Food Addiction Support Group
An individual suffering from a food addiction disorder frequently experiences episodes of uncontrolled eating, or binging, during which they may feel frenzied or out of control. They will eat much more quickly than is normal, and continue to eat even past the point of being uncomfortably full. Binging in this way is generally followed by a period of intense guilt feelings...
Day #0
I haven't been active on this forum but decided to take a look a few days ago and noticed a few threads that we're blog-like. This has inspired me to do the same as there really isn't much action in this group but I really want a way to make it useful. So, I'm hoping if I blog about my journey I will be more accountable and hopefully someone will just maybe benefit from my ramblings.
I'm 34 years old and I binge eat, primarily junk food of course and I LOVE candy and simple carbs. I'm also an alcoholic, with over 21 months sober under my belt. I did the 12 steps and some AA here and there. I've read that the brain chemistry can be similar with alcohol and drug and food addictions which I think is very interesting, although knowing this has not helped me quit binge eating.
I want to lose 20-25 lbs and this has been an ongoing struggle for years and years....waaayyyy before I became an alcoholic I had food issues. I feel like if I could quit binge eating that it would be much easier to lose weight so I'm coming to the conclusion that I should focus on that rather than just dieting. Because, let me think, I've been on a diet of some sort since I was 18 and really can't say any of them have been successful.
Why do I binge? Same reason I drank.....I have no idea. Usually I am in front of the TV relaxing and once I start I can't stop.
I eat a ton of healthy food, and I exercise so I'm not obese or anything, but the binge eating doesn't fit in the rest of my lifestyle and I am ready to be done with it. I don't want to be unhealthy and I don't want to have any diseases be caused by this.
Anyway I just ate 22 mini chocolate bars, there goes 900 calories or so, and I just can't imagine doing this forever. Tomorrow will be Day 1 and I want to really try to fix this. I will post everyday what I am doing and how I feel.
I will keep all of my ramblings within this thread so I don't irritate the crap out of everyone.
Thanks and if anyone has any ideas on things to do to not binge, I would love suggestions.
The beginning of my journey. This morning I weighed 147. I've been up and down 135-160 the past decade or so.
I don't want to just diet and exercise and count calories....those things have never worked for me. What I want to do is focus on changing the things I do when I'm most likely to binge.
It's be always late in the evening when I binge, pretty much every time, so today in the evening I ate a healthy snack as to not trigger my brain into a binge. Is this sustainable? Well if I can go without alcohol ever, who's to say I can't go without junk food? Abstaining entirely from foods that will set a binge off is one idea.
I'm also going to focus on this one day at a time rather than having some longer term "I won't binge for a month" Baby steps.
"Every day is a new life to a wise man" is one of my favorite quotes. We are not locked into being who we were yesterday. We are always free to change and try to be better than we were.
Starting to get a bit hungry this evening even though I had a pretty big dinner but instead of an unhealthy snack that might lead to a binge, I'm going to play it safe with some fruit and cheese.
I'm feeling good and I started taking 5-HTP, although I'm not depressed or anxious really so I'm not sure how much it will do.
I'm going to try some guided meditations on changing habits in the next few weeks to see how that will go.
One day at a time.
So I didn't binge last night, but I did end up eating some crackers and candy even though I wasn't really hungry after the fruit and cheese. Instead of agonizing over whether or not to consider that a failure I'm just going to be happy I didn't go on an all out binge and try to do better today.
I've been a little sad the past few days...a situation made me think of someone close to me that I lost back in February and I can't seem to shake this feeling of being down since.
Addiction is such a weird thing to have..... it's so terrible but the things I've learned and the ways I've made myself a better person I am truly grateful for.
I feel like I'm not taking this as seriously as I should be. I ate more candy than I should have today; not an all out binge but I was def not hungry.
Self knowledge didn't help me enough to quit drinking, and neither did posting on dailystrength, so why do I think it will help me quit binging on food? What is the key? 12 steps? I'm tempted to look into it but I can't imagine there being a 12 steps similar to AA. As an alcoholic I did and said and ruined many things when I was drunk that I needed to work through.....overeating doesn't have those consequences.
Something that feels so similar, yet I don't think I can fix myself the way I did to maintain my sobriety because it's so different.
I'm intrigued and need to look into 12 steps for overeaters.
My goal for this upcoming week is to only have 3 out of 7 days where I can eat any junk food, and only 1.5 servings each time. Challenging yet attainable.
My younger self would be displeased that I ended up with addictions. Lol, you never know what life will bring. Addictions are both blessings and curses and there is nothing else quite like the journey to overcome them.
I'm doing well today as I'm staying positive and focusing on things I'm grateful for.
Those 12 steps for overeaters are the same as AA. I won't understand it until I buy the book I guess. Or until I go through the AA book as if it's for overeating.
Food addiction is both easier and more difficult than alcohol addiction in different ways. I will likely not hurt myself or anyone else if I give into a food binge, so it's not as scary. But, I have to eat. If I was forced to partake in controlled drinking everyday I would surely fail....I know better than to try that.
I have no amends to make for overeating.....do I???
I will weigh in once a week. I am 142.8 today so 4.2 lbs down....I know some of this is water weight and I can't maintain that much weight loss, but I am off to a good start.
I'm trying to do more fulfilling things (meditation, yoga, reading) with time I would normally watch TV, as tv time is normally binge time. I'm finding that TV is really a complete waste of time anyway so as a long term habit this may be good.
I ate way too much yesterday and I feel terrible today. My stomach is bloated and I feel almost nauseous. Why do I do this when I know I will end up feeling this way? Waking up and quick thinking back to yesterday and asking "did I really mess up?.....again?....wtf is wrong with me? Why don't I have these thoughts telling me to stop while I am binging?
It's like a food hangover
I wish I knew how to fix my brain
We create a thread and we post our daily steps. Some inspiration for all of us?