3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community - Why do we use food to comfort ourselves

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Quote:

Originally Posted by thinin08 (Post 4840103)

Because it's the path of least resistance.

Yup. Because food doesn't say no.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasha29 (Post 4838127)

I've been trying to get at the root of my binge eating disorder with the help of a therapist and a psychiatrist. I go through each day like a hamster running on a wheel, always racing. The only time my brain isn't racing is when I am eating - especially when binging on sweet or salty food. Like Wannabeskinny, it's the only time I feel calm. I told my therapist that my brain slows down and I kind of go numb.

I was told that I probably have low serotonin levels and that eating releases serotonin. That's why I feel so much better when I eat. No wonder I can't stick to a diet! They also diagnosed me with adult ADHD, which has been linked to COE or binge eating. I've been taking Wellbutrin for a week now, and it is amazing. Totally life-changing. The obsessive hold that food had over me is gone. I haven't binged, and it hasn't even crossed me mind. I hope this isn't just a temporary side effect.

I have had the same experience on Wellbutrin. It is a miracle. It shuts off the things in your brain that get rewarded by eating (or smoking, or drinking), but it also makes everyday life seem rewarding. I wish I'd gone to my doctor sooner about my depression. I would start a diet and then the "why bother" of depression would set in and I'd abandon it. Now things matter and my brain isn't constantly seeking numbing through food.

I just moved to Washington, DC from Toronto and my family was visiting over the weekend, they left this morning and there was a mass shooting here today and I ended up feeling really lonely and homesick for Canada. How did I deal? I ate two cupcakes! I have a history of bulimia and anorexia so cutting out groups of food isn't really an option for me. This also means thinking purely about weight gain isn't enough for me.

I wasn't successful this morning but normally I try and remember how physically I feel after overeating and then try and pick a healthier alternative to cope with my feelings, like
- take a walk, buy a coffee or tea
- take a bath
- watch a good film
- call a friend
- get a manicure
- read a forum like this

I think the reason we turn to food is very complication and has interconnected physiological, genetic, and psychological origins. I think the best thing to do is to find alternative coping mechanisms that work for you. I think dimondgeog tactic of cutting out all junk food could actually work really well for a lot of people.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PorkyPiggin (Post 4838115)

Personally, I just tell myself I can be upset, restless, angry, hurt bored etc, *or* I can be all those things plus fat.
Usually, that's enough to get me to do something else... a book, nap, walk, phone call, a forum.

This. I really need to hear that.

For me, it's avoidance of certain feelings. Sure, there is definitely just reinforcement of food as reward, chemical responses, etc. But, most the time when I'm craving something and looking to binge, it's because I've felt something uncomfortable (or something which REMINDS me of something uncomfortable) and I want to run to the thing which shuts that feeling up. Of course it's an illusion. It never satisfies and as PorkyPiggin said, I'm now feeling those same "uncomfortable somethings" plus being fat. Not good.

It scares me to let go of vices because I know what's under there. But, I also know those feelings won't hurt for long, the sun will shine in the morning, panic attacks pass, depression lifts, and I'll still be me whether I self-medicate or not. Nothing changes unless I change. I guess I'm saying in my case, I just have to FEEL what I'm feeling and remember it's not gonna kill me (but being overweight certainly could).