I can't understand my stupid KG ticker either, I work in stones and lbs, but my doctor will only weigh me in KG! I tried converting it, but it just gets confusing with rounding up and stuff hehe.

My goal weight is around 10 stone ish, and I'm 18 stone 12lbs ish now.

Does sound like I have less to loose in KG.


The urge to sabotage sounds about right to me too - I think I'm scared of suceeding.

I'll be taking the laptop with me this weekend so I won't be far away!

Hi Odaat,
Hope you’re feeling better. That’s not easy, to be feeling low and trying to stay on track. I had one of those days this week when I panicked and feared I was madly overeating. I felt I was growing fatter, and was miserable, but when I caught sight of myself in the mirror, I was amazed at how ‘normal’ my face looked, no water retention or anything.

That gave me the courage to keep going and showed me I can be very delusional in my ed mode.
I had posted my fears of weighing in on the OA site, and later when I got up on the scales, I had lost 3 lbs since I joined OA 30 days ago. Might not seem a lot, but I felt so so joyful. Like you, I’m in a process of trust and that’s difficult. It was great to get that little sign. Having said that, before the weigh-in, I kept the focus on the fact that I fitted into some really nice jeans I have not been able to wear for a long time, it’s like my shape is changing more than my weight.
I think there’s a good chance I would have stayed on the programme no matter what the scales said – but only because of the support I’ve gotten from the OA forum and from the f2f OA meetings I now attend.
Good luck with the family trip – I can relate to anxiety around that – my AA sponsor tells me to ‘wrap my programme tightly around me’ when visiting. Good luck with the medical.

Searsha xxx

Binge free week thread: 26th

Today was a day I would classically have broken out into food. So far I have not, and I am deeply grateful to OA and to my Higher Power. I’m 31 days abstinent today, and while I’ve gotten this far in terms of days of dieting before, something indefinable has changed in me, or that what it feels like.

It’s not all happy-clappy or anything, or a feeling that I’m free of wanting to binge. Not at all. But I just do not seem to be reaching for the food as a solution or as a comfort.

Just the usual rag-bag of stuff that can make a day difficult. Started out very tired – work was crazy last night, was taking calls on and off all through the night. One good thing I noticed, when this happens and I’m in bad food, then my sleep really gets messed up. Last night, I was able to actually get some sleep in between the ‘busy-ness’. Had lots of study plans for today, but my PC crashed and I felt like crashing out the door to the nearest convenience shop for some ‘immediate’ fix. I cannot believe how I didn’t.
I thought of the saying – tell God your plans for the day and give him a good laugh! That helped. I stopped trying to fix the machine, ate my porridge, took myself off back to bed and slept. Before, I would have been armed with ‘bed food’ and rubbishy magazines.
I still felt a bit weird later – because it still feels difficult not to eat over the slightest stress!!

The computer was still broken, but got sorted in the end. Food was never going to come and fix it. But by not eating, I had a clear head and took the action to get it sorted. I see big patterns too where I use food a LOT to stave off exhaustion. It’s like I refuse to be tired like other human beings. So I create false energy highs which really only hurt me.
Thanks everyone for the lovely uplifting posts here - I've only discovered this thread and it's great. I need all the help I can get not to disappear into a horrible bingeing world.

Went OFF Plan and managed not to lose my mind (Going Away Party for someone at work.) Ticked I went OffPlan - but glad it didn't turn into an OverEating Festival!

Hiya Searsha! I'm thinking the name "Binge Free Week" keeps folks from Posting in here? Maybe it should be Titled "Weekly Support Chat" or something? I'd like to read and talk to folks about their journey - but no way can I keep up with all these individual Threads in this section, ya know?

Good point about that Aud - a change of name might be an idea. The opening post should mention something about people pledging if they want to, but everyone is welcome to post.

I'm off home tonight, I've got it all planned out so I don't veer off course. Almost a month now, feeling quite proud of myself.

Had my medical today which went better than I was expecting which is nice. Hopefully won't be too long before they let me know if I've been sucessful in my claim.

Well done on not letting things spiral today, thats great!

Well it was a challenge but I managed it!

