usually is when my cycle is on(tmi). Losing weight does NOT have to be hard at all. You just basically have to make better choices. Even if you want that chicken sandwich or those ribs you can still have it but you just have to make a healthier version of it. An example of a healthier version of a chicken sandwich is make sure the chicken is baked not friend and choose either whole wheat bun or if u want to go over and behold use lettuce in place of the bun! Limit your sauces also! Mustard (0 calories) is always my go to sauce!! There is always a way to make your favorite meal more healthy! You just have to do your research on it! I promise you that Google has all of the answers lol! So before you think about doing another diet how about you just try to do a lifestyle change because it is a greater chance that you will stick to it! Consistency is the biggest key! Keep at the healthy eating and exercising at minimum 3 times a week (for a hour)  and I promise you that you will see change OVERTIME! Its 80% nutrition and 20% exercise! I always suggest getting you’re eating down first before focusing on exercising.

 

The pressure of being public with your weight loss journey.

The picture on the left was in 2010 and the picture on the right is a current picture. Now that I look back I do not remember myself being that large. When I looked in the mirror yes I saw a big person but not as big as I really was. I believe that our minds play tricks on us to make us think that the way we are is okay. Even now when I look in the mirror 100 pounds lights I still see the person that I once was. I have heard that it takes you longer to mentally accept losing weight as appose to the physical aspects of losing weight. When I decided to go public with my weight loss journey it was basically a way for me to hold my self accountable by taking pictures of my process and to help me remember food ideas that I come up with. I never thought that I would have people calling me their "inspiration" or asking me for advice on how to lose weight. There is a lot of pressure that comes along when you present your self to the world. It like everyone is watching your every move. Most want to see you succeed but their is also some that want to see you fail. I do love that I have shared my journey because of all the support that I have received from people all across the world. I feel that I have more people in my corner thru social media than in real life sometimes. Being that I have been overweight my entire life I do not think that some people understand the toll that it takes on a person.  I do not feel that being obese was a choice for me. It just was something that I was/am but thankfully it is something I can correct and control now.
           Once I became serious with my journey and started being more open as far as letting people know that I am trying to lose weight it seemed like everyone had an opinion as far as what I was doing or what I was eating. A person could be sitting beside me eating McDonald's yet questioning a protein bar that I could be eating. People would think one piece of bread would automatically make me gain my 100 pounds back. When you are overweight facing yourself is already a huge battle so when people that are close to you start to judge what you are doing it makes life even tougher. The last thing that I need is someone asking me "Should you be eating that?". The fact is I can eat whatever I want to eat! But I am the one who is choosing this path! I am so far from perfect! 85% of the time I do GREAT with my eating but there are time where I want some peanut butter cookies or a freaking waffle which is totally fine! My life is not all about trying to be skinny I am just trying to be healthy overall.