Recovery From Emotional Eating - I Need Buddies Who Get It!
paula036
Posts: 4 Member
I am 150 lbs. over weight. Food is such a problem for me as far as stress, boredom, lonliness, happiness, don't matter the occasion. I know I am bad when I go get 3 donuts and milk and eat them. Or a bag of walnuts, OMG I will eat so much more than a 1/4 cup serving.
Food has ruled my life and emotions ever since I was a little girl. Would love to meet people who can share with me how they have recovered or fight to continue to recover from emotional eating.
I do good, lose 5 to 15 lbs. and then something comes up, stress, uncertainty and bamn! I stop getting on here, stop working out and gain it all back. If I could add up 2012 alone I would have lost about 40 lbs. had I not gained it all back this year. So frustrating!
Add me if you get it, thanks.
Food has ruled my life and emotions ever since I was a little girl. Would love to meet people who can share with me how they have recovered or fight to continue to recover from emotional eating.
I do good, lose 5 to 15 lbs. and then something comes up, stress, uncertainty and bamn! I stop getting on here, stop working out and gain it all back. If I could add up 2012 alone I would have lost about 40 lbs. had I not gained it all back this year. So frustrating!
Add me if you get it, thanks.
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Replies
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Hi, Paula:) I can wholeheartedly identify with emotional eating, unfortunately. Food seems to have always been my crutch, but it has not been a good friend to me. Temporarily, it soothes or takes the edge of the problem, then makes me feel so bad for eating, then I eat more be ause I feel bad....it's a vicious cycle ending in an overweight and unhappy me.
I am 49 and have battled with weight since I was about 11, and been on tons of different diets. When I was 39 I lost over 60 lbs on WW and seriously exercising. I was able to keep that weight off until 4 years ago, when about 25 lbs crept back on after I had back surgery. Then three years ago, I gained everything I had lost back plus even more. I was to my highest weight ever. I wallowed in it , feeling unable to do anything aout it.....u til this year, on August. I decided it was time to do something about it. I decided I had to make a lifestyle change, not just go on a "diet". I found MFP 25 days ago. I have lost 15 1/2 lbs since Aust 20, and have hope again. Already I am feeling so much better phyisically and emotionally!
Glad you are here! You can do this!0 -
I know what is it like to let food control your thoughts. I was born overweight and am finally getting a handle on my food issues. I have read the "Beck Diet Solution" book and gone through the accompanying workbook. I also follow the Beck Diet Solution on Facebook for daily tips.
There is light at the tunnel. You can get over this hurdle!!!!!!!0 -
Have you looked into something called B.E.D.? Binge emotional eating? There is a ton of information on Google. I just learned, and identified with it, this week.
Best wishes!0 -
I empathize with all of you ladies. I was overweight from childhood, and am just trying to get under 200 pounds. I almost made it a couple of years ago (202), then had surgery and gained a lot back. Now I am 250 ish and really trying to get it under control. Good luck to everybody!0
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Ok. Let me explain. Not just get under 200, but that is a big hurdle.0
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There are groups on MFP for those of us who have problems with food. Take a look and find some buddies who can relate!0
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Yay! I am so glad you posted! I can totally relate! Add me, let's help keep each other encouraged, through the ups and downs of life. Food is my drug of choice, as I don't drink or do drugs. I do like coffee. And I work too much. But food would be my first choice. One thing I try and remember, is how was this in its original state? Like the walnuts, they are hard to get out of the shell, so that must mean the Creator only wanted us to eat those in moderation. Apples, oranges, bananas, berries, easy. Not sure if that is across the board though, like coconuts and pineapples are good too. Anyways, sure could use a MFP pal who gets it too.
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There's a group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/726-binge-eating-support-group.
