So it turns out I haven't beaten the emotional eating page 2

[healthy11]

I stuggled through 20 years of binge eating, emotional eating, yo-yo dieting, etc. Primal has helped me with this tremendously, but I have learned to accept that there is no cure for it because I'm human.

I have periods of time when I eat eat more treats like popcorn, nut butters, chocolate, fruit/nut balls. You should see my 'Primal Treats Pinterest board'. I keep it primal and I allow myself to do it and then I move on. I don't beat myself up and I don't have to make myself move on, it just happens. Sometimes I eat more treats for more days than other times... so what.

I would suggest you don't try to make up for it by eating less the next day because this will only make it worse. Make sure you are getting enough protein and saturated fat, and adequate carbs (not too low). If I go too low I get depressed and start the emotional eating. Balance helps a lot! B vitamins help me, too.

[quelsen]

Becks.

Cravings are more chemical than mental.

the mental part is choosing the correct foods.

the chemical part is eating the right food in the right qualities.



Once I stuffed myself with correct amounts of nutrients the bad stuff ( in my broke bad=depression and self hatred) goes away.

it comes back when i stop doing the right things...

i do that less often now.

[Comma]

Honestly the only way I can be good if I commit to it 100%, if I allow myself a glass ofwine here or a bite of toast there it all goes downfast. Which of course makes this a bit daunting.

[healthy11]

I think you do have to commit to it 100% in the beginning, Comma... good point... until you can get it under control. I didn't start having primal treats until I was about 8-12 months into primal. As Quelson said... stuff yourself with the right foods and the rest will correct itself. Don't worry about how much you're eating until you get this under control. I ate a lot of fat and larger portions than I do now, but that is what helped me. Your body needs to correct some deficiencies that are making you over eat and crave sugar.

[Comma]

I don't think I have deficiencies, I think I have a problem with emotional eating. I mean I KNOW I do. Food is my comfort and I am perfectly aware of eating without being hungry. Sigh. It's like smoking. You pull out the ciggie KNOWING its disgusting (I stopped smoking, but food is just around too much). I ordered a book that lays out alternatives on what to do to comfort yourself when you'd turn to food usually. I can't come up with anything good by myself. My tub is too small and the thought of knitting makes me curl up in a little stressball and cry.

[quelsen]

I don't think I have deficiencies, I think I have a problem with emotional eating. I mean I KNOW I do. Food is my comfort and I am perfectly aware of eating without being hungry. Sigh. It's like smoking. You pull out the ciggie KNOWING its disgusting (I stopped smoking, but food is just around too much). I ordered a book that lays out alternatives on what to do to comfort yourself when you'd turn to food usually. I can't come up with anything good by myself. My tub is too small and the thought of knitting makes me curl up in a little stressball and cry.

hmm. i challange you to make and eat bulletproof icecream until you cannot eat anymore.

then see how long it is until you want more food

[Comma]

Yes okay, if I gorge until my distended stomach cramps, even I don't want to eat more. If I eat until I have all the calories I need, I can eat more. You bet. I don't want to overeat, primal or not.

[PHaselow]

YOU ARE ME! Seriously, I could have written this post, becks 83, except for I am still in the honeymoon phase of the PB. Three weeks into it and I still feel confident and motivated. I expect I will get to where you are at one point, so I will be interested in hearing what others say. I will bookmark your post to read it when I get there!
My pep talk is that you always have choices: You can beat yourself up for the cookies and the slice of homemade cake or you can eat it and go back to Primal eating the next meal. Do not starve yourself to make up for those calories; they do not matter in the long run if you make the choice to get back on track. Even the PB acknowledges that it is unrealistic for everyone to live 100% Primal. It isn't a failure by any means.
I do get the concern about falling back into the addiction. I am an emotional eater myself. When sad, when bored, when angry, when happy, when tired. There is somewhat of a dissociative experience when you are in the middle of eating the sugar. That, 'How the hell did that happen?' moment when the bowl of coconut-pecan frosting has disappeared (oh yeah, I've been there).
I am rambling. There are things that work for me: exercise, increase protein/fat in diet, journaling, drinking big glass of water and waiting 20 minutes, leaving the house, run the dogs, finding a friend, or even putting on my pair of tightest jeans. It might even work for you to plan out the day(s) when you can enjoy baking something awesome and have a piece. Or you can expand your culinary creativity and find Primal treats to bake. I'm making sweet potato brownies this weekend!
Like someone else said: candida overgrowth is a real possibility.
You started your post by saying how great you looked and felt the first 3 months. SLAP! That wasn't someone else's success... that was yours. Maybe you were uncomfortable with your success? A journal can help work through feelings.
Good luck to you! ~Pam

