Thanks Veggiedaze, you know I am trying a different approach lol I am doing low carb, but I honestly feel so much better mentally and physically when eating this way. So I am going to try the talks with myself...............that I can have the other stuff, junk, bread, cake but I don't like the way I feel on it. I am going to the gym and feeling great.........the program I follow suggest not working out, but I can control my food and feel great when exercising, so I am just adding in extra protein. Trying to figure this out.........I am not happy with the way I am right now.....with the extra weight. I am reading some books right now Potatoes not prozac and another cheap one I found, cant remember the name and also downloaded the one you suggested by Josie. So I am going to continue to read, and try to frame the way I am eating that I truly like how I feel eating this way. When I phase off the "diet" they suggest eating your carbs in the morning but I think I am going to switch it up and eat them at supper so I am not craving them all day.......if I feel like having them. I did discover in Myrtle beach.....a carb breakfast means caving and craving all day long. So those are my thoughts and thank you for the long post you posted. I am always interested in what you have to say as well as others. So interesting how similar and different people are.

Lin43, I know what you mean by the small portions AND difference between you and your husband! I've always lamented the fact that as a family, we hardly eat together at the dining table. Then again, all of our eating habits are so different.

Like you, having a good meal where I'm really full (not to the point of being sick) works very well because I, dare I say it, naturally don't feel like eating much thereafter and don't think about food at all. This is probably a way of my body regulating my food intake.

I have one vice though, I need to end my meal with something sweet. It could be a sweet drink, dessert etc. That's a sugar addiction, lol, just like coffee.

Kelly, good luck with the plan. I'm always very hesitant to say that there is only one way to lose weight because there isn't. I wish you all the best with your plan and truly hope that you have discovered something that works for YOU.

when I calorie count it triggers my ED... so i'm trying not to count so much... but to eat healthier things... cut down of sugars and carbs... and eat more fruits and veggies and protein

Anyone with medical expertise? Wondering if doing a low carb diet for a few weeks and then going right to binging on sugary, carby foods can't really hurt .....like do damage to the pancreas? I know it is obviously not a good idea, but wondering if it could shut the pancreas down or something. I know body builders do it constantly, just curious.

Not really sure how to interpret your question Kelly. I did this kind if thing although not intentionally for years. It's pretty much the way it goes for bingers that do low carb during the restrictive part of the cycle. I don't think sugary crap food is ever good for the pancreas (except maybe post workout and minus any fat) which is part of the reason why people end up with diabetes if they do this along with obesity and being inactive; but I doubt the going back and forth between low carb and sugary stuff is more harmful than eating sugary stuff continually.

Sorry folks, I haven't posted in awhile. I am on vacation way out in the boonies. Things are going just great. I'm doing alot of hikes and am doing a surfing lesson soon.

Thanks Veggiedaze, i couldn't find anything, just worried it could have more serious effects if drastically going from low carb to binging on the world LOL

I am on the debate of going on some meds for depression. This eating thing and my normal depression is really taking a toll on me. Spoke with my Dr. today and she has given me some options to research.......on being Prozac as it is used as well for eating disorders and the others, Cipralex, zoloft, celexa. I am reading weight gain for all of them as a given and that is one reason I didn't want to go on any, but I am missing out on so much with everything. She thinks that taking something to level me out, may help me to really tackle this eating disorder of binging. Right now she said I am kind of in termoil and not in the mind frame to be able to do the work I need to do to get me better. So worried, but I am not in a good place on nothing right now, so I may need to suck up the weight gain to make me better for me and my family. Everyone is suffering right now. Ho hum.

Hope everyone is doing well and not on a roller coaster like I feel like I am on.

Well Kelly it's definitely worth a try. I know all too well of depression and it makes getting out of a slump, especially an eating slump very difficult. I know for me that being happy about things and enjoying some aspect of life somehow leads to better eating. I have had a tough time with antidepressants due to the side effects, but they have helped me to pull myself out of that mental hole at times. I think alot of people must try several different meds before they find one that works for them. I was on cipralex for awhile and found it had less side effects than what I was taking before which was Effexor. With Effexor if I missed a dose I would get the most terrible headaches and nausea. Also, with both of these I did not experience any weight gain. Everyone is individual though obviously. Good luck with this and keep us posted.

Thanks veggiedaze, I hope it will help pull me out too. Effexor is horrible stuff!!! The withdrawl effects of horrible. I think I am aiming at cipralex to try.....still researching tho!

I don't know if this helps, for I never was on meds for depression though I went through long periods of sadness. What I wonder is if we don't need to make sure that what happens to us is depression and not sadness. I think that sadness is part of life and we have to deal with it as such, as an emotional state that will pass. Depression is a medical condition that may be dangerous if it is not well treated. My personal advice is that you consult a doctor before taking any medication that will affect your emotions. Life is tough, but the sooner we learn how to deal with the toughness, the easier it will be for us to find ways to feel better. Happiness should not be confused with cheerfulness, in my view. What do you think?

That's the big question, isn't it? We're living in a society that medicalizes all human emotion and even behaviour. If you're sad, you have depression. If you're absorbed in your own thoughts, you have ADD. If you yell at your parents, you have ODD (oppositional defiant disorder). If you lose money at the casino, you have a gambling addiction.

To me the important thing is not the diagnosis, which I view as an artificial construct, but whether the medication will do more good than harm. I've been taking an antidepressant on and off (for anxiety, not depression) since my first child was born 16 years ago. I hate taking it (side effects) and wish I could control my anxiety without it. I compromise by staying off as much as I can, sometimes for 8 or 10 months at a stretch, and going back on when the anxiety gets unmanageable. I often wonder how I would cope if the medication were unavailable. Perhaps better than I imagine?

