[greenrunner123]

hey there!

i just registered today in hopes of getting some support for emotional eating. I am not overweight- i enjoy exercise and healthful foods to nurture my body, but i am also fixated on my weight. my feelings get the best of me more often than i'd like to admit, and i eat in response to stress, boredom, happiness, loneliness etc. what compounds this is the fact that i have crohn's disease - an inflammatory condition of the small and large intestine, making my dietary habits extremely important. one slip and i feel horrible the next day - both emotionally AND physically! and just having this disease can trigger binges (usually with ice cream!) - it's a horrible cycle

well, i just wanted to introduce myself and say "hello." it just feels good to get this out there- its not an easy thing to talk about! thanks for reading!

[Jennelle]

Hi Green Runner! Welcome to our board!

Did your fixations on food start before or after you were diagnosed with Crohn's?

[greenrunner123]

Hi Jenelle-
Thanks for your reply! The fixations actually began after I was diagnosed- I was 14 when I was finally given the Crohn's sentence, and my food "issues" didnt begin until sometime into my college years. I do believe that sometimes I "test" myself- see how much my body can handle -and of course I always seem to overestimate Are you in a similar situation?

[Jennelle]

No, but I do have an acquaintance who was diagnosed in her mid 30's. It took the doctors forever to figure out what it was!

I was wondering if maybe you were doing the "testing" that you mentioned in your last post. What do you do when you find yourself on the teetering edge of a binge? (Besides eat, I mean. )

[greenrunner123]

usually these eating binges are preceded by boredom or feeling sad about one thing or another. I do recognize these unhealthy triggers and try my best to avoid them (like read or something to divert my attention) - I tell myself that I can have just a little of something but somehow that ends up turning into A LOT of something which just leaves to negative feelings when i start getting physical pain followed by a lot of guilt.

Do you or DID you have problems with overeating at all and how do you deal? I could always use some new techniques!

[rochemist]

My problems are with volume and sweets so I use a cup, scale, and spoons to measure my food, and try to avoid sweets. My downfall is icecream too

Chris

[Jennelle]

Oh, yeah...I'm definitely a compulsive overeater!

I think one of the biggest things that's worked for me is to realize that I can't actually "have just a little." For me, it's chocolate. There's some sort of brain chemistry thing going on that just sends me overboard.