Emotional Ties to Food

Hello all! I wanted to ask anyone out there about emotional eating. I am an athlete in the circus who is training between 25-30 hours per week. I am 24 years old. I have been fully primal up until 2 or 3 months ago. I had a solid 8 months of primal eating. Recently, I have been feeling like the competitive nature of my environment has been discouraging for learning. Granted, this is a self perception, but it is very real to me. I see 20 year olds who have been doing it for a year excelling. I have been doing it for seven. I am also always trying to get a better body and it seems nearly impossible. I also quit smoking in the last 6 months and attend college full time. I feel like my ability to release is really minimal, since smoking is not an option anymore. So recently, I have begun binge eating again. I realize this is not healthy, but I have no idea how to implement coping mechanisms other than replacing it with something and that's not working. I have a safeway right across the street, which provides the outlet to binge eat. However, I know I have to not blame a store for my actions. Finally, I had a boyfriend of 3 years (on and off) that he "loves me like a sister" now. This ended in more binge eating. I absolutely realize that this is not a site for therapy or ranting about everyday issues. I have just not found an option from my friends (many of whom are also primal/paleo) and it's getting ridiculous. Any help would be appreciate :). Thank you!

Mark did a post about emotional eating a couple of weeks ago. You are not the only person who does this :) I honestly don't have any great words of wisdom except to say you are not alone and don't give up. Life is all about the journey, not the destination.

[url=http://www.marksdailyapple.com/weight-loss-the-emotional-element/#axzz2JVxgSuWH]Weight Loss: The Emotional Element | Mark's Daily Apple[/url]

I am an emotional eater too, although to a much lesser extent when I'm eating fairly low-carb Paleo. Are you hitting up the junk food? From what I have read, this could have a revolving door effect because of the neurotransmitter response (serotonin, dopamine, or both) of wheat and sugar, which will increase your depression when the temporary "fix" wears off. When I find myself falling into this loop, I just emotionally eat steak and sweet potatoes or bacon and eggs (or anything similar) for a few days to try and kick the cravings.