Triggers I notice on MFP

Leigh14

I've thought about this before and tried to focus on the why's when I am overeating. I binge - and that's a huge problem for me. I go through phases of super controlled eating and stupidly uncontrollable eating. I like being in control ... so I don't know why I let myself lose it sometimes. I've identified some triggers as stress, boredom, true hunger (from going too long without eating) and - the hardest to control (for me, anyway) - the absolute love of food. I like the way things taste, I like different textures, I like the feel-good feelings associated with eating.

But, this is not what has made me fat. I have pictures of myself as a toddler and even then I was overweight. Obviously I was not controlling what I ate at that point in time. Is it right of me to blame my family? No. And I don't. One way we all show love is through food. And I believe this is good - as long as the food is healthy and in moderation and not the only way we express love. But, the food I ate growing up - before I even know what calories were - was the food my grandparents were fed. Corn bread, beans, gravy, beef and butter on everything. My grandparents ate this kind of food and worked all day long on a farm. I ate this food and watched TV and played in my room and was a typical kid of the '80s.

I've always dreamed of being a healthy weight and I know it is completely in my realm of control to do so. I pride myself on taking control of situations and getting things done to the best of my ability. So ... why do my "triggers" have such control in my life and what can I do about it? I'm logical, I can identify them, I just do not know how to make them go away. "Just stop eating" does not work when the reasons we eat are deeper than hunger.

SHBoss1673

I've thought about this before and tried to focus on the why's when I am overeating. I binge - and that's a huge problem for me. I go through phases of super controlled eating and stupidly uncontrollable eating. I like being in control ... so I don't know why I let myself lose it sometimes. I've identified some triggers as stress, boredom, true hunger (from going too long without eating) and - the hardest to control (for me, anyway) - the absolute love of food. I like the way things taste, I like different textures, I like the feel-good feelings associated with eating.

But, this is not what has made me fat. I have pictures of myself as a toddler and even then I was overweight. Obviously I was not controlling what I ate at that point in time. Is it right of me to blame my family? No. And I don't. One way we all show love is through food. And I believe this is good - as long as the food is healthy and in moderation and not the only way we express love. But, the food I ate growing up - before I even know what calories were - was the food my grandparents were fed. Corn bread, beans, gravy, beef and butter on everything. My grandparents ate this kind of food and worked all day long on a farm. I ate this food and watched TV and played in my room and was a typical kid of the '80s.

I've always dreamed of being a healthy weight and I know it is completely in my realm of control to do so. I pride myself on taking control of situations and getting things done to the best of my ability. So ... why do my "triggers" have such control in my life and what can I do about it? I'm logical, I can identify them, I just do not know how to make them go away. "Just stop eating" does not work when the reasons we eat are deeper than hunger.

And there's the rub. Once you identify your triggers, the work doesn't stop there. You still have to put in the hard work to change your situation. Like any addiction, the chemicals released in your brain from comfort and safety are addictive (dopamine specifically), and like any addiction, they need to be actively accepted and you need to be constantly vigilant. All the physical requirements are still in play like watching calories, eating healthy foods, exercise...etc. but when you add in active understanding of WHY you do the things you do, that's when real change happens. You can train yourself to be more healthy just like you trained yourself to love comfort foods, it takes time though. Until someone thinks of it not as a deprivation of a comfort and more as an addition of something good to your life, you can't really be healthy for life. In other words, once you identify your issues, now you have to go about convincing yourself that eating right and exercise are a GOOD thing, not for what they do to you, but for themselves.

the good news about dopamine, is that there are other ways to get it. So unlike some addictions (say alcohol or gambling) you don't need to quit completely, you just need to change how you get it. You can receive pleasure from any one of a number of ways that are perfectly healthy and acceptable. Exercise for some, sex for some, hobbies for some, work for some...etc. food is just one choice of many, one we can overcome if need be.

JoyousRen

Such an amazing topic.

girlruns

Bump!

LOVEsummer

Great post. I had to really learn to be accountable, and log EVERYTHING I eat before the weight started coming off. I was so frustrated because MFP said I should be losing weight, but I wasn't. The truth is, I was lying to myself... coming to terms with my own issues has been a huge (and ever ongoing) step towards my health, and you have helped!!!

Leigh14

I've thought about this before and tried to focus on the why's when I am overeating. I binge - and that's a huge problem for me. I go through phases of super controlled eating and stupidly uncontrollable eating. I like being in control ... so I don't know why I let myself lose it sometimes. I've identified some triggers as stress, boredom, true hunger (from going too long without eating) and - the hardest to control (for me, anyway) - the absolute love of food. I like the way things taste, I like different textures, I like the feel-good feelings associated with eating.

But, this is not what has made me fat. I have pictures of myself as a toddler and even then I was overweight. Obviously I was not controlling what I ate at that point in time. Is it right of me to blame my family? No. And I don't. One way we all show love is through food. And I believe this is good - as long as the food is healthy and in moderation and not the only way we express love. But, the food I ate growing up - before I even know what calories were - was the food my grandparents were fed. Corn bread, beans, gravy, beef and butter on everything. My grandparents ate this kind of food and worked all day long on a farm. I ate this food and watched TV and played in my room and was a typical kid of the '80s.

