Any "Emotional eaters" in the community?

[Maggie]

I am new on these boards but I am currently in my newest quest to lose weight and LOTS OF IT!
I been reading tons of advise articles in magazines and such.
I have discovered that I am an "emotional eater".
When I get stressed, for any little thing, I head to the kitchen and make something to eat and the majority of the time its something that 4 or 5 people could have eaten!

Am I alone?
I highly doubt it.
So my request is this......

Would you like to share your struggle with me and maybe we can do this healthy "life manage" together, as a team rather, than alone?

I would love to fill conversations and posts with humor rather than judgemental advice.
Wouldn't you?

Please, come and join me..man or woman..young or old..lets laugh and ultimately LIVE!!!
Maggiek

[rosebud2004]

Hi Maggie,

I am an emotional eater also. Stress usually sets me off which is why I try never to keep junk food in the house. I never buy chips, cakes, cookies, etc when I go grocery shopping. If I get a craving I will have to make an extra trip to the store. Most of the time, I won't make the extra trip.

I also have alot of weight to lose. I am currently training to run a marathon in 2004. I walked a marathon last year, but lost very little weight. It was so depressing. I was beginning to think I would forever remain at this weight. But, then I realize it was my diet and the way I eat. I usually skip breakfast and eat a late lunch. By dinner time, I'm starving and overeat. I eat out a lot which doesn't help either. I also have a problem giving up Coca-Cola.

Now, I'm working hard to cook more, eat breakfast and eat more vegetables and fruits. I'm still having a hard time with the soda though. Sometimes, it seems like two steps forward and one step backwards, but that's still one step in the right direction.

Tam

[Adrienne]

I'm there, too, ladies.

I highly recommend books by Bob Greene, Oprah's trainer. Very readable and, most importantly, doable.

I drink water like it's going out of style and limit myself to only one Coke per day. I've also cut way down on my alcohol consumption and try to limit that to one glass of wine a couple of days per week. Portion control helps, too. As an example, don't keep ice cream in the house cuz you may eat the whole thing. Go to the store and buy only one serving when you have a craving you just can't resist. When you feel totally deprived is when you binge.

Exercise is a big factor. I hired a personal trainer about 10 months ago and it's worth every penny. I look at it as an investment. We've been doing a lot of work with weights. I have only lost about 8 pounds, but I've really tightened up. It's all about how your clothes fit. I feel really strong and healthy.

Adrienne

[funny_bunny]

I am a BBW tall woman who has been told that I "carry my weight very well". I eat when I am stressed, so I try to keep food away from my desk at work & try to keep out of the fridge when I get home after work (which seem to be the two times when I am most stressed).

Everyone seems to talk about weight in "chunks" on here. Well, in chunk-terms, so far I've lost two 20 pound chunks over 2 years and have a lot more chunks to go. The way I look at it, it took a long time for me to put it on & I am going to be kind to my body by not forcing the issue by starving it off. So far I haven't put any of it back on.

Just to keep things in perspective, I go to the grocery store and look at 40 pounds of lard or 40 pounds of sugar, etc... well... you get the picture. It really gives me a visual perspective on how much has come off my body & reminds me that I CAN get the rest of it off if I continue to put my mind to it.

Weight Watchers has been a big help. Portion control, cutting out all alcohol (my choice/decision), drinking lots of water too... I need to stop being a slug about the exercise issue.

What is a good, safe way to start working out with weights at home, particularly for the abs and upper arms? I had a lot of bad experiences in gym classes as a kid due to poor eyesight & coordination and it has permanently left me with a terrible phobia of sports. The teachers and kids were extremely cruel to me and I have never gotten over it.

[Maggie]

Hey thanks to the responses. I figured I would find that I am not alone in my fight for a better lifestyle.
Tam, although it is not Coke there are those flavored waters at Walmart that are carbonated. They are used in the group home I worked at for the diabetics to use as their snack or diet drinks. I tried to use them but my taste buds are changing significatnly and they now taste very salty to me. I dont know how I managed that one but hey must be for the best! This way.. I stop drinking them and more water.
*Yeah, there must be a god!*
Funnybunny,sorry I cant recall your first name.
You sound alot like me. I too am a BBW. I have been told for years by an abuseful husband that no man would ever want someone my size. HEHE man was he wrong! I know TONS of men who CRAVE really really really big women! They have helped me discover that its very cool to be large and soft and cuddly. But I want to live forever..hehe..so I am wanting to help myself become healthier.
Granted for being so large I do not have high blood pressure, diabetes, or any other major health issues but I love my large firm thighs and the fact that I am very stong.
I am taking up water aerobics at the local YMCA.It is fun and usually there are nothing but older ladies there.
So the snickering and such is prtty much null and void.
Think about checking in to this type of class where you live.
If it is fun and the music is good..you may stick with it.
They usually run in 8 week courses and is about $45!

Have a great day, girls!
Maggiek

[funny_bunny]

Water aerobics is a great idea. I will have to look into that.

Thanks,
Suzanne

[rosebud2004]

Hi ladies,

Water aerobics if really fun! It really doesn't seem like excerise and you're right about the class being filled with older women.

I do drink 8 glasses of water per day, but I can't seem to completely give up Coke. I have cut back to one 20 oz bottle a day. Soon, I hope to completely cut it out of my diet.

When I lost weight before...I excerised like a mad woman. I took a low impact aerobics class, a Saturday tennis class, a water aerobics class twice a week and a strength training class twice a week....all at my local junior college. I reached my goal weight, but I couldn't keep up the excerise routine. I injured myself and it all creep back up. Now, I'm looking for a manageable way to lose and maintain my goal weight. I believe that running and a balanced diet will get the job done.

It's nice to be able to talk about my weight issues. I hope we can keep this up.

