Way to go rabid and fluffy. Conquering the binge. If the urge comes again read this. You are awesome and you don't need to sooth yourself with food. You are strong and you will get through this.

Snacked today as i often do when I study. That's how grained the weight in the first place. Today, however, I snacked on healthy food and ended up still having a very low calorie day 798. Not as low as a fast though it was supposed to be. Still hopeful for the scale in the morning.

I am very snacky today. Trying to snack on healthy food, so at least they'll be healthy calories. Some days I'm not at all interested in eating, some days I am ravenous. I suspect being in a bad mood and not wanting to be at work is a big contributor today.

Off to some strawberries and a Laughing Cow cheese wedge!

I have been using food as a break from studying again and I'm mad about it. I swore this was the term that I left that behind. I've been eating healthily but too much.

How have people been? I'm off on a five day business trip, which has historically derailed healthy eating habits. This time I packed my own snacks, as I won't have easy access to a grocery store: oranges, bananas, cashews, and fiber one protein bars in my suitcase. I have something of a mental game plan. Hopefully it goes well!

That sounds like a great plan rabidstoat. Looking forward to reading how it goes.

That last post was my own kick in the pants that I needed to stop doing that snacking as a coping mechansim. I have been doing anything but eat when I need a break from studying and am stressed.

Guess who lost 5 lbs?! 129 new low

Amethyst--how was the snack studying today? What are you studying?

Rabid--how is the trip going? Sounds like you planned ahead well.

Had a victory at a family event at a Chinese buffet. Kept it to two bowls of soup and a small plate of salad bar stuff. I had to have potato salad mind you, but it could have been much much worse.

Late night binges or at the very least snacking is still a pattern. Gonna try to limit myself to pickles tonight

Fluffy,
No snacking while I studied, just water and tea!!! :)
Nice work on the buffet. I love chinese food but I pretty much can't eat any of it any way.
Studying counselling psychology (masters). My current courses are group counselling and health psychology. In 5 weeks I have marriage and family systems and then on to my practicum! whoohoo The end is in sight (never mind 8 months of practicum but it's a change of pace).

128.4 after an all nighter.
This has been quite motivating to lose all this weight. I never want to "find" it again lol :joker:

126.8 yesterday and 128.8 today
Ate a bunch of crap after I was done eating for the night yesterday so I'm pretty mad at myself. I was cold and tired and procrastinating.

Back up to 129.8 despite restricting after that.
Down to 127.2 today though.
And not using food as a break from school. Yay.

Amethyst--way to go! You are breaking the pattern! That is such a hard thing to do.

I am working on breaking the pattern of late night binging or at the very least snacking. Recognizing it didn't help at first but now I feel like I see it coming, go "oh ya, it's this again," eat a pickle and sit with the uncomfortable feeling of wanting to eat and don't.

Yay fluffly!
I know that feeling. I had to sit with that for awhile while I was studying and wanted to get up and eat. I drank a lot of tea.

Hi people, I've forgotten to check back in, though I really ought to just to keep me focused.

I got through my trip pretty well. No unplanned sugary treats. Healthy breakfasts, healthy lunches, and dinners... well, they could have been worse. Did do (cheese)burger and fries one night, grilled fish another night, a turkey sandwich and carrots another night, and then a PB&J sandwich and veggie soup another night. Snacked a fair bit at night but all I had was fruit and little packets of nuts and Fiber One bars, and I'm scared to eat more than one of those a day. :-)

I got a prescription from my doctor for phentermine today, never been on it before, it's supposed to help with hunger. Though not with the psychological aspects, I imagine.

Whoosh 125.2
Ate something I shouldn't have. Made onion Bhajji and only meant to taste it as it was a new recipe and pack it up for tomorrow for a client. Well I ate them all. 540 cals. My total was only 740 but I feel bad. Even though my total is low that's the kind of thing that can mess my scales up tomorrow. Drinking lots of water and detox tea. Also went to Zumba. This is why I can't bake lol

Was wondering how it went--way to go, rabidstoat. Hope the phentermine helps. I'd think it would be easier to address the psychological aspects if hunger is eased.

Hi everyone,

How are you all doing? I haven't posted here since December maybe? The last time I posted, I was 161 and this morning, I weighed in at 185 after having one binge free day. I have put on 24 pounds in a very short amount of time.:(

There were so many times I wanted to stop but I just couldn't. My history with chronic daily migraines, insomnia, and my escalating weight caused me to have depression and complete lack of motivation. I tried many times to talk to my Sponsor (I was doing OA) but I just couldn't get it together.

