Want to cut food out of my life for a while

[Byefoodbye]

Please be gentle, I've joined just now especially to write this. I'm at my wits end.

I'm obese. 5ft 2, 13st 3. I'm literally killing myself with binge/emotional eating and I can't stop. I've failed at SW, WW and cal counting so many times, it's embarrassing. I'm writing this through tears, I just don't know where to turn. I feel like I need to completely remove food from my life for a while so I can retrain my mind/brain. Is there a safe way of doing this, using some kind of supplement? Please help me.

You could try Cambridge diet or lighter life which are both basically just shakes as a meal replacement. It's not ideal but I do understand what you mean - sometimes on a diet you just end up constantly thinking about food and what you can eat which makes it counter productive.

Removing food is not the answer, if you really want to shed the weight then a healthy eating plan is the best way forward. I've failed many many times over the years and it becomes a destructive cycle. This year I have decided I'm going to do it, I joined slimming world at new year and have lost 12 lb so far which is a good start but I have a huge way to go!

I know it's not going to be a quick fix, I'm not treating this as a diet - it's a long term healthy eating plan and I'm changing my relationship with food. I wish there was a magic answer, I love food!!!!

Cambridge diet. I did this but stuck to the shakes and soups rather than bars and meals. I've since put the weight back on due to other reasons (namely antidepressants) but had kept it off for a bit and it went back on no quicker than other diets I'd lost weight with. The fast weight loss is very motivating.

It sounds like an addiction problem. I would suggest Overeaters Anonymous (OA) or similar, as it will help address the underlying issues. Good luck, OP

Would having set meals help? As in the same for breakfast, lunch and dinner each day? You're partially removing the angst of what to eat/not eat that way which is helpful.

The shake type diets can work (my ex sil is your height and went from a size 22 to 14 and kept it off)

However... Unless you address the underlying reasons you'll put it all back on. So yes, the diets can work (all diets work, it's just whether you can keep it up) but unless you
A. Address the issues underlying overeating and
B, develop healthier long term eating habits
Then it won't work.

I am a similar height and size ... to you and I wish you luck.

Not Lighter Life those things are awful, I've known a close friend become really quite ill through using it for 6 months, her hair falling out in clumps she was in a dreadful state and regrets it now. Surely the problem isn't literally food but to get to the route of why you feel like you do? Would a course of therapy help more than just more diets than never really work long term?

Good luck!

Be kind to yourself. Dieting as a process encourages unhealthy attitudes towards food in vulnerable people and actually makes the problem worse.

There is a good series of books called "Overcoming ..." which gives some simple self help ideas for common mental health problems, based on CBT - my DD was helped by the one on anorexia, and the one on binge eating ("Overcoming binge eating" by Christopher Fairburn) gets excellent reviews.

Of course personal help from a therapist is best but isn't always readily accessible.

There was a thing on "How to lose weight well" recently, which is a drip you go on for 10 days. It goes up your nose and into your tummy. You carry the bag of "liquid" on your back. The user we saw, lost about 1 stone each time she had a treatment. She did 5 treatments (I think). But, I have to say, it looked icky, uncomfortable and the dieter herself looked ill! And, it was expensive!

I lost 30lb using My Fitness Pal (get it free on-line). Just set up a profile, enter your height and weight and your desired weight, and it tells you how many calories you can eat a day. You then key in all the food you eat and all the exercise you do.

Broadly, if you consume 1200 kcals a day and walk 4 miles, you WILL reach your ideal weight in 5-6 months.

The key is to not go hungry (that's when you fail, imo)

So, pack the cupboards with:

Salad
Chicken breast
Weight watchers meals
Special K cereal bars (70 cals)
Walkers french fries (78 cals)
Snack a jack rice cakes (62 cals)
Cheese trangles (25 cals)
Ryvita crackers (38 cals)
Batchelors cup-a-soups (95 cals)
Batchelors Mugfulls or Mugshots (192-260 cals)
Quavers crisps (85 cals)
Crumpets (98 cals)
Thins (100 cals)

Instead of sausage and mash, have Venison sausages (57 cals each) and root mash (much lower cal than mash potato).

Oh and only consume alcohol a max of 2 days per week.

