I'm addicted to food

[Illjustblendinhere]

I've had lifelong issues with food and my weight, been on/off diets since I was 16. Ranged between a normal BMI to overweight, only ever been classed as obese after 2 pregnancies briefly before losing some weight.

Excuse this time around is lockdown but truth is my excuse is food obsession. I think about it all day long like what I'm going to eat next, what I can have for dinner/dessert, what I want to buy from the shops etc. I can't regulate a normal healthy diet, I am either on a diet or eating everything in sight and I alternate between the 2.

Right now I am about a stone and a half away from the top end of a healthy BMI so not massively terrible but still not good.

I feel like food is the only thing I have to enjoy in life. Over 15 years this has been going on, how do I stop it!?

If anyone knows can you let me know too please!!

You sound like me!

I was exactly the same as you until September. My job has raised my risk of covid exposure so I decided I needed to lose weight to protect myself. I did Michael , fast 800 for 3 weeks after watching ‘lose a stone in 21 days’. It took me about 24 days but was manageable. I now vaguely do 16/8, am doing couch to 5k and have lost another 11lb in about another 7 weeks. It was the reset I needed. I’ve had takeaways, eaten out and had sweets, popcorn-I just no longer eat it all until I feel ill. I try to only drink once a week now too (as it affects my sleep). Good luck. It’s not easy but I’m lighter now than I was 6 months after having my first child 11 years ago.

I'm the same, hoping someone has some advice.

Me too. The only thing that works is not having anything much in the house and hope I don’t cave for a takeaway too often.

I'd like to know the answer To this as well - covid has really triggered my overeating and I'm disgusted with myself

I'm exactly the same. Even when I am being "good" all I think about is how good I'm being and food is constantly on my mind.
I'm about 2 stone from the top end of a healthy BMI but I genuinely think the only way I would be able to lose and stay in the healthy range is through a gastric sleeve or something because I don't know how to rewire my brain

I used to be like this. All I ever thought about was my next meal. Once I started, I couldn't stop. Then such guilt. But oh well. I've already started. Then more guilt.

I've found a way that works for me. I never eat breakfast anymore. Sounds terrible doesn't it? At first, it was an acceptance that I couldn't stop myself from snacking to excess in the evenings, so I was making way for the calories with a morning deficit.

I've been doing it for about a year and my appetite has decreased to much more of a 'normal' level and, without this being a conscious aim or decision, I feel like I think about food as fuel rather than as an emotional thing (reward or commiseration prize etc). I still enjoy good food, but I don't attach negative feelings to it anymore. As a rule. There's still the occasional large dominoes to myself...

Also, we do recipe boxes nearly weekly. I thought these were an expensive treat but we end up saving money as it keeps me out of the shops and therefore I can't impulse buy multipacks of crisps to binge on my own in the car or wine... which I don't consume in the car!

I echo PP - I started Michael Moseley Fast800 in May. Lost three stone in three months; lost another stone since. BMI now 23. It was 31. But the biggest win for me is no longer obsessing about food. I am convinced that intermittent fasting and low carb is what does it. I eat 12-6 or 7. And low carb. It had changed my life.

If all the food you’re obsessed with is high carb/processed then you are most likely insulin resistant and your body is having wild sugar swings. If you look up low carb/Keto you can get control of your appetite again.

@superram

What do you eat during the fast 800 out of interest??

I have done IF before (20/4) and could only ever get my calories down to about 1200.

(1200 is enough for me to lose weight, I'm 5'7, if it makes any difference for me to get to 800??)

I normally skip breakfast and dinner and eat my calories for lunch.

My problem is coffee

Damn you costa!

Damn you terrys chocolate orange hot chocolate!

Damn you frappacinos.

Damn you lady who asks if i want cream, in an of course you do way.

And damn me for always falling for it. The sweeter the drink the better. I can not eat quite happily for days, but skipping caffiene? Hell no. I get a sickening migraine and turn into a hell bitch from hell.

