How did you cope with emotional eating did you find a new hobby or did you get a journal and write down your feelings

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Exercise!

Keep busy, find a new hobby like kayaking. Good luck!

Running/exercise. I am not going to lie... figuring out how to cope with emotions post-op was probably the hardest part for me once I was healed up and used to my restriction. I would say it took me a good 4 to 4.5 months for my brain to catch on that bingeing was no longer an option. Up to that point, if I was miserable, I wanted to eat. And the fact I couldn't eat just made me more miserable! But I did eventually get there.

When I got home from the hospital, and the pain was still a big part of my day, I looked at my situation and realized that my life needed to be different. I was initially embarrassed that I couldn't do it on my own and needed the surgery, and this embarrassment was motivation to not squander this opportunity to hit the "Reset Button" on my habits.

I never have looked to be able to re-introduce bad foods, but instead I have looked for replacement foods, and activities.

This is the new Football Sunday spread. Lol.

Once I started losing the weight, I fell in love with the new "superpower" of a small stomach! I never wanted to have the craving monster come back in my life, so I have convinced myself that my addiction to crap needed to be treated as the disease it is. So I have sworn off of all trigger foods, and basically anything non-healthy. No breads, candy, Pasta, etc.

I have never heard of an alcoholic program that has a goal of reintroducing social drinking.. lol. So why does our program have the final goal of being able to eat some of the foods that put us in trouble in the first place?

Once you can find your "feel good" foods, things get much easier. For me it was home made Soups, yogurts, Fish, pickles, and almonds. Once you decide to eat to live and not live to eat, it just gets easier.

One day at a time, the future is so bright!

Surgery was Feb23rd this year... I was 381 and now 214 as of this morning. Down 167lbs

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BObScott, so proud for you. You are young and have changed your life forever. Best wishes for a long healthy life! Great pictures and story!

@@marissahealthiernewme it is great you are already planning about this! you got some good suggestions above (I made a list of things I can do, everything from painting nails to art to organizing etc).

For me though, the most helpful process was figuring out what was behind the emotional eating and trying to heal the root cause in addition to coping skills now - that is been the most successful for me.

All of us have different feelings that may trigger us to eat (mine are fear, shame, anger) and as many say on here, the surgery is physical but we need to do the surgery on our brains (re-train ourselves).

Running/exercise. I am not going to lie... figuring out how to cope with emotions post-op was probably the hardest part for me once I was healed up and used to my restriction. I would say it took me a good 4 to 4.5 months for my brain to catch on that bingeing was no longer an option. Up to that point, if I was miserable, I wanted to eat. And the fact I couldn't eat just made me more miserable! But I did eventually get there.

Yep. This.

HW 341 lbs

07/19/16 - 298 lbs

08/09/16 DOS - 286 lbs

CW 256 lbs

I use exercise, art, crafts...but I also use a counselor. Letting go of the emotional food eating is the hardest part for me. I felt lost with out it. But it is better. I am getting stronger and healthier in so many ways. I'm 2.5 months out and my journey is still in the beginning, can't wait to see what life will be like in 6 months!

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When I got home from the hospital, and the pain was still a big part of my day, I looked at my situation and realized that my life needed to be different. I was initially embarrassed that I couldn't do it on my own and needed the surgery, and this embarrassment was motivation to not squander this opportunity to hit the "Reset Button" on my habits.

I never have looked to be able to re-introduce bad foods, but instead I have looked for replacement foods, and activities. ImageUploadedByBariatricPal1476715557.543659.jpg

This is the new Football Sunday spread. Lol.

Once I started losing the weight, I fell in love with the new "superpower" of a small stomach! I never wanted to have the craving monster come back in my life, so I have convinced myself that my addiction to crap needed to be treated as the disease it is. So I have sworn off of all trigger foods, and basically anything non-healthy. No breads, candy, Pasta, etc.

I have never heard of an alcoholic program that has a goal of reintroducing social drinking.. lol. So why does our program have the final goal of being able to eat some of the foods that put us in trouble in the first place?

Once you can find your "feel good" foods, things get much easier. For me it was home made soups, yogurts, Fish, pickles, and almonds. Once you decide to eat to live and not live to eat, it just gets easier.

One day at a time, the future is so bright! ImageUploadedByBariatricPal1476716100.467988.jpg

ImageUploadedByBariatricPal1476716170.254567.jpg

Surgery was Feb23rd this year... I was 381 and now 214 as of this morning. Down 167lbs

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That is great you look awesome I'm gonna ask did you have to lose a little weight by yourself before the surgery you look great

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For me? It's deal with the emotions. I'm forced to feel them. I cry, get angry, feel sad or rejected. I put myself in private and feel. I often then have to address the issue. I've found that the only way to deal with emotional eating is to feel the emotions instead. Which sucks but I feel like it's part of my journey. To do the emotional maturing that eating and addiction allowed me to avoid when life was really hard.

Wow you look wonderful. Thanks for the inspiration.

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