Read this thread.
I know exactly how you feel and this has been a revelation.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/fasting_diet/2548602-Michael-Mosley-Blood-sugar-diet

I think removing food entirely and going on a meal replacement plan would not be helpful for you in the long term, as you will need to manage your feelings towards food, which is everywhere. Could you write out a structured 3 healthy meals a day weekly plan, ONLY have those foods in the house and put all temptation out of reach? I am sure there will be lots of recipes/guidance on what to eat online and what a proper portion should look like. Myfitnesspal is also meant to be excellent.

Best of luck I hope you are feeling happier soon because you have been able to correct your eating patterns.

Pay a good hypnotherapist

I'm going to say that as gently as possible.
You are saying that you are ginge/emotionally eating.
That's the reason why all the diets haven't worked. It's not that you are not good enough/strong enough or anything else enough. It's that th reason for your eating is coming from emotional issues.

Of course you can do all the diets that PP have talked about. You might even loose a lot of weight but I suspect you won't keep it up if you don't sort your emotional issues or even another way to deal with emotional issues (we all have some. We also deal with them in different ways, some helpful and some very unhelpful such as emotional eating or drinking etc...).

Before doing any new diet, I would go and see a counsellor/psychotheapist to help yu deal with whatever is upsetting youso much. THEN, do your diet (And I suspect you will be evry sucessful. You might even start loosing weight before starting the diet)

The only thing that has helped me lose weight (besides prescription Reductil, that's no longer available) is having gallstones. If I eat anything even the slightest bit fatty, I will be in absolute agony.
I'm terrified to eat most of the time, so I just tend to stick to the same food items. Grilled chicken breasts, brown rice, fruit etc. As long as I stay away from fats (good & bad fats) and anything which is made from white flour, then I should be ok.

I heartily recommend a book called The Beck Diet Solution. It's basically cbt, which you use alongside a diet of your choice. It's genuinely changed how I eat, how I think about food - I was a hideous stress/boredom/comfort eater and I just don't feel the urge anymore.

Read the Amazon reviews.

Have a look at the threads on weight loss for some inspiration. There are some people there who are much bigger than you who are having success - something has clicked in their heads and it can for you too. Dont start thinking you've got an addiction or can't do it because you absolutely can. You've got yourself in a rut and you can change it but you need that determination and belief to click in your mind. Don't bother with fad diets - eventually you have to go back to normal living and what you need is a change of mindset and lifestyle choices. You can do this! Have another think about Slimming World or whatever and get moving about. You don't have to be in the gym - just go for a regular walk and step up the distance and pace as you get fitter. I'm as much giving myself a talking to here by the way!

Word of warning Op, I don't know if you are considering fasting, but I actually did that. I didn't eat a single morsel of food for a week. I was very ill by the end of it, and later found out it was the fasting that caused the gallstones I have now (snap, bloodyname!) It's REALLY not worth it!

Make an itinerary of the food you have now, and make up a meal plan plus a shopping list of extras you'll need, then set your phone alarm to go every three hours during the day after breakfast. Eat every three hours, small servings of nutritional food, and take a multi vit too. The binge eating sometimes comes about because your body is calling out for certain vitamins and minerals, and the hope is that if you eat enough it'll get them. Also schedule in small treats every few days so that you don't have time to build up cravings.

I have had problems with binge eating in the past. The only thing that stops it for me - really , effectively stops it - is cutting out carbs. I know a lot of people don't agree with low carb diets but if it's the choice between bingeing on junk food and eating low carb for a bit, I go for the latter.

It made me realise that I am not addicted to food, but carbs.

Think about it - it's very hard to binge on food like meat, eggs and green veg!

I allow myself to eat as much as I want of low carb foods, but usually find that after a day or two I don't really want to eat that much. Then the weight begins to drop off.

It is hard to sustain long term so I tend to have periods of strict low carb dieting to lose weight, and liberal lower carb to maintain. If I start eating high carb again, I start bingeing and put on the weight.

This is just what works for me. If you were to try it you may find it works for you.

You need to get your head straight, find ways to deal with your emotions, and develop new coping methods before you even think about losing weight.

I have a friend who has now lost 8 stone 4 times, including lighter life. Every time she puts it all back on as she is either on a diet or off it, and when off she deals with everything with food. And I know she'll never be a normal weight until she sorts her mind.