Calling all over-eaters

Hello!

I do.
I eat to 'deal' with feelings I don't like - I literally stuff them down...
I do this about 1-2x per week. If I didn't do this I would be the 8lbs lighter I want to be - it is ONLY this that stops me from losing these few pounds.
Trying to lose weight makes this worse - I don't know if this is because hunger makes it harder to deal with the unwanted feelings..?The other trigger for me is tiredness - again - harder to cope with feelings then?

I've been far briefer than I wanted to be here because I'm about to meet a friend for a run. I've looked at your profile and you look/sound similar to me. If you like send me a friend request - maybe we can help each other..??

Tina

Me too, and my initial thought is that I have no idea why I do it, but that's just me hiding from the truth. In all honesty I allow myself to zone out completely when I feel the need to binge, I turn off all my thoughts and feelings in a very calculated way so that I can do it "in peace". I'm a well educated and intelligent person, I am an expert dieter and know exactly what I need to do to lose weight, but I still self sabotage on a regular basis, usually around once a week.

The thing about bingeing is that it isn't really about the food. It's a 'coping mechanism' for dealing with something else. I'm the same - I know all about eating healthily and sensibly and exercising. Hell, I even know about binge eating but that doesn't make me able to stop always. The reason for this is that I haven't found a solution to the reason WHY I binge. The 'why' is usually about not being able to cope with certain feelings...

I did LighterLIfe a couple of years ago and I have to be honest, for a binge eater, it was the most liberating and exciting diet I've ever been on. The reason? Food was completely out of the picture and for the first time in my entire life I had no choice but to cope with things without using food as my crutch. I felt completely in control, free from the ridiculous urge to overeat because it simply wasn't an option. I let myself feel things and it really didn't hurt me.

In every other way the diet was a huge mistake for me - the weight loss was fabulous, thrilling and super quick, I dropped 6 dress sizes and reached a size 12 for the first time since I was in my late teens. BUT I didn't have the counselling the diet advertises, my counsellor was utterly rubbish and simply collected my money each week and had a good gossip about kids, husbands, shopping or whatever. I really didn't realise how vulnerable I was until it came time to reintroduce food. Despite having been forced to cope (and managing really well) without food for the duration of the diet, returning to food was one big fat free-for-all. I binged more and felt lower than I ever did before going on the diet - I made all sorts of promises to myself and my family but I hadn't taken on board just how screwed my relationship with food was. I'm no further forward and, to top it all, have had to deal with super fast weight GAIN after the diet and all the issues with self-esteem and loathing that brought. It should have been so easy to maintain my new amazing low weight, but instead I only remained slim for a few short weeks before starting to pile it all back on. What a wasted opportunity, not to mention a whole truck load of cash! So, here I am, calorie counting and trying to do it the healthy way. I'd be fine if it weren't for the stupid, pointless and destructive binges - why? Despite everything, I still really have no idea. I coped brilliantly without food when I had no choice so I know I can do it. It's so frustrating!

Ok then let's see if we can sort this a bit.

What are our 'triggers'? Feelings... So we can't avoid them - we can't avoid our feelings. We need to find a way of dealing with our feelings in a more healthy fashion.

I didn't exactly binge last night (in the traditional sense) but I ate dinner (big plate of chips followed by LOTS of chocolate) even though I wasn't hungry. And despite my almost 900 cal burn yesterday I went over my calorie allowance.

Last night I was angry and frustrated.

What are others' feelings before a binge?

To be honest, there's no reason for my over-eating. I'm just a tad greedy I guess, love biscuits, sweets, chocolate and simply eat too much, one biscuit is never enough.

I'm currently reading a book by Gill Riley, about over-eating, it has great reviews, so might be interesting for you, I'm half-way so can't really say what I think of it yet.

Like others here, my triggers are emotional - stress, worry, loneliness, frustration, anger - and my 'drug' of choice is essentially sugar in any form. At work, so can't write more immediately, but bumping to come back.

If the problems that you are dealing with that are causing you to overeat, if those problems are affecting all areas of your life than medication may help.

I am currently on meds for depression and anxiety and I have found that my emotional eating is not as bad - not perfect yet because that is still my go to when upset, but I am better able to cope with the feelings now.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is a way of looking at your life, your emotions, your actions and figuring out why you do them and what to do differently. It is used as a stand alone or in addition to medication. It can be really helpful and insightful. Maybe try to look into that first.

Until you deal with the issues causing you to overeat, you will never really get past it.

I am a huge over-eater to manage feelings (depression, anxiety). I am almost 20kg overweight because I have self-medicated in the past.
MFP has been a huge help to me, but I think for the first time ever I have the motivation to stop.
I still get binge cravings occasionally. If I can't head them off with distraction, I 'binge' on rice crackers or mini icecreams. It feels 'naughty' and I still get my carbs, but usually only 200-300 calories, which I can wear once a week or so.
Also for the first time ever, I can have treats in the house and not eat them!
I am only 2.5 months in, so hopefully it will last. I love feeling in control of my emotions/actions.

btw I have been on anti-anxiety meds for over 3 years, but it is only since making an active decision NOT to overeat that I have been able to stop.

I over eat to comfort myself, because sometimes life is very hard and very difficult things happen that are hard to deal with. I used to tell myself that I deserved to eat what I wanted as compensation for the things that were happening. I realise now, after my husband making a very good point, that the food can never make my situation better, only bring problems of its own.

I have severe osteoarthritis and have done since I was a teenager, I had some operations as a child that I didn't want and that became the trigger for my condition and subsequent weight gain. My parents divorced around the same time, my mum became an alcoholic, my grandmother died and things were just horrible. My mum used treats to appease my brother and I when she came home drunk from work (she was a barmaid...) and the doctors told me I had a condition that becomes worse with exercise and so the spiral of destruction began.

I eventually met the wonderful human being who became my husband but by that time the bad habits were well established. When I got pregnant with our frist child ten years later I had a scare with gestational diabetes, I was borderline on the test and so the doctors treated me as though I had it, to be on the safe side (I later found out that I messed up the test by drinking diet coke during the testing period - yes, I am stupid - and probably didn't have it at all) which meant that at 7 months pregnant I was on a diet and testing my blood sugar twice a day, not nice. After my child was born I was lighter than before I got pregnant, however I slipped into bad habits again and after my second child was born (no gestational diabetes this time) I was the heaviest I had ever been. I still wasn't that fussed about my weight until my best friend began losing weight, she was doing really well and in a fit of vanity I didn't want to be left behind to be her 'fat friend' and so I started too. With her as a support it was easy to keep going.

I have been dieting for around 6 months now, for 4 of them I also went to my local Curves gym, but a recent operation on my knee has knocked that in the head for now. I haven't done as well as I envisioned but I think 37lb is nothing to be ashamed of.

During my diet I had to accept that a lot of my weight came from when I treated myself or compensated myself for the pain I am always in and so I had to find another way to try and treat myself that didn't involve food. At first i bought little rewards for myself when I reached certain goals but recently I have been able to reward myself with new clothes I buy things related to my hobbies, like new matierials, books, tools etc (I make patchwork quilts, sew and make jewellery) rather than sweets or take away foods. I'm not saying i never treat myself with food but these days it is often a healthy treat, I have just discovered low fat frozen yogurt - nom!!

I have also come to accept that this is something I will have to monitor for a long time to come yet. There are going to be more and more difficult days ahead, tomorrow I am going to the hospital to see my consultant, he is going to tell me I am in dire need of a knee replacement which is my worst nightmare come true but my hubby and I are going to take our little ones somewhere fun after to cheer us all up