the no study...did you mean in context of those women who've had surgery?

I can't imagine that it holds true for an extended period of time unless they never have the band removed. But really, that's not managing the condition only the symptom. If you look at people who've paid a lot of money and experience a lot of body trauma to have liposuction or tummy tucks. It is entirely possible to put the weight back on. There is an initial..look at me, I'm skinny wow factor - self esteem increase, so maybe some of the faulty behaviour stops. But what happens the first time something upsets them a lot or traumatises them? They fall back on bad habits.

I do it. I've had a really good run of no negative thoughts and stabilised impulsive behaviour and then something upsets me; a flashback or a faulty shame belief and all those things rush back to me. Before I know it I'm self harming and binge/over-eating again. So it's not a big leap for me to imagine that crisis pot happening with someone else. Being thin wouldn't stop me doing it in much the same way being pretty (scuse my modesty) hasn't stopped me self harming my face at dark times.

I read a news article about a girl who is 17 and weighs 40st. She managed to get down to 18st by attending the wellspring weight loss camp. Within a YEAR of returning home she doubled her weight because she lost the support and access to healthy foods. She has a food addiction and needs a strong community of support who will encourage and 'reward' good decisions.

I know wellspring mix exercise with therapy as a two pronged attack. They really address he things that hold people back in weightloss..the fear of losing weight etc and what got them to be where they are now.

Sorry Matt, lol.

Ive really thought about the surg but it would cost me 4K out of pocket and I dont want that debt. I already have enough. My sister-in-law got it done and shes looking great. Id love to think that i wouldnt be the one to gain it all back, but im afraid of that also.

Does anyone have any experience with over-eaters anonymous??

Liposuction wasn't regarded as relevant because it did not also modify the patient's lifestyle behavior. Plus, it remains very high-risk. The stomach-band surgery resulted in actual changes of diet and behavior. I cant refute anything Judy said about some programs offering only shoddy support and seeing the beneficial effects wane over time, except that these are (fortunately) the less-common experience.

I maintain, of course, that moderate diet and exercise are best, especially since exercise also diminishes depression and anxiety, and improves sleep. Evidence shows that exercise also produces positive changes in self-talk and thoughts, too.

Devin that surgery is hard on your body. And emotionally difficult, especially the *Bam* you can't eat the foods you love in the quanities you're used to. You can't eat them because they make you sick. You're too young and too healthy..you have time to work on this if that's what you want

In reality, neither sister should have had that surgery without at least a year of weekly therapy. One of the sisters was still grieving for her youngest son who was killed in a car accident, in my non-medical opinion, that itself should have ruled her out. The psychologists they both saw worked for the clinic that was doing the surgery. Somewhat of a conflict I think.

I will add that exercise has been helpful to me in general throughout my life. I will say that there are different things for different people. The exercise helps with my mood and my appetite for sure.

I found a group of woman who train new people all shapes and sizes for triathlons. The experience was amazing and to be honest I had a goal that I had to work towards.

However, it does not need to be a triathlon. It could be as simple as deciding to walk/run a 5k and find a friend or a group to train with.

My friend and I trained for the triathlon together. We still swim once a week together and bike when the weather is warm.

I will also add that I feel crabby if I have not worked out after two days of not working out... that is why I need to work out tomorrow. I think that if you can make it past the first few weeks of working out that you begin to need that release.

Crazy idea - we could pick a weekend to sign up for 5ks and we could all run/walk them in our own spots but together here!!!

My town does a lot of charity sport events..there's a half marathon, a 5k and a couple of fun runs this year. I've already signed up to do the 5k and my goal is to participate in the half marathon in a year or two.

I guess I am sceptical on the banding. Yes you have to change your eating habits and behaviour because it hurts too much to use food as an emotional stuff now. But...if there is no treatment of the underlying issues - including positive ways to cope such as exercise..won't there just be a form of behaviour displacement?? A lot of people with an eating disorder also have some other difficulty like sex addiction, ocd, self harm issues etc..it's pretty easy to just transfer your energies to the other behaviour.

