Hi there everyone.
My name is Liz and I literally just joined this forum today. A friend of mine told me that a forum was a huge help in her weightloss success and she told me to find one that will suit me. Well, looks like this is my stop. Going on from there, my name is Liz. Aside from many of you i'm still just a yolk but i'd like to get on the diet wagon for real now. Last year I told myself i'd reach my goal but I lost my willpower once I hit fall semester this year. I was able to maintain the weight I lost for some time but it turns out that didn't last. The 50 pounds I had lost came to 30; in no time 20 pounds was back on my waist.

I have, and sure others have had, a terrible addiction to food. I get these crazy hunger fits and just eat and eat and never feel satisfied. Im wondering how to get past this hurdle. So far two days of keeping myself away from the kitchen during these hunger times has made me irritable and depressed. Im wondering if anyone has any pointers that can guide me along and keep me on the right track this time.

At this point, i'm desperate for help.
I'm doing this all on my own.

Thanks for reading.
Liz

Hi Liz!

I think a lot of people here can relate to you. I've kept my weight off for several years now and still struggle with eating well past the point of satiety. All I can tell you is to take it day by day, or even meal by meal. Find a plan that works for YOU- something you can work with forever.

One of the ways I deal with eating just for the sake of eating is to plan plan plan. This is paramount. I can tell you what my meals look like for the week on Sunday. Of course it's subject to change, but the blueprints are in place. For me, winging it spells trouble.

The way of eating I've personally found success with is modified intermittent fasting. Many people vouch for the several small meals theory, but it just doesn't work for me. Eating all day (even planned out and healthful meals) just makes me fixate on food! Narrowing down the window that I can eat has helped tremendously. Maybe something to look into.

Good luck in the new year and welcome!

Hi Liz,

Welcome to the site! I know the perils of a food addiction - I've actually been working with a therapist on my issues and where they come from and why I eat compulsively and never feel full. It's been very helpful. If you truly feel that you're addicted to food, see if your insurance covers general therapy. Usually you can get your primary care doctor to recommend a therapist that specializes in helping people with weight issues - the insurance company doesn't have to know you're going specifically for food related stuff, and you'll get help. If you don't have insurance, there are low or no fee therapists that can be an immense help. They will help you get to the root of the problem.

In the short term, however, there are some things you can do (and remember). Some of the initial moodiness and crabbiness when you resist binges can be attributed to an actual withdrawal from food - namely sugars and processed crap. After a week-ish, that usually gets better for me and I find that I'm not so anxious about not eating. It really is physiological, and your body is sending signals to your brain saying that you NEED the food. It sucks, but at least when you know WHY it is happening you can do something like take a walk outside for five minutes just to clear your head.

Additionally, one big thing I did was literally get rid of all the food in the house that was potentially triggering for me. Some people can have food they love in portion controlled sizes. I can't. If there's a bag of potato chips around, I will keep going back to it until it's gone. So I just don't buy potato chips. I don't have anything in my house that entices me to binge. Trigger foods are different for everyone, so identifying yours are important.

I also agree with junebug that planning is very, very important. If I don't have my food planned out in advance, I'm much more susceptible to the power of suggestion - IE: people inviting me out for lunch at work, ordering something in at home, etc. etc.

I hope some of this helps, and again, welcome! You've found a great community of supportive and wonderful folks here!

Hi there Junebug~!! Thanks for replying back to me
The last two days of my start I have just been ignoring my hunger, instead I do something productive like paint or clean. . . is that like fasting? My plan right now with weight loss is to cut out bread, pasta, etc etc etc. I think my addiction is centered around that, which is my comfort food. Though I haven't gotten rid of all my comfort foods. I'm actually still eating ice cream, but not regular, that skinny cow stuff. It's pretty filling and helps with any of those terrible chocolate or sweets cravings that fruit just won't cut.
But when it comes to seeing pretzels or bread it's like an all out battle with my conscience. I hate it

I do hope that this will end and hopefully I can keep up the work. I'm on day three and I already feel improvement. I was full for once on my breakfast, which is rare, so I started today out on a good foot.
Hopefully the improvements just continue from here.

Thanks for getting back to me and giving me some advice.
I'll be sure to make a bullet proof plan and plan out meals the night before or something to just work through my day right without going completely nuts in the head.

~Liz

Therapy would be great. I kind of figured already that I have a terrible oral fixation. I used to smoke cigarettes and that kept me from food but I quit last March and since then my hunger has gotten pretty crazy. I can't really afford a therapist though. I am a full time student and a part time worker, I only get paid 8 bucks an hour and my insurance doesn't cover therapy. I'm thinking I might start doing some research though and seeing if there are any diet groups around here that I can go and sit with and share my things with.

