Big Bertha overeating

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018462565

Oh my.

Bertha Venation (20,776 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 02:33 PM

I am miserable and don't want to continue this behavior.

I am stuffed to the gills and keep eating. Well, I'm not eating right now, but I can't say what will happen in the next hour - half hour - ten minutes.
 
Seriously, I feel like I've just consumed Thanksgiving dinner. I'm miserable. But I'm bored to tears, and feeling very vulnerable. This is emotional eating. I know it. But knowing it doesn't help me stop it.
 
Got any suggestions? This is kinda a hit and run, because I'm working. So I may not reply to everyone, but I guarantee I'll be back to read.

<<<wonders what kind of job Big Bertha has, where she's allowed to post on the internet while on the clock.

Denninmi (6,019 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 02:39 PM

1. It's tough.

I have backslid a bit on my diet the last few days. Stress eating just like you. And I have stopped, today is a cleansing day, just water and proteins.
 
Ok, I backslid a lot. And I paid the price, I was really sick last night.

I see a dietician. That helps. An organized program that makes you commit helps me dramatically. Weight Watchers is actually very good.

Wait Wut (6,853 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 02:41 PM

2. You're aware of it.

That's huge. Now that you're aware of it, be more conscious of it. When you look at food you have got to stop and ask yourself if you're really hungry or not. If not and you still want to eat it, try to force yourself to put it away. Go for a walk or find something else to do. Even cleaning something will take your mind off of it for a minute. Another idea is to trick your brain a bit. If you have the urge to eat, go online and start looking up healthy/vegetarian recipes. Things you actually have to prepare and cook, not snacks.
 
I have the opposite problem. I starve when I'm depressed and eat when I'm happy. I've been losing weight the past couple of months.

The other solution is, stop being miserable. At least, don't let it rule your day. Treat it like an annoying friend. Acknowledge it, but don't spend the day with it.

LiberalEsto (17,378 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 03:10 PM

4. I do this too, BV. It sucks.

You've literally got a lot of things on your plate, from your recent posts.

Are you getting any kind of counseling? Could you? You need support.

What else do you do for stress?
I go out and weed. I go and take it all out on the weeds growing on the lawn. I pull clumps of crabgrass, dig up dandelions, etc. Our lawn is full of weeds, so I'm not going to run out of "victims" any time soon. "Take THAT, you ignorant clump of crabgrass!"
 
Are there things you could eat that take a lot of chewing?
We used to eat strawberry twizzlers because it was kinda satisfying to bite into them, pretending they were people who aggravated us. " Take THAT, you S.O.B.!" (chomp)
 
Finally, I've been trying for the past year to do some short breathing meditations from books by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk from Vietnam who has written some awesome things. This is the one I most often use:
 
Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I smile.
Dwelling in the present moment
I know this is a wonderful moment.

That is from his book "Peace is Every Step." Your local library probably will have some of his books. There's a fantastic one for dealing with anger, "Taming the Dragon Within" that I highly recommend.
 
We all go through sucky times. That's what our friends on DU are here for.

Denninmi (6,019 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 03:27 PM

5. You weed?

That can be very relaxing, and the results satisfying.

Feel free to come over and distress at my place any time. I could keep you in weeds for weeks.

LiberalEsto (17,378 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 03:47 PM

7. First I have to finish our 1/3 acre yard

but it's so kind of you to offer.

We've got crabgrass, goosegrass, black medick, dandelions, nimblewill, creeping bentgrass, Japanese stiltgrass, two kinds of woodsorrel, chickweed, Pennsylvania bittercress, purslane, barren strawberry, spurge, scarlet pimpernel, moss, speedwell, henbit and Creeping Charlie, plus way too many violets. A small area of violets is okay, but we have an unbelievable amount, and they go underground in the winte, so the ground gets all bare and muddy.
 
Also plantains, pokeweed, cleavers, lamb's-quarters, yellow nutsedge, shepherd's purse, groundsel, thistles (because of the nitwits who put thistle seed in bird feeders), garlic mustard, and a couple of kinds of weed grass I can't identify.

olddots (4,173 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 03:43 PM

6. I used to sugar binge for the up & rush

I know how you feel , you realize the pattern so it will be easier to taper off .

nomorenomore08 (5,250 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 04:16 PM

11. I've done that with sugar and caffeine both.

Also caffeine and weed together which they call a "hippie speedball." That's pretty much how I wrote all my papers in college.

lunatica (29,180 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 03:49 PM

9. Try eating a little bit and doing something else for a while before eating again

If you try to cut your 'serving size' it will only stress you out. For me it works if I eat a little bit and then do something else before going back to the food. My body gets that full feeling much faster. Notice I don't suggest you eat less. Just don't eat it all at once.
 
Another things that works is to not eat while you're doing certain things. For example, don't eat while you're on the internet. If you feel hungry then get away from the computer and stop eating when you go back to the computer. It won't take long before you've trained your synapses to forget about food when you're on the internet or in front of the computer. This gives you the freedom to choose whether you want to be on the computer or eat. You're still free to do both, but you decide which one you'll do at any given time.
 
