I'm always interested in the latest weight loss studies. There's a recent one that found that dieters who ate in response to external triggers, such as a festive occasion, had fewer problems with their weight loss than those who ate in response to emotional, or internal factors. The study also found that emotional eating was associated with weight regain in those who had successfully lost weight. This especially interested me because I tend to be an emotional eater. Are there other emotional eaters out there? Do you think we have a harder time maintaining our weight loss than non-emotional eaters?

I'm an awful emotional eater. Have been for years. Now that I'm working on bringing my weight down because of diabetes, I really notice when some emotion sends me running for junk food. At least, now, I have to go out for the junk food because I don't keep it in the house as a rule. That gives me a few minutes to think whether food will fix my problem or not. This plan does not always work, I do cheat. But it doesn't happen nearly so often and I buy less junk if I do buy it. I'm new at this, just stated taking a pill in August. I've lost 49 lbs. since July so I guess I'm getting on hang of it. The hospital evening diabetic classes were a great help, they answered a lot of questions for me.

Good luck to all of us emotional eaters, Turtlebook

You're making a lot of positive changes! Whenever I feel like I need to eat, I try and ask myself what I really want. Sometimes food isn't really what we need, especially when we're dealing with an emotion such as anger or boredom. The more often I can focus on what I really need and not eat, the better off I am in the long run.

my problem is that i am emotional eater also. i suffer from depression and have taken wellbutrin300 for 5 yrs among other depression meds. i quit , cold turkey. some things happened that we lost everything we owned. but we are trudging on. i had gained up 240, with my dr putting me on meds that had side effects of weight gain, its a double edged sword. due to stress 1 1/2 yr ago, i lost 70 pounds. i collapsed, my sugar was 13 when my husband found me. the problem was, i had lost so much weight( without me realising it) and was still taking the dose of meds for my diabetes when i weighed 240. the dr cut my meds in half now. but i regained weight. now i am at 200. dr took me off my hormones 2 months ago, and i dont feel up to par. emotional eating is like going in a circle, with the highs and the lows.i am determened to do it right this time.

You're right that emotions and stress play a large role in our eating habits, as well as our overall health. I hope that you continue to work closely with your doctor to regulate your medications to help you with this process.

Are there any strategies that help you eat mindfully, instead of eating to reduce stress?

eating that's me Happy sad angry you name it its my time to turn to junk food. I try to to snack on thing that are good for me but really when it comes to snacks what's good for ya... Right now my A1 c is really high so I am really fighting the hunger bug It seems like I am always hungry any one have any suggestions for that bug lol...HELP.....

For me at least there's a difference between eating due to emotions and being physically hungry. When I find myself wanting something to eat, first I try to figure out if I'm hungry. If I am, then my goal is to eat a balanced meal. If I'm not hungry, but perhaps bored or tired, I try to skip the food completely and do something to satisfy whatever emotion I'm feeling. This seems to work well for me most of the time - we all slip up sometimes!