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Why the heck can I not stop eating...?

1 reply

mommathatwearspink · 10/06/2019 17:52

I have a real issue around food. I’ve binge ate for a long time and it’s spiralled out of control. I’ve tried every diet but don’t seem to be able to get past the first two weeks.
I have uncontrollable urges to eat constantly and feel like I’m addicted to food Sad
My wedding is in 11 months... it’s my chance to finally get to my dream weight and finally feel good about myself again. Yet I still don’t seem to be able to stop eating. I have a bib shop to do tonight and all I can think about is what foods I can’t wait to buy and scoff (before feeling awful about myself again afterwards!).
I hope someone can give me some advice because I feel stuck in a rut!

OP posts:
maxelly · 11/06/2019 14:43

Hi, it's so difficult isn't it? not sure I have any massive words of wisdom for you but I would say it sounds like what you really need is to try and address the root cause of your issues with food, it sounds like you've got a bit of a binge/shame cycle going on? Sounds a bit OTT but have you thought about going for some counselling on this particular issue, or perhaps reading up about food addiction, if you can identify what's triggering you you may be able to find better solutions?

I am sure people could come on here and hold forth about how brilliantly X diet worked for them or you just need to do Y, but we're all different and I don't think that's really helpful. Equally I'm sure you could with enough willpower and the motivation of the wedding stick to pretty much any diet and lose a lot of weight, but without the root cause being addressed there's always going to be a risk you'll put it all back on again afterwards?

That being said, a couple of things which did help me:

-Are you eating enough at regular mealtimes, are you snacking a lot/overeating because you are actually hungry or is it for some other reason? When I first started to try to lose weight I'd gotten into a dreadful habit of skipping breakfast and lunch (sometimes dinner too!) and making up for it by eating loads of junk at any time of the day. I never really got to the point of actually being hungry because I would eat whenever food was available (so, all the time! Grin ) So I began by eating 3 nutritious healthy meals a day, it didn't immediately stop my dreadful snack binging habit and it actually made things worse in the short term as I was eating 3 big meals AND loads of junk but it did help me psychologically as I was then able to separate out genuine hunger/need for food from the need for whatever I was getting from the snacking (comfort/stress reduction/boredom relief/genuine enjoyment of 'treats')... I now never snack at all (I do have treats, sometimes too many, but always as part of meals which really helps with the control), but it took a while to get there!

-What kinds of food do you most like to eat and what is your lifestyle like, do you need food 'on the go', do you eat out a lot, how much exercise do you/can you fit in? I too tried quite a few different diet plans without much success until I found one that fitted reasonably well into my life and didn't require me to change too much all at once or which forbade my favourite foods (carbs!) as it just wasn't sustainable for me.

-What kind of person are you, do you respond well to rigid rules, structures and planning or does that stress you out? I am a real planner and list maker and it really helps me to feel in control of my eating (too much sometimes, my DH would say, I do not like last minute changes to plans!). So I do things like keep a food diary, monitor my calorie intake, check my macros, rigorously meal plan etc. But this absolutely wouldn't work for everyone. Maybe try and find a way of eating which suits your natural preferences!

-Finally, be kind to yourself, I really dislike the way the media and society tries to push us into really polarised narratives around food and our bodies, everything is either pure, clean, perfect or disgusting, shameful, to be hidden, whereas in reality all food is fine in moderation and no body is 'perfect', we all could do with finding a bit more balance I suppose?

Hope some of that rambling helps a bit Grin

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