Comfort eating.

Former Member · April 2004

anyone had any bad experiences with this? I've been doing it more and more often.. what is your tips or advice about it. what experiences you had with it?

Former Member · April 2004

Carbohydrates are known to be "happy" foods, so if you are feeling down it is common for people to eat too many of them. When I'm down I always have a craving for bread, can't really explain why.

I do it sometimes to fill the empty hole in my stomach that I get when I'm down, so if it's like that for you try drinking water instead.

Former Member · April 2004

yeah, I eat bread and butter or crisps when I'm down.

thanks for the tip.

Former Member · April 2004

Re: Comfort eating.

Originally posted by Hellfire
anyone had any bad experiences with this? I've been doing it more and more often.. what is your tips or advice about it. what experiences you had with it?

When someone I know found out I had problems with overeating and bulimia she suggested I try to do something else when I went to the kitchen. Like, as Kermit suggested, a glass of water or a cup of tea. Or try exercising to relax (releases endorphins).

Incidentally, I'm not suggesting you have an eating disorder, a lot of people comfort-eat when they're low.

Former Member · April 2004

I'm not sure if I have or not so I'm not dismissing it or saying I have,

It's a very hard thing to deal with I know it's not right and I wanna stop, I'm fat enough as it is.

Former Member · April 2004

Everyone says to drink water when they are peckish but I do that and I still feel hungry. So is it just me?

Former Member · April 2004

Well I try to do it as a diversion, like a reason to be in the kitchen rather than to fill me up, since I'm usually not actually hungry.

Former Member · April 2004

Originally posted by *lil~miss*
Everyone says to drink water when they are peckish but I do that and I still feel hungry. So is it just me?

well then it means you really are hungry. The reason people say to drink water when you feel hungry, is often the body mistakes thirst for hunger, so if you drink a glass of water then sometimes that will make you feel less hungry.

Former Member · April 2004

Originally posted by *lil~miss*
Everyone says to drink water when they are peckish but I do that and I still feel hungry. So is it just me?

Drink water instead of snacking, but it shouldn't replace meals. A lot of hunger feelings, especially between meals, are actually feelings of thirst, but people have to eat as much as they ahve to drink.

I don't know if comfort-eating is an eating disorder or not, to be honest. I think not being able to stop eating all the time is an eating disorder, but comfort eating doesn't really fit into any category. I think it depends on the person.

I sometimes sick food up when I'm feeling down, but I don't think it makes me bulimic because it isn't all the time.

Former Member · April 2004

Originally posted by Kermit
I don't know if comfort-eating is an eating disorder or not, to be honest. I think not being able to stop eating all the time is an eating disorder, but comfort eating doesn't really fit into any category. I think it depends on the person.

I sometimes sick food up when I'm feeling down, but I don't think it makes me bulimic because it isn't all the time.

Yes, I know, sorry, I'm not being very clear tonight. Compulsive overeating is an eating disorder, and obviously making yourself sick regularly is, but comfort eating isn't as far as I know.

Incidentally, I'm not sure that making yourself sick is good news even if it's "not all the time".

Former Member · April 2004

Originally posted by piccolo
Incidentally, I'm not sure that making yourself sick is good news even if it's "not all the time".

No, it's not. I haven't done it for ages, since when I stopped cutting, in fact, but meh.

It's not good to feel guilty about eating:(

Former Member · April 2004

Originally posted by Kermit
It's not good to feel guilty about eating:(

Not at all. That way madness lies.

Former Member · April 2004

Originally posted by piccolo
Not at all. That way madness lies.

:hyper:

Former Member · April 2004

I thought comfort eating was sort of an eating disorder? I comfort eat sometimes and sometimes it kinda goes more than just comfort eating and I don't stop eating. Would that be classed as an eating disorder or not?

Former Member · April 2004

Originally posted by *lil~miss*
I thought comfort eating was sort of an eating disorder? I comfort eat sometimes and sometimes it kinda goes more than just comfort eating and I don't stop eating. Would that be classed as an eating disorder or not?

If it is regular, continuous and persistent behaviour then it probably would, but the line is always very blurred. Depends on the definiton of persistent and regular I guess:)

Former Member · April 2004

Originally posted by Kermit
. I think not being able to stop eating all the time is an eating disorder,

do you really? for weeks I cant stop eating, I have to eat loads, til I think i'm going to burst. then I realise what i'm doing and spend the next however long feeling guilty about everything I eat and I wont snack at all. It goes round and round in circles. I wish I could just eat when I need to eat, all of the time instead of eating all the time, then feeling guilty. I think about food nearly all the time.

Former Member · April 2004

Originally posted by VinylVicky
do you really? for weeks I cant stop eating, I have to eat loads, til I think i'm going to burst. then I realise what i'm doing and spend the next however long feeling guilty about everything I eat and I wont snack at all. It goes round and round in circles. I wish I could just eat when I need to eat, all of the time instead of eating all the time, then feeling guilty. I think about food nearly all the time.

Yeah. There are differing levels of severity, but I do think that people who, for the most part, do not have a healthy relationship with food have a problem with eating.

I'm no psychologist so I don't know if they are "eating disorders", but binge-eating then feeling guilty about it isn't a healthy relationship with food, IMHO.

Former Member · April 2004

i've never been happy with food for as long as I can remember, same goes for my body. I do think about food so much but it's been with me that long, i'm used to it now and I keep it under control.

Former Member · April 2004

technically, if you are not using food in a 'normal' way - i.e. 3 meals a day, eating when you're hungry type deal - then you have 'disordered eating'. but this isn't very realistic in the real world.

and then there's a very big gap between there and an 'eating disorder'. a disorder is a very big, very real risk to your health, and it's very very serious.

i would say most people have disordered eating, in my experience. i can count on one hand the people i know who have a totally healthy relationship with food (two of them are my parents, so i don't know what happened with me). the thing is recognising if it's affecting your health (physical or mental) enough for you to need help. for example, if you're very very thin, or really fat.

if you're just a bit like me, and you eat loads when you're down/bored/working and then swing to the extreme of eating nothing when you're ill/anxious, but you're maintaining a weight, and it's not taking over your life, then i would think you're pretty much normal.

Comfort eating.

Comments