Just one more piece!

I am an emotional eater peeps. Yeah, I admit it. And the stress of my job, coupled with the fact that I seem to have forgotten I am paying $40 bucks a month for a gym membership, have made this fact all the more lucid in the last few weeks.

I decided to blog about it after reading Fat Bridesmaid's post and thinking about to the last couple of weeks. A bagel in the staff lounge after I had just eaten breakfast, having an extra piece of pizza even though I'm not hungry. And the list goes on.... I guess I didn't realize how much the gym helped me manage a lot of these stress/comfort/emotional eating episodes. Work is taking it's toll right now. So much so that I found myself at home with a bottle of red wine and a heap load of sushi (among other things) on Friday night. And really, do I wonder why?

Breaking habits is clearly hard to do.

So how do I get control again?
Captain Obvious would like to point out my shiny, unused gym membership.
Thank you Captain Obvious.
But seriously,what about those times when the gym doesn't cut it? Knowing that controlling emotional eating is one of the keys to successful long term weight loss, it kind of freaks me out that I can't seem to get a handle on it!

What does the world have to say about comfort eating?

• educate yourself
  
• get rid of clutter that drains excess energy (ooooooooh! that makes so much sense)
• pretend you are Stuart Smalley (I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darnit, people like me!"
• exercise. (Duh. Easier said than done. Can someone hit me with the motivation stick?)
• take a test to see if I'm an emotional overeater......(okay,shockingly I have healthy attitudes toward eating!)
• get researchers at Case Western to call you and remind you that fatty snacks aren't going to improve your mood
• know your triggers
• find yourself some emotional support here and here and here
  
• change what you eat when you are emotionally eating (popcorn and carrots...?)
  
• make a plan of action for when you get stress (I promise to walk the dog, not walk to Wendy's)

*Minor disclaimer - research was done via google at 6am. Not responsible for any bad information posted on my blog prior to partaking of coffee. Will verify sources after caffeine.*

So it's a start...admitting my problem and educating myself are the first steps. Now I need to find alternative ways to manage my stress eating. Like moving to a tropical country and selling beers on the beach. Not much stress in that is there?

Sigh. And I'll keep blogging. No matter how frustrated I am.

FGS