Why do/did you overeat?

Cortneyrenee04

I overeat because if there's food around, I can't think of much else until it's been eaten (hopefully by me).

Today, I got an ice cream and made it all the way home (3 minutes) before I had a bite. First time ever! I ha clenched fists and tapping feet the whole time... Issues

85Cardinals

Pizza and beer mostly. I guess big sandwiches and chips too.

mjgrin

I have social anxiety and I've been using my weight to keep people from getting close to me. I eat when I'm bored. I eat when I'm happy. I eat when I'm celebrating. I eat when I'm sad. The list goes on and on. I'm an emotional eater and an anxious person who tried to self-medicate with food.

I'm not like that so much anymore, but it is amazing how quickly I will just go into the fridge and grab something without really thinking about it.

DeterminedFee201426

_Emotional eating _boredom _and_mindless eating _

MynameisChester

Denial for me. I've lost weight before. So when I wasn't too overweight, I sort of gave myself permission to eat unhealthy again. As I looked in the mirror, I kept gaining weight but kept telling myself I didn't look too bad until 45 pounds later, I could hardly fit into any of my clothes.

MynameisChester

That and a strssful desk job.

Conspiracy19

Boredom and I just like food :')

kthompson601

I find one problem I have is something I call rage eating. If I have a really bad day at work, get into a serious argument with a loved one, or receive terrible news, I suddenly want to stuff my face with every piece of food in a ten mile radius. Normally small, lightly aggravating things like getting cut off in traffic or stubbing a toe don't trigger it, but depending on my mood and circumstances, sometimes I really struggle. I had one particularly bad reaction to learning of my aunt's serious health issue--I wanted to devour a greasy pizza and a pint of ice cream. I got as far as dialing domino's before I was able to recognize the desire and go to bed instead. Rage eating is a struggle for me. I can easily eat a few thousand calories as an emotional response.

teahlee123

Long story short, I was given oral steroids for a medical condition, increased my appetite, on top of severely injuring my ankle (fractured it in three spots) and not being able to run off what I was eating. I gained 25 pounds in two 1/2 months because of it (and mcdonalds to cover up my disappointment in not being able to play in tournaments for coed softball) wish somebody would have just told me i was getting fat, or not bought junk food all the time... Now i definitely am taking my life back...yay MFP!!

tedioustrainingap

I had to take a medication which is an appetite stimulant and causes insulin resistance and metabolism problems in some people. At the same time, I came down with ME/CFS and became very sedentary. So, along with eating more than I usually did and my body processing that fuel less competently than it had, I could not exercise to compensate.

Things are on the up now though

LVNF04

1. Lack of self control
2. When you are an adult, you can do whatever you want.
3. Means, if I want it, I can go buy it.
4. You give me the 35 tacos, I give you the money, case closed. Yes I ate 35 taco bell soft tacos in 3 days.

brenn24179

just wanted to eat as much as I wanted when I wanted and I also soothed myself with food, took care of everyone but me. Had to learn to set boundaries with myself and say No, enough is enough, get some self control. Food is like a drug to me, makes me happy, like a high. I liked food more than most people.

ElizabethKalmbach

Went from dancing 5-6 hours a day to working a desk job and though I did eat less, the switch coincided with my thyroid quitting and flouncing off. Got THAT sorted and got pregnant. Couldn't seem to lose that weight for 3 years, then suddenly started dropping weight very rapidly. Lost my appetite all together. Found out I'd picked up a new auto-immune trick during pregnancy and started getting B12 shots for pernicious anemia. Normalized weight and appetite over two years, then started gaining a pound a week with Mirena. Got blood tests and determined I had developed an immune response to the materials the Mirena was made of. Had it removed, lost 20 lbs. Appetite also gone. >_<

srujana_kanneganti

--cuz food is just so good. I love food.

-- peanut butter, pizza.

aamm2

Boredom for me, hands down. I live in an isolated area and it's been very easy to overeat in the last year.

