Emotional and Psychological Eating & Food Issues...

[ontheway2Stephanie]

Hi everyone. I'm pretty new to the boards, only been here about a week. I am so far doing well, but I am afraid of the future. I'm going to really put my feelings out there, and hope you'll be kind. Oh, and I'm sorry, this post is going to be long, :nod but I wanted feedback and discussion about these issues and wanted you to have a fully painted picture.

So, here goes!

I know I have issues with food. I have a food addiction. I know I rely on food to make me feel happy, loved, fulfilled, and it makes me feel successful to have a cupboard full of "good" (read: junk and comfort) food.

I know this stems from a pretty rotten childhood, when my single-parent mom was lacking child support and often leaning on our church to help with food. We didn't have much in the way of what I considered good kid food (stuff the rest of my friends were getting in their lunches); oftentimes not even peanut butter was in our house, let alone potato chips or soda. As I was slightly older, about 12, my mother remarried a very abusive man (emotional and physical), and he controlled every morsel we put into our mouths, again depriving my brother and I anything that wasn't "whole" or "nutritious" according to him. We would watch him eat cheetos, but we weren't allowed any. Looking back, our diet was healthy - but because it was controlled by another person, when I was at friends' houses I'd eat whatever I could get my hands on. It was the simple nature of being denied these things that made me crave them.

At 14, because of the abusive marriage, I moved in with my aunt and uncle. I had a wonderful upbringing and life from that point forward, and my mother later left that man and now has a (single) life of her own. However, these things in my childhood have brought me so much baggage when it comes to food. I feel sad, deprived, and like I've done something wrong when I don't get to eat my "comfort foods" - i.e., all the bad rotting carbs that have put me at 270 pounds.

What I want to know is how I can get over this feeling. I know that until I conquer this, I cannot truly conquer my weight. I can lose weight, sure - but keep it off? Never eat my favorite foods again? I just can't see that.

Don't get me wrong. I'm ready to make this change in my life. I want to, and know that it has to be done. Kids are in my near future (we want to start trying next year), and I want a healthy pregnancy. I also don't want to pass on my food issues to them. I want to have them learn my example how to eat healthy.

I know many of you must also have food issues/addictions. What have you done to help overcome it? Are there books you've read, or have you seen a counselor? I'm interested to know what has helped.

[ztachick]

hello- there is a forum that fits the topic of your discussion perfectly i think its even called emotional eating, its next to the depression and those topics. well you have gone through alot but you have overcome it to a point, now you can learn how to re think things about food, and you said you didnt want to give up your fav foods forever, well by moving up in the ladder on atkins you can add back the foods that you enjoy and just limit the portions(which i know is easier said then done) but by the time you get there hopefully you will have new coping skills to learn how to handle any food issues that happen to come up. good luck and you are doing so good so far, just take it one day at a time or one meal at a time and you will soon achieve your goal. :hug

[BenandHallesMom_1]

First of all Stephanie I just have to say that you are a BEAUTIFUL girl! I really enjoyed your wedding pictures! I too have many emotional bonds with my food, mostly childhood related. I have always seeked food for comfort. I have been through counseling and do recommend it, especially before you start a family of your own. However, I honestly have to tell you that the only thing that has helped my food addiction is Atkins. When I am in ketosis....I don't even think about food. Its the first time in my life that I have been able to lose weight because food lost all of its power over me. It will take following a complete and by the book Atkins WOL for me to conquer these demons and gain control over my life. My lowest weight this year has been 218 but when the holidays rolled around I immediately gave into the "just one bite" mentality and lost all control. I was obviously not ready nor is that how Dr. A intended for us to reintroduce foods. In only one month I put back on 19 lbs. Ok, I started rambling but my point was to say, have you noticed that you don't think about food when in ketosis? Have you tested yourself to make sure you are in ketosis? I know ketosis is not ideal for life but while losing the weight is seems to give me the balance I need to slowly relearn how to eat with control. I hope this helps some and I'm speaking mostly from my own experience. Again, I do think you should consider some short term counseling just to address some of the issues of your childhood and to really be able to let go of the past hurts and begin your life now with your new husband and soon to be family! Best of luck to you and we are all here for you!!!!

:hug

Michele

[ontheway2Stephanie]

Thanks girls - it's nice to see a reply on here. To the 34 of you who have read but didn't say anything, you're makin' me feel awfully vulnerable!!!

I think my next step will be to seek out some counseling. I feel like I'm mourning the death of the ability to eat certain foods, and that is freaking me out. I shouldn't be mourning food.

I DO notice I am not hungry at all when I'm in ketosis (I believe I am there now, even got the bad breath but that doesn't stop me from wanting to eat bad food. It's not because I am hungry, just because of this stupid mindset I have.

I'm gonna try and find that other thread. And thanks, BenandHallesMom_1, for being so sweet! I can't help but be an attention whore about my wedding pictures. It was the happiest day of my life.

