Maybe I'm just not ready...

[ziggy]

Re: Maybe I'm just not ready...

when ever i try to eat less food i binge because trying to eat less food ends up makeing me think about food and then i binge

so i just do what i have done all my life eat when i want and as much as i want. just now it also has to be atkins freindly which is easy

[goin2befit]

Re: Maybe I'm just not ready...

I know exactly what you mean. I was on that same cycle for the last three years. What changed for me recently was reading Gary Taubes "Good Calories, Bad Calories." Knowing the science, and what carbs does to the body, really made me see things in black and white. Maybe you need something to help you see things in a new light?

Thanks so much for that suggestion. I think that is a % of my problem still yet, I keep saying, I don't have diabetes, I don't have hypertension, I don't have cholestrol problems... so why do I have to eliminate this or that... shouldn't I be able to be normal.

I'll definatly add that book to my read list!

Having an eating disorder really has nothing to do with food. It is all a mind game and often the body is the loser...Do you hate yourself because you are fat, or do you just plain hate yourself period. If it's the latter, then a therapist is definitely in order

Thanks so much. I had went to a therapist several years ago... it was concerning other issues, but I did mention my eating habits (which was bingeing) and she told me it was a normal release from me. She really wasn't to helpful, but explained in some how I use it to release my stress... which is right. I also use it for other things, but that is besides the point. Sometimes I hate myself, but that thought is related to hating myself for allowing myself to be like this, not just the fat aspect, but allowing myself to chase after food, allow myself to sneak food, hide, and lie about what I'm eating... That cuts into my self values... Thanks for taking the time to share and encourage me!

[goin2befit]

Re: Maybe I'm just not ready...

Weight loss isnt just changing you eating and excercise habits. It is changing your mindet and dealing with whatever issues you may have emotionally, spiritually ect.

That is so true... I actually went to Barnes and Nobels and paid full price for a book (usually I order at cheaper price and have it shipped), but my library didn't have it and I wanted it now... it is "Breaking Free from Emotional Eating" by Geneen Roth...

So far I'm about 60 pages into it. She has some really helpful tips and writing suggestions to really get me thinking. They are simply put, but the way she builds the story around it, it touches home with me... so I feel so motivated and excited about it...

Thanks for your kind words and hopefully I'll continue to motivate you to the end!

I don't fight the "voices" I rationalize them. When I am fighting inside over a certain food or quitting this WOL, I take a deep breath and I let the voices flow. Like water running through a river......don't try to stop it, just direct it. The battle sometimes becomes so much more when you constantly try to erase the thougths and it consumes your thinking. Then I think of all the things that are going on in the world with children who do not eat, people that are hungry, the poor, the destitute and I ask myself, "This is what you are worrying about?" "Its just food you bafoon." And I almost always feel better. Put it in context and realize that this "battle" is just a bunch of chemicals in your body having a temper tantrum. Relax, breath and move forward.

Also, you may want to talk to someone about these problems. If it is truly an epic battle in your daily life, then it is probably a deeper issue than wanting to quit.

You are so right... the book talks about that as well. Rationalizing is something I don't give myself time to do... I'm to busy eating and stuffing my face first!!! Very good points.

[Desertthorn]

Re: Maybe I'm just not ready...

I don't know if anyone else posted but I just heard yesterday in fact that after about 6 months, the body decides that it wants to return to where it was and it happens to everyone. It's not you, its this mechanism going on inside you. I am going to look and see if I can't find the clip. When you see it, you'll say OMG thats me right now.

Stick with it kiddo

[JulieB]

Re: Maybe I'm just not ready...

Thanks everyone for the encouragement....

Julie~ If you don't mind me asking... how did you deal with them? Did you read a certain book, took a certain type of therapy, or just on your own... I hope you don't mind me asking you to share.

Thanks,
Amanda

I read some books about Adult Children of Alcoholics Syndrome & a book about Toxic Parents (don't have the exact titles here). I believe that my emotional eating started about the time my father started to struggle with Alcohol abuse - I was 4 or 5 years old.

I think that recognizing that this is/was part of my issue and dealing with it helped me let go of my anxiety a bit. Recognizing that I had emotional eating issues didn't help me on past diets, because I didn't know what to DO about it - dealing with the big issues in another way along with recognizing that other emotional issues could cause the same reaction seems to have helped me this time.

[miller98b]

Re: Maybe I'm just not ready...

Another point I though of last night when I was stressed.....I come from a family of addicts of all sorts and with all types of addictions. Alanon is a family program for those that live with ex-addicts, and one of the therapists told me that when you want to binge eat, it is usually because you say to yourself, "I am stressed so I will eat." but she told me to tell myself something different, even if it was not true; Eventually that thought took over. Nowadays, I tell myself and others, that "When I am stressed, I love to walk on the treadmill." After a number of months, the thought began to take hold in my subconscious and when I was stressed, I worked out.

May not work for everyone, but it worked for me......good luck, you are not alone and others have conquered this beast and we know you can do it as well!

[goin2befit]

Re: Maybe I'm just not ready...

OMG!!! I just typed out personalized messages to everyone and guess what, the screen changed and froze and then poof it was all gone...
So I'll try to remember and if I forget, please forgive me and know that I thank everyone who posted and encourage, motivated me... I really means alot to know so many people have been where I am or see me as a source of motivation !!!

Summerdressgirl... I don't keep anything in the house, but live 1 block from CVS.. so I can get any junk I want in just a minute. I can be dressed and there and back eating before I even stop to think about what I am doing. BTW~ Congrats to you.. you are half way there as well.

Kimberly~ Great Idea about talking it out. That is what the book is talking about as well. It is really helpful. I also blame some on the pill, which honestly it does have some to do with maybe the rate I am lossing, but not stopping me. I have intense cravings at times and need to learn how to deal with them.

Chibelly~ I love the photography idea and about the Coca Cola... I hope it left you alone and you were able to sleep finally. Next time try to think what you are wanting the Coca Cola to give you. What emotion or feeling do you think you will achieve by drinking it and then try to talk yourself through that feeling.

Dryunderwater~ Thanks for such motivational quotes... Sometimes it is just a few words that make us think differently...

Desertthorn~ I'm waiting for the video... does it mention that it happens every 6 months.. if so that would be right on track with me!

Thanks again everyone for so much support and courage you have given me... for now I'm reading "Breaking Free from Emotional Eating" by Geneen Roth and it is giving alot of suggestions on binge eating, hidding and eating, and lying about what you eat... trying to see if you are hungry before eating, sit down and eat.. alot... and I'm only about 60 pages into it... Maybe it will be helpful to others that is where I am or where you were, but still struggling... For now, I'm determined I'm going to make it to goal and for the rest of my life!

[goin2befit]

Re: Maybe I'm just not ready...

Julie~ Thanks so much for that. When I read that something that I had never thought about came to my mind. My mom told me I always had candy and pies and would hide them in the house for when I wanted them. At the same time (age 3 or 4) I know I was being shuffled from babysitter to babysitter and left where ever my mom could find someone to hold my sister and I. She was single and having to work 2 jobs to support us. I have heard the story 1,000 of times about how I would go to my neighbors and they give me candy and cakes, pies, you name it I had it... But I never stopped to think about what I must have been FEELING!!! I know I eat for every feeling known... Thanks so much, this maybe a true piece of the puzzle missing..

Miller98b~ Amazing what our minds can do and believe... just like we have them believe we NEED all the junk... it can believe the total opposite. I like the idea of the stress=workout.. Thanks for sharing.