MitsuShai

mostly emotional eating due to stress, worrying, and disappointment. But sometimes I over-eat when I have accomplished something. Dealing with stupid people makes me eat a lot too lol
I mostly abused chips, candy, and ice cream.

orchidbutterflies

I was always overweight growing up (my Dad saw food made me happy so decided to show me he loved me by giving me junk). That laid the foundation of disordered eating for me, but is in no way the reason why I continued to pile on the weight as I got older.
So of course I was bullied about my weight which led to social anxiety, depression, self-hatred etc.
In my teens things got bad and I couldn't leave my house due to the anxiety. All I had to do all day was sleep and eat. Fast forward 6 1/2 years of doing nothing but that and here I am.

I think the emotional eating was the biggest thing for me, I'd eat and eat until I literally couldn't ingest anything else without throwing up. Physically painful but was oddly relieving for me mentally.
I also used it as a form of self-harm. I was told how disgusting I was by society so the only way I would belong in the world was if I was thin. I didn't deserve to be on the same level as everyone else, so staying so overweight was my punishment.

It was a very warped mindset, one I didn't think I would ever come out the other side of, but I'm on my way.

bobby19666

I started working in an office. Food in canteen was cheap and horrible, chips and burgers or pasties. So I ate what tasted good a flapjack bag of crisps and a chocolate bar. 1000 cal there. High sugars, hit 13 stone and thought heaviest I ever been. So cut all sugars AND IT'S HARD. But I'm not dieting, that suggests il go back to old ways. Eating right with occasional treat. No processed foods no more . No mcdonalds either £4 buys me steak and I can cook so il enjoy it more

glassofroses

This last few pounds was pure emotional eating. Before that it was a mix of lack of portion control, never eating at proper times and eating to stave off boredom.

jenilla1

I did not realize what proper serving sizes were. Once I started weighing and measuring, it became easy to manage my calories.

booksandchocolate12

Why do I overeat?

Aaaand....cue music!

"Food Glorious food
We're anxious to try it
Three banquets a day
Our favorite diet
Just picture a great big steak
Fried, roasted, or stewed
Oh food! magical food! wonderful
food! marvolous food!"

eileensofianmushinfine

Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »

I overeat because if there's food around, I can't think of much else until it's been eaten (hopefully by me).

Today, I got an ice cream and made it all the way home (3 minutes) before I had a bite. First time ever! I ha clenched fists and tapping feet the whole time... Issues

this is generally me. I keep my environment free of trigger foods and I generally eat well most of the time. Picnics? Family gatherings? that's a whole nother world...I have so little self control when it is there....

kshama2001

kthompson601 wrote: »

I find one problem I have is something I call rage eating. If I have a really bad day at work, get into a serious argument with a loved one, or receive terrible news, I suddenly want to stuff my face with every piece of food in a ten mile radius. Normally small, lightly aggravating things like getting cut off in traffic or stubbing a toe don't trigger it, but depending on my mood and circumstances, sometimes I really struggle. I had one particularly bad reaction to learning of my aunt's serious health issue--I wanted to devour a greasy pizza and a pint of ice cream. I got as far as dialing domino's before I was able to recognize the desire and go to bed instead. Rage eating is a struggle for me. I can easily eat a few thousand calories as an emotional response.

Thanks for sharing. I don't soothe myself with food nearly as often as I used to, but when my sister called and said our father was in the hospital and it didn't look good, I went straight for a calzone.

Spreyton22K

There are as many reasons for overeating as there are people but what jumps out at me (and had included me) is the high percentage of people who are using food to self-medicate; either anxiety, depression or the plethora of emotions we experience throughout our lives that at the time feel overwhelming.

Food does activate the pleasure zones in our brains - and it's in the realization that the calmness or pleasure to be had is limited, that gives people at least a fighting chance to be able to regain self-control.

So many have faced multiple life crises and yet they still have had the insight to put the brakes on their disordered thinking which led them down the path to disordered eating. They have done whatever it takes to gain insight on their own behaviours....that takes courage.