They are very supportive and since they're all going through the same thing, you don't have to worry about judgement or trying to explain yourself. They know exactly what you're dealing with. :flowerforyou:0 -
I totally get you! This time last year I went from 201 to 168 in just a just a few months. I felt awesome! And Just knew that I was going to get to my goal weight super fast.... But then I plateaued.. I didn't lose even one pound in a month. I changed my intake, added strength training but still nothing.. So I gave up...stopped working out and went back to my old habits. When I started back up a lil' over a month ago I was at 220!! I gained everything back and then some...but Now I am back on track! I'm under 200 and never plan on getting that heavy again. (unless I have a baby on the way:happy: )
I've sent you an add request 0 -
I am 150 lbs. over weight. Food is such a problem for me as far as stress, boredom, lonliness, happiness, don't matter the occasion. I know I am bad when I go get 3 donuts and milk and eat them. Or a bag of walnuts, OMG I will eat so much more than a 1/4 cup serving.
Food has ruled my life and emotions ever since I was a little girl. Would love to meet people who can share with me how they have recovered or fight to continue to recover from emotional eating.
I do good, lose 5 to 15 lbs. and then something comes up, stress, uncertainty and bamn! I stop getting on here, stop working out and gain it all back. If I could add up 2012 alone I would have lost about 40 lbs. had I not gained it all back this year. So frustrating!
Add me if you get it, thanks.
You had me at Emotional ...
Seriously, I eat to celebrate, to grieve, out of boredom, out of lonliness, stress, happiness and even jsut because it smells good ...
I eat because "it's Christmas", or a birthday party. I because it's lunch time, or because you are eating. I eat because food is good. I eat because I wanna try everything, and taste everything, and experience everything. I think about visiting new places and my first thought is ... I'll have to try thier food!
I eat when I am mad, when I am sad and sometimes I eat because I am disappointed in myself for eating so much.
You ask how I recovered from this? I haven't. Every day is a challenge for me. Everyday I wake up and look in the mirror and want to give up. Everyday something happens that makes want to reach for the nearest menu. I haven't recovered one single bit. The only thing I have managed to do is convince myself to log EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth. EVERYTHING.
100% honest, true, to the wire logging. No matter how bad, unhealthy, embarrassing it is. I log it. I log it and I make my diary public. It's like my own personal form of Food Shaming. The more days I log, the more thought I give something before eating it. Do I really want EVERYONE to see me eat that piece of cake? Drink that smoothie? Partake in ANOTHER fast food lunch? Nothing else has worked for me. Logging every bite, every morsel is the only thing that has slowed down that hand to mouth action.
Good Luck!0 -
I can so relate to all of you. I use to turn to food for everything, mostly ice cream. I lost 105 lbs about 15 yrs ago kept it off for 4 yrs and then my health went down the drain, I developed hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue. The meds for the fibro made me gain 40 lbs in 3 mths then I quit execising because I was in pain all the time, then I started comfort eating and just kinda gave up. July 2010 I was just sick and tired of being sick and tired and ran across MFP and thought I might as well try it . As I started eating healthier and exercising at first just swimming and then walking like 1/2 a block I started feeling better and better and kept it up, I have now lost 105 lbs once again I still have about 10 more lbs to lose. But I feel like I have my life back. Feel free to friend me0
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I totally get you! This time last year I went from 201 to 168 in just a just a few months. I felt awesome! And Just knew that I was going to get to my goal weight super fast.... But then I plateaued.. I didn't lose even one pound in a month. I changed my intake, added strength training but still nothing.. So I gave up...stopped working out and went back to my old habits. When I started back up a lil' over a month ago I was at 220!! I gained everything back and then some...but Now I am back on track! I'm under 200 and never plan on getting that heavy again. (unless I have a baby on the way:happy: )
I've sent you an add request
I did the exact same thing. I originally joined two years ago and didn't get involved with others, plateaued and quit everything. Later the same year they removed my thyroid, things got bad, fast. By May of this year I had gained another 25 lbs since my surgery and that was on a "starvation" type diet. I was eating but all food consumption was in a 6- 8 hour time span, ALL the wrong foods, sedentary lifestyle. It was bad. I could hardly stand to look in the mirror anymore. Then my doctor shamed me in his office and I burst into tears and decided I'd show him - tell me I can't change... that I CAN'T do something... I have since changed doctors because he really sucked but sometimes I thank Dr. demented too.