Though this site is definitely a start and I really appreciate you getting back to me on this. Perhaps I need to find more things to distract me during the day to not focus so much on the need for food in the first place. My friend was successful on her diet and lost 60 pounds. She told me that the first week is the biggest hump because of your hunger. It's a hump I've always had trouble with. I trick myself into thinking I can have one cheat day a week and it comes to three days a week. . . it's pretty bad. So i'm being terribly strict on myself now. No cheat days, no bread, no snacks that I used to get. These last three days my diet has been eggs, chicken, turkey, fruit and vegetables. This is my first crack at this type of diet and so far my head is all over the place. But i'm hoping you are right about the one week hump like my friend.

As for not buying foods that would tempt me. . . it's hard. I have to have ultimate willpower because I am the youngest of six, I live with two brothers and two sisters who all have great metabolisms and don't need to diet, so they buy all the fatty foods. And my sisters both have two kids each to top it off so we got cookies, cereals, puddings, all that lovely stuff. . . and I see it every damn day. Sadly, I can't ask them to stop buying it because they would go nuts on me, so instead i'm battling even more with myself. But luckily I explained to them that I am dieting and I'd appreciate it if they would watch over me and make sure I don't eat any of that stuff. So far one of them has followed me into the kitchen every day and watched me, so it's helpful. Haha.

So from here on i'll take both of yours advice on setting out a plan. I need to chisel some exercise plan into this diet too, so thats gonna be fun, but hopefully i'll be able to do it. Hope we all could keep in touch! You two seem to be doing well on your plans and I hope you keep it up!

Good luck and thanks for the support!
~Liz

It is super tough when you live with other people - I feel you! One thing I started doing when I lived with roommates was asking them to bring their snack food into their rooms, so it wasn't in the kitchen to tempt me. Luckily they were good friends so they were willing to do it for me. Granted, it didn't work for refrigerated/frozen stuff, but it at least kept the cookies and the chips and the candy out of my reach! Since you said they have kids, maybe if they had their own cabinet or something that you just don't open and don't go into?

You should see if there's an Overeater's Anonymous group, because I believe that's free, and being in a peer group can be immensely helpful.

Also, small changes yield big results! If you find yourself starting to lose it because you're trying to do everything perfectly right from the get-go, maybe work on JUST the food for a month until you're ready to start adding in fitness, etc.

Everyone's situation is so different in life - I live alone, which is a big luxury on a diet. The important thing is finding something that works and something that you can live with. If it helps, I've been maintaining this weight for a year without losing anything significant, but I haven't regained, and that's important to me. I'm working on losing my second 50 pounds now, but it really is a super long journey and sometimes it just sucks!

Actually they have a cabinet already but they over stock it. . . hahaha. So stuff usually ends up ontop of the refrigerator too. They are funny in that sense but it's to keep it out of reach of the kids. They have a cabinet that the kids can freely open and take from so most of the time the healthy snacks are in there for them and the fatty snacks are on top of the fridge. My sisters are pretty funny in the way they try to keep my nephews and niece at bay with their own eating habits. Perhaps it's because it is common in my family to gain weight fast when you are younger. I don't know why they do it but eh.

I have been doing well with ignoring the top of the fridge though. I just advert my eyes to a different part of the room haha. But I agree with you on the exercise thing. I was thinking of just getting into the diet routine first and then to start incorporating the exercise later. I guess going goal by goal is better than stacking them all on top of each other, right?

My job is a workout in it's own anyways. We are constantly moving there. I work at a Deli, and no matter what there is always something to do. There is never a day when you just stand there and look pretty. Most of the time you usually look like a mess by the end of the shift haha.

But i'm hoping that that will be helpful enough until I start getting exercise in. I recently messed up my foot so I can't really jog or go on long walks and my work hours have been cut down because of it too. So hopefully when I start getting exercise back in it will be somewhat better. I guess all I can do is pray now.

Hi Liz! Welcome to 3FC!

I know how hard it is to resist food It's been a major problem of mine for years (I would hide it, eat it when I was alone, etc.)..if you need any help or tips and tricks, I'm here for you

Good luck!

Thanks a bunch! I added you to my buddy list to keep in touch and what not. You live in New York too and that is awesome~! =D
New York is the best

Not saying anything to any other peoples states because I love going on vacation anywhere =)

But thanks for the support and I definitely am inspired by your story