I always thought I wasn't an especially emotional eater. I knew I tended to not want to spend time cooking and lean toward comfort foods when under stress, but I never realized how easily my emotional eating is triggered until today.
It was a simple argument, nothing especially painful or harsh, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted and I couldn't do anything about that. I thought I accepted it and dealt with the stress gracefully, but then I sat down to dinner.
My dinner tonight was a big salad with mixed fruit slices and mini cheese snacks on the side. Although I've been eating at a normal pace all week, I found myself shoveling the food in quickly. I couldn't seem to stop myself.
And although I was eating my delicious, healthy homemade food, I wondered several times if it would be okay if I ordered pizza, or how soon my next meal out would be. The thoughts were fleeting and I wasn't really wanting or craving any of it, but it was there.
I felt nauseous by the end of dinner and didn't want to eat anymore, which was impressive since I very rarely feel incapable of eating. Hours later, I still feel full and slightly queasy from my eating speed.
Next time I find myself trying to finish a meal in two bites after a stressful situation, I think I will give myself time to cool down and have a cup of tea before eating. I would have really liked to enjoy my food tonight, and I'm sad that emotional eating got in the way of that.
At least I know what to look for now. It's tough to be this self-aware!
Wow, I know what you mean about being self-aware! I've noticed sometimes that I (as well as others) don't realize what I am doing until I step back and think for a second. I remember one time, about 6-8 weeks ago, I ordered a wrap that was delievered to my dorm late at night. I started watching YouTube, and before I knew it, the wrap was gone before I even really realized that I'd taken a few bites out of it! Self-awareness is one of the things that I am trying to incorporate into my eating habits also. I try to tell myself "slow down, it's not going to go anywhere in two seconds if you don't shove it all down now".
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