Out of control eating

shovav91
shovav91 Posts: 2,335 Member
edited December 25 in Food and Nutrition
I spent years with a pretty severe eating disorder. I net about 1,000 calories a day, and ended up with a BMI of around 15. It was unhealthy and I don't want to go back, but now I feel like I've gone in the opposite direction for the last few years. I eat ALL THE TIME. I am not overweight, but I'd like to lose about 10-15 lbs to get back to a place where I feel comfortable. The problem is, I feel completely out of control around food. I have been eating around 2,500 calories a day, and eating has become a sort of compulsion. I snack probably every hour or two, and if I deny myself this sort of panic starts to set in and it feels like I can't focus on anything else.

I don't even eat meals anymore, I snack all day. I find that once I start eating it's very hard to stop. I'm sure it's in part due to years of restriction, but I just would love to be able to eat like a normal person. If you've struggled with this, or if you have an open diary and wouldn't mind me peeking (I hate cooking so low prep is better) I'd appreciate some help.

Feel free to add me, hit me with some tips, or just message me if you're able to help with some accountability. I'd love to help you out as well! This has always been such a great community so I appreciate anything you can help with.

Replies

  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    I can totally relate. I’m now 40 and have had disordered eating behavior since I was 13. Have you tried pre planning your meals? That may help you. You said you don’t like to cook, but you can still pre plan snacks. Things like Greek yogurt, a slice of toast and peanut butter, a shake with a banana....things like that.
  • BAC716
    BAC716 Posts: 20 Member
    @shovav91 Hello! Something I do myself and with people I work with revolves around setting up a better environment so there's less decisions to make and willpower/self-discipline you need to have. If snacking has become an issue, I'd highly suggest either not having those items in the house to begin with or at least make them much more difficult to access. Out of sight out of mind. We're lazy by nature as humans so make it hard for you to get to whatever you're trying to cut back on.

    On the flip side, make things you want to incorporate more of easier to access and more attractive in some kind of way. If you're trying to get more meals in again, make a list of a few of your favorite protein sources, favorite veggies and anything else you'd throw in a meal. Come up with 1-3 meals that you know you'd enjoy and are easy to cook. Same goes for snacks...what are some alternatives you can have in place of what you're currently snacking on.

    Feel free to add or message me/take a look in my food logs if curious about more specific ideas! I hate cooking too, so focus on very simple things most of the time.

    Whatever it is that you're eating (even not so great choices) you can always work to control portions and the speed you eat. Take a small portion, not an entire container, bag, jar, etc. EAT SLOWLY. Take smaller bites, put utensils down in between bites, sip water in between bites. All of these little things make such a large difference in total food consumption and slowly changing your habits with eating.

    I just work as a nutritionist and coach, so if you're talking about a specific eating disorder, always reach out to a clinical dietitian or doctor of course! But, if not, just try and change your environment and make it more friendly to your goals so it's not so mentally draining!
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    do you have any contacts at your treatment team from previously? honestly, i would reach out to them and talk through options
  • fatgal333
    fatgal333 Posts: 9 Member
    I sometimes get insatiable hunger after eating processed foods. Inevitably, when I have out of control days, I look back at what I ate and can usually identify it. BeLight is an artificially flavoured sugar free drink that put my eating into overdrive. Cream of Wheat, because of the additives, triggers extreme hunger in me. When I ate it in the morning, I would constantly eat through until midnight. I can now tell the difference between needing to squash emotions with eating and feeling unusually famished. I am reading a self help book on emotional eating, that has made me aware of episodes, understanding why they happen and how to stop this counter productive behaviour. I hope you too are able to distinguish between physical and emotional hunger. If it is the 1st, your food diary will enable you to identify which days you were exceptionally hungry. You can research the processed foods and their ingredients to find the culprit. (I literally had to look up every ingredient in Cream of Wheat). If it is the 2nd, know that emotional eating can be corrected with self help books that take you on a journey all the way back to the time when the disordered eating began and provide you with insight and new strategies.
  • fatgal333
    fatgal333 Posts: 9 Member
    There is also #3, a biological urge to eat because your diet does not include the nutrients that your body wants. Such as in pregnancy or nutrient deficits. I usually click on the bottom of my food diary “NUTRITION” in the afternoon and my dinner includes what is incomplete for the day, If you are hitting all your nutritional targets and can not explain your need to eat, with chemicals from processed food or emotional hunger, your doctor can run blood tests to check for vitamin or mineral deficits. These are 3 possibilities, there are probably so many more. I hope you get to bottom of it and feel in control again.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    you need professional help. not just us.
  • Unicorn_Bacon
    Unicorn_Bacon Posts: 491 Member
    I sent you a message, but I dont know if it sent, I also have an eating disorder and if you need someone to talk to, I am open to messages.
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