Hi y'all. I'm Kelly. I've tried Weight Watchers a few times, and I cheat horribly when I do it. I recently cancelled my online subscription because it felt like I was wasting my money. I try things, and don't stick with them.

I have an eating problem. I eat when I'm happy, or sad, or bored, or angry, or contemplating things. I do not exercise like I should. I would rather sit and watch television or play a game on the computer or go for a drive than exercise.

I eat things that are not healthy. I am in the worst shape of my life. I am 5'7" and weigh 208. I have no strength or endurance any more. I used to be so strong, even though I have never been a "skinny" girl, I was always strong and had good endurance. Now I'm not even that anymore.

I'm posting this because I need to say it, and get it out there. I need to be able to talk about it, and I can't talk about it before I admit it.

Quite honestly I've started this half a dozen times and not posted it, because I'm new to this board and I don't know anyone, and it seems like I'm making myself really vulnerable in putting it out there. But I have to get healthy again. I saw an old picture of myself last night, and I went to look in the mirror, and I just cried.

Thank you for reading this, and I'm hoping I can learn things here to help me break past the compulsive eating, and learn to be healthy again.

Good for you! That couldn't have been easy. And you've just voiced the way many of us feel and taken an important first step.

Kelly

I too am an emotional eater. Food is my way of feeling better when I'm down, entertaining myself when I'm bored, or rewarding myself when something good happens. Every week I make all these plans and goals to change my bad habits - eat better, eat less, exercise more - only to give up after a couple of days. I'm hoping that participating in the groups on this website will make me feel a little accountable and give me a little support.

Good Luck !!!

Kelly 78 I'm proud of you! It's a hard thing to admit--lots of us here eat for the wrong reasons. ****, I still nibble infront of the tv, I just nibble fat free popcorn now (I like the cardboard taste). A few months ago I saw a picture of myself at my fiance's college graduation. I cried too; I hated what I saw. You can do this! i've ben trying to drop 40 pounds for about 4 years now, and i'm doing it slowly. Post often, there is ALWAYS somebody to talk to!

Oh, Kelly, you sound so much like me. I'm so glad you've come here to talk about stuff. It does help to know you're not alone... we're all here for you.

OK, to hear you say you have an eating problem makes me feel better about the SAME problem. I thought I only ate when i was stressed but that jusat is not the case and I feel SOOOOO horrible afterwards becuase I know better and I do not know why I continue to eat out of control, I just do!!! It is much easier to sit on the couch then get up and go for a walk. I have no energy and just feel awful. I use to be very thin and in good shape and then I had kids!! We all know how that goes and then I see these woman who have 2 kids like me and look fantastic!!! It sucks!!!!! You are so not alone!!!!!

Bravo to you and WELCOME. I could have EASILY written exactly what you have written. I'm a compulsive eater/binger as well and also 5'7". You are definitely not alone. I've struggled my whole life with my weight and compulsive eating, diet after diet. Jenny Craig, hypnosis, vitamin B shots, slim fast, dang it - you name it, I did it....and ended up cheating on it. It wasn't until recently that I finally got fed up with it all and started therapy (for the third time LOL) - but I stuck with it this time - I suppose I was ready to deal with it? Anyhoo, I and many here certainly can relate and there is great support here and letting it out is a great relief!!!

Hi Kelly

Congratulations on taking your first step in becoming a heathier and happier person! It was incredibly hard for me to admit to having a "food problem". I'd compulsively eat and not think about it. In fact, eating helped me to not think about a lot of things. Food was my drug of choice.

Reality is not always kind (pictures can be a VERY painful reality), but you have the power to change your reality! You CAN do this!

Some of the things that have helped me feel more "in control" of my eating:
1. honestly and accurately JOURNAL my food intake and exercise. Record when I eat, what I eat and how I feel at the time. This really helped me see patterns. For instance, I realized that if I eat something high in carbs, without eating any protein or fat, I am STARVING again in about 1-2 hours. Certain foods seem to fuel my hunger, not ease my hunger. I now avoid these foods. Another thing I've realized is that certain times of the day are automatic binge trigger times. I've learned to stay busy during those times to prevent a binge. You can learn SO much from observing patterns like this. fitday.com is an excellent and free way to record your intake and also do a journal.

2. PLAN, plan, plan.... Plan what I will eat the day before and make sure I have it on hand.

3. NEVER go to the grocery store hungry. Always have a small snack available that is healthy. NEVER put myself in a situation where only unhealthy food is available

Sorry this is becoming sooooo long................
Please know that you are NOT alone. There are many of us fighting a food addiction.

Hi Kelly!

I just joined up here as well for the same reason as you - if you need a check-in buddy or anything, feel free to message me. I have done WW successfully in the past (lost 32 lbs and was at 145) but gained it all back plus 6 more, so here I am starting all over again. Yesterday was day 1 and I'm proud to say it was successful!

It's a one day at a time thing - which is so easy to say and so hard to do sometimes. Good luck to you and like I said, if you need a check-in buddy feel free to message me - support is so important!

Katie