I'm so worn out not being able to beat my eating issues

[Deleted User] · 19 April 2017 at 7:53PM

I don't have a healthy relationship with food at all.

I have been slim all my life but then I hit my forties , left a stressful career for a better quality of life but now have food issues that have crept up .

I'm sure I'm addicted to junk and seem to be caught in an awful cycle of binge eating , I can't have one biscuit I have to eat the packet type thing. I can't buy a small bar of chocolate I have to buy family size and scoff the lot .

I'm not surf there are any answers but if anyone else recognises this and has found an answer I'd like to hear.

I want some control back .

IAmWales · 19 April 2017 at 8:02PM

Stop having the food in the house. You can't eat it if it's not there. Make healthy choices, fill the cupboards/ fridge full of fruit instead.

(I used to do the same. The only answer for me was to remove temptation.)

fireblade28 · 19 April 2017 at 10:38PM

I second the not buying it thing.

I just don't buy unhealthy stuff.

You can't expect yourself to control when you are tired and hungry you simply won't do it. If you only buy good stuff that's all you will be able to eat and you will get used to it.

If people leave stuff at my house now I literally just bin it. I know it's a waste but it's better than me eating it. I have binned whole chocolate bars and bottles of coke.

The other thing to consider if it's an issue is professional help.

DBlenks90 · 20 April 2017 at 6:52AM

I'm going to jump on a say the same. I find that if there's less food in the house, I'm less tempted to eat.

Also, a little bit of insight from my experience: It's like climbing a mountain. It's hard going up, but once you're there, its all downhill.

Your body gets used to the junk and even craves it. Once you break that cycle of "eat junk/crave junk" it gets MUCH easier. Usually it takes a few weeks for me.

That being said, people are doing fasting diets these days which aim to do the same thing. My parents are doing it and its working great for them. Basically it allows your body that reset time by condensing your eating into 8 hrs per day.

Hope that helps!

Ilona · 20 April 2017 at 9:02AM

BBH123 wrote: »

I don't have a healthy relationship with food at all.

I'm sure I'm addicted to junk and seem to be caught in an awful cycle of binge eating , I can't have one biscuit I have to eat the packet type thing. I can't buy a small bar of chocolate I have to buy family size and scoff the lot .

I'm not surf there are any answers but if anyone else recognises this and has found an answer I'd like to hear.

I want some control back .

Yes, I have found the answer. I used to be an absolute pig where sweets, cake, biscuits, crisps, and chocolate were concerned.

Following on from my logical thinking of if I don't spend money then I don't have to earn it, it follows that if I don't buy any cr ap then I don't have to eat it. So, as the others say, don't buy it.

All this junk that you can't resist is not actually food, it provides no useful sustenance to the body whatsoever. It is scoffing purely for the mind, I will eat it because it makes me feel better. Yes, for the time it is in the mouth perhaps, but afterwards it brings nothing but misery as the inches pile on and the addiction to sugar becomes the focus of your life.

I miss out whole aisles in the supermarket, I don't go down them because I don't want to put temptation in my face. I say to myself, no I don't need a cake, don't need biscuits.

I don't say I never eat them, but I keep them as treats, to be enjoyed once in a while. I am partial to a Magnun ice cream now and again, but I only buy one when I am on a day out. I could buy a box of three at the supermarket a lot cheaper but I don't because I know I would pig out on them and eat the lot.

If you feel the urge to buy junk in a shop, walk out again. Be tough with yourself, say, no, not today. If you keep doing this, and it's hard at first, you will find that the gaps between giving in will get longer and longer. Try it.

Ilona

[Deleted User] · 20 April 2017 at 9:32AM

Thanks for your thoughts everyone .

As far as don't buy it you'd think I was a health junkie if you saw my supermarket trolley , it's all healthy , however I buy my junk at the local garage . I will drive to buy my 'fix'

I can really relate to what Ilona says in that if I buy the supermarket offers ie 4 mars for a pound I won't have one a day I'll scoff the lot.

I have tried leaving my wallet at home so I can't buy but then I feel vulnerable if the car breaks down for example.

I try tactics like filling up my car to the brim because I was finding putting a tenner in every other day was taking me to the tempting garage too often.

I have stopped using the sandwich lady at work because she sells goodies aswell.

I think food addiction is hard because unlike drugs or alcohol you cannot totally stop taking it, you have to eat to live .

I will keep trying , it makes me feel so stupid because I can control most other things, I do have an addictive personality though, I am also a recovering magazine junkie lol I was spending £80 a month which was silly so now I put my favourites on much cheaper subscriptions and shop in a supermarket with a very limited selection of them.

Ilona · 20 April 2017 at 12:07PM

Yes, it is hard to resist when it is forever in your face. I too fill my car up to the brim, it will last me for 5 or 6 weeks, don't do many miles.

The feeling vulnerable without the cushion of money is common. If you are mainly pessimistic you will always be worrying about what might happen, when in reality the chances are that nothing will happen, unless you are running about in a banger. Do you have breakdown cover?

Yes, you have to eat to live, but what you need to remember is that by eating junk food, cr ap if you like, will probably shorten your life. I would like to live for another 20 or 30 years, 68 now, and I know I have to look after my health to achieve that.

Apply the same principle to buying junk as to spending money on anything. Ask yourself, do I need it or do I want it. It will be a long hard slog, but if you can take little steps now, eventually it should get easier.

Have a look at the rest of your life, are you using food as a crutch, are you worrying about something that is not quite right, does eating junk comfort you? Try distraction, make some plans to do something that will take you away from your comfort zone. Only by facing up to this will you beat it. Good luck.
Ilona

tensandunits_2 · 20 April 2017 at 12:30PM

Without going too much into cod psychology, what is it that you're craving when you're longing to eat these highly processed sugary foods? The body does not need that amount of sugar or energy, so the eating must be emotional/psychological.

Anoneemoose · 20 April 2017 at 1:30PM

You would probably benefit from counselling of some sort. For all the advice is well meaning, if you have BED, it isn't just as easy to not buy it, because when you're in binge mode, you'll stop at nothing to get food.

I had bulimia and BED and found help though a combination of CBT and counselling with the lady whose website this is:

http://peacefuleating.co.uk

She also has a friendly, understanding FB group called 'It's not about the weight'.

I can honestly say my life has changed.x

xbrenx · 20 April 2017 at 10:54PM

BBH123 wrote: »

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

I think food addiction is hard because unlike drugs or alcohol you cannot totally stop taking it, you have to eat to live.

You have to eat healthily to live

The sugar is a craving that you can live without, you just have to convince yourself of that.

I know it's not easy. I am a complete chocoholic and once said, the only thing that would make me stop eating it is if it was poisonous. Now I have diabetes - hahaha - it really is poisonous stuff!

I hope you find your answers

theoretica · 20 April 2017 at 11:41PM

Be sure you have in stock enough food you like and don't feel bad about eating. It is much easier to think positively (I will eat more raspberries) than just negatively (no biscuits).

I'm so worn out not being able to beat my eating issues

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