Everyone in this thread deserves a high 5 - and to be proud of yourselves for not continuing to allow food to have control over you.

All have worked so hard to gain the insight to behaviours that aren't healthy and gotten down to making changes - God knows there are so many others that haven't yet made that leap or done that soul-searching and they are still struggling with the physical and emotional burdens that come with being overweight.

Merkavar

If some one asked me why I gained weight I would say over eating and sedentary lifestyle.

But if I think about it and make some guesses I gained like 5kg a year on average for like the past 15 years. I don't remember a year where I suddenly gained 15kg or anything like that.

So if I go with that sort of average weight gain a year I think I over ate on average 100 calories a day. In the grand scheme of things that's not a lot, but everyday adds up. So all those years I was so close to maintenance each day.

Like if I just skipped a Italian bmt each week I would have maintained my weight.

So can I claim I didn't over eat, I just slightly overestimated my burn and/or underestimated my food slightly?

Kalikel

I had no energy, so I craved pasta and bread and ate a LOT of it. The weight kept piling on. Couldn't exercise - too out of breath.

Then they fixed me and the weight started coming off.

I love losing weight!

faithyang

orchidbutterflies wrote: »

I was always overweight growing up (my Dad saw food made me happy so decided to show me he loved me by giving me junk). That laid the foundation of disordered eating for me, but is in no way the reason why I continued to pile on the weight as I got older.
So of course I was bullied about my weight which led to social anxiety, depression, self-hatred etc.
In my teens things got bad and I couldn't leave my house due to the anxiety. All I had to do all day was sleep and eat. Fast forward 6 1/2 years of doing nothing but that and here I am.

I think the emotional eating was the biggest thing for me, I'd eat and eat until I literally couldn't ingest anything else without throwing up. Physically painful but was oddly relieving for me mentally.
I also used it as a form of self-harm. I was told how disgusting I was by society so the only way I would belong in the world was if I was thin. I didn't deserve to be on the same level as everyone else, so staying so overweight was my punishment.

It was a very warped mindset, one I didn't think I would ever come out the other side of, but I'm on my way.

Oh, this was my childhood too...my parents were really busy people with their own businesses. My mum did try but coming from a cultural background where feeding children and chubby kids are a sign of wealth, happiness and health this became a bigger problem because food was a way our family bonded whenever my parents managed to find time outside of their very busy schedules to visit us at home and spend time with us.

We would have massive banquets at home made by the family matriarch (our grandma, who scorned food outside but gave in because I guess eating out lavishly was a sort of status symbol), and lavish banquets outside. Peppered with lots of quick fix Maccas, restaurant foods, buffets, junk food, the massive supermarket raids we as kids conducted.

Like you, our parents used food as a crutch to show they loved us and seeing us enjoy the food only encouraged them to push more food onto us as a means to compensate for their time-poor parenting.

We were all obese, had very low self-esteems, and yes we were bullied too.

However, I never got to the point I would throw up. I'm sorry you had to go through that. It must have been absolute mental torture to have something you love also be something you hated and harmed you.

When I was a teen I would try to starve myself the entire day every single day. I had been bullied in the canteen as a kid and did not go near the canteen for more than 6 years because I felt ashamed of myself. Ashamed of eating in front of others.. But I would get so ravenous that I would go to a food place near my house and buy 2-3 dishes to takeaway and bring it home, then proceed to gorge myself sick. During weekends I would go sick on absolute garbage - very rich foods, lots of junk food. I could clean out an 8 piece spicy chicken bucket on my own, with whipped potatoes, full fat fizzy drinks, and still head out for more sweet junk.

I'm glad to hear you're on the way out. Whenever things get dark, remind yourself of where you came from (that dark hole), how far you've come, and how much stronger that experience and the entire journey has made you. It's invaluable - for me - I wouldn't want to repeat that again, but I would not trade it for anything else.

Best of luck!