[papajack_1]

I know I have issues with food. I have a food addiction. ..........I know many of you must also have food issues/addictions. What have you done to help overcome it?

Stephanie,

You have asked several, deep, hard to answer questions. Let me be very up front with you.....................if I had the answers to 'em, I'd be rich enough to be basking in the sun on a Hawaiian Beach.

I think anyone who finds themselves on the Century Club Bulletin Board has "issues" with food. Some come from a background of family abuse, family alcoholism, or family dysfunction on any number of ways. Others come from model, two parent, loving families, and say they just loved to eat. Many of us have low self confidence, low self imagine, and low self-esteem. Others are confident, self-assured people who can manage any and everything in their lives except food.

All of these different people, arriving at the same place from different starting points, having 100 lbs. or more to lose makes for interesting conversation, interesting self-analysis, and interesting theories on how to combat our weight issues.


How does one lose a 100 lbs.? The answer to that really is pretty simple. Read Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, do exactly what he says, and you'll lose the weight.

I know that sounds trite, and you're looking for a deep, meaningful explanation. But sometimes, the deepest truths are found in the most simple details.

I was overweight all of my life. I came from a family background that had a history of alcoholism. I tried many, many times to lose weight, always failed..............and my weight went up, and up, and up.

18 months ago, my physician merely suggested I read Dr. Atkins book. That was 150 lbs. ago. The only negative in that whole experience was I was 60 years old when I first heard of Dr. Atkins. You are so fortunate to begin at such a young age. You can have decades ahead of you in which to enjoy a "normal" body.

I'll leave you with a little deep, introspective insight on things that will change once your weight starts coming off. Your self-esteem will start to increase. Your self-confidence will begin to blossom. Your outlook on life will become more positive. Your health will improve, and you'll be able to do more physical activity. You will be able to see all those changes by eating natural foods and not having to "diet."

Sounds easy, does it not? Believe it or not, it does become easier. Today was easier for me than was yesterday.

Do I still have "food issues?" You betcha! I will always have 'em. Dr. Atkins gave me a way to control the food that goes into my mouth, instead of food controlling me.

So, how do you do it? One day at a time, my dear...........and one pound at a time! It will only be hard today...............tomorrow will be easier.

So, in answering your long question with a far longer reply..................the question on how to do it is .................just do it. It Works! Losing the weight is exciting....................finding that the answers to the questions you posed will come to you as the pounds drop off is live altering!

[ontheway2Stephanie]

Thanks Papajack! Congrats on your weight loss. Inspiring!

I know what I need to do to lose the weight, and am doing it. What frightens me is that I know that until I ovecome the emotional part of it, I will probably be yo-yoing the rest of my life.

[papajack_1]

What frightens me is that I know that until I ovecome the emotional part of it, I will probably be yo-yoing the rest of my life.

Stephanie,

The "emotional part" of you is just that.....................a part of you. Don't give it more power than it deserves.

What I was trying to say was that if you do what Dr. Atkins said, you will have the power over what you choose to eat.

The miracle of what Dr. Atkins wrote about wasn't that it allows one to lose weight. The miracle is that it allows one to control what goes into their mouth........................in my case, that was the only time in my life I had such control.

If you follow a "diet", you will feel the difference in your body..............if you follow what Dr. Atkins said, you will feel it in your body, AND in your mind.

[BenandHallesMom_1]

Very well said Papa! Thanks as always for putting it in a way we can all understand! You have such a way with words. I for one so appreciate your wisdom and willingness to share!

:wave

Michele

[loonatika]

Steph,
If you think counselling will help you resolve those issues in the past, then go for it.

With regard to the food, the longer you are on Atkins, the easier it really gets to bypass those foods you used to love so much.

It's been 9 months for me, and I now no longer think about eating chocolate or crisps every day and I had a pretty big habit before Atkins. So, you are taking the right step towards overcoming your food problems - staying with Atkins will definately help you as you just lose the 'taste' for them.

Anyway I hope some of this helps, I too absolutely adored your wedding photos and I can't wait to see you at goal. As the pounds start dropping, your self confidence will sky rocket too. If that's hard to believe, look around at how many of us are now show-offs with our pics

[2big4mysize]

welcome to the board. I am a carbolholic.

First emotional eating is better understood now and you can change those patternes as yes it is a learned behavior.

Our brains want us to be happy calm secure feeling folk and they can catalog stuff that in ways that would make a librarians brain spin. It has stored all the foods you every ate with how you felt beofre and after as many foods can mimic neurotransmitter.

then when you get in that exact same emotional state it says Oh I know what will fix you and it prescribes chocloate to calm you or some other food that you had good results fixing the state you are currently in. If you consume it again you get a temp fix and reinforce tht neural pathway.
If you don't do that and do something nonfood to help calm you oe releive your emotional distress a new nearal pathway is created to compet with the old one but you will need to repetedly use the new one for it to gro stronger then your old one ans it has many cross indexed neural connections to get prescribed again by Dr Brain. This is where the statments about exercising your will power will make it stronger.

