How do the emotional eaters do with lap band?

cinmder · June 3, 2008

I know that I am an emotional eater. Stressed - eat. Celebrating - eat. So my questions is, when you are in one of those emotional moments and want to EAT.....what do you do? Thanks

SkyeBlu · June 3, 2008

cinmder WELCOME! One of the biggest steps (I think) is actually realizing you are an emotional eater so YAY for you for doing that. I was told early on every time I put something in my mouth to think about why i'm eating and if it didn't involve a grumbly tummy or a meal time to "put down the food" I found that distracting techniques worked for me, I had a list of "to do things" on my fridge so if I went to much and it was because my kids had me stressed out I would either do something on that list to distract myself or I would just go for a quick walk. Find something that works for you and if it does work stick to it. And, if you slip up don't punish yourself, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep on trucking! Good Luck!

TulipStar · June 3, 2008

The first step is actually realizing you are doing emotional eating. When I realize this,I stop, then ask myself "what am I feeling?". If I am feeling bored, stressed, tired then I will try to do something else other than eat to address the emotion that I am having. If I am hungry then I eat. I don't always follow this, but I try to. Just like skye said, the first step is realizing you are emotional eating.

mstrina27 · June 3, 2008

The first step is actually realizing you are doing emotional eating. When I realize this,I stop, then ask myself "what am I feeling?". If I am feeling bored, stressed, tired then I will try to do something else other than eat to address the emotion that I am having. If I am hungry then I eat. I don't always follow this, but I try to. Just like skye said, the first step is realizing you are emotional eating.

I was going to say the exact same thing.... I have realized that I must deal with what ever issue I am having. If I am angry then i deal with it instead of shuving food into my mouth because after i eat i am still angry... actually more angry and the same with being bored, tired, happy, and all other emotions... just like the others said u have to first take the step to realize when u r eating WHY are u eating.. is it becasue u are hungry or is it because something triggered u to go to junk food, or food period. I had an ahhh haaa moment at work... a few months ago... someone pissed me off and the first thing i did was to get up from my desk and walked to the vending machine..and when i realized what i was doing i actually said aaahhhh i never realized that before and i dealt the the anger and i never bought anything from the machine... U just have to be aware of the triggers and deal with them but it is a process... no one is perfect...

To be free · June 3, 2008

I have been an emotional eater since I was about 8 or 9 (didn't know it then) but I go on binges when I do eat for my emotions and it is for all stressed, happy, sad, bored.......

I am going to take up painting again to have something different to do...but I was told that with the band it is physically unable to eat mass quantities of food at one time.....so I think that will help me out.... because other than those episodes I can stick to a good food plan.

June 3, 2008

I try to keep myself busy and away from the kitchen or drive-thrus. Saying that - I have slipped and eaten the wrong things for the wrong reasons. I think we all have slip-ups. If you do something, and kick yourself for doing it - believe me I kick myself weekly, pick yourself up and dust yourself off.

Northwest_Nance · June 3, 2008

I think a lot of us are in the situation we're in today because we are emotional eaters. Same for me -- eating has been my reaction to everything.... Sad? Depressed? Hurt? Lonely? Angry? Tired? Bored? Frustrated? Happy? Need to Celebrate? Special occasion? EAT!!

I get around it by trying to focus more on what the bad foods and the over-eating are doing to my body. Watching You Tube videos of lap band surgery (and other surgeries) was a huge wake-up call for me. When I saw how all that fat grows around our organs like moss, I was stunned. Somehow I always pictured fat as these ugly blobs growing right under our skin. I never imagined them covering, suffocating, all my organs.

I also try to ask myself.... is that (insert *bag of chips*, *roast and gravy*, *pizza*.... your food of choice here) going to solve my problem? Make me feel better? Make me feel good about myself? Do I really want to wake up one more day asking myself why the hell I blew it the night before? Why did I, once again, make such bad choices for myself when I know that in the end, they make me miserable?

Of course it doesn't ~always~ work. The biggest challenge for me is learning that I am human and this is not a computer program. food is to be enjoyed and I intend to enjoy all my favorite things... when the right occasion calls for it. NOT every day as I always thought I was entitled to. And I will slip up. Because I am human. Because sometimes we do things for the wrong reasons. And I will try not to beat myself up for it. Because today is a new day and I'm going to make better choices today.