Trying to replace comfort eating habits- any help?

[kimblitz]

Hello out there,

as the topic says I`m trying to replace comfort eating habits, which is really screwing up my diet.

I have no problems eating healthy, I excercise quite regulary and apart from a couple of days I pretty much hit my net calorie goal of 1200kcal +/- 100 kcal.

I have more or less a "healthy" environment, but since I share my apartment with my skinny boyfriend who doesn´t mind eating sweets, sometimes we have a little of a chocolate "load"...

Since I´m busy studying for exams, the only thing I do is eat, cook, sleep, study and exercise.

Now you can imagine that a day like that offers a quantity of "triggers" to initiate eating a lot of bad things, because sometimes I´m bored of studying, sometimes I´m frustrated or sad.

Now I´d like to know from you: How do you deal with comfort eating habits? With which kind of habits do you replace it?

I was thinking of going for a walk, but that takes to long (40min) or making myself a cup of tea. Any other suggestions?

I´d be glad to hear some of your experiences

[Gobnait]

Get better chocolate? Some of the ones that put numbers like 85% on their front label could be more satisfying with one bite than an entire hershey bar. Other than that, have Mr. Boyfriend purge the cabinets and lock up the sweets.

Actually, sugar and coco butter are the biggest parts of the problem. Maybe you could make something healthy with coco powder and have that as a daily stress-drink.

[Raincloak]

Try not to keep the stuff that's easy to binge on in your house. For example, in my case milk chocolate is too easy to eat, I can eat the entire bar in one sitting. But with dark chocolate, a little nibble here and there is all I can stand, so it's pretty safe around me. I'll get sick of it long before I eat too much of it.

You can also try fixing yourself little bite-size substitutes for the stuff you crave. The first couple bites are the best part of any treat, so why not just stick to that part and skip the rest? It'll hit the same happy buttons in your brain as a bigger serving, but without the metabolic sin. Like today I was at the bus stop, and a sandwich cafe nearby sells milkshakes. I was hungry and I thought to myself, "I want a milkshake." Then I decided, "I'll go home and make a tiny shake with just a spoonful of ice cream, a little milk, and a scoop of cocoa powder." So I did. It was just as tasty, but less guilty. You can also buy snacks in single-serving sizes. They are more expensive that way, but I think of the cost as a sort of penance. If I'm paying a dollar for a candy bar, I'm not going to buy very many of them (whereas if I get the bulk box at Costco, they're gonna disappear in a week...)

Most people's happy buttons are hit by some combo of sugar, salt, crunch, or smooth. Figure out which of these you're hooked on, and find a taste that suits. Science suggests that people feel better when they eat fat or sugar, and a lack of one means you need more of the other. However, fat is an essential nutrient and sugar is possibly deleterious in large quantities.

Your cup of tea is a great idea. I am a big believer in tea breaks and the sustaining power of tea. Here is a list of other things that are not food: bubble baths, massage, hugging people, hugging stuffed animals (don't knock it till you try it), petting dogs and cats, looking at pictures of cute fuzzy things (try DailySquee), sitting in the sun, smelling and looking at flowers, deep breathing / meditation.

Make a "happy place" in your heart, and go there when you feel distressed. Some people like to imagine themselves at the beach, but I prefer a mountaintop I visited once. (Warm sun, cool breeze, sheltering tree, gorgeous views, just sit there watching clouds and raptors float below me. Ahhhhh...) You can recall your favorite vacation spot or invent a fantasy one. It works better if it's the same place every time. Don't just think about what it looks like, also think about how the air feels, how it sounds and smells, and really let your body get into the ommm of being in your favorite place. This takes practice, but it's a skill worth cultivating.

By the way, I also recommend you check your diet. I think you are not eating enough, and hunger might be making you more stressed. 1200 kcal/day is not much at all for an active adult.

[Siferiax]

You're speaking to my heart!

I tend to eat when I get bored. And I don't mean the type of bored of "I have nothing to do".

I also get bored while doing something. And that boredom is relieved with eating. Eating everything and anything till I'm feeling ill.

I discovered it's also lots of stress eating/trying to calm myself down. With a comforting internal dialog (which is hard to pinpoint).

I think the people above gave some great tips already!

For what helps with me isn't having no snacks around me. I remember binging on butter once because there wasn't an alternative... yes I got that bad.

What you should try is find something quite healthy that fills you up really quickly. That way you won't eat a whole lot.

Then try and find replacement comforters. Maybe it's cuddling with your boyfriend?

I know I have a pillow... it's the pillow I slept on as a child... it's nearly as old as I am.

It's the object I grab when I'm severely stressed (my outlet is crying, so I cry in my pillow), or when I can't sleep.

Or when I just need to hug something for comfort. (though these days I have a cat to cuddle with )

So something like that is also possible. Try to find something that's dedicated as "comfort object".

Something that's readily available in places you need it most often.

(for example my pillow is near my bed, as I often feel the crappiest there)

[kimblitz]

Thank you so much for all those encouraging replies!

@Kelekona, yes I actually love dark chocolate and I find it way more sattisfying than milk choclate. Aldi has that choclate which contains like 5 mini choclate bars of like 180 kcal. I think I´m going to get myself those, because It´s easier to control for me if one doesn´t have to break of pieces... then I tend to take to much.

