Hi. Need help with staying on track through tough stuff

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katiewink
katiewink Posts: 2
in Introduce Yourself
Hi! I'm new to myfitnesspal, not to trying to become healthy. I'm trying to get my BMI down because I'm scared of the health implications...

Anyway, I'm an emotional/stressful eater. When I get sad, depressed, anxious, I make myself feel better by eating. It's something that has become conditioned to me about 5 years ago when I lost my brother and last summer when I lost my mom. People want to make you feel better and they feed you :) I also get defeated easily or if I don't feel I'm making progress and then fall off the wagon for a few days. It's like a horrible cycle that I can't get out of...

So my question is this: has anyone been where I am at? And what can you suggest to keep me motivated? Or any advice really :)

Thanks

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  • ivyjbres
    ivyjbres Posts: 612 Member
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    I haven't lost any weight yet, so I don't know if this helps, but I just let people feed me when I feel bad. At least for a day or two (it averages out right?), and then when I'm ready to make myself feel better, I make a point to be really disciplined about writing down what I eat, and I distract myself with other things. I clean the house, do dishes, laundry, cook and give food to my neighbors, shave my legs until I'm 100% sure I haven't missed any hairs, pluck my eyebrows, etc. I don't know why, but it makes me feel better, even when I don't feel like doing it at the time, it makes me feel better after a bit.
  • avadoria
    avadoria Posts: 5
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    ive been there for sure lol when working out u need to push yourself, i always keep that in mind.

    so i kind of tell myself in my head 'u can do it! just a bit more', and i keep on adding 5 more minutes and i end up adding like, + 5x more to my workout. hehe.
    it makes me feel so good to workout after the initial push, so i just want to keep going.

    just remember ur goal and keep thinking of it as u work out its a great boost

    p.s. always bring Awesome music with u to workout. i use fast paced dance music because i try to keep up with the beat.
  • stevemcknight
    stevemcknight Posts: 647 Member
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    As a lifelong binge eater - let me just say how brave it is to come on here and talk to strangers about such a huge deal to you. The sad part about it, it's been 3 years since I mad health and fitness a life priority, and still I battle Binge Eating Disorder on a daily basis. Some days are better than others, but even the last couple have been a struggle.

    As a personal trainer - I kept my eating problems secret from my clients for a long time, until finally, I knew that if people knew that i was there, in the place that they were struggling, they could see that life can change. We aren't trapped in the hole that we think we are. It takes years to dig a deep hole in life, but only 1 split second to make the decision to start climbing out. It's really amazing!

    The very best thing I ever did for my battle was completely open up to my friends and family what I was so scared to admit. Instead of the teasing or ridicule I feared, I got nothing but support and love from my circle. If you have people around you, open up to them. Don't keep it secret, talk about it! Even just that is often enough to keep my nutrition in line.

    The other really huge thing - workout daily. Seriously! Every day I workout, and the mindset is amazing. Once I hit the gym (in my case - living room with P90X) the rest of the day, my endorphins are pumping and more importantly, MY MIND IS RIGHT! It's unbelievable how well that works. If I miss a workout or two, the next thing I know, I'm pulling off at Dairy Queen..... workouts and nutrition truly go hand in hand. Do one and the other follows!

    Hope you continue to keep your mind right and big props on opening up about this!

    If I can ever help out - please let me know, i know what it's like to be there.

    Steve
    knightfit.com
  • mamaDaisyJ
    mamaDaisyJ Posts: 395
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    If I miss a workout or two, the next thing I know, I'm pulling off at Dairy Queen..... workouts and nutrition truly go hand in hand. Do one and the other follows!


    Steve
    knightfit.com

    I totally see this! Thanks for the eye-opener.
    OT~ sorry I don't have any advice, been struggling the last couple days myself. This morning I had a cookie which was no big deal till I looked over and I had eaten 4 more right. OK, so I put a stop to that. But then ended up at McDonald's for dinner. Also no exercise, was just crazy busy. When I finally get to sleep, i will close my eyes, tell myself I will be healthy tomorrow, and open them on a new and unruined day, and I will exercise in the AM~
  • ThaiKaren
    ThaiKaren Posts: 341 Member
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    Hi and welcome, I have been on the site for about 3 weeks and I'm the same as you, I eat if I'm happy and I eat even more if I'm sad.
    But I am finding this site so helpful with making good food choices and exercise plus I get on here and look at the posts and feel as though I'm not alone in my weight loss journey. I only have a little to lose now but finding it just as hard as if I had loads. I used to weigh over 15stone a few years back and if I don't watch things I could easily be back there again. I'm one of those people who can gain 7lbs over the holdays just because I eat everything in sight. Anyway good luck to you and you can add me as a friend if you like. Karen x
  • fairbanksmommy
    fairbanksmommy Posts: 36 Member
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    I do the same thing....I eat when I'm bored...I eat when I'm happy...I eat when I am sad....I eat when I'm stressed.....Maybe it's more like mindless eating?? I feel so incredibly guilty about throwing food away too! Growing up, my single mother didn't have much money to buy anything especially groceries, so we were told to eat everything on our plates. As a single mother of 4 I don't have a lot of money either, and when it comes to buying groceries, I don't want to waste anything. Does anyone have any ideas on how to move past this??

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