Emotional Eating: A 31-Day Challenge

(It would have been 30 but I technically started yesterday!)

Emotional Eating.

I have talked about it before. It is a big problem for me. I eat when I'm hungry, tired, sad, happy, bored, excited. I eat because I want a treat, I went to run an errand, or something good or bad happened. My go-to emotional foods are sweets. Candy and pastries of any kind, primarily. On Friday, I ate a king-size bag of peanut butter M&Ms. I wasn't hungry; my rationale was that I had my period and, therefore, should eat them.

Makes sense, right? Ha.

This is obviously very far from eating intuitively and has caused me to gain even more weight. I know this is not my natural state because I know I have been overeating and emotionally eating to an unhealthy degree. I eat regularly when I am not hungry and just to "numb out". This is especially difficult at work when I can get bored and snacks are very on-hand.

So.

A challenge. 31 days worth. No sweets at all. While I don't feel like I will really be depriving myself (I've gotten more than my fair share of sweets lately!), I am a little nervous about what will happen when I get tired or bored, particularly at work. I am going to try and discover some replacement habits, such as having a cup of tea or walking away from my desk for a few minutes. I am going to Target to stock up on other snacks today to make sure I don't get hungry. I hope to keep up a similar habit of what I ate yesterday:

half bagel with butter and cup of tea
leftover chicken mole
Dr. Pepper (tapering back off to avoid headache!)
apple with melted cheese
hot dogs, beans, cabbage and potatoes
applesauce

As I mentioned before, I had a pretty easy time since I was at home. I was never overly hungry and didn't really have any bad moments. After dinner was the hardest but I tried to get creative and really make sure I was hungry.

1 day down, 30 to go!