After a lifetime of working in offices among other people, I'm now home alone almost every day. I research and write articles, and often, when thinking up ideas, I find myself peering into the refrigerator. Too often I used to take out a snack before returning to my computer. It helped me think, and also helped to put on extra pounds.

In my office years, I rarely ate between meals. There were always deadlines, meetings and phone calls to keep me busy. I didn't need much self discipline because my schedule kept me in line. Even at lunch, I often had to discuss business and, when things got really hectic, I often missed lunch. Meals at home involved growing kids and their needs, so the actual food was never important. I found time for exercise, and my weight stayed within healthy limits for decades.

Now that the kids are on their own and my busy office days ended with my retirement party, I'm totally on my own. It should have been no surprise that within two years of my last go-to-the-office day, I had gained 20 pounds. The condition, of course, is emotional eating. I wasn't aware of any particular emotion involved. Sure, snacking was compulsive, and it happened because the refrigerator was just a couple of steps away.

However, on further thought, I realize it was emotion driven. My lifestyle had changed drastically. Instead of functioning full-time among a group of people at home and at the office, I was totally alone. The discipline of a lifetime during 40 years of work and family had been stripped away, and I could do anything with my time I chose. Of course, I chose to eat twice as much as I ever had before. Was it emotional? Was it a crutch? Was it stupid? Of course it was!

I wised up on my own, although I'm sure a therapist would have recommended just what I did. I consciously rescheduled my day. Work at the computer was broken up by hikes, swimming laps at the local pool and volunteering at a city community center. I still put in a lot of time writing, but now I limit each session to four hours or less, and am sure to get out of the house at least once a day.

The secret, if there is one, to combat emotional eating, is to find disciplined ways to fill the day's schedule and stay away from extra food. Well, not entirely. When I'm searching my brain and the refrigerator for ideas, now I do it by munching a carrot or stalk of celery. It has worked for me. I lost the 20 pounds and another five after four months of my new self-imposed daily schedule.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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