Food Addicts Anonymous??

jesus4fr

Hi. My name is Melissa. I am a food addict. Bill paying day is my worst. Times are hard so this is very stressful. I have noticed that as soon as I get upset or mad about anything I want food. The other day I got some new that made me a little mad. What did I do.......headed straight for the closest drive thru. Thankfully the line was very long and I had some time to think about what I was doing. Food to me is like cigerettes or alcohol. Get any emotion other than happy and I am heading in that direction. And of course when I am done I feel horendous. But I still do it, day in and day out. I just have to find something else to redirect my energies. ****** Any tips out there? ******

kelly819

Jesus4fr,
I often have the same type of impulse eating. I think a tip is right in what you wrote, stopping & giving your self time to think about the choice before you make it. I've read things like before you reach for a food, drink a glass of water, chew a piece of gum or go for a walk, not only does it curb your appetite but it also gives you time to decide if you're really hungry or if it's boredom, or frustration or lonliness, etc. It helps to type this all out, because I need to take my own advice!:ohwell:

Sunsh1ne

My problem is with stress snacking. I'm learning to control it by keeping a hard journal of what I'm doing in edition to MFP, just a little notebook where I record when I eat, what I eat, and how I felt. It forces me to notice patterns that I could ignore before - like if I don't eat for six hours, I binge, but if I eat something like piece of fruit between meals, I don't. It also makes me stop and think because if I realize I was just rummaging through the fridge 30 minutes ago, I'm probably not eating because I'm hungry.

Another thing that works for me is drinking fruit teas instead of going for an all-out snack when I know I don't need to eat but I really really want something. If it has calories, it's got to be less than 10 for 8 oz because it's just the water you soaked the dried fruit in. I'm partial to Celestial Seasoning's cherry tea because it has a really strong flavor, so I think it tricks my brain into believing I had a snack.

The_BoSS

Sunsh1ne ", just a little notebook where I record when I eat, what I eat, and how I felt."


Sunsh1ne your idea about writing down all the emotions and motive thAT force you to eat was an excellent idea.. i never thought about it ! i think , if i do this i will see that this passion of food will uncover my worst character! well girl thanks for sharing your idea and experience!!!:flowerforyou:

rjpetty04

I think that this type of 'support' is not really support in my opinion. My husband would never say something like that to me. He would ask how I was doing on my calories for the day or something to that effect instead.

Tell him that it is not helping and it really hurts.

Sunsh1ne

yummygirl, I had never thought of it, either, it's an idea I got from this thread, actually. Which is one of the many reasons why I love it.

The_BoSS

sunsh1ne i just tried your idea and i'm so excited...i was in my desk while i felt a yummy smell coming over my nose and immediately i wrote down what i wanted at that time and while i was writing my emotions i started to feel and smell nothing! thank you so much sunsh1ne!!


i changed my username from yummygirl to Boss!

pizzafruit

Richie - I thought of you often and wondered how the scale situation turned out. I didn't send my spirit, I don't know how much it weighs.

Sunsh1ne - Logging emotions is a real eye opener. For me, repetative negative emotions really make me stop and take stock of myself; well worth the time and effort.

Last night as I sat eating popcorn micro-waved w/oil. I let my impulse overstep my good judgement and common sense. It would have been just as easy to skip the oil and use some butter buds for flavor. I wondered why the weekends are so hard for me. The popcorn and all other snacks don't make appearences just on the weekends. This stuff is around all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love down time as much as the next guy but I think the lack of structure that comes with a Sat. and Sun. can be a real hazard. This is another challange I need to work on. Adding a specific task or weekend activity is a step in the right direction. Just think how dull our lives would be without challanges. I tell myself not to fear the growth., Be open to change - change is a good thing.

Tonight will be an evening of good choices and judgement. Have a great evening.



I've decided that tonight will be a success and when dinner is over, eating is done for the day.

richardsrm

I just bought the scale.............actually I am going to be able to handle it. you know I am not perfect the number doesn't really matter changing does

Sunsh1ne

That's a good take on, it, Rich. It's not a number that matters, it's your health and happiness.

fooja

hi...im a food addict too!!! i love sweets!! cookies, cake with the buttercream frosting (mmmmm), chocolate, candy bars, and peanut butter!!!! and all that yummy goodness has gotten me to 229lbs! oh- and im addicted to pizza! this is the biggest ive ever been and i hate it and i hope i can get it right this time and get back to where i was!!

Sunsh1ne

Hi, fooja, welcome to the group!

I am really happy right now! I managed to ignore a cake for three hours, even while it was offered to me multiple times! I feel like I can do anything right now!

merryann

Oh how I understand. I teach fitness and encourage other people! I too am addicted to food. I love it. I can "be good" for the longest time, and suddenly fall off the wagon!! so very hard to get back on. Just started MYFITNESSPAL. A brilliant program One of my class participants told me about it yesterday. Good luck. Remember.. it is never too late to start over!!

richardsrm

merryann, thanks for the encouragement.....it has to be just a day at a time. Some progress is better than none. This website has been a godsend.

bluenote

I am agonizing over a 4 pound weight gain. I do not know why it is upsetting me so much. I know I am NOT quitting. I think I just need to know why. I've been reviewing my calorie and food logs and I see that I am habitually not eating all of my calories, and never my exercise cals. Any thoughts?

mylisa1

iam a food addict so i had lap band to help control my eating. down 25 lbs started at 265 .

Sunsh1ne

It could be from exercising. A pound of muscle is much denser than a pound of fat, so if you're gaining muscle mass, you could be seeing volume loss, so to speak, but the number on the scale is actually going up. Did you take base waist/hip/neck measurements? Now might be a good time to update those measurements.

richardsrm

blue note-one post I read talked about starvation mode. Seems if you don't eat enough your body triggers and requires less. you might want to look into it.

mylisa= good for you I have been told the bannd really helps

Sunsh1ne

No check-ins for two days, it's like Christmas week all over again. Everyone doing ok?

bluenote

It could be from exercising. A pound of muscle is much denser than a pound of fat, so if you're gaining muscle mass, you could be seeing volume loss, so to speak, but the number on the scale is actually going up. Did you take base waist/hip/neck measurements? Now might be a good time to update those measurements.

You know, I never did take my starting measurements. Drats! I will take them tomorrow. I've done OK with upping my calories the last two days to 2K. I did gain 1.5lbs. (again - sigh) but I think my body is adjusting to getting out of starvation mode. Time will tell. Please time, be kind! :grumble: