Emotional Eating&FOOD ADDICT
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betsyellens22 wrote: »
i already admitted it. I guess my intentions of this post was to have people tell me little inspirations they've done to resist urges. Not get bashed into seeking professional help. Theres ways to get help for yourself than spend money on going to a special doctor. My bad!betsyellens22 wrote: »Hi I'm Betsy and I have a bad relationship with food.
There is nothing bad about going to talk to someone about it. A lot of people have done so, including myself. It's nothing to be ashamed of and it's not bashing to suggest it. It doesn't make anyone weak or defective. Sometimes talking to a professional can put things into perspective. If you don't feel like you need it then don't go. Not everyone is going to give advice that you might agree with. Just take the advice that you feel would apply to you and file away the rest.
I am curious as to why you are focusing on defending yourself instead of the advice that was given to you that didn't involve professional help.0 -
@jkal1979 i did take in and appreciated all the advice everyone has posted. I have just learned to defend myself, and I guess I dont understand why certain people only commented for me to seek help rather than being a part of the discussion and sharing food binging (i made the mistake of calling myself a food addict) advice.0
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The thing about therapy is just because you have had it multiple times in the past, that you will never need it again. I have graduated therapy and was doing great for years only to find myself in need of it again. I have several screenings every year for conditions (i.e. breast cancer) I have never had. With my history, it is irresponsible if my doctor and I don't do routine screens. Suggesting you have a screening is not the same as suggesting you have a disorder.0
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betsyellens22 wrote: »@jkal1979 i did take in and appreciated all the advice everyone has posted. I have just learned to defend myself, and I guess I dont understand why certain people only commented for me to seek help rather than being a part of the discussion and sharing food binging (i made the mistake of calling myself a food addict) advice.
Because that is not how you would help a addict in whatever. Me giving you advice does nothing to the power food has over you if you are a food addict.
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Im sure if the title of this post said 'Binging Habit' instead of 'Food Addict' everyone would have acted differently. Sorry I didnt know the difference, I will admit that.0
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betsyellens22 wrote: »Im sure if the title of this post said 'Binging Habit' instead of 'Food Addict' everyone would have acted differently. Sorry I didnt know the difference, I will admit that.
I would of put the same comments I am now OP. The title doesn't do anything.
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Ok
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betsyellens22 wrote: »@jkal1979 i did take in and appreciated all the advice everyone has posted. I have just learned to defend myself, and I guess I dont understand why certain people only commented for me to seek help rather than being a part of the discussion and sharing food binging (i made the mistake of calling myself a food addict) advice.
But that's the thing, if you feel like you have a food addiction or a "binging habit" and low self esteem then suggesting that you seek professional help IS being part of the discussion. People are giving advice based on what helped them with their own experiences.0 -
melimomTARDIS wrote: »PeachyCarol wrote: »Have you been diagnosed by a doctor with BED? If you haven't, then you're not a food addict.
sorry peaches, but I am a (recovering) binge eater, and NOT a food addict. One doesnt necessarily mean the other.
Huh? What is a food addict? Everyone HAS to eat food, so it's NOT an addiction. A binge eater is someone out of control with eating. Do you think that breathing is an addiction as well? How about drinking water?-1 -
betsyellens22 wrote: »Ok
OP all I will say is I would of like to do what I did when I was your age. I got my help later than I should of. I am sure a lot of folks here feel the same way. But hey if you want to follow our paths and wait this out. You might be able to cure it yourself. Or later in life you might find this issue still there and even worst than it is now.0 -
yopeeps025 wrote: »betsyellens22 wrote: »@jkal1979 i did take in and appreciated all the advice everyone has posted. I have just learned to defend myself, and I guess I dont understand why certain people only commented for me to seek help rather than being a part of the discussion and sharing food binging (i made the mistake of calling myself a food addict) advice.
Because that is not how you would help a addict in whatever. Me giving you advice does nothing to the power food has over you if you are a food addict.
Everyone is addicted to food. If they weren't, they would die.0 -
Your logic is very interesting.atypicalsmith wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »betsyellens22 wrote: »@jkal1979 i did take in and appreciated all the advice everyone has posted. I have just learned to defend myself, and I guess I dont understand why certain people only commented for me to seek help rather than being a part of the discussion and sharing food binging (i made the mistake of calling myself a food addict) advice.
Because that is not how you would help a addict in whatever. Me giving you advice does nothing to the power food has over you if you are a food addict.
Everyone is addicted to food. If they weren't, they would die.
Food is a necessity to life. That does not make it addicting. Maybe it does to you though.0 -
@atypicalsmith if you had been part of the discussion before hand, obviously seeing that you havent read anything prior, I told everyone I was sorry that I didnt know the deffinition between what a food addict was and a binge eater. Everybody is really stuck up here huh! Thought I was the only defensive one.
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OP, just start moving more and eating less. As the pounds shed, your self-esteem will rise, not only at how much better you look, but because of what you have accomplished. This isn't a short-term goal; it can take many weeks or even months before you really start to see changes. But if you keep up with it, you will. And you will feel so much better. Just start doing it, and best of luck!0
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@yopeeps025 thank you, maybe i will see help. I realise its something to consider now0
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I would say to really evaluate WHY you overeat. What emotions make you overeat? All emotions, or just certain emotions? And when you overeat, what is your thought process? A lot of this is mental... if emotional eating is an issue, you need to find the root. Do you feel you deserve to be overweight? Are you punishing yourself by overeating? Deal with those thoughts and counter them with positives.0
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betsyellens22 wrote: »@yopeeps025 thank you, maybe i will see help. I realise its something to consider now
You realize if I did this at your age my middle picture would not exist. A lot of mistakes I made would not of happen but Damn sure I learned from them.
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oooooo yes! I havent thought of that. I suppose thats why everyone is saying to seek a professional!aippolito1 wrote: »I would say to really evaluate WHY you overeat. Do you feel you deserve to be overweight? Are you punishing yourself by overeating
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yopeeps025 wrote: »
Your logic is very interesting.atypicalsmith wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »betsyellens22 wrote: »@jkal1979 i did take in and appreciated all the advice everyone has posted. I have just learned to defend myself, and I guess I dont understand why certain people only commented for me to seek help rather than being a part of the discussion and sharing food binging (i made the mistake of calling myself a food addict) advice.
Because that is not how you would help a addict in whatever. Me giving you advice does nothing to the power food has over you if you are a food addict.
Everyone is addicted to food. If they weren't, they would die.
Food is a necessity to life. That does not make it addicting. Maybe it does to you though.
There really is no such thing as addiction. The word "addiction" usually relates to drugs, alcohol, pornography, etc, or anything a person claims to have no control over. In fact, I find it very offensive that people justify addictions to things which are not good for us as an excuse to continue. Food is needed daily to nurture us and keep us alive. Drugs, tobacco, alcohol, pornography, gambling, and whatever else the word "addiction" is associated with are not needed to keep us alive. I was talking tongue-in-cheek before, but nobody got it. Sigh.
Everyone can gain control over every bad thing they are doing. They just have to want to do it.0 -
@betsyellens22 Oh I wish I was 20 and 170 pounds... 170 is my current goal weight and I might just be happy there (albeit still obese) but I know that one day I will find myself happy with a weight and the way my body looks, even if it is rounder than other women.
I love food. I love eating. I like fruits, veggies, meat, dairy (when it doesn't kill my digestive system), fast food, chocolate, sweets, etc. I can binge on a salad and I can binge on burgers & fries. My overeating is sometimes linked to my emotions and sometimes linked to the "dang this is good and I want to eat it all right now."
I have low self-esteem because I allowed people to knock me down when I was younger. Some kids teased me in elementary school and middle school. By high school I was mostly ignored, but sometimes made the object of ridicule. Some of the teasing may have been my weight, some was my personality and religious beliefs, some was because I was smarter than them and it made them feel inadequate. No matter why people were pushing me down, I never stopped and thought to myself "why am I allowing this?!" I just kept taking it.
Here I am, 31 years old and just starting to get a grip on not giving a damn what other people think about me. I buy clothes that I am comfortable in, even if others might think I look fat.
If you don't like how you look, then change it. Tell yourself to put down the food and move. If you think there are some deeper issues going on, then please seek help.0 -
atypicalsmith wrote: »melimomTARDIS wrote: »PeachyCarol wrote: »Have you been diagnosed by a doctor with BED? If you haven't, then you're not a food addict.
sorry peaches, but I am a (recovering) binge eater, and NOT a food addict. One doesnt necessarily mean the other.
Huh? What is a food addict? Everyone HAS to eat food, so it's NOT an addiction. A binge eater is someone out of control with eating. Do you think that breathing is an addiction as well? How about drinking water?
nope. I dont think food is addictive, but binge eating disorder is most definitely a thing. So what I was saying is that binge eating does not equal "addict".0 -
betsyellens22 wrote: »Hi I'm Betsy and I have a bad relationship with food. I seem to really struggle with emotional eating specifically. I tend to want to eat, or atleast get an urge, when I see a thinner/more attractive woman than me. Probably because I subconciously think that I will never reach my goal weight so I mise well eat whatever I want (super unhealthy)! Also, I feel like I am a food addict in the sense that I eat if it is just available, or someone else is eating so I feel like I need too. Mmmmmm craving cake right now actually! Any other young women or men feel this way? Im just looking to see if I am not alone....everyone share their tips as they please, or how you overcome urges.
Hi Betsy!
Yoga helped me with emotional eating.
How Yoga Can Help End Binge Eating
One breath at a time, end the suffering of binge-eating
...According to Juliano, yoga gives people the skills to stay with what they are feeling, rather than turning to food to escape. People who are obese or suffering from eating disorders have a tendency to dissociate from their bodies -- to choose not to feel what they are feeling when they are angry, anxious, or sad. Often, they turn to food to numb themselves. "There's this sense that I have to feel better right now, " Juliano says. "There is a complete intolerance of what is happening right now." This need to escape unpleasant feelings triggers a binge.
When you eat to escape what you are feeling, you lose touch with the experience of eating, as well. This is one reason binges can spiral out of control. "You have no understanding that you are full, way past full, into uncomfortable, because you're so out of it," Juliano explains. "You have no connection to what you're eating. You're eating a pint of ice cream and can't even taste it. Or you go to make yourself some toast and before you know it, half the loaf is gone."
Mindful yoga directly challenges the habit of dissociating from your body and your present-moment experience. "The whole point of yoga is to stay connected to your body. You learn it through practice, through breathing, and through breathing through the sensations."
Read more: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-science-willpower/201007/how-yoga-can-help-end-binge-eating
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@betsyellens22 Oh I wish I was 20 and 170 pounds... 170 is my current goal weight and I might just be happy there (albeit still obese) but I know that one day I will find myself happy with a weight and the way my body looks, even if it is rounder than other women.
I love food. I love eating. I like fruits, veggies, meat, dairy (when it doesn't kill my digestive system), fast food, chocolate, sweets, etc. I can binge on a salad and I can binge on burgers & fries. My overeating is sometimes linked to my emotions and sometimes linked to the "dang this is good and I want to eat it all right now."
I have low self-esteem because I allowed people to knock me down when I was younger. Some kids teased me in elementary school and middle school. By high school I was mostly ignored, but sometimes made the object of ridicule. Some of the teasing may have been my weight, some was my personality and religious beliefs, some was because I was smarter than them and it made them feel inadequate. No matter why people were pushing me down, I never stopped and thought to myself "why am I allowing this?!" I just kept taking it.
Here I am, 31 years old and just starting to get a grip on not giving a damn what other people think about me. I buy clothes that I am comfortable in, even if others might think I look fat.
If you don't like how you look, then change it. Tell yourself to put down the food and move. If you think there are some deeper issues going on, then please seek help.
So do others think you look fat or are you fat? The only way you can combat that, if indeed you want to, is buy eating less and moving more. MFP gives you all the tools you need.0 -
@atypicalsmith @mscheftg @melimomTARDIS Thanks everyone! I didnt mean to get defensive to some of the comments, I guess I just need people to talk to! I will consider therapy and do some soul searching for my self esteem issues. I never said what I do for a living, but i work in the entertainment industry where body/looks is what pays of course. So im always getting some sort of comment to change myself a certain way. BUT i am here to change for MYSELF as well! Live strong, eat to live not live to eat!! Resist the binging!!!0
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melimomTARDIS wrote: »PeachyCarol wrote: »Have you been diagnosed by a doctor with BED? If you haven't, then you're not a food addict.
sorry peaches, but I am a (recovering) binge eater, and NOT a food addict. One doesnt necessarily mean the other.
Yeah, I know not all binge eaters are addicts. It's a subset, and it's still considered a maybe to be used as a model, if I'm remembering the literature I read correctly.
Editing to add that the whole idea is still in its infancy.
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betsyellens22 wrote: »Ok so new question. How to overcome self-esteem issues? I just hit 170lbs at 5'5", and as a 20 year old woman in this society... ESPECIALLY during summer, its rough.
One reason people are telling you to get help is that we don't know how bad your issues with this are, and it's really hard to really be helpful over the internet. If you were my friend offline we could talk about it and I'd have a better sense of what your struggles are and it would be more possible to help, I think -- although even then some people would do better working with someone. I was really resistant to seeking help of that sort when I was your age (not saying you are), and I think I would have saved myself some grief if that had not been the case.
That said, you've gotten some good advice already. Not helpful, probably, but true is that for most people just getting older helps a ton--it's really common and probably normal to have confidence issues at your age. NOT focusing on others or comparing yourself to them is really important, IMO. Focusing on what you like about yourself can be helpful, as well as doing activities that are challenging to you but will feel like real accomplishments when you do them (which might be a longterm healthy weight loss and fitness plan, even--I have always found that regular exercising makes a big difference for me, as I stop focusing on the way my body looks and instead on what it can do). Try to tell yourself positive things--talk to yourself as you would a friend, not the much more critical and unforgiving way you likely do (just assuming based on what I used to do).
Remember you aren't supposed to be perfect.
You said you assume that there are things about everyone that they don't like. In the sense of "I'd like to improve this part of me (physical or not)" or "yeah, I like my legs, but my middle will probably never be my best feature" I think that's true, but what's a bigger problem is if you are feeling real hatred for parts of yourself or yourself in general because of perceived flaws or imperfections, as then you make it impossible to really love and accept yourself. There are qualities I have that I am not proud of and I'm working on them, but they don't make me dislike myself (and they did years ago, along with many other things about me). This is huge, as I'm so much happier as a result.0 -
On the eating thing, just deciding that you can do it and having a plan (a sustainable one you will enjoy) and focusing on what you want to accomplish for you and not how you look compared to others should help, given what you've identified as triggers. Making progress and accomplishing mini goals and just seeing that what you do makes a difference can be really motivating and confidence-building, and for me made me feel so much better WAY before I was at goal or close. Thinking vaguely that you want to lose and eating less can feel like it's not working and make it easy to just think "why bother" when you are feeling insecure or down.0
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atypicalsmith wrote: »@betsyellens22 Oh I wish I was 20 and 170 pounds... 170 is my current goal weight and I might just be happy there (albeit still obese) but I know that one day I will find myself happy with a weight and the way my body looks, even if it is rounder than other women.
I love food. I love eating. I like fruits, veggies, meat, dairy (when it doesn't kill my digestive system), fast food, chocolate, sweets, etc. I can binge on a salad and I can binge on burgers & fries. My overeating is sometimes linked to my emotions and sometimes linked to the "dang this is good and I want to eat it all right now."
I have low self-esteem because I allowed people to knock me down when I was younger. Some kids teased me in elementary school and middle school. By high school I was mostly ignored, but sometimes made the object of ridicule. Some of the teasing may have been my weight, some was my personality and religious beliefs, some was because I was smarter than them and it made them feel inadequate. No matter why people were pushing me down, I never stopped and thought to myself "why am I allowing this?!" I just kept taking it.
Here I am, 31 years old and just starting to get a grip on not giving a damn what other people think about me. I buy clothes that I am comfortable in, even if others might think I look fat.
If you don't like how you look, then change it. Tell yourself to put down the food and move. If you think there are some deeper issues going on, then please seek help.
So do others think you look fat or are you fat? The only way you can combat that, if indeed you want to, is buy eating less and moving more. MFP gives you all the tools you need.
@atypicalsmith I'm not sure if you were directing that at me or just quoting me...
But to respond to you, while My Fitness Pal has the tools to log everything, it's not a system in and of itself. I've been to this rodeo a time or two and it's always the same. The tools are only as good as the willpower to do something about it... I could sit here every day and log foods and exercises and make it appear that I'm succeeding at using this website because it says I stayed within my calories and did my exercise. I can input numbers that indicate that I'm losing weight. But I can fudge all of that. My Fitness Pal does not supply motivation, so you are wrong - it's not all the tools I need. Have a nice day.0
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