I've been feeling incredibly low. I just have felt like such a pathetic excuse for a person. Even now, as I type this, I'm heavy hearted for all the excruciating binges. Despite how awesome they seem, doing them every single day was very painful and made me feel quite hopeless. I so wished I could just go away to a fat camp or something, just to be in a controlled environment and to get my head back in the game, but that's not an option.

Finally, my husband told me to just exercise, break a sweat. I haven't done that in so long, using my pain as an excuse, but of course, that doesn't help matters.

So yesterday, I worked out for 30 minutes. That might not sound like all that much, but it was a triumph for me. I was able to eat like a normal person. Then, I woke up this morning at 4:30 a.m. with a terrible migraine. Oh the agony. When will this ever stop? Well, perhaps never, but drowning my sorrows in food has proved to only exacerbate my difficulties.

I've already had all my calories by 4:30 this afternoon, but I figured that if I still want something, I can have an oatmeal and still be at a small deficit. I actually worked out again at 5:30 a.m., so I mean business! ;)

Ok, that's a long update and I apologize. I don't know if I'll make it back on track but I desperately want to. I really want my life back, even though it's not a perfect life, it was still a good one overall when I wasn't binging.

Sending all my fellow food addicts lots of hugs and I look forward to catching up. Thanks.

Hi luckymommy :wave: So good to hear from you! Great that you are starting to work out. I just started a week ago and feel a lot better in every way. It doesn't take a big workout--I'm sure i'm doing less than you. Just the movement feels great.

Thanks, mars735! I woke up early again but decided to work out later today because I have a busy morning. I'm so glad you're working out too. I think it does something to our brains like nothing else. What kind of work outs are you doing?

Chocolate cookies in the break room. Mutter. I mean, it's not like I even WANTED a chocolate cookie until I saw them.

I feel your pain, rabidstoat! Same thing goes on in my break room. Someone always seems to bring in leftovers sweets from their baking or dinner party, or kids birthday. I've been mostly successful by ALWAY having an alternative handy and also by just saying to myself 'not for me'--not in a self-denying way. Once in a while, if it's something that looks really yummy, I'll have it. I hope that you feel peaceful & ok with however it went.

Agree with you re that great feeling from working out. I hope your workout went well--what do you do?

I woke up after the second gym day feeling incredible--my body & mind felt so alive, and it was the lightest workout--25 min of treadmill walk, 5 min elliptical (yes, 5 min!) and some abs and biceps curls & stretches. I'm pretty deconditioned and have finally learned to build up very gradually. But even that little bit made me feel like a new person. I look forward to that feeling more than I look forward to eating my favorite foods!

I was wondering how you've been, Lucky. I'm sorry you've been struggling. :( :hug: I hope you can pull yourself out of it and get back on track.

You guys, I was really struggling with staying on track and discovered an app called twogrand and it is awesome!!! You take photos of everything you eat or drink. Something about the shame of posting a photo of something off plan has kept me on track. It's especially fun with friends commenting on eachothers meals. If anyone checks it out, find me! Same username.

Hey CoolMom! Your photo is so adorable! Thanks for your kind words and much appreciated hugs. Sending them right back at ya!

That app sounds very good! For me, not so much. Seeing food photos is actually too much for me but I'm so glad it works for you. You're doing super great, btw! Way to go! :)

Thanks, Lucky. I can see how photos can definitely be triggering for some.

I am still around. I think it's about two months since I seriously binged, which is like a record. Almost 20 pounds down (though seemingly tons to go).

I feel like I've waged an uneasy truce with all the sugary snacks in the office, but they make me very anxious. I feel like at any day I could go mad and eat my way through all the chocolate candy here, and that it'd be all downhill from there.

That's kind of how I am. I'm perfectly in control and at ease around food -- until I slip and lose control and then all **** breaks loose!

rabidstoat, I can definitely relate. It's like a switch goes off somewhere and all of the sudden, I lose any ability to refuse food. Then, I start to binge like I'm on a mission to destroy my body. I've been through this so many times and as much as I try, it always happens again. All I can do is get back on track as soon as I can and stay there for as long as possible. In other words...you're not alone. We just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and do our best.

Went to a friend's birthday part this weekend, and had two of those mini cupcakes and a pretty small piece of regular birthday cake. It was a lot of sweets for me, but it was planned to eat sweets and it definitely wasn't a binging mindset. Also had lots of fruit and veggies, some hummus and pita chips, and some sliced turkey.

