Self destructive with eating
 

Hey everyone! I am new on here this is my first post. Im 21 281 lbs (formerly 285 I recently joined weight watchers and have been working out more trying to get healthy. At my first meeting at WW this week I lost 4 lbs which was great I was really eating well and recording everything.. but I have a major issue in my life with self destructive tendencies whenever I take a step forward I take 2 steps back... and a lot of time this is with binge eating. Like tonight, a night after I found out I lost 4 lbs I found myself ordering a large pasta and mozarella sticks from a trigger restaurant delivery place near my house and eating all of it. :(

Does anyone have any advice for how to overcome this? I know people might say just choose not to do that (easier said than done lol) Any advice would be great! I really do want to continue on WW the way Ive been going and lose weight and feel better. Thanks

Congrats on the first 4 lbs - you have taken a great first step. You should be proud. I am completely understanding where you are coming from because I am soooo self destructive. I lost 45 lbs (starting in Oct last year and through may of this year) and I gained it ALL BACK. Every lb, in less time than it took to lose it. So I hear ya on the one step forward two steps back thing. It isn't easy to just chose NOT to do it I know. I would start by clearing out the things in your house, putting a kabosh on ordering anything from delievery, and grocery shopping with good control. I don't know who you live with that could complicate this, but hopefully they care about you and can understand (that was my pitful, moving in with my husband). I guess that kind of seems obvious, but for me if something isn't in my house I won't eat it and will stick to my plan better if I have the food in the house to do it with. Also find hobbies to keep yourself occupied, preferably something that keeps your hands busy and that keeps you away from the kitchen. And make time for exercise, which I don't do a good job at doing anymore, but it does help keep you motivated by excelerating weight loss :)

Congrats on starting your weight loss! It's so hard to get those first few pounds off (at least it was for me mentally) Unfortunately, I'm the same way, always celebrating with food. It doesn't help that my husband and I enjoy eating big meals together. I also eat when I'm bored or depressed too.

I often binge after a good weigh-in - I wish I had known that was a trigger for me when I started. It isn't so much for me "I deserve a treat for doing good" but I just use food to congratulate myself. So my advice? Find your triggers and why they are triggers.

I think the biggest thing is that I have to stop thinking of food as a reward. I think that our culture really does a good job of linking food with celebrations and festivities...and I think that this may be a reason that I smother my negative feelings in food. Since I relate it to good feelings and happy occasions, I guess that subconsciously I see the food as a happy pill of sorts.

This mentality has always been my downfall-"I did such a good job, I've lost weight...I deserve/can afford this treat." And that leads to more treats, more binging...

Food is fuel. That's what I have to keep telling myself in order to move forward. I can enjoy my fuel, and even indulge in it as long as I keep an eye on my limit.

I see my calorie intake as a car's gas gauge. Would you fill your tank until it started pouring out? NO! That's a big waste of money. So why would you fill yourself with more food than you need? That's also a huge waste. A waste of money and a waste of all the efforts you've made to lose the pounds.

Easier said than done, but it can be done. One day at a time.

One day at a time is right! Every day is a constant struggle against binge eating for me, but taking it day at a time helps alleviate some of the pressure.
The most important thing for you to do now, after the binge, is NOT GIVE UP!
This is where I fell down last time. I lost 9 pound in 2 months on my first attempt at weight loss. I ate a very strict 1300 calories per day diet and exercised for an hour six days a week at my gym. With all my hard work, I expected to lose at least eight kilos, and my personal trainer said with my diet and exercise regime that was very plausible. To only lose half of that was a big kick to my self esteem and I just gave up, fast forward to sixth months later and 20 lbs heavier, all because I gave in and went back to my binging ways.
What I should have done and what I know to do now, was gone back to the drawing board and re-evaluated why I didn't lose the weight I wanted and how to combat it.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that giving in and binging is not the end of the world. Sure, you shouldn't have done it, but one session is easy to recover from and it's very important that you pick yourself up now and continue. Please, don't do what I did, you will regret it.
Try not to beat yourself up too much, just get back on the horse, give yourself a clean slate and start fresh again the next day. Give yourself a break, you deserve it. You're human and flawed like the rest of us and the sooner you realise this and learn to forgive yourself for your mistakes, the more successful your weight loss journey will be.
Hope I helped :)

I totally see where you are coming from.

I have lost arond 85lbs, in over 2 years, and believe it or not I just recently realized this whole, "reward" concept- you're on the right track and ahead of schedule (at least ahead of my schedule).

I find that I used to weigh every day,and when the scale went up- I would eat well, to see the scale move down the next day (I am fortunate in usually getting really quick scale movements) but when the scale would go down, I would subconciously eat more.

I understand that at the beggining of your weight loss you do weigh yourself quite a bit- but keep it at once a week. If you MUST reward yourself- get a mani, if it HAS to be food, have a portion of something yummy- a peice of chocolate? Indulge in something you love, not in a binge, because that will only surface feelings of guilt.

For me, I try to weigh as little as possible- once a week at most. This is a daily struggle not to weigh, especially when I feel really skinny. But in the end, weighing less causes less triggers.

If it's a HUGE HUGE trigger, don't weigh- measure. Measure inches lost. I understand that you have to weigh in on weight watchers (i did WW online for a year and a half, that's how i lost my first 60 or so lbs) - is there a way at meetings where they don't quantify the scale move? Can you weigh for their records and not know the number?