Well...here I am still fighting. I have come to the realization that I have a serious problem, that's getting worse! I am a compulsive eater, an emotional eater! I have been binging like crazy! I am 51 years old. I raise my granddaughter. I work a full time, very stressful job, I have a husband with a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and I front a rock band that is to be in the studio the end of this month. We are doing well and have some big gigs lined up including the Kentucky Derby festivities this year. I want to get healthy and feel good, I also need to be comfortable with myself on stage. I have been following combination of SugarBusters and Low Carb...which actually works! I lose 7 or 10 pounds and then binge it back on! I feel bad dumping this all here! I want o lose about 40 pounds and I know there are others here who want to lose more.....but as I said above, I have a problem that probably stems from my childhood. I'm a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and my mother comforted everything with food, and rewarded everything with food. Good times revolved around food. She starved as child....and then married very wealthy....we we're inundated with lavish foods of all sorts from exotic to her Native American heritage foods. I managed to keep my weight down through childhood...though difficult....I have always had a love hate relationship with food...though now at my age, I need to get healthy. My blood work is not good. I had it done on the the 6th of January.

Cholesterol 275
Triglycerides 213
VLDL Choleaterol 43
LDL Cholesterol 183 T. Chol/HDL Ratio 5.6

The Doctor wants me to follow a low fat and exercise program. I can't do the LF thing...never have been able to. I'm a mess! I do have a Gazzle thingie excercise machine that I like very much! I do know what to do....it's staying on it and not binging. I lose some weight, feel good...then blow it! I'm just so miserable with it all!

Hi Lady V....

There's a forum on 3C that deals with emotional eating...not sure exactly where it is. This is a subject discussed alot.

I admire you for fronting a rock band. Being a professional singer is one of my secret ambitions!!

I got one for you....we take it day by day
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78418

you hang in there.

Yup, one day at a time. One moment at a time if you have to.
How about just a little lower fat, a little lower carb and a little gazelle?
When you're trying to get your head around the millions of things you 'should' do ... things can easily drive you straight to the cookie jar. Small things, small changes .... small jeans!

I have a similar past of sexual abuse and comfort eating. I broke the cycle of eating when I asked myself what I was waiting for. Why wasn't I eating right and caring for myself? For me it was all about needing to feel safe and I realised I was waiting for someone, some mythical person, to save me. Well I decided I'd be that person and so far its going pretty well. The urge to binge isn't very strong any more because I'm taking control.

For me then its been a combination of sorting out my head and also my spirituality (I'm a pagan) which is all about self responsibility. To lose the weight I'm counting calories (because it lets me choose what to eat) and going to the gym 3x a week. Feel free to PM me if you like.

I just want to give you a big hug.

I hope that you can find the strength and support you need here.

Hang in there LadyV, you will find what works for you and maybe just reading and posting here will help you to overcome. Sounds like you have a lot going for you so I'm sure you can do this for yourself.