What saves you from a relapse?

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Replies

  • finiss
    finiss Posts: 3 Member
    Read "Brain Over Binge". it will free you from that voice that keeps saying: " Go ahead, you deserve it."
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    Planned "relapses." Works with food. Not with sobriety.
  • daviddaw9948
    daviddaw9948 Posts: 11 Member
    Where are you when the cupcake temptation strikes? If you are at home, then how did that cupcake get to your home? Did you buy it? Did someone else purchase it? Did you buy it for other family members? Nobody needs cupcakes, so do not buy them when shopping, and ask others not to. If you are outside the home, then just physically do not put temptation in your way.

    I find it hard to resist temptation if the foods are in the house, but if there are no biscuits in the cupboard, or yoghurts in the fridge, it is so much easier to resist the urge. If I am out and feel like I want an ice-cream for instance, then I will just make sure that I don't go near one. When the urge passes, and it will, the satisfaction of conquering it remains.
  • chezinkflo
    chezinkflo Posts: 19 Member
    The thought of getting type 2 diabetes keeps me on track, I don't want to get my legs amputated, suffer kidney failure, go blind etc. It's a very powerful motivation for me.
  • DisruptedMatrix
    DisruptedMatrix Posts: 130 Member
    Put your headphones in, go for an hours walk. Eat back the extra calories guilt free. Or eat the calorie deficit you had from the past week.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    FlaggExterminvs wrote: »
    also knowing how angry and violent i got to anyone thinner who tried to show me up. i want to stay size 0/2 forever

    Mods please block this person.
  • ashlepersuasion
    ashlepersuasion Posts: 51 Member
    What saves me from tumbling hard off the wagon is constantly reminding myself of my progress and my goal. For me the weight loss struggle is all mental. If I am in a very bad mood or as you mentioned having a bad day then my diet is hanging on by a thread. I have to talk myself (in my head) back to why its best I keep consistent. I also think about how guilty I will feel afterward.
  • VeganRaptor
    VeganRaptor Posts: 164 Member
    FlaggExterminvs wrote: »
    also keep looking like the perfect human keeps me from relapsing on Count Chocula (hes pure marshmellowy choco evil!) lol

    I don't think the "perfect human" really exists :) There is beauty in every body :)
  • VeganRaptor
    VeganRaptor Posts: 164 Member
    I'm not really an emotional eater but I think preventing myself from relapsing into my eating disorder has some similarities to the strategies others here use :)
    Not labeling foods as good or bad is a really great strategy for anyone to use, in my opinion. Eating things in moderation is fine- balance is important mentally which can help you physically!
    I also find making myself a meal plan is good for the days when I'm feeling like I might relapse. It means you don't really have to worry as much about what you will or won't be eating.
    Finding other ways to cope is also a positive :) I like to bake as a stress relieving coping mechanism, although I'm still figuring out how to bring that back into my life in a non-disordered way with my therapist.

    I hope you find something that works for you!
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    A thought that struck me about the angel and devil on the shoulders - I got on much better once I realised they are not an angel and a devil, they are competing desires and neither is evil.

    What you call the "angel" is your desire to become healthier over the long term. What you call the "devil" may be one of several motivations to eat the thing. Perhaps just a dopamine-based craving; perhaps genuine hunger; perhaps an emotional hurt that's crying for recognition.

    None of these are good or evil, they are all parts of you - your pet gnomes telling you what they need. If you can tease out who is saying what you can make an informed decision about what to do.

    For example, I just realised today that my increased desire for carbsy food is not the dopamine gnome, but my body genuinely needing a bit of extra energy to deal with a virus I'm nursing. It's all a question of self knowledge.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited November 2016
    My saying is "I will not derail progress".. I have to tell my self that I have come too far to go back..

    So once you get into your grove in the weight loss process, your results are your motivator, your decisions either keep moving forward or has the potential to derail all things..

    Never an emotional eater, but did have a "hand to mouth with food problem" that was something I did often in a high stress job, and bring the job home, compounds all. eta: I have a different job now. :)
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
    VeganRaptor wrote: »
    FlaggExterminvs wrote: »
    also keep looking like the perfect human keeps me from relapsing on Count Chocula (hes pure marshmellowy choco evil!) lol

    I don't think the "perfect human" really exists :) There is beauty in every body :)

    No, I am pretty sure that pure ugly exists. Walk around your local Walmart long enough for confirmation.
  • warcup666
    warcup666 Posts: 99 Member
    Carchick94 wrote: »
    Hello, I am an emotional eater and every not so great day that I have, I want to eat. In that very moment, I get this 'screw it' attitude. This is what has always put my weight loss goals to a hault. I'm stubborn and I tell myself I deserve this damn cupcake cause I had a terrible day and in that moment stop caring all together. When you get this way, what stops you? How does the angel on your right shoulder tell the devil on your left shoulder no?

    Hello!! I know exactly what you mean, if iv had a rubbish day at work I eat crap, it makes you feel better for that split second then ya feel worse for eating it lol. Don't be grudge yaself stuff, if you want a cupcake have one , ya only live once, just don't go overboard or go for a walk /run to burn off.
    Or try having a good drink of water, ya body often gets confused between hunger and thirst, fill up on water instead.
    Hope this helps, keep smiling and stay positive X
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    finiss wrote: »
    Read "Brain Over Binge". it will free you from that voice that keeps saying: " Go ahead, you deserve it."

    Or Beck's Diet Solution.

    Or just find a way to make small eating decisions matter to overall goals. I think the hardest thing about dieting or weight maintenance is just that people in general are often bad about weighing short term vs. long term benefits, especially when the long term one is made up of lots of little tiny decisions that seem individually insignificant.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    When I have a bad day maybe I buy a new book and escape for awhile. Maybe I soak in a warm bath. I listen to music and sing along. When I am stressed out I often start cleaning or pacing. Maybe I meditate for 10-20 minutes or just talk about my problems with my spouse. Sometimes I just scream once and then I feel better because I let it out.
    If a cupcake doesn't take me over maintenance level it is fine to have the cupcake too.
  • suzeqnu
    suzeqnu Posts: 7 Member
    I have the same issue. These comments have been very helpful!
  • 777Gemma888
    777Gemma888 Posts: 9,578 Member
    Look at yourself in the mirror. Seriously, it works.

    Take that cupcake infront of a mirror [full length] and watch yourself, as you eat it. Set it to memory for future reference.

    When another bout of your need to "treat" yourself looms, mirror + set up your camera.

    Be accountable to yourself.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    On the occasions when I've felt that I was in danger of that 'screw it' attitude after eating all my planned food for that time period, I found that engaging in physical activity or exercise let me get that thought out of my head and bank a few calories if I still felt a need to over-eat. Indeed, the danger passed.

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