One very big help for you is to keep a food journal and record how you are feeling every time you are eating what you eat who is with you and how you feel afterwards. It iwll be a royal pain in the butt to do at first until it becomes a new lerarned behaivor just like those new nonfood behaviors you are trying to sub for those comfort food Rxs from Dr Brain. Look for patterns that cause you trouble and then you can identify the root causes of creating those I NEED COMFORT FOOD situations and take steps to avoid them. if coffee with Suzy and Jo triggers you but not coffee with Betty and Amy then don't have coffee with Suzy and Jo. You will be surprized what some of your triggers are.

Exercise is a great release for those feelings as is meditation and distraction. Set up some plans of action so when the Dr Brain is saying eat chocolate you can say no thank you I'm seeing another Doc and they prescribed this ____________ whatever you have planned and then do it. it may not be 100% successful the first or second time but it is like learning to ride a bike just get up and get back on and have confidnece you will not fall again and soon you won't. But if you think you will always fail then you will fail.

Happy low carbing.

[landasmom]

Stephanie, I agree with everyone here--you are beautiful and your wedding pictures are treasures. If you feel you need to see someone over your food issues, by all means, go for it. I think the further along the path of this WOL you go, the lesser hold food will have on you. It amazes me that before this WOL we would order pizza every Friday for dinner; now, I have discovered I don't really care for pizza. Of course, there are still foods that are triggers for me, but the more times I am able to turn them down, the less they have a hold on me. In any event, welcome, come back often, look forward to getting to know you!

[cleochatra]

Hi Stephanie!

Well, as a one-time emotional eater, too, let me tell you that the longer I've been on Atkins, the less I crave the foods I used to wreck this diet over!

Pizza? What's that?
Choco-covered pretzels? I vaguely remember those... what are they?

Atkins has honestly cured my emotional eating, because it has retrained me, has stabilized my blood sugars (one of those things which triggered me to eat, especially during a vulnerable moment).

Now when I'm sad I just go and redecorate something or yank a weed or dig a hole, or walk on my treadmill or write an angry letter to my senator.

But I totally agree with 2 big. Food just doesn't have the control over me it used to before Atkins. I just can't ever go back to eating that blasted nasty stuff anymore.

And when all else fails, the pizza people probably pick their nostril contents while making your double crust pie, and the choco-pretzels have no more than the required FDA assortment of rat feces and human dandruff in the vats.

It helps.

[Dawn]

First off, you are one beautiful lady!

Secondly, Papa said it just perfectly!

Third, Cleo said it perfectly!

Want I wanted to add is probably everyone at CC is an emotional eaters. I also had a hard child hood to an extent. Food was my reward whenever I was a good girl, and my comfort when I was a "bad girl". I came to fall in love with food from a very early age.

Even after a year, I find myself trying to revert to my old ways. If I get upset, I'll find myself walking towards the fridge and I have to make myself turn around and go back. Atkins has helped me though by getting rid of the cravings and keeping me more disciplined.

ONe thing you have accomplished is that you are aware of your emotional eating and the causes. Now you have to work on not giving in and not letting food have the power it has over you. Talking about it, acknowledgeing it, and not doing something about it is the key.

We are here for you as you go through this journey.

Thanks for sharing your life with us!

Dawn

[MotherNature]

Hi, Stephanie....

As a newbie to the Atkins WOE, you have not yet experienced the many benefits you will get from this way of eating. You have much to look forward to! As you progress with your weight loss, you will find that not only are you not hungry all the time, but you don't crave those high-sugar and high-carb foods that used to be your comfort foods. Atkins teaches you control over your eating. No one was a bigger carb junkie than me. Everything I put in my mouth before I started Atkins was high-carb and the more I ate the more I wanted. After my 2-week induction, I was no longer craving those high-carb foods. After a little over a year on Atkins, I have lost 87 pounds. This is something I never, ever thought I could do. If I can do it, so can you. After a while, if you do slip and sample one of those old snacks that used to be your comfort food, you will find that they don't taste very good. Those foods just lose their flavor after you are weaned off high-sugar and high-carb and that allows you to be in control of them. Good luck with your weight loss. I think you will find that the journey is wonderful experience and ADBB is a great place to share the journey with caring helpful people.

Cathy

[ontheway2Stephanie]

Thanks everyone. I truly, truly appreciate all your kind words, thoughts, and advice.

I guess for now, I will just stick with what I'm doing, and so far, it's doing good. I've lost 7 pounds since last Tuesday when I started Induction, and I put on a pair of pants this morning that were previously too tight and they fit fine. So it must be working!

Right now I'm still mourning the loss of my favorite foods, but maybe as time moves on that will end, like you all say. One day at a time, for now!