I was diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder in 2010 and my dress size has been up and down from a 12 to a 22 since I was 17 (now 30yo). Every couple of years I lose a huge amount of weight and then ping right back up to obese when I can’t fight off the binge urges any longer. I’ve been to therapy for it twice and it hasn’t helped, sadly.

I’m utterly obsessed with food and have gone to extreme, drug addict-style behaviours to get a ‘fix’ of junk food in the past. Over the past year I’ve stopped putting so much pressure on myself and I no longer weigh/measure/track my food because it was driving me insane. I skip breakfast, have a light lunch and then pretty much whatever I want for dinner. I’ve managed to stabilise around a size 14/16, which is still too heavy for my height but quite frankly, I’d rather have my mental health intact and be ‘manageably chunky’ than binging and starving myself into depression!

Treat it like an addiction and get professional help easier said than done all this hating ourself for our fix isn't worth it.
I'm addicted to cannibas weed.

This is so me! I can’t help myself

Me too. I’m a size 24 age 41 and actually thought last month after an emergency stop that perhaps I should have let the accident happen and a hospital stay may have stopped me eating for a while. 😭

This is me as well. I’m 46 and I’ve been overeating since about 9/10. I know I started because I was unhappy. I have never been smaller than a 14 (I’m 5’ 7”) and that took monumental effort. Currently an 18 and disgusted with myself. I do lots of exercise (running, high intensity dance based fitness classes) spot on BP, lungs in good shape and low visceral fat but I hate myself. Exercise makes absolutely no difference. I’ve had success with WW and SW in the past but utterly bored after 30 years of it. Currently having therapy to unpick why I do this to myself. The thought of 800 calories a day makes me feel panicky.

If I genuinely ate exactly what I wanted, I'd probably be morbidly obese. It's only through sheer willpower that I'm only a 14-16. I don't even like junk food especially..I don't drink alcohol and never have takeaways. I just love nice, well cooked food. I love baking too. I also read cookery books for fun and watch food programmes. I even love food shopping. It's my passion. Unless I'm full to bursting, if the food tastes good I see no reason to stop eating.

Huh?

If you're a stone and half away from being overweight how is this a problem (beyond being probably a bit hungry all the time)

Why has no one noticed you've said you're at the low end of healthy weight

So my bmi healthy range is 7 stone to 9 stone 4 lbs - if I was 8 stone I would be the YOU equivalent

Think the above advice is all terrible. The only way to break the cycle is to stop dieting, that's where your obsession is coming from

You could try cutting out added sugar. I think that plays a large part in food addiction. It's as addictive as cocaine.

I just started eating exactly what I want. Not what I want PLUS what I should, just what I want. So if I want Nutella, I eat Nutella, I don't have it on toast. If I want desert I have desert, I don't have to eat dinner first, in fact it's better if I don't! I've lost close to 3 stone in 12 months, so slow but steady and sustainable. In a way nothing else has been.

I can relate.

What massively helped me was not having crap foods at home. No biscuits, chocolate,.crisps nothing like that. But I replace them with say oatcakes and a but of Nutella, large rice cakes in different flavours. Fruit bowl filled and in view, easy to access. Swap bread for weight watchers or nimble. So a binge for me is not as calorific. Still can't stop binging but just trying to limit the damage.

Thoroughly recommend Overeaters Anonymous for anyone with issues with food - whatever their weight.

These women tell their stories and sum it up well: www.oagb.org.uk/what-to-expect-at-a-oa-meeting/members-stories/

I've finally found my people!

Hello, I could of written each of these posts.

I binge eat. I've told my friend, but I don't think she realises the seriousness of it.

Really worries about setting a bad example for my kids. S'posed to be getting married next year, and I'm over a stone heavier than when I bought my dress.

WW works really well for me, but basically I'm lazy, can't stick to it.

If you figure out the answer, please share!

I had a similar problem; over the years I've been about 2 stone overweight, and then quite underweight (addicted to exercise). I found a book called the hungry years by William Leith. It's not a diet book, but it challenged my perception of, and relationship with, food. It's quite a deep one though, and is for people who rely on food as an emotional crutch. I mean, some people just like food (some of it is literally the best thing ever!) and nothing more to it than that!