Hi, I'm new here and was just reading through the discussions. Is anyone seeing a counsellor/therapist at the moment for help with this addiction? I would also be interested in hearing about how you got to this point? What contributed to your having this battle with food? I'll break the ice by sharing a bit of how I got to where I'm at now:

I have been binging for at least 15 years and have tried many diets, fads, medications etc to stop. I am morbidly obese and a smoker and am only 8 years younger than my dad was when he died of a heart attack at 47. I have struggled with wanting to die because the thought of all the work and commitment I would have to undertake to beat this addiction was too overwhelming and an addiction is something that has a physical hold. This gave me another struggle because I have two young children and don't want to leave them without a mother. My mind would then try to tell me that maybe they would be better off without me as a mother anyway since I was setting such a bad example etc etc.

I have been in therapy (sporadically) for those years for a number of thing - depression, abuse etc but it wasn't until recently that I realised that I had never fulfilled my side of the therapy relationship - that being doing the work to deal with the issues that contributed to my addiction.

I am happy to say that this has finally happened - I have dealt with the past, released all the pain, forgiven those that I needed to and have realised that I am a valuable person just as each of you are.

I have been educating myself about food, the effects of carbs, sugars, proteins etc and how addictive carbs and sugars are because of the way our bodies react to them via our hormone levels.

I have designated the 1st of September as the beginning of a healthy lifestyle. I will be following the "BodyTrim" system which is educational, simple to learn and appears easy to follow and the healthiest 'diet' i have every come across. The basic gist of it allows me to eat a lot more than I do now but instead of binging, I will be eating smaller, regular meals that include foods that remove the cravings. I will also be having one 'free day' that will allow me eat whatever I want for two of those meals.

If anyone would like join me and support one another let me know. Let's get excited about beating our addiction instead of continually beating ourselves up about giving in all the time. One day at a time...who knows what we can achieve together? Better than doing it on our own!!