Compulsive Overeating

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7 Signs Of A Compulsive Eater
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They say that men drink to socialize and celebrate . . .

Women drink to cope with stress, anxiety and depression.

It's the same with food, really . . .

Food has become an easy and reliable friend, a cheap
source of comfort and support.

Here are 7 signs of a compulsive eater:

1. I'm not hungry, but I NEED something to eat.
We ALL do emotional eating or stress eating occasionally,
but when you go from wanting something to NEEDING
something to calm down, etc, then you know there's a
problem.

2. You find yourself spending time planning when you can
eat, hoping your spouse will go to work or your kids will go
to bed, so you can eat alone.

3. Your whole life becomes focused around food -
when you are going to eat, what you are going to eat . . .
what you can have . . . what you can't have . . . what you
*should* have . . . what you *shouldn't* have . . . what you
are going to have when you stop restricting yourself.

4. You try to control it - you make lots of rules around it - I
won't eat a lot of carbs . . . I won't eat after 8 p.m. . . . I'll
only eat 3 meals per day . . . I'll only have one . . .

5. You make promises to yourself -
I'll stop tomorrow . . . I'll start over on Monday . . . I'll work
out extra hard tomorrow . . .

6. You avoid social situations because of the food, or you
are attracted to social situations because of the food . . .
free food is irresistible.

7. You begin to tell yourself stories about why this is ok -
I'm celebrating . . . I've worked so hard . . . I deserve it . . . I
can't watch TV and not eat . . . we always overeat on
Thanksgiving . . .

Do you recognize yourself?

 

 

 

 

Over time small steps make a huge difference.

 

There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.

 

              

Second mini goal finally reached - another 5 lbs lost, for a total of 10. WooHoo! Next mini goal:

Hi Ludam:  I think #3 is why I just can't get into writing down every thing I eat, I see that as a prison!  And even years ago when I went to WW and they had the one week food diary on one page, as I was gobbling the last bites of the binge down my throat I was writing down what I had just binged on.  Once I found old journals and so pathetic as all it was was one binge recorded after another, no mentions of meeting with friends, no socializing, no happiness, no joy, just page after page of silly food comments!  What a waste of precious life that God gives us.

So where am I in this food and life journey?

I am aiming at eating when physically hungry, yet on my journey to mimic a normal eater, sometimes they just eat because it is there.   Like someone brought cookies to a work meeting on thursday.  One kind was M/M one, so I had one, it was so good, then sat and looked at the remaining m/m and sugar ones and didn't eat anymore.   To not have any would have been like I was being punished, but to finish the container would have been an addiction. 

Am I making any sense?

thanks for sharing the information Ludam.            hugs,  Josie.

I'm 7 for 7 on the list.  I do feel totally obsessed with food both when I'm overeating as well as now when I'm being restrictive and trying to lose some of the weight I've put on. 

I hate that it has an impact on my social life - when I'm overeating, I'm drawn to food events and am focused on the food the whole time.  And when I'm restrictively eating, I either avoid food events or worry about what I'm consuming throughout the whole thing.  It's so tedious. 

I liked what Josie wrote.  It's where I'm trying to get to also - losing the all or nothing approach and striving for some sort of middle ground.  I just want to eat food like a normal person (i.e., my husband)...