I am really struggling
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Kass0708
Posts: 41 Member
Hey everyone, my name is Kassie and I am really struggling these days with my binge/emotional eating. My depression and anxiety are definitely getting the best of me and I find myself craving certain foods when I am stressed, sad, bored etc, and I can't beat the cravings. I haven't been able to fight the cravings so in return my diet is starting to fail even though the last two weeks it was good but now that I am in the 4th week I gained last week and believe I may have gain this week which is just making me even more frustrated and depressed. Like being continuously knock down. Please help.....
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Hey there, I'm sorry you're struggling. I know how difficult it can be. I've had a rough week myself but toward the end of it found myself being able to do a few things that I normally wouldn't, that I'm pretty proud of. Out of curiosity, when you say diet, are you just eating whatever you want at a reasonable deficit or are you heavily restricting?
Have you been able to determine what exact triggers you have when you emotional eat? I know for myself they come up when I'm dealing with relationship issues, family stress, and when I'm avoiding schoolwork, among a few other things. Being able to identify my exact triggers has helped a ton in my recovery.0 -
I am not heavily restriction but not just eating what I want. I actually been trying to eat all natural and organic food. For two weeks I did amazing and all of a sudden this week now last week I just lost it. I binged eat all week and all last week. I eat when I am bored, eat to avoid school work, eat when stressed and upset not most of all when my depression is not doing so good and my self esteem is so low I just don't care anymore and then I don't even let my fiance touch me.0
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Kassie, as someone with a food addiction / eating disorder, who has been around a lot of people with the same kinds of issues, when you binge, are you eating till you make yourself ill? Or is more like, eating too much and knowing you're not doing what you want for yourself?
I know it's such a struggle. But I hope you're not eating so much that you're making yourself sick (or purging after eating too much.)
Personally, I've noticed that the more I try to be good, the more a rebound / whipsaw thing I have where I go off the rails. It's like that part of me is biding its time, waiting for an opening.
Or as they say in 12 step programs - while I'm here in the meeting, my addiction is out in the parking doing push ups
I wonder if the self-esteem is at the root of it. That seems to be a really huge thing for so many of us, and especially for people with addiction / emotional eating stuff.0 -
What djhnd said /exactly./ When I say restriction - I mean anything. Are there certain foods you like to eat normally but you don't because you see them as "unhealthy" or off limits? That's also definitely a form of restriction. I noticed that something that was leading up to a few days of really rollercoaster eating was that I was trying to keep to a certain calorie limit at meals, and it definitely set me up for feeling more vulnerable when my mood started to go wild. For the first time in I was able to look back and see what parts of my eating patterns may have further contributed to emotional eating, it was really exciting for me in a weird way.
I'd really suggest finding some coping mechanisms. It won't be instant - but even doing them after I binge or overeat helps me a LOT. I'm able to let go of any guilt or shame I have once I do them and can start the next day without any bad feelings about my previous day hanging around, and not just eat everything I think needs to be "good" to make up for a "bad day."
I also eat when I'm avoiding school work...boy did that crop up for me this week, haha. I know how you feel.
Do you do any sort of journalling entries to try to decipher your emotions, and then figure out why exactly they're making you feel that way and how you can move past it? I know it may sound a bit cheesy, but it helps me a lot. I'm currently reading a book about binge eating that has a huge wealth of coping mechanisms - one of the ones I'm using right now in it is something called an alternative action log. It has you go through breaking down what happened, what the trigger for the binge was, what happened, how you feel about it, short and long-term solutions and consequences of them. For me this sort of thing helps me a lot post-emotional eating. It helps me release a lot of the bad feelings that end up building up as a result of it. 0 -
Hey everyone, my name is Kassie and I am really struggling these days with my binge/emotional eating. My depression and anxiety are definitely getting the best of me and I find myself craving certain foods when I am stressed, sad, bored etc, and I can't beat the cravings. I haven't been able to fight the cravings so in return my diet is starting to fail even though the last two weeks it was good but now that I am in the 4th week I gained last week and believe I may have gain this week which is just making me even more frustrated and depressed. Like being continuously knock down. Please help.....
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Hey Kassie, I am 4 weeks into this myself after restarting again for the 100th time. I gained on my 3rd week too and that really got me down. Also, when this happens I normally also "punish" myself by binge eating, resulting in more weight gain etc. and the cycle continues until I start over again at a higher weight than the last time. This time though, so far my will has been stronger. I try to think about the saying on how the definition of insane is doing things over and over again and expecting different results. I want change this time, I think this time I have had the realization that I actually have to make it happen and push through. I think it is baby steps, just keep getting back up and trying again. You are here asking for help, so that is already a change. Good job on that! I am here if you need me, feel free to add me.
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Hey Kassie, I am sorry you are struggling. I can relate to alot of what you are saying. I have lost and gained weight thru my life and its like Enough Already.... So my latest way of thinking is to try to life like a slim person. So I portion, I eat like food is just my fuel, not that its entertainment or to pacify what I am not facing. I just eat to live, not live to eat. I take it meal by meal. I plan my attack for the day, just like a suba diver would plan for a deep dive. Getting my snacks, my frig, where I roam in the kitchen to get my meals together. I just don't grab I FORAGE, and GATHER. That is part of the process of meal preparing. Good luck and you CAN DO THIS. :-)0
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Happy to see people posting and being supportive0
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Hey everyone I just want to say thank you all for the support. It means a lot. djhnd, yes it does seem to be a self confident issue that leads to a lot of my binge eating as well as stress, my depression/anxiety and of course nursing school work. Sorry it took me a little while to get back to here but I was dealing with some emotional issues as well as some physical issues (gallbladder). I have made some changes to help me. I have OCD so I do so much better when lists and tables are made. So this week what I did is I planned out every meal and snack and got some hydroxycut appetite control flavor packets for water. I decided to make a table for my meals because when I don't have a guide that is when I look and look and look and look in my cupboards and that's when I just can't figure out what to eat and then the cravings start. This way I know exactly what I am making and having. I will let you all know how it has worked. You can also see how it has worked in my blog. I been using that to journal my feelings and accomplishments as well as my downfalls and obstacles. Again thanks to all of you for being here for me. I am here for you all as well. We got this!!!!!
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Good luck Kass!0
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I think that's a good plan. Taking the choice-making, multiple times per day, out of food and eating works amazing well for many, including me. Just make a plan and stick to it, it sounds hard but it's easier than opening up the fridge and saying "now what...."
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