My mum is a star - I asked her where I could get some OA literature from, as she is in AA she knows the best book shops and things. Half an hour later she comes downstairs and has 4 books and lots of leaflets for me! She spent a bit of time with OA in 2000 and has lent me her material. Looking forward to reading it tomorrow.

There were a few moments were I was tempted, but I managed to remind myself that I won't find happiness in binging. Day 31 today!

Went for a walk too, I've not done any exercise for a very long time and its nice to get back to it, starting slowly so I don't over do it.

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable and relaxing Sunday.

Hi,

Okay, I'm just trying to get a feel for where the best place to post is right now, so I hope I don't make any boobies

I'm discovering a really good strategy to "cope" with bingeing is to actually eliminate the urge to binge by eating more regularly. I must have read it a thousand times, that I should eat breakfast, balance my calorie intake throughout the day and eat more (smaller) meals, but my reaction was always "I don't want to eat too much during the day cause I know I'm going to stuff myself tonight and I need to "save" calories up to cover my binges". Can you say "duh!"?
I had to discover for myself that far from making me eat more, building in an extra "meal" at 4pm has really allowed me to feel more serene in the evening and not be obsessed by food from the moment I walk in the door to the moment I go to bed.

I got that urge to binge last night (despite the snack trick) and usually sucking on a ginger sweet calms me down. I also drink about 4 or 5 cups of chicory or herbal tea every evening instead of putting food into my mouth. I'm always making trips to the kitchen and coming back with cups of tea when before I would come back empty-handed after raiding the cupboards in secret. I still don't understand how my boyfriend can sit still all night and never feel like munching on anything after dinner I wish I was one of those people who never even *think* about food until their body tells them they're hungry.

Anyway, kind of a question I've been asking myself after my first few days here: I noticed a lot of people break down their goal into much smaller goals of about 5 or 10 lb, and that makes sense. But how do you decide what date to put on it? I'd like to say I'm going to aim at losing 5 lb by August 15th, but I have no idea what to expect to lose (okay, I'm eating around 1000 cal a day less than I supposedly need, so I'm guessing 2lb a week). So do I use 2lb as a guideline? Is the mini-goal there to make sure you stick to your plan, or do you actually diet harder when you see you're slacking behind, despite being "on plan".
I like the "Intuitive Eating" train of thought here and also the idea of acquiring new eating habits for life, so I don't want to starve my body just for the sake of reaching a target weight loss by a certain date. On the other hand I can see how it can be encouraging to have short term goals...
What do you all do? Do you give yourself short-term goals with a fixed date?

Wow... this was long I guess I had a lot to get out I hope you're not all by now

The weekly thread tends to be the busiest place - I think a lot of people only have enough time to pop in here, so it sort of serves as a general area to post in. Don't worry about making boobies, I think I've probably made many.

(For anyone lurking, feel free to post away in here - everyone is welcome!)

Talking about goals, when I am focusing on weightloss, I always set goals based on 1lb a week. I think this is a safe and sensible option - sometimes it isn't possible to loose 2lb in a week if it is time of the month or you are retaining water. It'd be a shame to loose out on a goal just because of something out of control like period bloating. As long as it wouldn't dishearten you to narrowly miss a goal for the above reason, 2lb a week should be fine at the beginning of your journey.

I no longer set weight goals as I'm not scale orientated. I was badly let down by a set of dodgy scales last year. They were expensive and supposedly reliable Weight Watchers ones, but turns out they were wrong all along. I was devestated when I found out, and thats taught me that personally, it is wrong for me to focus on scales. I do have a few goals in my head though - clothes sizes, being able to do certain things such as fit in the bath without touching both the sides. I haven't put a timescale on these things, I just think about them often and see how close I'm getting!

Ooh, I dream of the day I can fit in the bath without touching both sides too

Thanks for clarifying the goals for me. I saw some people had lost huge amounts of weight in 6 months or so and wondered what I should realistically expect.

Right now I'm just happy to see a downward trend on the scale, but I've psyched myself up so much I almost expect to see my reflection in the mirror already look thin, so it's discouraging to still see fat ole me looking back at me

On a positive note, I dragged bf out for an hour and a half walk tonight instead of vegging in front of the tv, so haven't snacked since dinner and now I'm off to bed

Take care everyone