My best friend, who I work with, is also struggling over stress eating. She has a lot less to lose than me -- I think she looks fine, actually, though I suppose she might technically be considered overweight maybe, and she wants to lose 20 pounds to get back to her pre-babies weight. She is one of those who feels more comfortable with herself when she's on the lower end of a healthy weight range.

But she's got a less of stress in her life lately and has been stress eating so we've been talking about that, trying to support each other. The boss brought in MORE COOKIES AND BROWNIES today for some unknown reason. I've managed to keep out of them, but she's had once of each, eaten over four visits to the kitchen. We've signed a 'no office sweets' pact with each other for the rest of the week.

rabidstoat, I hope I can do as well as you did at your friend's party. I'm going to a party tonight and it's a huge party with lots of people...I'm going to feel anxious about it, which puts me at risk for a binge.

I just wanted to post here that I'll be going to this party and I'm nervous about it. I hope that I can post an update here and say that I did alright. I'm going to try not to have anything sweet but realistically, I'll allow myself one desert or two deserts but half of each. The thing is that there will be lots of appetizers and the main course won't be served until 9pm. I usually have dinner around 6:30 so I'll just see how it goes. I hope my husband will dance with me a lot so that we stay away from the food and burn come calories instead. That's the goal anyway. Wish me luck! ;)

luckymommy, I'll check back here for your update, hope it goes (or is going, you might be there right now) well!

I'm sorta putzing around, still no binging. I did have sweets a few times this week which I hadn't really planned on. My fault for buying Mini Magnum ice cream bars. That I'm not binging on them is good, though. Weight's stalled for the past couple of weeks but I feel like I'm eating reasonable and feel healthy, so it is what it is for now.

rabidstoat, I'm so impressed that you can avoid a binge with magnums, be they mini or not! ;) Those things make me lose my mind.

So I was a normal eater at the party. I kind of had a large snack before I went and then I had very little to eat. A few bites of chicken, one bite of some eggplant dish that was beyond spicy. Then, there was a desert table of homemade cookies. I had 4, but they were mini cookies...bite sized. Overall, I was actually proud of myself and I didn't come home and binge, which would be a typical scenario.

But this morning? I got on the scale at a much later hour than usual (which would normally mean a drop in weight) and instead, I had a gain...1.5 lbs. This made me so sad and frustrated.

I'm going to try to eat like an angel today and see how the weight is tomorrow. I only had maybe 2 or 3 small pieces of chicken kebab and I didn't eat more because they tasted like trash for some reason (not that I'm an expert on what trash tastes like). I keep thinking back on my day and I just don't get it. I"m also not approaching TOM, nor ovulation so this is just odd.

Still, I'm super duper grateful for handling things like a semi normal human. Hehehe. I hope everyone has a great day!

I weigh myself every day but I try not to worry too much about it. It's frustrating when you've been 'good' and then the scale just doesn't care. And I'm a perfectionist, so those things get in my head. Hopefully you're doing well this week.

Sometimes I find myself 'studying' people who look to be a normal weight to see what their eating habits are like. It's like I have to study them to understand how to eat normally.

Meanwhile at work.... we have jelly beans. My bane! There's like two pounds of them in a tub. Luckily there are also mandarin oranges, which I love, so I've been eating way too many of them. Still, better 6 or 7 manadarin oranges than 6 or 7 scoops of jelly beans! It's actually probably the same calories as in a full-size ice cream bar, and more vitamins and fiber.

Oh. And I've sworn off Magnum Minis until the weekend, probably a Sunday treat. We'll see how that goes...

That's so tough...to have these types of temptations at work. Mandarin oranges are yummy and definitely a better alternative. :) I also chew gum a lot if I know I'll be at a meeting where there are snacks/treats.

I've been eating like an angel and the scale finally moved a bit down, so I'm thrilled.

This thread is quiet...hopefully that means that all the food addicts are doing well and aren't in need of support.

I just got to this part of 3fc....I am definitely addicted to food (have attended OA before, many "special" super expensive specialty therapists, have triggers, and go through psychological withdrawal. Hi.:o

Welcome, juicyfruit27! Feel free to jump right in and let us know how you're doing.

I am still doing good. About to hit 10 weeks binge-free, which is a minor record for me.

Hi juicyfruit! You sound like me and others. Like you I've tried OA (never clicked with a meeting), been to specialty therapists (mine was pretty good, on addictions with a specialty in food addictions, but my insurance no longer covers her), have tons of triggers both in terms of foods and mood and situations, and go through psychological (and I swear physical!) withdrawal when 'detoxing'.