And stop beating yourself up because you're hurting your feelings and that makes you crave the comfort food.

nomorenomore08 (5,250 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 04:14 PM

10. Eating like that once in a while is okay. Don't let anyone make you feel guilty about it.

If you're doing it daily, though, that may call for professional help in some form.

LoveMyCali (987 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 05:36 PM

12. OK so I'm being a big hypocrite right now because I've been doing the same thing

but I know that if I ask myself if I'm hungry and the answer is no the next step is to ask what I'm really looking for (comfort?, reward?, something to do when I'm bored?) and try to find other ways to get that feeling. It really limits things when you are at work because it's not like you can take a bubble bath or watch a favorite movie, but what can you do?
 
Talk to a coworker, call a friend, spend a few minutes on DU, talk a walk even if it's just to the break room and back. I know a cookie won't really give me comfort so it's up to me to find something that will. If you were home I would say snuggle one of the kitties, that always makes me feel better.

Dash87 (2,235 posts)   Thu Aug 22, 2013, 05:42 PM

13. Get a calorie counting app and work walking exercise

into your life. Avoid reward eating but also avoid cutting yourself off from certain foods. Eat mostly the same diet, but based on your calorie limit.

<<<thinks Big Bertha needs to be a man, and acquire some self-discipline.

[Celtic Rose]

I'll admit it, I'm a stress eater and a bored eater, but I've figured out that if I'm actually being active, I don't eat.  The stress eating comes into play when I'm sitting and dwelling on it. 

My honest advice to Bertha is to start by putting all of the food away then drink some ice water.  Thirst can be mistaken for hunger, so it is best to just get rid of that issue to start with.  Then go outside and be active for an hour.  Go for a walk, work in the yard, do something physical to make your body feel better.

When you are back inside sit down with more ice water or some hot tea and write down sources of stress with large spaces under each one.  Then, start writing down activities that will reduce the stressor.  For example:

Finances
1) Gather bills from last month and figure out monthly budget.
2) Compare budget to income
3) Increase income
  a) Overtime?
  b) Sell books on amazon
  c) Sell clothes at consignment shop

Weight:
1) Weigh self
2) Set goal weight
3) Commit to weight loss plan
4) Commit to walking program
5) Throw out junk food.

Etc., etc.  Create an action plan that will help to put you in charge of your stressors. 


 

[GOBUCKS]

Denninmi (6,019 posts)    Thu Aug 22, 2013, 02:39 PM

1. It's tough.

I have backslid a bit on my diet the last few days. Stress eating just like you. And I have stopped, today is a cleansing day, just water and proteins.
 
Ok, I backslid a lot. And I paid the price, I was really sick last night.

I see a dietician. That helps. An organized program that makes you commit helps me dramatically. Weight Watchers is actually very good.

Yeah, Big Bertha, hush up. It's about ME, ME, ME!!
Dennis the Menace, the DUmp's officially, professionally diagnosed lunatic says it's all about him.

And then one DUmmy after another adds their own self-centered bullshit. It's like a Seinfeld episode.

 

[Bad Dog]

Perhaps one of the moles could post a link to the story about the woman who ate the tapeworm.  DUmmies are always looking for the easy way out.

[delilahmused]

Have a glass of water and do some squats and bicep curls before you shove another twinkie in your mouth.

Cindie

[Aristotelian]

<<<wonders what kind of job Big Bertha has, where she's allowed to post on the internet while on the clock.

I have a vague memory, nothing more, from a while back of her saying that she worked as some sort of secretary/P.A.

[jukin]

<<<wonders what kind of job Big Bertha has, where she's allowed to post on the internet while on the clock.

LMFAO!

Thank goodness I didn't have any coffee in my mouth.

It also can eat non-stop.

[BannedFromDU]

     I think overeating is a serious matter that shouldn't provoke ridicule - a lot of people suffer from eating disorders and they are very difficult to break.

     BUT

     when you go on DU and whine about it, and invite everyone to blame everything and everyone to jump on the bandwagon, that's when I call bullshit. That's not a support community - it's a rationalization community that encourages bad behavior through one-upmanship. Bertha: know how to fix your overeating? One minute at a time. Literally. It is painful, but it can be fixed. Just don't listen to the ****ing whiners...they only exist to help you FAIL.

[BattleHymn]

Perhaps one of the moles could post a link to the story about the woman who ate the tapeworm.  DUmmies are always looking for the easy way out.

[Tess Anderson]

She must really be bored as she's measuring receipts from drugstores:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018458176

and listing what she bought:

Oh, on edit: I bought a 12-pack of Coke, two 20-oz Zeroes, a box of band-aids, and a snack. 44-inch receipt. I say again: pfft.

a snack? uh-huh.

[RobJohnson]

She must really be bored as she's measuring receipts from drugstores:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018458176

and listing what she bought:

a snack? uh-huh.

Good find. I think that link is thread worthy.