[JackieKessler]

**another writer raising a hand**

This happens to me, especially when I'm under deadline pressure. When the book is due OMGNOW, then my health goes out the window. This happened to me first in the winter, and then again very harshly this spring -- not only did I have a contracted book due, I wanted to get it done before going away on a family vacation (nothing ruins a vacation faster than doing work), and a years-long friendship unraveled and went kablooey, all while also promoting the book that had just hit the shelves. I was a fucking mess. I didn't stay primal, let alone pseudo paleo. I could barely get off the sofa.

Stress sucks. Creative stress sucks in creative ways. Sometimes, I feel like I can either be healthy OR be productive, not both.

Lately, I've decided that's bullshit. And so, I've been trying something different these past few weeks: Instead of diving back into primal, I've been easing into it. The big thing I've been focusing on is no wheat (with one time of having pizza with the family, and yesterday I had Chinese food that probably had soy sauce in there somewhere) and eating relatively primally. I've been having rice cakes, though, and way too much sugar. But instead of getting upset with myself, I've just been focusing on not eating wheat. Other changes have been happening: cooking more primal foods; eating more primal foods, etc. I've also started doing CrossFit (this is my first week going three times; for the past three weeks, I've gone twice/week). And I'm making a commitment to get more Moving Slowly in during the week.

And yeah, I have deadlines. Copy edits are due Monday; a short story is due at the end of August. But this time, I'm not going to walk (or sprint) away from being primal. I'm going to keep easing back into it -- I'm out of rice cakes, so I won't buy more, and instead of having the paleo mug cake as a dessert, I'm going to reach for an apple (or, you know, not have dessert).

So I think the key here is to be forgiving as well as supportive of our own endeavors. It's not an all or nothing, you know? Easing into things might be the right step.

Also key? Celebrating our successes, however big or small.

[2ndChance]

My go to sugar fix is dark chocolate with peanut butter. It fills you up quickly so after a few bites you don't really want to binge anymore... beating emotional eating is all about identifying that point where you switch from eating out of hunger to eating just cause there's nothing else to do, or eating because you're sad, or eating cuz you're afraid about the future... As for your creativity, I've found a lot of inspiration in the "aligning" of my passions...seeing how being healthy relates to my other passions, I've always been one to write about being yourself and not feeling like there's something you're "supposed" to be or do, and after having my science-approved, me-tested (with amazing results!) diet scorned by everyone I know, it's really reminded me that what other people say doesn't matter at all if you know in your heart that what you're doing is right for you... I've cut sugar a lot, aside from eating lots of apples (no one will ever convince me this is bad) and a slice of pineapple every other day or so, plus my almost daily dark chocolate habit. Cake doesn't tempt me. Cookies don't tempt me. I will fess up that I eat a slice of Exekiel bread now and then (sprouted grain! it's...almost like a vegetable, right? right?) I look at a cookie and I see hours of guilt, complaints from my stomach, a quick buzz that'll wreak havoc on my system and leave me feeling worse than when I started... If you can re-wire your brain to see sugary foods for not how they TASTE but how they'll leave you FEELING, you won't want to eat them any more than you want to eat a pile of garbage. Also, I learned recently that taste buds have a life span of 8-10 days. You CAN rewire yours. The cookie-hooked ones will die off and the beef and veggie loving ones will make your food decisions from now on. I used to be the worst of carb addicts and I came around, I believe you can too if you just make a mental note of how bad eating cookies makes you feel and keep that in mind next time you go to eat one. Over time, you'll learn to side with your body as much as possible for optimum happiness!

Plus, who says being primal has to mean giving up social eating? Just make something primal to share at your next gathering and maybe your friends will start to realize cookies aren't as good as real, Mother Nature-made food. But maybe they won't...I have a friend who's about to start med school and I met her at a vegan restaurant the other day and was talking about how I'd never eat a "veggie burger" cause what the heck's in it, and she agreed with me, said that makes sense, then ordered one. Sigh.