I've always dreamed of being a healthy weight and I know it is completely in my realm of control to do so. I pride myself on taking control of situations and getting things done to the best of my ability. So ... why do my "triggers" have such control in my life and what can I do about it? I'm logical, I can identify them, I just do not know how to make them go away. "Just stop eating" does not work when the reasons we eat are deeper than hunger.

And there's the rub. Once you identify your triggers, the work doesn't stop there. You still have to put in the hard work to change your situation. Like any addiction, the chemicals released in your brain from comfort and safety are addictive (dopamine specifically), and like any addiction, they need to be actively accepted and you need to be constantly vigilant. All the physical requirements are still in play like watching calories, eating healthy foods, exercise...etc. but when you add in active understanding of WHY you do the things you do, that's when real change happens. You can train yourself to be more healthy just like you trained yourself to love comfort foods, it takes time though. Until someone thinks of it as a deprivation of a comfort and more as an addition of something good to your life, you can't really be healthy for life. In other words, once you identify your issues, now you have to go about convincing yourself that eating right and exercise are a GOOD thing, not for what they do to you, but for themselves.

the good news about dopamine, is that there are other ways to get it. So unlike some addictions (say alcohol or gambling) you don't need to quit completely, you just need to change how you get it. You can receive pleasure from any one of a number of ways that are perfectly healthy and acceptable. Exercise for some, sex for some, hobbies for some, work for some...etc. food is just one choice of many, one we can overcome if need be.

It's even harder when a "food addiction" isn't as socially acceptable as alcoholism or drug addiction. I have absolutely retrained myself in many ways. I now love working out. I see it as something good I'm doing for my body. It FEELS good and it didn't used to. I feel bad when I don't do it. I think I'm pretty good at working out, haha, unfortunately I'm also really good at undoing all my hard work! I go from one extreme to the other. And, it's not something I'm proud of. It's definitely going to be a constant battle. Guess I love my dopamine , I just have to work on cutting out the tie between "feel good" and food.

robin52077

Tagging so I can come back to this. I think I need help in this area.

20carrots

It's funny (not Ha Ha funny, but interesting funny), I just browsed through the recent posts and found 3 very noticeable trigger posts. I won't point them out, but they are quite obvious in my mind.

OOh, I almost described the generic situations involved in what I read, that would have made the posts quite obvious, I wouldn't like that if someone did it to me, so I won't do that to someone else.

For the record, I've always had problems expressing myself, partly because of my family history, partly because of other things that I've since reconciled (mostly) in my life. And being what some would term as a "mentor" on here, is one of the ways I overcome my fear of putting myself out there. I have learned to be more forceful in my speech, and not to back down and concede to others wishes so much at the expense of my own. I still have a long way to go, but I'm working on it.
The point being, while I really do appreciate the kind words people say, I write this stuff as much for me as I do for you guys. I love helping, but I also love that I'm able to articulate myself on MFP (and in person now somewhat).

I wish you would point out some of the triggers...I'm either not getting it or reading these posts too quickly to catch your drift.

SHBoss1673

I wish you would point out some of the triggers...I'm either not getting it or reading these posts too quickly to catch your drift.

as much as I'd love to, I wouldn't want to embarrass people on a public forum (at least not without their consent) so I won't. If you want to know, you can PM me and I'll point some out, but not on a public forum.

UpToAnyCool

bump

thanks, banks. though the eating + exercise takes a lot of 'doing' - being really open to making changes has been 99.5% mental for me.
i'm hoping i'll get there someday. :glasses:

ginnyroxx

MissJennaBelle

wise words... giving me a lot to think about

toots99

I was thinking something like this to myself over th elast few days. Basically "I know what emotional triggers are causing me to overeat, got it down pat...so now what?"

lotusfromthemud

I was thinking something like this to myself over th elast few days. Basically "I know what emotional triggers are causing me to overeat, got it down pat...so now what?"

Now what? is the hard part...

Long story short, IMHO...you need to find other ways to deal with the triggers. My mantra when I recognized the emotions that were causing me to binge, or just make bad choices, was "this solves nothing." It helped me to remove the power from food. It works almost all of the time. Almost...it's a life long battle.:flowerforyou:

SHBoss1673

And some day Viv is going to break down and come to Boston so I can kick her *kitten* for a week. :devil:

TateFTW

Posts like this are why we need a sticky section on this forum. Everyone who comes here needs to read this and really take a step back and think about their relationship to food.

Awesome post.

lotusfromthemud

And some day Viv is going to break down and come to Boston so I can kick her *kitten* for a week. :devil:

warning: I'm a puker.:laugh:

SHBoss1673

And some day Viv is going to break down and come to Boston so I can kick her *kitten* for a week. :devil:

warning: I'm a puker.:laugh:

Ha! I played college football and college rugby. Puking is kind of like a badge of honor. If you can't make someone puke, the workout wasn't hard enough in those sports (at least in the first 2 weeks when guys aren't in "football" shape or "rugby" shape)

The only thing you could do that would offend me is finish your workout and say something like "I've had harder workouts!"

Shirley61

I love your post. :happy:
I did another program before this one. I won't mention the name I guess I
can get into trouble if I do. Anyway, it was all about your triggers with food.
It was a 3 month assignment and there was homework to do. You
received a certificate at the end and you did have to pay for it.
Anyway, I completed it and now I have more fuel to help me lose weight.
It was about your psychy and how you handle food and what makes you
eat when you are not hungry.
Good Luck on your journey. :flowerforyou:

SHBoss1673

Is it so wrong to self bump?