Stay active in groups and forums. remember there are a lot of people here going through it. Don't give up on giving them support either. :drinker:0 -
Hi,
I have the same addiction to food you have. Mine started in 2008 (lot of **** happened... worst year in my life) and even nowadays I have "attacks" when bored/frustrated/sad/lacking of self-esteem/etc
As the other said, logging anything goes in your stomach is really helpful :-)
I wish you all the best ;-)0 -
I get it.
I have been overweight since I was a child and I have been emotionally binge eating since before puberty. Finally at 33 I am doing something about it - I have never really dieted but have tried to change my lifestyle a couple of times but failed at committing to the change.
Now it is the only way - yes I still binge or eat from boredome (last night) but I am getting better at my choices and how I see food.
Also I am trying to love working out - I spend hours at the gym and enjoy it! I just signed up for my first 5K at the end of this month and even if I have walk part of the way - I will finish it!0 -
I can be an emotional eater, but usually it's a relatively small scale (not upwards of 5,000 calories in a sitting, but I've definitely had some episodes that were 2,000+). I've found that logging everything I eat has really helped me, but it's really hard to face reality and log when I go into binge mode and literally eat just about everything junk food related we have in the house. Feel free to add me and we can help each other stay on track!0
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Agree agree agree would like to pair up with someone to share ideas, thoughts about triggers and strategies. Message me if you think it is a good idea and might help0
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I double, triple, get it, and will add you.0
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Hello I'm Reta. Just started yesterday. My dietician informed me about this app.I hoping to keep the 40 lbs i lost off. I've be boredom eating. Not a good thing.0
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HI,
I'm an eating psychology coach. I was 100lbs overweight when I started the course. so I have not only been teaching this but living it. You can overcome it.
I blog on this topic often and I have an upcoming free program as well as I moderate the real people weight loss group here in MFP which I believe you can search for now.
I'm always looking to connect with more friends. I love spreading the word that there is hope 0 -
Hello!! I know what you mean about emotional eating. I am one that will be start a new "diet" on Monday, and then, by the weekend, I'm off of it again. I then will eat just about anything I can think of. I will go to a fast food place and eat anything I want and then I will go get something sweet to eat before I'm done. I usually will do this for a few days leading up to the weekend, say Thursday or so. That way I have the whole weekend to pig out before I start my next diet on Monday. When I decide to go off of the diet and just eat with reckless abandon, I kind of feel excited and peaceful because I know that my next diet is gonna be the one that is gonna finally help me to get the weight off. One thing that you could try to do is to make small changes to your diet. Eat the things that your normally eat, but just smaller portions of them. Be sure to track them so that you know what you have left for the day. For instance, let's say that when you sit down at night to watch T.V. you just have to have some popcorn to eat while you watch T.V. Well, you can still do that, but buy the 100 calorie bags of butter popcorn and eat it slowly. That way you don't feel like you're being deprived. Once you get the hang of that, then try to start substituting that popcorn with some fruit or something like that. Remember, baby steps. God bless!!0
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I may only be 19, but I became a huge emotional eater, especially last year!! I really started to put on weight in 8th grade, mostly out of boredom. I would yoyo around the 175-190 range of weight. Last year, I started college, and it was an extremely difficult time in my life. I would go to 7-Eleven all the time and buy popcorn, cheese puffs and OMG Ben and Jerry's!! I used to be able to down a pint in about 20 minutes!!! Anyway, what really helped me is I realized how much I hated myself for gorging on all that, and how much I was hurting both my body and my wallet. I once spent $400 in a month on junk food!! I eventually realized that I didn't need it, and that there were better ways of dealing with my emotions. Whether it be talking to a good friend, writing them out in a journal, or just having a good cry every once in awhile, food isn't your best friend. Once I realized that it became such a bad habit, I laid off, which for me was actually surprisingly easy, and the results began to follow. In 11 months, I went from 187 lbs to 130, and I am now 5 lbs away from my goal. I still enjoy the occasional sweet, but it is no longer a habit like it once was, and I am much happier than I once was!! Good luck!! 0
