Getting my head into gear...

Hello beautiful people,

I need some suggestions...
I'm 22, 19 stone and well a truly a food addict. I am a compulsive eater, whereby I find it difficult to stop eating, especially with sweet foods such as chocolate and sweets. I am also an emotional eater, food is used for comfort on bad days and extra treats or celebrations on good days.
I've been dieting on and off since I was 16 and rarely manage to stay on a diet, and when I do I fall off the wagon after a slip and can't get back on.
I'm also lazy, in the sense that I hate to exercise. I avoid it like the plague.

I have come to the conclusion that the only way for me to lose this weight and be healthy is to try to restablish my relationship with food, and get my head "into gear".

I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions, particularly regarding books on "diet psychology" and "reprogramming" the way we think about food. I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Thanks,

~Silence~

Paul McKenna's books and dvds are meant to be very good. I avoid chocolate because it just leaves me wanting more. I try to picture it coming out of a dogs bottom, to put me off! I definitely overeat when I eat junk, but don't get the urge to do this when I eat healthy balanced meals. I think they put chemicals in the junk food to make you want more. Evil corporations!

Silence said:

Hello beautiful people,

I need some suggestions...
I'm 22, 19 stone and well a truly a food addict. I am a compulsive eater, whereby I find it difficult to stop eating, especially with sweet foods such as chocolate and sweets. I am also an emotional eater, food is used for comfort on bad days and extra treats or celebrations on good days.
I've been dieting on and off since I was 16 and rarely manage to stay on a diet, and when I do I fall off the wagon after a slip and can't get back on.
I'm also lazy, in the sense that I hate to exercise. I avoid it like the plague.

I have come to the conclusion that the only way for me to lose this weight and be healthy is to try to restablish my relationship with food, and get my head "into gear".

I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions, particularly regarding books on "diet psychology" and "reprogramming" the way we think about food. I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Thanks,

~Silence~

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Hello there, Silence,

I totally identified with your comments and you are absolutely right to focus on what's going on in your head. It has taken me many, many years to figure this out so well done you for realising this at such an early age. You're just a baby, really.

Emotional overeating is not actually about food, it's about avoiding dealing with emotions. Food blocks out the feelings, brings comfort, and calms the nameless anxieties. Emotional overeating brings with it feelings of fear, guilt, shame, self-disgust, anger and despair.

Back in 2006/07 I lost 100 lbs doing LL. For the first time I was slim, a size 10/12. It sounds incredible, doesn't it? Why then did I sabotage this huge achievement and sit here today having put most of the weight back on?

For me the CBT counselling was useful up to a point, however it did flag up issues whichI was not prepared to talk about and deal with, mainly because I did not feel comfortable discussing stuff in a group setting. I am seeing a psychologist for one-on-one therapy, and it has been extremely helpful so far. I have started another weight loss programme which is similar to LL, Cambridge, and am enjoying it. I still have issues to face however, and realise that the real work starts when I start eating again.

I note your comments about being 'lazy' because you don't like to 'exercise'. Again, I have learned that the secret of doing regular exercise involves building in invisible activity into your day, and this helps enormously.

You don't have to go to the gym regularly to exercise. Building in walking into your daily life is a great first step. Get a step-counter. Clip it on to your waistband, go about your normal days activity and see at the end of the day how many steps you actually do. It is suggested that 10,000 steps a day is what to aim for. Think about ways to achieve this that can easily become part of your daily life. Don't feel that you have to force yourself, build up the steps gradually at a pace that suits you.

Don't forget, you have the rest of your life to change your lifestyle.

Addionally, here at Minis you are in the best place to get support, encouragement, and friendship.

Good luck!

AJ

dehli said:

Paul McKenna's books and dvds are meant to be very good. I avoid chocolate because it just leaves me wanting more. I try to picture it coming out of a dogs bottom, to put me off! I definitely overeat when I eat junk, but don't get the urge to do this when I eat healthy balanced meals. I think they put chemicals in the junk food to make you want more. Evil corporations!

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I actually tried the Paul McKenna hypnosis CD thingy. Worked fine in reducing general hunger and portion sizes, but was not enough to combat the urge to emotional eat. In fact, if anything it made me worse, because I felt guiltier about eating!!!

Thanks for your advice AJ. I have actually ordered a pedometer, which should arrive soon, fingers crossed.

It's going to be a long process methinks. Even getting my head into gear. But I'm here for the long haul!

