"I'm just so upset I can't eat"

Why is it that the only people who say "I'm just so upset I can't eat" are already skinny?

 

because people like me who are overweight EAT when we get upset.

 

In my life I have only been so sick I could not eat twice in my life! Once when DH was deployed and I needed to know he was okay, and the other was our last move and the house we rented smelled like cat pee and looked like it was from a scary movie. I had no idea how we were going to get out of the contract but knew I could not live there! I don't understand that saying either, I can pretty much eat 24/7!

 

I am one of those people... I go through periods of anxiety and I lose weight like crazy. It's not really a good problem to have either because when you can't eat you have no energy and you feel like crud, so the anxiety and depression are self-perpetuating.

 

Most emotional eaters eat when they are upset, which can lead to being overweight but it also goes the other way. There are people, myself included, who can't eat when they're upset.

 

I bet you're skinny even when you aren't upset huh?

 

I've had stressful periods in my life where I can't eat. I didn't eat for a week after my husband died when I was 29 and I was 5 weeks pregnant and knew I needed too. I just couldn't choke anything down. I also got down to 107 lbs. before my second wedding--stress of moving across country and all that. I always went back to the weight my body wants to be, which is around 125. Maybe people that react to stress like this have a higher metabolism and tend to be thinner?

 

When I get really upset the last thing I want to do is eat. It's because when I'm upset, my stomach is just in turmoil. I also can't sleep. My husband is the exact opposite. He feels like eating and sleeping when he's upset so he can escape. It makes me really angry if we're fighting because I feel like I can't function and he seems like he's perfectly fine! It's interesting how differently we react to stress. My mom is an emotional eater.

 

My mom has really bad anxiety and when she is going through one of her attacks she can't eat until she has calmed down. She is not skinny but she isn't over weight either.

 

I'm that way. The first thing to go when I get upset is my appetite. I get physically sick at my stomach when I get nervous, anxious, heartbroken, etc. Yep, I'm skinny, but I also run several miles three to four times a week, so I wouldn't say that my skinniness is a result of how I handle anxiety or disappointment. I eat when I get bored not upset.

 

I am like you, Rachel. I eat when I am bored, but if I am stressed, nervous, or upset, I can't eat a thing. I will feel nauseous at even the thought of food.

 

I eat what I want and I'm skinny. My parents gave me great genes.

 

I used to eat when I was upset, nervous, anxious... I had lap band surgery about 1.5 years ago. With time this changed, and now I can't stomach food when I feel that way.

 

I'm skinny, and I eat when I'm upset. I have to eat every 3 hours or so, or I get sick. I'm not diabetic, but my blood sugar drops quickly, and makes things worse. So, I've trained myself to eat when I'm feeling down, ill, stressed, whatever, because I know it will always make me feel better, and if I don't things will seem and be 10x worse. The only time I don't eat is when I have a stomach bug, and that's only while things are moving the wrong direction. Once it settles, I start eating again slowly. It's just better for everyone.

 

I've met overweight people who can't eat when they're upset. ardon:

Me and food: any emotional eating I do is usually boredom. When I'm depressed, I tend to eat less, simply because of the anhedonia: no pleasure in anything means how the heck do I pick out something to eat when everything's just going to taste like sawdust anyway? And opening a box of cereal is just too...much...work... That's depression. There was only one time in my life, a major watershed emotional event, where I was not depressed but too overcome to eat. For a few days I couldn't stomach anything but fruit. It was just that one freak occurrence, though. And FTR I am lean (though not supermodel), due to great genes (thank you mom and dad!) and lifestyle (I eat well, and I either run 4 miles or do 1-2 hrs of aikido every day).

 

This is me. I just can't force the food down. It's not even in my thoughts. I'm neither skinny nor overweight. Average.

 

i'm not really sure what one has to do with the other? :unknw:

i'm definitely not skinny and i also can't eat when i'm anxious, nervous, or stressed because when i'm feeling those things, i also usually feel nauseous.

 

I am an emotional eater, I'm definitely not skinny and I do eat out of boredom, anxiety, sadness, anger...I am getting better with my relationship to food...but I think people, regardless of shape and size, either are or aren't emotional eaters.
My mother is an emotional eater and so is my father, so I definitely get it legit.

 

Same here. :good:

 

They don't have anything to do with each other.

 

I'm not skinny, so I must be incredibly jolly! :booty:

 

I don't know. I think it's pretty common for people not to be able to eat when they are under extreme stress or upset about something. Doesn't matter what a person's weight is but how your stomach feels when you are stressed. I am not skinny nor overweight and I can be an emotional eater but if something really has me upset or stressed, food will just make me feel physically sick. So I don't think that a person's weight has anything to do with it. :unknw:

 

I used to be fairly heavy, then went through some incredibly major life stress that made everything I ate feel like razor blades in my throat and stomach. I literally couldn't swallow. I dropped down to just about 100 pounds and looked like walking death. I slowly healed my mind and body, and am now up to a healthy weight. In my case, being "skinny" didn't cause me not to be able to eat when I was upset; not being able to eat resulted in me being skinny. It was not a great time in my life and I certainly didn't look good (unless your idea of beauty includes looking like you're 100 years old with your hair falling out). ardon:

People react to stress in different ways, and some people react to different stressors in different ways.

 

That's me too.

 

Ok, poor choice of words, maybe i should have said: Emotional eating, whether it's eating too much or too little, doesn't always go hand in hand with size.

 

I don't eat more or less when I am upset or stressed. I eat more or less depending on how busy & distracted I am. If I am really busy I can go forever without eating - if I don't have time to make what I really like or go to a favorite restaurant....I just don't eat until I get the time. The more I skip meals, the less food I need. If I have nothing going on, I eat more. I have been really busy the past 2 weeks - the girls started K, I had company, I had some work obligations....I am down to less than 94 lbs. I plan to use this weekend to eat properly, have some splurges & throw a couple pounds back on.

My mother.....all distress goes straight to her stomach - she heaves & cannot eat a bite if she is upset.

 

We've been going through some pretty stressful stuff the past month or so (more stress than I've ever been in) and it has definitely affected my appetite. I've lost 5lbs in the past month (which I'm happy about, only 5lbs to go until I'm at my pre-twins weight). I just don't care to eat when I'm nervous, worried, anxious, etc. I don't think it is unusual, I know many people like this.