You did exactly what you just did. You wrote it down for us to read. I just did this too a few days ago. Wonderful people here just told me to start tomorrow anew. Obviously they will help you too.

I too am an emotional eater. I knew from the very begining for me to be able to succeed, I would have to get my heart and mind just as fit as my body. I needed to get those emotions out. Personally I started with my mom. She and I could not stand being in the same room for more than 5 minutes before getting into an argument. Now we can last not just hours but weeks together! We are all different and you need to decide what's best for you. Emotions are hard as they have been with us for so many years. I have to remember that I didn't get to be like this overnight so it will be a forever journey. Same ting with relationships/emotions. I just swtched my thnking around and took up a hobby and go to the gym. Funny how now I see food and think of it in calories then calculate how many more minutes or even hours of running on the treadmill I would have to do to burn it off! Have fun and try to relax. It's a learning process that is going to take some time. Godd luck!

There are a lot of ways to handle the emotional aspect I google and read everything I can get my hands on. I find other things to keep me busy. I am not a giant success, I need another fill too! I have had two and am chomping at the bit to get the next one. I am stuck at a certain weight and some days it goes up one and I nearly have a fit. I am so afraid to fail at this too, but everyone says it will get better when we are adjusted to where we need to be. I say give it time and dont beat yourself up this is considered banster hell. Good luck and stay in touch. We can do this!!

I've been there and actually am still battling emotional eating. I see a therapist to deal with the problems that drive the emotional eating. I do a lot of reading on the topic too. Eating Mindfully by Susan Albers has been very helpful. Any Geneen Roth book is great as well. I also find that exercise really helps keep my appetite down. I've had my band 3 years and after one year my surgeon told me I had failed and should consider bypass. I had no restriction and for the past 2 yrs I totally gave up. But in October I started with a new surgeon and he checked the fluid in my band and said it was nowhere near full. Now I have restriction and it's a great thing - finally!!!! But I sure wish I hadn't wasted 2 yrs completely giving up and gaining weight by emotional eating. I just take it one day at a time and am learning how to break old habits. I wish you well. I know you can do this.

I agree with the ideas above, with one thing to add. There's one thing my nutritionist had me do that has helped me tremendously with this. She suggested I make a coping "tool box." It can be real or imagined, but mine is actually a shoe box. You fill it with things that will take your mind off of wanting to eat. In mine I have a few books, a word search and sudoku book, some soothing music CDs, and a handful of other things that will inspire me. When my brain starts screaming at me, I make a cup of tea (the temperature and taste help) and pull something out of the box to occupy myself. It has helped me more than any other thing I've done to help control the emotional eating. I wish you luck and will be praying for you.

I am a terrible emotional eater. I am struggling with it a good bit since having my surgery a month ago. I try to stay out of the kitchen if I am feeling the urge to eat. I go for a 5 minute walk around the block if it isn't dark. I try knitting, reading, anything to take my mind off of the eating. Keeping my hands and feet busy seem to help the most, so the knitting and walking do it for me most of the time. When I am really craving food and I can't tell if it is physical hunger or emotional hunger, I close my eyes and think about how my stomach feels. I ask myself if it is really hungry or if I am trying to feed something else. I am getting better at listening to my body, but the avoiding food is still hard.

I eat to relax or unwind. I was eating when I wasn't even hungry. I recently read that a way to break this cycle you need to ask yourself two things before you eat. Are you hungry? (has it been 4 hrs since you ate last) and Are you depressed or anxious? I've been journalling these before everything I eat to be more mindfull. I find the evenings the worst so I hop on the treadmill or scrapbook to fill the time with something that is not compatible with eating. I really hope to break the cycle and put emotional eating behind me.

Good luck with your journey!!