Freelance

I have anxiety and depression issues. My anxiety flares and gets bad at times, I have taken medication in the past but have tried to manage without. Same with my depression.....have been on medication in the past but hate the side effects, but right now I am deep in a hole and can't get out. I am suffering, my family is suffering, so I have decided to try something to see if it will help even a little. My dieting is the biggest culprit....I know it is....I am trying to figure out a plan on what may work for me to get off this yo yo....binging ridiculousness I am on....I am hoping the meds will just level me out a bit so I don't feel so hopeless and may help me to figure this disordered eating thing out.

Well it might really help kelly. Like I said, meds have pulled me out of a slump a few times but like freelance I don't stay on them continually. I think they lose there effectiveness after awhile (maybe, just speculation). It can be just the mental boost a person needs. But I agree with inglesica not to confuse it with sadness. Sadness is a normal part if life.

Well I am still on my vacation. Last night I did alot if overrating, but it was all social and not bingeing. I did a hike yesterday with some friends and then walked for 4 hours in the beach. The beach walk was not supposed to be that long; it was just so beautiful we kept walking not even paying attention we walked for 2 hours. Then we had to walk back and that was tiresome. When we got back to the cabin, the wine was opened and let's just say the laughing and conversation had me drinking almost an entire bottle just to myself. We as a group drank 3 bottles and some island beer. And then of course no one felt like cooking and we were suddenly starving from all the alcohol and too much exercise so we ordered pizza ( we had originally planned to bake chicken and have salad). And while we were waiting on the pizza, we had to try all the fresh baking we got at a farmers market earlier along with chips and salsa. Only had two pieces of pizza, but was so stuffed from everything else. Probably an entire days worth of food with the wine. So I feel a little sick and very hungover this morning. But it's all good. I think I'll skip the alcohol tonight

Sounds like you are having a great time veggiedaze.....memories that will last forever! Enjoy your time!!

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I posted in this thread...and I notice that now it's over 500 posts! I know that generally a new thread is started when that happens but not sure if the moderators are supposed to do it or the original thread starter. Doesn't make any difference to me but just thought I'd throw that out there for what it's worth. 500 posts means you've certainly hit a nerve, veggiedaze! Congratulations!

About the medications for depression - what I know about them would fit on the head of a pin with room left over. Have never used them, never even considered them. And because of that I'm not in a position to really offer an opinion about them. But if I may, I'd like to make an observation based on my lifetime experience.

I'm 61, so I suspect I'm older than most on this thread (although maybe not the oldest). And things have changed soooo much in my lifetime. In many, many ways. But I was thinking about all the meds that people take today and although there's probably no doubt that they are quite useful, something Freelance wrote really made me think. She wrote -

and it made me think back to my childhood and even young adulthood and I realized that I don't think I'd ever even HEARD of these medications until around the 80's or so. I certainly never knew anyone on them.

Now life was far, far simpler when I was a child and young adult than it is today. There are so many more stressors for parents then my parents had. My parents and I often talked about that and they told me they felt bad for the next generation of parents (and beyond). I think that's so true. And if it's true for parents it's also true even for those who don't have children. Getting and keeping a job these days is not nearly as easy as it once was. Overall life is just more complicated.

There have certainly been times in my life that were stressful - some VERY stressful. Days that I didn't think I could put one foot in front of the other. Days when I felt like I was down in a deep dark hole and would never come out. Fortunately those periods have never lasted very long; I don't think I've even completed a week like that. So I suppose I've been very fortunate in that way. But I know that not everyone is.

I think we all develop our own ways of coping. Perhaps overeating was my salve, although I spent a large part of my adulthood (when I was raising my children) not overeating and was thin. I also rarely drank any type of alcohol during that time. It's only been within the last 10 years when taking care of elderly parents that I began drinking wine on a regular basis. But I've been able to keep that moderate as well.

So I guess my point is this - if the medication was NOT available, most people would find another way to cope. But would it be better or worse for you? That, to me, is the question - and there's really no way of knowing, is there? It's a real dilemma, for sure.

Oh, and one other thing I thought about how things were different - no, I don't think the antidepressants were used as they are today, but think about this - just about EVERYONE smoked. And a lot. Also, you rarely saw people drinking wine - they went for the hard stuff! Liquor stores "back in the day" were LIQUOR STORES. The wine was one small section in the back.

Thanks Kelly. I'm on my last day here and the I head back tomorrow. I may drive home all in one shot or stay the night in Vancouver. The whole trip has gone well foodwise, but the last couple days I overrate and snacked more than usual. I don't usually snack at all between meals ever, but the box we are carting with us filled with baking ( and the kind I like, like very dense homemade sourdough covered in seeds), and these chickpea tortilla chips with homemade mango salsa beckon to me alot. Honestly in the whole scheme if things I am happy to be indulging because it is teaching me the difference between eating too much and more than you want, and binging. Also with people around it is a great opportunity where I can see it as a joyful event and partake with everyone else. And the people I'm with are overindulging too (and are even commenting on this) and are all slim trim and very fit. Just goes to show fit slim people let lose on vacation too. On the flip side, we've all been doing alot if exercise; running on the beach, day hikes, surfing (trying to, not really succeeding), and kayaking.

My friends have said that good thing they can't get bread that good where they live otherwise they'd all eat to much. This really rang a bell in my head as it kind of confirms the whole power of suggestion. Up until we hit the farmers market on our third day I was having my usual eggwhite omelette every morning with a bit of steel cut oatmeal. But after, I just want that bread with butter, honey etc. every morning. And big thick slices. I don't think I would ever in my life prefer my old breakfast to this new one. But I'm sure if I were to eat this new one everyday I'd put on some weight and lose out on some nutrition. I can see the power if suggestion is very powerful for me and its a good idea to just keep things I want to be eating in my house.