@RaincloaK: After reading the recent article of steve about habits I bought myself the kindle version of: "The power of habits" and I think I´m going to study a bit of my comfort eating habits, because there are so many "cues" that cause overeating

/compulsive eating. You might be right about the diet- thing. I´ve tried so many things and I get results. This is what happend: week 1 and 2 of the nf challenge, I lost 5,5 lbs I was exercising like HELL! and ate about 1200 kcal or less. Sometimes not that healthy kcal but anyway, more or less a net calorie input of 1200 (so I ate 1800 kcal on a gym day, I have a heartrate watch that tells me the amount of burned calories)... My measurements didn´t change. I felt I got stronger and everything, but no change in measurements. I was fed up, with exams and everything. Exersised twice the following week, ate everything I wanted, until I was sattisfied and the next time I measured my measurments around hips and waist were -1cm! Maybe I just measured wrong? So I´m still fighting the figuring out a diet, but I anyway have to work on my nutritino because I had some lack in vitamins (although I find I eat quite healthy, but who doesn´t? Maybe I don´t..)

It´s just so frustrating because I´m at 136 lbs and I just want those measurement to go down! It´s not a ton I want to lose, maybe just 3kgs but I just can´t get them off! I also belive in the power of tea. Well I´m going to find out wich routine I can insert into my old habits which has the same reward and maybe less feeling of guilt. And I tried to many things at the same time in terms of diet, I think I´ll have to focus on one or two things: I´ll chose: mindful eating (got myself a book aout that) and detecting&changing comfort eating habits. Seems like the most long term soloution.

@Kibcy: Hey you´re from the netherlands! So I say "ach sisdog!" Does one write it like that? IN afrikaans one does I think. I know exactly what you mean! It´s really not the type of "I´ve got nothing to do boredom". I get bored when I´m studying most of the time ... Jup I think I´ve got a plenty of alternatives to chose from in case of comfort eating. I´ll just have to rembember and use them in the right moment! I´ve got a mp3 title called: "bodyscan". It´s a voice that sort of "leads" you to all of you bodyparts, something like meditation, but it always makes me so tired!

So today I again felt like chocolate. It wasn´t really a "I´ll stuff myself till I´m happy" comfort eating. It was just like: "I´d like to enjoy a piece of chocolate now."

Unfortunatley I didn´t have any dark chocolate, but I made myself a nice glas of nice foamy latte macchiato, lit a candle, cut a apple into thin slices and put some cinnamon on it and broke of a piece of milk chocolate.

And I sat at the table and enjoyed my treat in silence, mindfully. So that was really sattisfing! I´m still working on healthier alternatives and I´d prefer it not to be food, but I really felt destressed and peaceful after that

Thank you guys

[Siferiax]

LOL I have no idea what you're referring to so I guess not? haha.

And remember that a lot of things you would say in African, don't exist in Dutch

Anyway, I think being mindful about that and forming a ritual around it instead of just chomping down that chocolate is already really positive

Keep working on it, you're doing great!

[kimblitz]

OH sorry didn´t want to appear stupid

thank you for the encouragement! I´ll try working on that

[Shoshie]

Find comfort foods that fit in with your goals. I've got a nasty cold/flu thing and I've been eating lots of comfort food, but that includes chocolate coconut ice cream, vanilla tea, and home-made chicken soup (my Granny was right-- it *is* the best medicine). And maybe a couple almond flour cookies. It's probably more chocolate and sweetener than I prefer eating, but I'm picking my battles and making sure to avoid foods that will actively make me feel terrible, like pizza or wheat-based chocolate chip cookies. When I recover, I'll make an effort to clean up my diet a bit more, but I think it's important to be kind to yourself during periods of stress. You only have so much willpower, and if you use it all trying to be perfect, then it's a perfect recipe for falling off the wagon entirely.

Another possibility is to find activities that you enjoy that can replace the comfort food. They should be things that are easy to access, like knitting or doing a quick crossword puzzle or reading a short story. Something that's quick and easy and gives you a bit of a break.

[kimblitz]

Thank you for that tip!

I´m quite busy studying at the moment, but I´m trying to stop comfort eating...

I found helpful instructions on the lasts sites of "The power of habit". I know now, how I can figure out what the cue to my snacking is.

And then I´ll try changing the routine

[tats4life]

I highly recommend your suggestion of tea. First off, I wanna say that I'm an absolute fanatic of tea but it does help with boredom cravings. I buy loose leaf, so it takes time to put your water in the kettle, measure it out, wait for it to steep, & then wait for it to cool. Usually after taking all that time to wait to drink it & then taking the time to drink it (you should see how big my mug is), I usually don't crave anything else!

[the_griff]

Oh man... I am such a comfort food / habit snacking pansy...

I just started cutting up some veggies and crunching on them (cucumbers or green peppers usually) and then I still get to eat something, and a good bit of it too!

Also, I love that verse. It's a good reminder that we are His spirit, soul, AND body

[Rostov]

There are three things I do which I find really help. One is logging absolutely everything that I eat (I use My Fitness Pal). I know this won't work for everyone, but for me, the knowledge that I'm accountable for my snacking, and that those calories will build up, and give me a red over target figure for calories that day really helps willpower. It's also nice in that I can check if I can 'afford' a snack before having it, and this is a good thing because I shouldn't undershoot my calorie target by too much. The second thing I do is make sure that there's a banana in the house. I like bananas, but they're very filling and they're not as light and yummy as snacks. So if I'm hungry, I can eat the banana. If I don't want to eat the banana, I'm obviously not really hungry. The third thing -as others have said - is to try to limit the amount of snacks in the house.

One interesting suggestion I've read elsewhere is cleaning your teeth. Apparently this makes the hunger go away. I guess this has to be used with care, as constant teeth cleaning probably isn't good for us. But I can imagine that this is a good way to avoid snacking in the evenings. I've cleaned my teeth = no more food or sugary drinks for me today.