Do you go for eating for emotional comfort?

I have read some health articles that says that chocolates do help raise one's moods, especially dark chocolates. In my case, I do love eating chocolates in the form of candies and ice cream. When I eat them a bit more often than usual, I find myself getting heavier in a short span of time. Whenever I eat chocolate candies, I always feel my moods get lifted :)

Yes, I will remember that eiram :) And if one had too much of it, then exercise would be a good option to reduce those extra calories and fats.

That's right. Like what you've mentioned there is something with chocolates that lift up our mood. So eat and eat but be careful too much is not good at all times.. hehe;)

I believe you're absolutely right, squallming. We could even say eating delicious food is the 'spice of life' and I would be one of them which would attest to this. I love eating delicious food, but I do try to double my exercise when I found myself eating too much.

I do love salty food myself especially those popular snacks I could buy in the store like potato chips. I also love bacon and ham, but we seldom have them. I think if we eat some of these unhealthy food moderately, it won't hurt much to have those types of food as long as it's not on a daily basis. For me, my problem is that I not only like salty food but I love sweet food as well. The good thing is that at least I am able to minimize on those lately and the result is that I lost a few more pounds lately.

I think your strategy is a good one, because usually we feel hungry when we think of food but if we distract ourselves and do other activities that we love and enjoy, then our attention for food tends to be diverted to those activities or hobbies. I guess it's not only you or me who are stress eaters but I would guess a large percentage of people are. I guess it helps when we know that we are not alone in the struggle to try to live in a healthier way.

I would say that it's good advice to drink plenty of water, and not only before eating but also throughout the day. Concerning our eating habits, I find that reducing rice every time you eat lunch and dinner helps a lot for me.

That is something praiseworthy, kokomo. Usually the tendency when one is down or in a bad mood is to always eat delicious food that are usually unhealthy, but to have the discipline to eat healthy food at those moments are difficult indeed but all worth it for sure. I still have to work on that area because my tendency is still to eat more unhealthy food that healthy ones. And when I feel depressed, my tendency is not to eat less but to eat more. I know this seems uncommon to many, but for me I felt that at least eating gives me some consolation by making me feel good at that moment. I just try to make sure that I exercise more if ever I eat a lot.

Hi choybel, we do have similar problems because until now I also have the urge to drink carbonated drinks or softdrinks, but at least I have lately minimized it not like before when I drink it on a daily basis but now I have it maybe about 2 to 4 times a week. I guess the best thing is to find a way to motivate yourself on why you want to do it like I want to have better fitness so that I would feel more attractive or I want to feel healthier. Anyway, I don't see you fat at all in the picture but anyway preventive is always better than the cure.

Yes, I would say that exercise would always be good advice when talking about one's fitness goals. I'm glad my exercise discipline is coming back to me little by little. I do feel much better after eating my usual comfort food, and you are right that most of the time it does make me feel worst a little later, but not always I must admit. Once again, generally people don't want to feel deprived and the solution to this as some experts advices is to give oneself one week of pampering wherein you could eat anything you want. The deal here is that you needed to follow a healthy diet for five to six days a week, and then you could give yourself a reward by eating anything you love to eat one time per week.

I would agree that many restaurants do have some menus that are considered healthy food so it would be good to order them as part of our overall meal. I remember when I was working in the office a long time ago that whenever I order in a restaurant, I always order my lunch with banana which is a common fruit in the Philippines. In all honesty, food do have the power to make us feel happier and place us in a better mood at the moment we are eating. So I guess it would be okay to eat delicious food but do it in moderation, and as much as possible flush those extra calories with exercise.

I feel the same way, Bhebelen. Anyway, I read a popular fitness magazine named FitforLife Challenge, and they suggest that you eat 6 healthy small meals per day to speed up metabolism but give yourself at least one time a week to enjoy whatever food you want to eat. The fitness gurus suggest that people don't want to feel deprived, so the best way is to give one day especially for celebrating yourself and to eat everything you want to eat for that day. This way, you don't feel deprived while you continue to lose weight as you follow your healthy diet for 5 or 6 days a week...one day is reserved for that pampering moment :)

Yes ztuberi, that is what I mean when someone is an emotional eater. He eats when he feels low and so that he will feel better after it. I have a feeling many people have this tendency, so I don't consider this bad but I just want to stress that most of the food that we eat for emotional comfort are unhealthy so it's best to do something that would help flush out those unhealthy food from our system like exercising and sweating a lot. Anyway, I also like choco sundae :)

I do envy you because I love drinking coffee but whenever I drink it, I find it hard to sleep at night and oftentimes my mood turns crabby later in the day so I try to avoid it as much as I can. Starbucks coffee is very delicious and you have so many flavors to choose from. Coffee is such a favorite drink to many, and that is why Starbucks is such a big business. I do love eating chocolates as well, especially chocolate candies, ice cream and drinks. I guess eating them occasionally is fine, but when you have them often then it's important to take care of one's health by exercising or taking some things that flushes out toxins in our body. I was thinking about herbal teas and natural products that helps removes toxins in our body.

I somehow see them a bit different, and instead of thinking of them as bad I think it's just a terrible weakness of their will which they themselves are most affected. Anyway, this is just a personal opinion and I know everyone will have different opinions with different things, so I respect the way you look at it, SUMANJIve. So for me, I feel more of pity for those people who are too overweight. I sometimes have a tendency to indulge in food that I like just to make myself feel better, and in fact I have bought something now and I am eating them while I am writing this message but they are not really so unhealthy ( dried sweet bananas ). I feel better while I eat them while I am aware that I needed to exercise more later in the day. I guess it's alright to fall for emotional eating as long as you could try to make up by exercising more.