Losing weight when you eat to battle stress?

United States
June 17, 2008 3:12pm CST
How do you lose weight when you eat to battle stress. My life is filled with more than the average amount of constant stress. I work 2 1/2 jobs, and still have monstrous financial struggles from an extremely difficult time in my life. My spouse has a serious ongoing illness that is not being adequately controlled. The medical bills from this continue to overtax what little space there is in the budget or lack of. In addition, my weight has increased by over 50 pounds from a level where I already needed to lose weight. The pressure makes me eat, but the weight only adds more stress. How do you break the cycle? I'm beginning to believe that this a battle that I cannot win.
2 responses
@onerygirl (549)
• United States
17 Jun 08
I believe in you and you will have to also in order to make it. I fully understand that you are going through pure torture right now. I think alot of people are going through a very stressful time in their lives with major financial problems. Money problems are bad enough without having to deal with a health crisis with a loved one. You have your hands very full. Make sure to take time out for you. You are vital to the family. Believe it or not, a little exercise will help you get rid of some stress. It does seem like a no win situation but you will win. You have acknowledged the problem and that makes it winnable. Keep your head up and be proud of yourself. You can do it!
2 people like this
• United States
21 Jun 08
hey there onerygirl, you gave some pretty sound advice, thoughtfilled, and reassuring....i pray the positivity and cheerleading in your efforts does what it's supposed to do and help this person remember that they are not alone and that they can still win this vicious battle...i am really loving mylot more and more...keep it up...keep spiraling up yourself and others...hooray for you and for mylot...
1 person likes this
@rosebud11 (189)
• United States
17 Jun 08
Keep the faith! You can do it (lose weight) if you set your mind to it. I also am I stress eater but I'm trying to change my ways. For one thing, we need to get a new habit to replace with eating. For example, if I feel hungry, or just think I'm hungry, I'll try reading to see if it passes. If it does, I totally saved myself some calories and if it doesn't, then I'll eat something. Of course, you can't only lose weigh from eating well, exercise is important and also a stress reliever! Just walking for half an hour a day to calm your mind will help tremendously. I also found that planning wahat I'm going to eat is extremely helpful. I am trying to eat 6 small meals a day, to increase my metabolism, and I have everything written down. This even helps when I go food shopping because since I have everything in front of me, I won't buy unnecessary items. Planning like packing lunches or cooking meat and then throwing it in the freezer so that you just have to microwave it when you get hungry helps too. I hope this helps!