Dear soon to be friends( I hope):

Hi! I am a newbie. I saw that there is a separate forum to seek buddies, but I thought I would try here first.
It seems I have had one eating disorder or another since I was a teenager. ( I am 41 now). I was anorexic as a teenager, then abused laxatives, and exercise. Now I am a complusive overeater. I have come to the conclusion that diets do not work ( at least for me, that is...)
I have begun researching, and trying, the no diet method of getting rid of my obsession with food and my weight. There are alot of good ideas out there, like Geneen Roth's approach and the information you can find at the overcoming overeating website. I have just read a book by the "Fat Fairy Godmother" (silly name, I know, but really full of common sense info.) Her real name is Glinda West, by the way...
ANYWAY, I am following a no diet approach to learn how to become a normal eater, and I am looking for email buddies for mutual support and help. My pattern has been that I do well for a few days following a "no diet approach" ( eating when hungry, stopping when I'm satisfied, eating what I REALLY want, etc) then I overeat, or eat when I'm not really hungry, and of course, I feel I've BLOWN it, and then I complusively overeat for a few days until I guess I've "punished" myself enough, and then I begin the program again.... What I really need to do is get it into my head that there is no such thing as "blowing it', and go on....
ANYWAY (sorry this is so long.. I'm starting to ramble in my old age LOL) I am looking for email buddies who are trying the no diet approach to ending their complusive overeating, so we can support each other.
If my situation sounds like yours, I would love to hear from you. Thanks everyone for reading this, and good luck to ALL who are struggling with ANY eating disorder!! God bless you!
My email address is [email protected] I will (eventually--I share my computer with two kids!) answer all serious replies.
THANKS AGAIN!

Hi Butterflytwo, glad you posted here first.

I have had a similar experience to yours in that I started dieting at 14 and have experienced the the gamut of eating disorders from the starving to the binging to the non purging bulimia.I am now 35. I started this site on the 3Fc's with some ladies a year ago and am trying to track them down. If it is possible to archive our first posts here about a year ago , I think you will find common threads ( no pun intended ha ha ) among our experiences. I'd like to post with you here for a while, if that is ok so that others that are browsing see that this is a site that includes compulsive overeating among the more known anorexia and bulimia.

I appreaciate the courage it took to share on this site and hope in reading books by geneen Roth and many others ( for example: When Women stop hating their bodies, and Losing It) you can find help and peace of mind and learn to like yourself at any size. I truly believe it is a struggle for most women out there because everwhere we turn we receive the message we are not good enough, and if we were just a little thinner ( and this is so confused with healthy living) we would be accepted and worthy human beings. For me, I want to have things different for my daughter ( entering 6th grade) so I don't have fashion magazines or MTV coing into my household to bombard her with that message. I don't want her to compare herself as I did to the unattainable air touched runway waifs.

Good luck on this journey and please continue to post. I think women will repsond because more of them relate than they care to admit. Eating disorders are aomong the most difficult to treat so I am pleased to know that this forum has grown.

I two have been fighting battles differant eating disorders since I was in 4th grade, now that I am adult I still fight the battles and it is not easy in anyway but I think that it is important that people like us that has been fighting this battle for so long has not given up and are still fighting. Chat with ya later good luck

angel79

I don't usually check this thread but decided to today. I'm 36 and have battled my weight since early 20's. Typical got married gained weight, had a baby, more weight, etc. I've never really thought about being a compulsive eater until recently. Someone posted about "punishing" yourself if you blow it. That's my thoughts exactly. I start each day with "I'm going to do good today" and then the first time I eat something that I shouldn't it's "Well, I've blown it now" and I can't stop eating. Sometimes I eat and don't even taste the food.

I think I just had a "light bulb moment." I am a compulsive overeater. Now what?

Hi there - I was reading the different posts, tryiing to stop myself eating - I have been bulimic for about 25 years - now haven't purged for 2 weeks, and have been trying to eat sensibly, trying to eat my main meal at lunch. I still find that if I eat carbohydrates my mind then tells my body, or the other way around, that it's time to EAT. A couple of times recently this has happened, and I have been going to purge, and have talked myself out of it. After all, I'm not going to get fat on 2 binges, am I?
But I am so sick (?) of feeling this way. Please, all of you, keep writing, so that I can give myself permission to write.
Well, Butterfly, eg with an M, angel79 and 1 more time, good luck to you all, and please keep encouraging us all!
feelingblue/better :angel

This is where I should have posted first.. .

