what's going on? im falling apart

Since you said you eat even when you're not hungry, it sounds like there is an emotional component to it. Yes it certainly could be post-partum depression. What are the sources of stress and unhappiness in your life? Food was a comfort to me when everything else in life was wrong, and I didn't even realize how much stress I was carrying. When I started letting go of the stress, going to therapy, and working on my emotional happiness and well-being, the fitness piece just started clicking without me even trying. Now it's been so easy for me to lose weight, because I'm happy, hopeful and motivated. Sometimes counting calories is focusing on the effect, not the cause. Take care of your emotional health and decrease your stress, and see if that helps. Please feel free to friend me.

Hey, 4 months post baby! Of course you are up and down working off of lack of sleep and hormones. Give yourself slack. Fill up with "clean eating" plenty of vegetables, and eventually you will get it right. Just keep logging and keep trying. Start where you are, do what you can with what you have. Celebrate all the good. Start talking positive to yourself for any success! Chase the successes instead of dwelling on the little fails. While your child is learning to walk you expect it to be mostly falling down at first, right? Then lots of wabbly walking ony a little with plenty of falling. It takes a long time. You focus on the success and cheer him on right? Do the same to yourself. Get that inner voice going on the positives. Drop the days that don't work in the past and go forward each day. But don't quit. Because your bad days won't be anywhere near as bad as your former bad days as you go. You never fail until you quit.

Most of us feel like that in the beginning. It takes 30 days to form a new routine, so if you can try to focus on Mon-Fri of eating well, then Sat & Sun of eating well (having a 'cheat' breakfast or lunch on either day) then you will find it easier.

Get rid of the junk food in your home, car, workplace and then hide your 'frequent buyer' type cards for fast food chains (anything that offers loyalty discounts or points for food purchases etc).

I found that putting up "fat" photos of myself AND photos of people who were my desired weight (magazines etc) around the house, it keeps you motivated. If you look at this lifestyle change as a chore, then it's going to fail.

Good luck to you!

Being a new Mom and working, you have a lot to handle. I loved nammyl's advice a couple of posts back. And would just add that if you commit to one thing, log everything always. Face your decisions, close your diary and move on. You don't have to be perfect.

I wonder if there are meetings for food addicts, like AA, sounds odd but i would really consider.

Most definitely. It's called Overeaters Anonymous.

http://www.oa.org/membersgroups/find-a-meeting/

Also, unlike kicking a drug or alcohol habit, it can be harder to "detox" from a food addiction because you can't just up and quit eating. Smokers can always throw away their cigarettes and fight the urge to buy more**, but you can't just toss all of the food out and stop buying it. I've never been to an OA meeting, but I imagine they would help you cope with the craving and addiction.

There are even therapists who specialize in eating disorders; overeating/binging is definitely considered an ED, just like anorexia and bulimia. If you're worried about PPD, talk to your doctor about that first, and then ask for a referral to a specialist who can treat the PPD (if you have it) and the urge to binge.



**I am not saying it's that easy. I realize quitting smoking is damn near impossible for a lot of people. It was just an example.

If your baby is only 4 months old then hormones and tiredness are certainly not going to help. Are you/ were you breast feeding as I craved a lot of sugar when I was nursing my daughter. Plus it uses up loads of calories so you have to allow for that.

If you find that you are thinking about food too much and what you can't have, there are two things I do which help. First is plan in a treat - its OK to have something every now and again. Second is to meal plan properly. Don't think of it as dieting think of it as trying new meals. I find recipes and meals which come in at about 500 calories and thats what we as a family eat. (Just because the kids want snacky food doesn't mean you have to buy it all the time). I plan meals a week at a time and then when I buy the food I know exactly what I need to get. Then I don't buy so much rubbish. Also find yourself some lower calorie treats which will indulge you a bit without giving in completely.

I've been here since January. Sometimes I don't lose but I've not gained anything back so far.