Food addict who works around food.

Laxshmi77

I have a food retail job and eating disorder. After doing some math, I realized I've gained an average of 15 pounds for each year I've worked at this job (10 yrs). To give a little backstory, my first job in high school was food retail where I gained 50 pounds. I quit after three years and stopped working with food and I lost all the weight over a few years without even trying. I didn't start gaining weight again until I moved in my late twenties and began working around food again.
I bring a meal with me from home and a water bottle yet still consume unhealthy refined carbs and sweets because I stress eat. These foods give me a sense of comfort. Sometimes I won't even eat my home prepared meal. On days off I'll go out of my way to find these foods but only when I'm alone. It's become a secret behavior. And going to the gym is boring. Some times I am focused but most days I fall. I feel stuck in this cycle and am desperate to get out. My therapist has been unsuccessful to get my brain to "click" out of these behaviors. I often wonder if I should find a different line of work? I should also note that these behaviors stem from growing up poor and not having enough food in the house as a child. It's like not eating something is a fear of missing out. Can anyone relate to my story? Any advice that worked for you?? Feedback is welcome. Thank you.

dillydaisys

Damn I had written a long reply but hit Done instead of reply

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

If you gain 15lbs each year then you are over eating by 144 calories each day.

That's good news as you won't need to cut back that much. Drop 350 calories a day off your normal food and you will slowly lose the weight you have gained.

dillydaisys

I had worked in aged care for years but was made redundant and was unemployed for about 3 months. My job was quite active and once I stopped I put on a lot of weight, even after I started working in another job I continued to put the weight on because my new role was nowhere near as physical. I've put the weight on over 2 years and now I'm back here again like a boomerang.
It's amazing you acknowledge where your issues are and know exactly how you got to where you are. The food industry would be tough. Home made food is boring and takeaway food is exciting. I bet if someone else made your salad sandwich you'd be more inclined to eat it, even if it was made the same way you'd made it. I can relate to you in the way being poor defined how I eat today. I remember when no one was home I'd eat everything I wasn't meant to not wanting to miss out on it. I've had to change my way of thinking from "I shouldn't eat that"' "I can't eat that" to "I don't want to eat that" I really wish you the best. I can't really give much advice or tips because I struggle too but I admire how honest you are in identifying your problem area.

jgnatca

I vote for moving to a new line of work not around food.

Discuss with your therapist what your life would look like if you weren't faced with this obsession daily. What would you do? What goals will you have? How will you fill your days?

Laxshmi77

Thank you all for your responses. It means so much to me that you took the time to read my lengthy post. I will take the advice given to me. After I posted this I stumbled across a food addiction site which made some really good points I had not previously considered.

-make a Pros and Cons list about how your life would be without the trigger foods. (I could not list a single Con)

-before you can focus on weight reduction, you must focus on addiction recovery. Give it 1-3 months before calorie restriction

That last part is golden: I've always put food addiction and weight loss together and tried to tackle them as if they were a singular issue, but they're separate. Addiction recovery going forward will be my priority but I'll still continue to journey my food intake. I am considering attending meetings, too.

Thank you all again.

dillydaisys

Wow that is pretty interesting, I had never really thought of it like that that they were 2 separate issues

Strawblackcat

I feel your pain. Ironically, it's a running joke at my job that everyone puts on 10 lbs when they get hired at the health food store that I work at. It just goes to show you that, organic or not, a chocolate bar is a chocolate bar, and that calories are still calories. It also does't help that we get 25% off of everything as an employee perk.

I try to stay active while at work so I don't get a chance to really snack. After all, I can't eat while I'm stocking shelves or helping customers! A bonus of doing this is that you actually burn calories while working vs. just intaking them by snacking! I also try to keep hydrated throughout the day with a combination of water and coffee, to keep full and prevent dehydration.

Lastly, I remind myself that I'm at work to MAKE money, not to spend it. It always helps me to envision the amount of money that I spend on snacks at work as time that I spend working. Was that soda, bag of chip, and chocolate bar really worth the hour of work that it took to make the money to earn it? In most cases, nope! That way, it's really easy for me to just not buy the stuff.

Laxshmi77

I wish money were a way to keep me from eating! I handle the pastry case at the end of the night and workers can take whatever they want and the rest are put in a donation bin. So there goes a peanut butter cookie in my mouth...and a bagel for the next morning. I have zero control (especially during bouts of high stress) and I may have to remove closing shifts or find other employment if that doesn't help. Out of sight, out of mind works for me best.