Many of us are admitted emotional eaters, myself included; but what happens to us when we lose that outlet. What do we do now? All of us eat for different reasons; for some it is happiness, others depression, still others boredom. I find myself eating to try to calm myself down when I am upset. It can be mad upset or anxious upset; they both effect me similarly. I did it today. The Civitans were selling their annual fruit cakes and I bought one. I ate a big hunk of it (eww) and was not even hungry. I was just upset and wanting to cry because the insurance company is jerking me around, so I stuffed in some food to try to soak up my tears,. So, to you fellow emotional eaters that are post sleeve; what are some ways you can help your fellow travelers following in your footsteps. How are you conquering the emotional eating demon?

I allow myself treats - I know that I am not going to eat so much that I will put the weight back on. My weight hovers within a five pound range and not get into the "ahh" I gained a pound thing some on the site get upset about.

Trust me, I have major emotional issues so I do get tempted a lot. Just try to get something to take your mind off of it - like a crossword, exercising, something

I heard someone say one time, " there is a skinny woman on the inside of me screaming to get out. I gave her a cookie to shut her up." Sometimes I think that is me. When the anxiety starts to bubble over, I cork it with a cookie. I guess I'm going to have to learn to cry a whole lot more or get to be like a duck and just let the "water" roll off my back :0)

I invested in a therapist starting about 3 months prior to surgery and until about 6 months post-op to help me face those demons. It was something that I knew I had to deal with if I wanted to lose the weight forever. It is one of the best decisions I have made of this journey. I am now conscious of what I am eating and why I am eating. I won't say that I never have times when I give into emotional eating but now I am aware of it and it is apart of that day's calorie intake. Best of luck to you. It's a difficult beast to reign in but totally possible.

Amanda

^{I started doing a junque journal. I put all kinds of things in there and I journal my feelings. I know I need to FEEL the feelings, not shut them up with food (although that is a cute saying about the cookie and the thin lady!). I was a major emotional eater too. Sleeved 4.5 weeks ago and taking it day by day so far.}

^{Tangie Baxter does three youtube video tutorials on junque journals. http://www.youtube.com/user/tangiebaxter#p/a/u/0/FeESd-nCGYU I am not real good with getting my crafts "just so" as I want to do everything fast so I tend to be a bit sloppy so the junque journal is a perfect activity for me. Keeps my hands busy.}

^{I'd love to be able to say I just exercise instead of emotional eating but that is soemthing that I have to push myself to do honestly!}

^{Good luck!}

I was watching an episode of Hoarders:Buried Alive and heard the therapist say something that I have never heard before....

"I want you to be okay with feeling that anxiety - you don't have to make it go away (in their case by keeping junk) and in time it will decrease".

I have been trying to apply that, just sort of accepting the anxiety that sometimes rises, I don't need to feed it a cookie to make it shut up! Now, I realize that doesn't work for extreme anxiety, but for someone who uses food to numb some of the uncomfortable feelings, it is a real novel idea to think about just accepting the feelings rather then always trying to bury them. I think it is working.

I haven't made it a secret that I'm seeing a therapist. I have other issues (marriage related) that I'm dealing with, but she's also helping me address my addictive personality. I HAVE a food addiction that I cannot indulge since being sleeved. She's helping me motivate myself to exercise and do other things.

One of my favorite frustration busters is to take my tiny little 3 pound weights and do some arm work. The arm exercises let me feel like I'm hitting who/whatever is frustrating me. Walking also helps, even on the treadmill, because it lets me feel like I'm walking away from the problem.

I was told by my pre-op psyche doctor that I WILL be an alcoholic. I'm working very hard to make sure that doesn't happen. I wasn't a person who drank before and I have no intention of starting now.

The best advice I can give to emotional eaters is to find something else to do with your frustration/triggers for eating. Love on your kids, exercise, SHOP if that's what does it for you. Just find something to use so that you don't sabotage your weight loss.