emotional eating

[a human_56]

 

I don't really post much on forums, but I need an outsider's perspective on this. Before I get into the point of this post, let me just provide some context.

 

For a long time (maybe 2 years?) I've felt really lost (emotionally, not physically) and just empty. Life seems so monotone and grey. I think it's probably because I feel like I'm a failure for not being the perfect human. Even though I know no one can be perfect.

 

I've been working on accepting myself as I am, and I've read a few self-development books, and they do help, a lot, but I keep on trying to stuff the horrible feeling of emptiness down. I used to not eat to try and numb it, because it gave me something else to focus on, but I tried to stop after my parents told me they were worried and were considering taking me to a doctor. And I did, mostly. But lately I've been doing the opposite - stress eating - to suppress my emotions. It doesn't work, obviously, and I just end up feeling guilty and sick.

 

That brings me to the point of this long-winded post: how can I stop emotionally eating? I've figured out why I do it and identified better coping mechanisms, yet I still turn to food. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Daisie]

Hey @a human_56

Welcome back on the Community, I am Daisie a Community Warden here on the Forums and I’ve read your post and wondered whether you’d like to talk things through with one of our truly lovely Trained Digital Mentors? They offer support and advice to those who reach out. I will tag them in so you know who they are and so they can reach out. @Monsoon & @Aurora

[Monsoon]

13 hours ago, a human_56 said:

I don't really post much on forums, but I need an outsider's perspective on this. Before I get into the point of this post, let me just provide some context.

 

For a long time (maybe 2 years?) I've felt really lost (emotionally, not physically) and just empty. Life seems so monotone and grey. I think it's probably because I feel like I'm a failure for not being the perfect human. Even though I know no one can be perfect.

 

I've been working on accepting myself as I am, and I've read a few self-development books, and they do help, a lot, but I keep on trying to stuff the horrible feeling of emptiness down. I used to not eat to try and numb it, because it gave me something else to focus on, but I tried to stop after my parents told me they were worried and were considering taking me to a doctor. And I did, mostly. But lately I've been doing the opposite - stress eating - to suppress my emotions. It doesn't work, obviously, and I just end up feeling guilty and sick.

 

That brings me to the point of this long-winded post: how can I stop emotionally eating? I've figured out why I do it and identified better coping mechanisms, yet I still turn to food. Any advice is much appreciated.

Hey there,

I'm one of the digital mentors here and I give advice to those who reach out.

I'm grateful that you've been able to open up to us here. It sounds like you're really working hard on yourself which is a really helpful quality and will support you in working through this difficulty. From what you've said, it sounds like you're trying to find a way to cope with your feelings, and at the moment, you're doing things to try and avoid the feelings, and sadly, it doesn't seem to be working. I'm wondering, how would it be for you to acknowledge those feelings and let yourself feel them and have the time to process? 

[a human_56]

11 hours ago, Monsoon said:

Hey there,

I'm one of the digital mentors here and I give advice to those who reach out.

I'm grateful that you've been able to open up to us here. It sounds like you're really working hard on yourself which is a really helpful quality and will support you in working through this difficulty. From what you've said, it sounds like you're trying to find a way to cope with your feelings, and at the moment, you're doing things to try and avoid the feelings, and sadly, it doesn't seem to be working. I'm wondering, how would it be for you to acknowledge those feelings and let yourself feel them and have the time to process? 

Hi, thank you so much for responding. It's a strange coincidence you mentioned acknowledging feelings, I've been trying to do that more recently. I've found it does work, I just sometimes get so caught up in whatever emotion it is that it feels almost like I'm drowning in feelings. And then that feels kind of paralysing, and I end up trying to find some sort of 'out'. Do you have any advice for processing feelings in a way that isn't overwhelming?

[Monsoon]

Hey,

That's great that you've been trying, and the best way to process our feelings is to let ourselves experience them. I think we live in a culture where we are encouraged to change our feelings when we experience the more challenging ones, like grief, anxiety, and depression. However, we need to sit with them for an appropriate amount of time before we can process them and move on. 

There are plenty of ideas on how to process them here: https://www.ditchthelabel.org/9-practical-things-can-keep-track-mental-health/

The most helpful one is likely to be journalling; have you ever thought about that? Also, healing meditations are really good as they help you to confront challenging emotions when you're in a more meditative state. Here is a good example of one: 

 

 

[a human_56]

On 9/9/2022 at 11:04 PM, Monsoon said:

Hey,

That's great that you've been trying, and the best way to process our feelings is to let ourselves experience them. I think we live in a culture where we are encouraged to change our feelings when we experience the more challenging ones, like grief, anxiety, and depression. However, we need to sit with them for an appropriate amount of time before we can process them and move on. 

There are plenty of ideas on how to process them here: https://www.ditchthelabel.org/9-practical-things-can-keep-track-mental-health/

The most helpful one is likely to be journalling; have you ever thought about that? Also, healing meditations are really good as they help you to confront challenging emotions when you're in a more meditative state. Here is a good example of one: 

Hi, this is really really helpful. I used to journal a lot, and I think I should pick it up again. I'll also try meditating and see how it goes. Thanks so much 

[Monsoon]

1 hour ago, a human_56 said:

Hi, this is really really helpful. I used to journal a lot, and I think I should pick it up again. I'll also try meditating and see how it goes. Thanks so much 

You're more than welcome. Would you like to try it for a couple of weeks and let us know how it goes? It's also okay if you want to finish things up here if you're feeling okay, just let us know and we will go from there. 

[a human_56]

23 hours ago, Monsoon said:

You're more than welcome. Would you like to try it for a couple of weeks and let us know how it goes? It's also okay if you want to finish things up here if you're feeling okay, just let us know and we will go from there. 

I think I'll try it for a few weeks and then come back to let you know how it's going.

[Monsoon]

7 hours ago, a human_56 said:

I think I'll try it for a few weeks and then come back to let you know how it's going.

Alright! Good luck with it all. Speak soon and take care.