[Atimik]

A little background: I've been binge eating and obese my whole life. I've been yo-yo dieting for years. A year ago I started losing weight by exercising and counting calories and easily dropped 75 pounds in 6 months. Then in the last 6 months I went through some major life changes and I gained 20 pounds back thanks to binge eating 3-7 days a week. I've still been exercising very regularly, otherwise I would have gained a lot more than 20 pounds back. Right now I have about 40 more pounds to lose.

A couple weeks ago I think I finally figured out the main reason why I binge eat: when I want/need attention from other people and I don't get it, I eat. When I lost 75 pounds, I was doing it for attention. Resisting binge eating has been a lot easier ever since I figured this all out and I've lost 15 of the 20 pounds I gained. But I'm worried that it's not going to stay easy for long. What do I do when I need attention and I'm not getting it, when my solution to that has always been food? I know it's normal to want/need attention, but I feel like I just want/need more than the average person and I don't know why.

[mizmizzy]

You are not alone I to struggle from the same problem! I wanted to fill the empty spot left from the dissatisfaction of either not enough attention or the wrong kind of attention that I was getting alot. I tend to crave alot of positive feedback and when I am not getting it I go into binge mode to self medicate. Now I have only started to learn a few tricks and I am just hoping they keep working for me--but only time will tell, and I think with the right mindset we can defeat the binge eating monster that likes to torment us! Find hobbies that can keep your attention span for hours without distraction. I stopped watching so much tv. That just made me want to eat without paying any attention. I got really involved in a karaoke site for a while kinda silly but man I wanted to see how good I could belt out the songs and getting feedback and giving to others turned out to be a pretty cool hobby. And hours would fly by and I wouldnt eat much less binge!! lol. I also got a new game and got quite involved in that for awhile. Now I have a book and am journaling every single day which gets out a lot of stress!! I think I am just going to keep searching for new things and keep the other things around to...the hardest part is getting your attention on something thats what you need to do! If youre focused on something else the binge thoughts can be forgotten or ignored pretty easily. It took a little time but it seems to be working so far. Now occassionally I wake up at 2 am and want to stuff face from never binging. I think this is the monster not wanting to completly let go! But I find its deff easier if I keep my cabinets to the bare minimum and very little junk food around. But at the same time I think denying yourself only makes it harder. For example I have a tub of ice cream in the fridge and I'vebeen pretty good with it, if I crave it I will have two spoonfuls and put it back, although there was one day where I ate a bowl. I just had to let it go and know I would try again the next day to resist the damn thing, lol! Its all about realizing you are making a choice to do something. And knowing that you Can have it but you Wont and that it will be there should you ever decide you do so Why freak out?? the occassional slip ups are bound to happen but just resolve to make the best of it and try harder the next day ya know? p.s.......minty toothpaste will take almost any craving go away. brush your teeth drink a glass of water and get some extra sleep. haha. its a great trick

[marina]

What about writing a list of things to do when you feel a binge coming on, perhaps go to the gym, do some chores, give your body and your mind enough time to decide if you are actually hungry or are gonna binge, sometimes you just need to take a step back and think as when I feel a binge coming on my first though is hungry but I know if I waited a while I would probably realise im actually not hungry at all.