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Wow! This is exactly me! I have definitely found out that logging no matter what makes an immense difference for me. I binged after I had dinner one night just this week and made myself look at that ugly red negative calorie numer, but being fully aware did make me taper it off before I probably would have otherwise. I make really good food choices most of the time, but I can ruin it all in no time. I have found that not setting my calorie goal too low is of utmost importance as is planning ahead. I think I will always obsess over food in one way or another. Right now I'm planning ahead of time and weighing and measuring everything and pre-portioning. I'm still obsessing, but it's what I need to help me get to where I want to be and it's working. I have admitted to myself that I absolutely cannot stop eating certain things once I start, and just knowing that has helped me when I am faced with say king cake in the break room at work or at home with the treats I buy for my family. Even once you decide that you're ready to make a real change, it doesn't mean you aren't going to fall sometimes. Just keep getting up and trying to find what works best for you that can become part of your life and not some punishing diet. Wishing you the best on your journey! I've been trying to be more active on here too, and I'm finding that to be more helpful than I ever thought it would. Open to friend requestsI am 150 lbs. over weight. Food is such a problem for me as far as stress, boredom, lonliness, happiness, don't matter the occasion. I know I am bad when I go get 3 donuts and milk and eat them. Or a bag of walnuts, OMG I will eat so much more than a 1/4 cup serving.
Food has ruled my life and emotions ever since I was a little girl. Would love to meet people who can share with me how they have recovered or fight to continue to recover from emotional eating.
I do good, lose 5 to 15 lbs. and then something comes up, stress, uncertainty and bamn! I stop getting on here, stop working out and gain it all back. If I could add up 2012 alone I would have lost about 40 lbs. had I not gained it all back this year. So frustrating!
Add me if you get it, thanks.
You had me at Emotional ...
Seriously, I eat to celebrate, to grieve, out of boredom, out of lonliness, stress, happiness and even jsut because it smells good ...
I eat because "it's Christmas", or a birthday party. I because it's lunch time, or because you are eating. I eat because food is good. I eat because I wanna try everything, and taste everything, and experience everything. I think about visiting new places and my first thought is ... I'll have to try thier food!
I eat when I am mad, when I am sad and sometimes I eat because I am disappointed in myself for eating so much.
You ask how I recovered from this? I haven't. Every day is a challenge for me. Everyday I wake up and look in the mirror and want to give up. Everyday something happens that makes want to reach for the nearest menu. I haven't recovered one single bit. The only thing I have managed to do is convince myself to log EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth. EVERYTHING.
100% honest, true, to the wire logging. No matter how bad, unhealthy, embarrassing it is. I log it. I log it and I make my diary public. It's like my own personal form of Food Shaming. The more days I log, the more thought I give something before eating it. Do I really want EVERYONE to see me eat that piece of cake? Drink that smoothie? Partake in ANOTHER fast food lunch? Nothing else has worked for me. Logging every bite, every morsel is the only thing that has slowed down that hand to mouth action.
Good Luck! 0 -
I definitely agree with making small, gradual changes to get yourself started. There are so many little ways to swap food items out for healthier ones, and your body and tastes are much more adaptable to those changes and smaller portions than you might think. I do have to say though that TV can be one of the absolute worst things for a healthy lifestyle. It's mindless and involves zero physicality or interaction. We have giant TV in our living room, but no cable. So many people can't even believe that. Might sound crazy to some of you too. But it's truly one of the best things you could ever do for your health.One thing that you could try to do is to make small changes to your diet. Eat the things that your normally eat, but just smaller portions of them. Be sure to track them so that you know what you have left for the day. For instance, let's say that when you sit down at night to watch T.V. you just have to have some popcorn to eat while you watch T.V. Well, you can still do that, but buy the 100 calorie bags of butter popcorn and eat it slowly. That way you don't feel like you're being deprived. Once you get the hang of that, then try to start substituting that popcorn with some fruit or something like that. Remember, baby steps. God bless!!0
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