@CATMANCAM Glad to hear you are feeling peaceful
Fruit is real food. It has to grow from earth, and rain, and sunshine. Someone has to care for it, pick it, cool it, transport it. Crisps are made from waste - literally. Basically all Ultra Processed Foods are made from waste products of some industry. Waste is usually cheap, it does not have to grow, it does not require extra care, a machine can mix and form and produce it, its shelve life is endless compared to real food. @Jana1988 You are definitely on to something there. I have a long history of food restrictions due to my decades long digestive issues. Now that I can eat like a normal person again, I have to learn that food is there whenever I need it, that I have access to all kinds of really delicious food, and that I will not be sick for days on after a meal. This probably just needs more time. And now with the hunger pangs and cravings I get during perimenopause my survival instinct and food restriction fears get triggered even more. In the end kindness is probably the best tool here @Kareness Look at you walking on 1 of 4 days - statistically speaking. Thatās a good count Sweets tend to creep up on people like that. Especially in times of stress. @Sissychris39 Congrats on double digits no binges!!!
I am finding my stomach extremely sensitive to different types of food. How did you healed?
I am trying not to restrict, but the consequence is that time to time (often actually) I must be facing discomfort - in the better case, or pain - in the worse case.
First thing was to get tested for food intollerances and allergies, especially lactose, fructose, histamine, gluten. If you are intollerant to sth and you keep eating it, your intestines will be inflamed and unhappy all the time, and you will not know what is triggering your symptoms. Now I am most of the time not eating anything I am intollerant to. But I would not know what to avoid without the tests.
Second thing was to find out and educate myself about SIBO. I can very much recommend the book ā The Microbiome Connection: Your Guide to IBS, SIBO, and Low-Fermentation Eatingā by Mark Pimentel. Pimentel is the current top researcher on IBS and SIBO. I tested positive for SIBO and did the suggested antibiotic treatment.
Not eating foods I am intollerant to and ongoing medication keeps me symptom free.
Yesterday I had such strong cravings for sugar in the evening. I had 4 biscuits and later my boyfriend went to grab an yoghurt and I asked him to bring me one too and as he stood up to go to the fridge I changed myind. I knew itās Ed and didnāt want to eat late at the night. I wasnāt hungry, more the opposite because I had a big filling dinner. I blame the habit of eating in front of the telly. I stopped doing it since I stopped binging, because I know itās one of my biggest triggers.
51 days no takeaways.
47 days no sugar.
33 days no crisps.
4 days no binge-eating.
Somewhere along the line I got my numbers wrong, these are the correct ones.
I ate strawberries again, I think I have a new addiction.
The biggest and best news isā¦I went to the gym and swimming yesterday! It was a very terrifying experience and itās going to be hard to keep going back, but I want to. I plan to use my next day pass tomorrow (I have therapy today), and then rejoin on my way out.
It is time for me to dump my junk food addiction. I quit drinking 13 and 1/2 months ago, but substituting the occasional ice cream cone or small bag of gummie bears or chocolate bar has evolved into a full blown addiction. It has to stop!!! Looking forward to support here from you great folks who have been so helpful in my journey to quit alcohol!
Thanks.
52 days no takeaways.
48 days no sugar.
34 days no crisps.
5 days no binge-eating.
After therapy yesterday I found myself romanticising bingeing crisps and a tv show all afternoon. I managed to distract myself.
Then in the evening it came back full force, along with takeaway cravings, because I had to stay awake for my swimming goggles to be delivered so I was dealing with the insatiable appetite from my meds. I got through that too, and I am so grateful to wake-up and realise I didnāt give in, at first I wasnāt sure.
I had some biscuits late at night yesterday but I didnāt binge on them.
Ed got stronger now. Before, if I ate a big dinner and felt full afterwards, I didnāt feel like eating anything. That was different last two days. Yesterday and the day before, I over ate during my dinner, yet I was craving something sweet, despite being so full. I never experienced this before and it makes me scared. Why is this?
I am playing with thoughts about fasting, but then it might be Ed again wanting me to go crazy - starve myself first and then eat uncontrollably.
Sweets tend to creep up on people like that. Especially in times of stress.
How awesome stuff 
Really well done, I know how big that is for you