~Silence~

Silence said:

It's going to be a long process methinks. Even getting my head into gear. But I'm here for the long haul!

~Silence~

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Changing bad habits is always difficult, whether it's biting your nails or eating for the wrong reasons.

You've made the decision to change, which is the main thing.

With regards to exercise, why not try to walk around the block for 20 minutes/half an hour as a start.

It's just another habit that needs changing

Hi Silence,

Wow - you and I are clones!!!

I too love food and always want to eat. Eating is great aslong as you're eating the right types of food.

I really think that the Slimming World plan will work for you, a lot of the food is unlimited (e.g. potatoes on a green day, meat on a red). It may sound confusing, but go to www.slimmingworld.co.uk and download the 7 day eating plan, just to see if you like it.

I know this doesn't address the binge / overeating issue, but it has helped me so much, to the point where I now prefer slimming world chips to chip shop chips!!

(For example, I'll have a big plate of SW chips, egg and beans - which is all free / unlimited, and still lose 2lb / 3lb a week).

If you want anymore info, pop over to the slimming world section on here.

P.s. I'm not on commision with slimming world, but perhaps should be. Hehe x

Louise24 said:

Hi Silence,

I really think that the Slimming World plan will work for you, a lot of the food is unlimited (e.g. potatoes on a green day, meat on a red). It may sound confusing, but go to www.slimmingworld.co.uk and download the 7 day eating plan, just to see if you like it.

I know this doesn't address the binge / overeating issue, but it has helped me so much, to the point where I now prefer slimming world chips to chip shop chips!!

(For example, I'll have a big plate of SW chips, egg and beans - which is all free / unlimited, and still lose 2lb / 3lb a week).

If you want anymore info, pop over to the slimming world section on here.

P.s. I'm not on commision with slimming world, but perhaps should be. Hehe x

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Thanks for the advice.
I'm healthy eating at the moment, and losing weight slowly, I really think it's important for me to get into the right headspace and set up camp there. I need to find a solution to the problem before I try to solve it, if you know what I mean.

I have the added complication of just having moved to France for work, so the food is different - no baked beans, no quorn - and I can't really join something like Slimming World here!

~Silence~

Hello Silence Slimming World is available to do on-line. My friend has to do it that way because of her work and she's doing very well.

I have just recommended Allen Carr's book to someone on another thread - have you seen it? "The easyweigh to lose weight" You may get one on Ebay. Great read and very easy to understand. It's all about being able to eat your favourite foods and avoiding guilt but at the same time re-educating your tastes.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into it.

I'm currently following my own healthy eating plan, which seems to be working well. I've not binged for over a week now, so I'm really happy about that. I'm reading a book at the moment called "Why Can't I Stop Eating?" about food addiction. It's really very interesting.
I randomly ordered some others as well, they should be arriving in the next week or so.

~Silence~

I just re-read my original post and realised how far I've come since writing it.
Focusing on re-adjusting my relationship with food I developed my own healthy eating plan, with basic rules (2l water, 1mile walk/30mins exercise, 1 serving protein, 1 serving fibre, 5 fruit/veg, limit of 30g unhealthy food) and for every day I follow my rules I put a euro in my piggy bank (Sgt. Pig). I manage to follow the rules most days, I'm exercising a hell of a lot more, eating less and more healthily and have seriously reduced my comfort eating!!!
I do still need to work on the compulsive/emotional eating thing cos it is still an issue, but I am improving!!!

~Silence~

Yay ~Silence~

You really are doing well and I'm glad that you've realised it

Hi Silence - i am facing the same issues as you with regard to me addictive relationship with food and have started reading "eat less" by Gillian Riley. So far i have found it amazing in that it really accurately describes my behaviour and attitude which has made me think her approach could really work to help me to control my addiction. I think its fantastic and could probably really help you keep going with your plan. If you are unsure whether to buy it there is a lot of info on the boards about it and also I have been blogging about it the last couple of days. Good luck with your plan and the 'mind work'

try a smaller plate

...

Trendytracz said:

try a smaller plate

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Obviously you're not a compulsive or emotional eater

re 'smaller plate' - when I'm compulsive eating nothing makes it to the plate!!!

Hi Silence,
Sounds like you're doing fabulously well. Reducing weight and forming new good habits without 'being on a diet' will definitely help in maintaining your weight loss. Keep at it.