I posted on another thread, but I'll kind of repeat myself here..

I've always been fat... I just love food period... I joined WW almost two years ago at age 34, and have managed with the grace of God to lose over 80 lbs. My problem? lately I have just want to eat my heart out, and not stop.. I've been having cravings that wont stop, I can't seem to get full, and I just continue to snack all the time.

I'm not scared yet, but I to just want a buddy.

welcome swan_lake

I know what you mean about just wanting to eat........ I have been keeping to my program, but today, almost since I woke up, I have been wanting to eat. I had breakfast, then some toast, then before lunch about 8 pieces of chocolate. A healthy lunch about half an hour ago, and now I'm going out to have my hair cut, and am planning what to buy to overeat later (like cookies, chocolate, anything).

Just when I think I have everything under control, it all starts again!]
HELP!!

feeling blue

Feeling blue!

i don't know if what I am going to say is of any help to you but I just want you to know that I have read your words and wanted to offer you some show of support.

Some things that seem to work for me are to eat good food,(ie some fat for satisfaction,protein and a limited amount of carbs...but that is just me and I don't want to presume that what helps me will work for you ) try for balance, and come here and post alot and get your feelings out!

hugs to you feeling blue!
peach

Hi Ya'll,

FeelingBlue , just keep working. I know you get tired of trying and it is discouraging when it feels like you have no control. Take your days one moment at a time. Each moment, as you walk or drive keep a smile in your heart. Look into others eyes and know that they care. If they look sad smile, it will make thier day nicer and it won't hurt you(studies show that the physical act of smileing, even when you don't feel happy, secrets endorphins into your system, bringing up your mood)

Here is a poem from another member from a different thread. It might help.

Don't Quit

Don't quit when the tide is lowest,
For it's just about to turn;
Don't quit over doubts and questions,
For there's something you may learn.
Don't quit when the night is darkest,
For it's just a while 'til dawn;
Don't quit when you've run the farthest,
For the race is almost won.
Don't quit when the hill is steepest,
For the goal is almost nigh;
DON'T QUIT, FOR YOU'RE NOT A FAILURE
UNTIL YOU FAIL TO TRY.

Yvette
260/258/150

Hi to everyone, we all seem to hold a commen bond here.
Butterflytwo, we sound alot alike. I too have run the gammot of eating disorders from anorexic teen, to bulimic young adult, to abusing my body with diet pills and exercise and purging, all the while complusivley overeating even if I was losing weight. Only to end up with a screwed up metabolism and the ever present compulsion to eat, plus about 60 extra pounds that are forever yoyoing onto by body.
I am also taking the no-diet approach to life now. Without going into detail over the years I have seen nutritionists, psychologists, psychiatrists etc and I do know what I have to do but that does not make it any easier. As you know you must get rid of the problem to help heal yourself, but when one of your problems is your husband and you have children and it is not a threatening situation, it is sometimes easier said then done.
I am trying now to just control my eating, without dieting. I too have the problem of doing good during the day, and then eating at night. I also have daughters watching me, which puts extra pressure on myself. Boy I am a mess still, aren't I. I like the no diet approach, I do better at that. I have good days and I have not so good days, but I don't try to beat myself up, just do better, not the next day, the next hour. One hour at a time.
I haven't posted for awhile so I have alot to get out, but I won't do it all here and now. Thankyou for your patience and for listening. I hope to post again soon.

Sonny:

I don't have time right now to write a really good post to you (late for a kid's activity), but I just wanted to say hang in there, and keep on posting! We will always listen, right girls?!?
Butterflytwo

Thankyou Butteryflytwo, I am hanging in there. Everyday I just try to do my best. I made two pieces of toast this morning, bakery bread, cut thick with butter on it. I took two bites, looked at the rest and said to myself, why are you doing this. I threw the rest in the trash. I knew I was setting myself up for the day. Then I came here to post. It is hard to get back into healthy habits when you've let yourself slide for so long, but little steps are better than none. I know I have to not buy certain foods but in a moment of weakness I say I don't care and just buy them, like that wonderful bread. I have to learn again that if I do buy something I feel is compromising to me, it is ok to throw it out. Don't think of the cost or waste, just push it way down in the trash can. One of my nutritionist told me about the time she literally had to throw a bag of cookies out of her car because she couldn't stop eating them. Anyways I hope today goes better. I hope everyone has a good day, I have to go now but will be back later.