Tam

[Maggie]

I am new to these forums and I cannot seem to find the reply at the end of each post. Now either I am blond..whoops I am ..err, I mean BLIND or its not set up to respond to each post individually.
Anyway..
Suzanne, what makes the water aerobics fun is that afterward you can swim, play or relax and you really don't feel like you "sweated" it out at all!
The YMCA has a nice whirlpool located in the same location as the pool so afterward I can relax in there and then go back into the pool to do backstrokes or actually swim a lap or two.
There are these long foam poles that you can purchase for a couple of bucks at a family dollar or dollar general variety store that really helps with the intensity, or just get a rubber ball like the ones kids use to play kick ball.
Its amazing how you can work your different muscle groups and not even know they are there like your calve stretches. Utterly amazing!
Have fun if you do decide to check it out.

Tam, I have been on weight reduction diets and exercise plans for years. Nothing ever seemed to work for me. I really think its a mental more than physical thing. Its similar to being in an abusive relationship...oh people can tell you all day long not to put up with it and how they wouldn't stay one more minute with the bastard but until YOU get sick of it and make things happen..it simply continues.
This is how I am looking at the goal of losing weight. I am at that point. I have a new husband who adores me plus plus sized but he also knows I want this. He is only 180 pounds what the heck does he know about not being able to tie your shoes due to running out of air bending over in a chair to tie them!
Just to name one thing among many that someone my size has to make adjustments to.
Well..I'M NOT ADJUSTING NO MORE!!
*wink..doesn't that sound positive for about a second?*

I work midnights which is a whole nother issue but I consider 3am my supper time. That gives me several hours to go before I go to bed as normal people would do.
I drink 3-4 thermal mugs..about 20 oz I guess, of water in a shift.
I have changed fried foods to baked..non breaded.
I have not done the salad WITHOUT creamy ranch dressing yet! But one day I will! *wink*

Well take care, girls!
Maggiek

[Maggie]

I responded to both Tam and Suzanne and when I just looked on here I saw your post. Sorry.
I ahve nto read that book but I saw Oprahs personal trainer on her show when she lost all that weight. I got to be honest..
I thought well heck yeah SHE can do it..she's got a trainer in her home at her beckon call PLUS a cook!
But as a presonal trianer I bet he's got some good tips to offer someone who is serious about losing weight and in the right way.
So okay NOW I will consider what he has to say! *wink*
I do not think the persoanl trainer would work for me though cause the first time he told me no, Maggie like this..I wouldn't want to play with him/her NO MORE!
Plus I simply cannot afford something like that.
It seems costly.
Granted I purchased exercise videos and apparatises that are supposed to make me a goddess overnight..hehe..but where are they?
Well the exercise bike I insisted on getting last year is in the basement..in the corner as a resting place for my christmas ornaments til NEXT year!
I wanted it left in the living room so I would use it. But we have a very small house and its just not feasible to be in the living room so its in the basement!
*exactly in the wrong place to use it!*

I know I sound like I am harping and I really am not.
I want to make you feel like part of our little group here.
Your input is welcomed at all times.

I just wanted to send out an apology for not responding directly to your post.

Maggiek

[funny_bunny]

Most of the time I have gotten used to eating salad without the dressing. I just don't miss it. But when I see some that really interests me, just dipping the tines of the fork into a little bit is enough to satisfy my taste buds. I don't feel like my salad has to be swimming in the dressing the way it used to be.

If I order salad in a restaurant, I always order the dressing on the side. Most are very good about it. Sometimes it's an eye-opener to see how much they would have put on there.

Cheers!
Suzanne

[Maggie]

I know what you mean, Suzanne. I took my mother in law to lunch one day at Olive Garden Restaurant.
I thought to myself well this would be sorta light! *wink*
They brought out those delicious breadsticks which you can make a meal out of alone!
But they brought out the endless salad it swimming in italian dressing. It was horrible. I said something to the waitress about bad the salad was and asked if I could get a small container of plain salad and perhaps a tiny dollop of ranch dressing..her response was no ma'am, this is the house salad and everyone is served the same salad.
Can you believe it?
I couldn't.
Needless to say that was the last time I went there and the last time I will ever go there.
Other people simply love Olive Garden but not I.
I have recently read an interesting article about filling up on foods before you go out to eat, like drinking a full 8 ounce of water before heading out. I found it interesting and have decided to put this little method to the test and I am amazed to announce that it did indeed curb my appetite.
It stated that eating a whole apple that is to include the peeling that most people discard before eating, 15 minutes before you eat will curb your appetite.
Last night at work I tried it.
It was almost like my brain telling me..are you REALLY this hungry now, Maggie?
I ate less and yeah I drank a lot of water with it and ate my dinner slowly..hehe..or slower than usual.
I often times wonder where they get these ideas that almost sound kinda silly at times, but this one did work for me.
So I am passing it along.

I have posted another topic on here regarding changes in food preparation since dieting.
If you have changed anything, please feel free to share it. Someone out there in cyberland may be reading and think hey I might try that.

Have a great day,
Maggiek

[funny_bunny]

When we go out to a restaurant, I always plan on leaving half of what is served on my plate. When I do ask for a container to take the leftovers home, (so as not to insult the cook, etc...), I will save it for a meal the next day. Sometimes I completely forget about the leftovers in the fridge, so the box becomes housing (or science projects) for new life forms in my fridge.

The important thing is, I try to make a point of not eating the WHOLE thing at one meal. I don't know about you all, but it seems like portions in restaurants are all HUGE. If I ate everything I would get very sick. But I drink lots of water all the time too. I suppose that would make anyone lose their appetite.

This has been such a stressful week at work. I am drinking water instead of going on another chocolate binge. If I can make it through just one more day, I'll be fine...
Suzanne