So welcome!

Hi. Just thought I would introduce myself. Someone at 3FC told me about this thread. Believe me, I qualify ! I am SUCH a food addict. Dont want the 12 steps and traditions of OA. So, here I am. :) Will write more later. Just wanted to give a short intro and read some of the posts here. :wave:

Welcome flower123 :wave:
The thread's been pretty quiet lately. I'm a lurker on Diana's daily check in & I feel like I already know you :D

I just attended al lecture by Dr. Elissa Epel who works with Robert Lustig author of (Sugar, The Bitter Truth. She mentioned that a lot of research dollars are now going into the food addiction question & that it is gaining traction in the mainstream scientific community. It was part of a Mindful Eating seminar during which we ate chocolate with instruction in mindfulness. First time in my life I had leftover chocolate--just did not want anymore. I'm intrigued!

EDIT Here are some interesting resources I found on UCSF's website.

http://www.chc.ucsf.edu/coast/resources.html A lot of resources here, links, books, etc. (UCSF is where Robert Lustig currently works (& formerly David Kessler, The End of Overeating.
http://addictionsunplugged.com/ Vera Tarman MD is a name that pops up a lot in the field of food addiction. Might be a bit 12-steppish, but there is lot of other info & discussion as well.
http://foodaddictioninstitute.org/

i am still doing pretty well--scale is moving in the right direction but very slowly ( i am at the last 20lbs of my weight loss) but i have struggled with the weight for many years, 11 years with dieting and my entire life before the 11 years i was overweight.

sunday is my hardest day, i work a 14 hour shift saturday and it is my first day off of the week. this sunday night i was obsessed with food OBSESSED! my boyfriend is like just eat whatever youre thinking about! get it out of your head! so i drove all the way to friendlys and got inside, sat down opened a menu (i wanted ice cream) and left. the reason i left i feel guilty for saying i feel awful about it but i saw a very overweight woman walk in and i was like OMG NO! (please do not anyone get offended by that) my boyfriend got mad at me (more of confusion we talked about it) to him he was stunned that i actually went through all those motions and didnt do it

i get home and i go off plan slightly (i am on medifast, i believe this will help me with my food addiction--yes i know its frankenfood but its the next best thing to abstinence from food in my head) and i had a thing of plain fage yogurt mixed with walden farms choco syrup and i ate like 3 servings of walnuts! i was sick to my stomach, nauseous, headache, and eventually dry heaving from the nausea. this also happened the last time i went off plan, so i am learning my lessons very slowly.:?:

Hello, wow, this thread has gotten slow! But other threads are popping up on the group.

I'm still doing well, no binges, still no idea what has made things better. But this is around the weight where I always rebound back up, so I need to keep checking in so that things don't go haywire again.

So I'm a new 3FC member (today). My high weight was 340 lbs, and I was able to get down to 198 lbs in 2012, but work stress (a trigger for me), and family stress (another trigger) helped me to give back in, and for the last 2 years I've been able to hold steady at 230 lbs ( + or - 4 lbs). That's a victory for me believe me, but I still want to get down to 180 lbs. I have terrible cravings for sweets, so I am experimenting now with cutting out all sweets, including those with artificial sweetner, most dairy, most wheat products, as well as being on a 1500 calorie diet. I'm writing down everything I eat, and sending it to myself by email at the end of the day so I have a daily journal (I keep losing the books I've started before, but I NEVER lose my IPhone... lol). Anyway, you might hear from me. Oh, another rule for myself, which I'm finding works really well... no eating and media of any type. When I'm eating, I'm eating, and that's it... no TV, no Iphone, no books and magazines, no computers.... I've been doing this for 3 days, and giving up food and media really helps me not to snack... hmmmm I hope it continues. Good luck everyone, on this daily struggle we're all in, at least I'm not alone (self-pity about how poor me can't eat like my 4000 calorie a day husband who never gains weight can, is one of my triggers too).

Does anyone know how many posts I have to have before I can make that cool scale I see on many peoples posts?

:welcome: Robinbikes! The thread's been quiet lately. Your plan sounds great. I feel your pain re man in your life who can eat 4000 cal without gaining! :) I hope he is supportive of you. Have you ever tried guided meditation? I just started and find it really helpful. Health Journeys (you can google it if it sounds interesting) is the company and you can listen to samples.

Please do keep us posted--many lurk who don't necessarily post.

To get the weight loss tickers and the ability to exchange private messages on 3FC you need to be a member for 20 days and also post 20 comments.