Car Trip + Tired Kids = Emotional Eating

There's nothing to describe the experience of being in a car with 2 small children for 13 hours. It would drive any one to drink..or in my case to a box of oatmeal creme pies. Which I might point out I don't even like! I've always been an emotional eater and it's more then choosing to eat something bad or to eat something good. How many times have you seen an overweight person at a fast food restaurant and thought something like this, "If they didn't eat so many french fries, they wouldn't be so fat!" If losing weight was as simple as choosing to eat one food over another don't you think everyone would be thin? Who would choose to stay in a situation that makes them so unhappy? It's true that the basic science of weight loss is burning more calories then you eat, but the reality is much more complicated.

Emotional eaters eat to make themselves feel better about something, which in turn makes them feel guilty about their weight and self-control, which in turn drives them to eat more so they can feel better. The key to breaking this cycle for me is to find something that will make me feel better without turning to food. A lot of people will use exercise for this but I place exercise more in the "necessary evil" category then in the "reward" section. Any ideas? What do you do when you are upset to make yourself feel better?

Well, I didn't do great in Utah. But I didn't do badly either. I was at 223 this morning which is up 1 pound from last week. But thinking about all the junk I ate yesterday on the way home I'm just happy it wasn't more. I'm thrilled to be home and back to my routine. Back with my exercise bike and my kitchen where I feel more in control. I'm not beating myself up about the mistakes of yesterday but instead am recommitting myself to this week's effort. I thankful for all of you who are following my progress and really appreciate your support.