I don't know..I'm coming through my experience and I find it fairly easy to switch behaviours. When I can't self harm I use sex..or food and any other combination possible; sometimes all at once. I'm really not sure if that is other people's experience or not.

Years ago, I had a number of friends in OA. In fact, Crazed Stalker Boyfriend was one of them, but don't let that scare you away!

The whole thing is based on working the 12 steps, which are modified from AA. Like AA, you are strongly encouraged to get a sponsor. I've seen the program be really helpful for some people. Other friends of mine needed something in addition to it. Two friends of mine did an outpatient program that compiled a medically supervised fast with group therapy, cognitive therapy, and a cool bunch of charts that helped you make healthy lower-calorie food choices. There was a set way to introduce foods after the fast, and the program continued through months of the maintenance phase. I was impressed in the results, not just in weight loss but in changed eating habits.

Crazed Stalker Boyfriend lost over 90 in OA before we met. He had gained a lot of understanding about why he binged. He was in AA at the same time. I joked that he should pick up a drug and gambling addiction while he was at it just so he could go to yet more meetings. Binging was a much tougher dragon to slay than alcohol. Everyone HAS to eat. We ALL eat for emotional reasons, even if its just to celebrate. This guy was crazy obsessed with food, either eating it or avoiding it. I probably didn't help much with my own food wackiness. I'm not sure he ever got to the core issues of why he binged...if he had, he probably wouldn't have been a crazed stalker either.

Lucinda would be an excellent person to talk to, because she participates in a lot of runs for various social issues. Plus, she's kinda awesome.

Funny you should mention "crazy stalker" issues in this thread...I had to delete a jillion posts before bumping it because the single sickest, most deeply-pathological (yeah, I said it) person on all of DS had cluttered this thread with nonsense about her obsessions over her therapist, followed by hate-rants at me/us for the "hypocrisy" of our objecting to her obsessive stalking while freely confessing that I/we have formed "friendships" in the course of therapy. (don't worry--she's long gone now)
What IS is about crazed stalkers, anyway?

Obsessions about her therapist on an Eating Disorder thread? How was that not red flag sooner? I bet he/she was mean to kittens too!

Maybe, I will contact Lucinda. It would be cool to do. I had no idea that Triathlon that I did last summer raised funds for a sexual assault and domestic violence group in that county. I really can't think about this now, however. In a couple of weeks, my life will be less hectic.

*Like* Judy! Thanks for making me laugh right out loud!!

Hehehe....funny, I thought that my ears were burning! And here I see this thread bumped up and I now know why. : )

Just getting back into the groove of my own workout program as fate would have it. I am determined to complete a half marathon in Oct. In my area there are tons of 5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, marathons, triathalons, etc., just about every weekend. I personally started with 5Ks. Even if you are not in fantastic physical shape (which I had best whip myself into over the next few months), most people can walk a 5K if they are determined to do so. For those in the states, you can check this site http://www.runningintheusa.com/Race/Default.aspx Just click on your home state and see what is available. When I first got back into these kinds of races, I decided that I didn't care if I had to walk, crawl, etc., but I wasn't going to quit until my fanny crossed the finished line, preferably still attached to the rest of me. : ) And that's still the way I feel approaching a race. When I race, the race is about me....sure there are gads of people there, but it's something that I do for me and is completely about me. I couldn't care less if I were dead last and everyone else has already gone home, although that has never actually happened. LOL

I will say though that my physical shape is no where close to where I would like it to be. Not sure that I would qualify as technically having any type of ED, but I am considerably heavier than I would like to be, sometimes I eat little to nothing and sometimes I eat a bunch. Sometimes junk and sometimes not. For me, I think it falls into the realm of really needing to refocus myself on self-care. But...that belongs within another thread entirely I am sure.

Thanks for saying that I am awesome Matt. Made me smile and frankly, smiling is a good thing. Going to work hard on doing more of it, in fact.

Oh yes....thanks for the deletions as well. Those comments (before deletion) back when this thread was started really made me avoid it and I really wasn't able to ask what I needed to know at the time.