emotional eating

*This post is going to be about emotional and binge eating* if you don’t want to hear about it, then don’t read it!

Here’s to me being real, me, and authentic!

I’m a binge eater.

I know that.

This is not about beating myself up. This is about recognizing that, seeing that, learning from these experiences, and growing from my choices.

I do great eating in front of other people (family, friends, strangers) well for the most part.  Then, often times, once i’m alone. I go crazy eating wise. And eat, eat, and eat some more like there will be no tomorrow.

After the binge eating is over, i feel awful and sick to my stomach.  My brain just can not log that feeling into it’s memory for next time. It would be great for my brain to log that memory, so next time i want to do it — it goes, NO BRITTANY STOP! YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO THAT!!! Remember what you felt like last time this happened?!

I mean THAT would be amazing.

My binge eating is bad sometimes at night, when i’m alone. I’ve been working on finding things to do at night when i’m feeling like i’m going to binge. I’ll read, watch tv, blog, read different blogs, go outside, go for a drive. But i don’t always catch myself in those moments.

Sometimes my emotions get the better of me, before i notice i’ve eaten so much and i feel sick.  Food is not a comforter. We SHOULD NOT go to food for comfort.  But, we do. And i KNOW that I DO!

That habit of going to food for comfort is something that has been stuck for a long time. It’s something that i REALLY DO WANT to change. It will only change by better habits. It will only by living and dealing with the emotions. When i’m tired and lonely, that is okay– i don’t need to eat being tired and lonely away.  I need to sit with those emotions, and let it pass by. I WILL BE OKAY.  I DO NOT need to eat a certain amount of cookies or chips to make myself feel better. Using food as a way of comfort will not make me feel better, even if i think so at that moment.  But sometimes i do. And that’s what happens.

I’m a work in progress. I’m changing my life. Like Foodie McBody said during the Intuitive Eating panel, “It’s a mindstyle change.” Which really is the trust. We can go to weight watchers, we can follow 1,000 different diets. But if we DO NOT change the way our mind thinks and works, nothing is going to change.

I’m working on me.   ONE. DAY. AT. A. TIME.

Are you a binge or emotional eater? How do you deal?

What other tools have you found for dealing with wanting to eat emotionally?