I am also a emotional eater. I was able to loose 45 KG (almost 100 lbs) over a year and I kept it off for over 12 years now. Some things I learned:
- Eat mostly food that is not calorie dense (vegetables, whole grains legumes) and lots of low fat protein (chicken, tofu, legumes…). This will make you feel satiated without eating too many calories.
- Don’t buy processed food. If you are busy, do some meal prep.
- Don’t buy food “trigger food”. If you don’t have chocolate, chips, ice cream etc. at you house, you can’t eat it.
- Periodize your diet. Eat enough carbs before and during training. This will help you perform better and you will not eat as much afterwards. Eat less carbs on low volume or recovery days. Apps like Hexis can help with that.
- Don’t smoke but the idea is good. Find something you can do instead of eating. Like good coffee or tea (without sugar). Keep snacks around that are low calorie like cucumbers or carrots.