I’m almost 30 and am struggling to stop eating. Around 4 years ago I was able to do low carb when I had friends move in that were there to support and help me, and lost 35 lbs. Some stressful situations happened, and I moved around a lot. I honestly stopped eating healthy because it was easier, and gained weight back and then some. Now that it’s just me and a family member, it’s so hard to do by myself and do right by family. I feel like a failure. I find that I also really struggle with self-regulation and moderation, and at times find myself pushing food onto family. I am ready for a change and want to do better for myself and my loved ones. I would really like to have a community of support for food addictions.
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Hey I understand. I’m an alcoholic but before that I struggled with an addiction to food. For me, it was a sudden change in the way I ate and I didn’t (really) do it consciously to begin with but after I started seeing the benefits I made a few changes that I’ve adopted into my life going forward as far as food goes. I quit eating for like 2 weeks out of depression one year when my girlfriend of several years left me suddenly. I had no appetite so I just ate what I had to, to survive. But my weight (and self esteem issues because of) were a factor in the break up so when I saw myself losing weight I was thrilled and kept it up.
The changes I made are, I quit buying anything that didn’t have nutritional benefit. Like instead of chips, cake, and icecream I bought nuts and fruit. They have substance and nutrition. Instead of eating salad with iceberg lettuce I ate it with spinach, and instead of dressing I used the juice from a tomato. I started eating more often through the day, but smaller meals. Like I’d have 10 almonds 2 olives and a cube of cheese instead of a little bag of chips with my sandwich. Things like that.
I also had to force myself to put the food away sometimes. That was a hard part. Once I opened something, I wanted the whole thing. But being mindful of what I was eating and forcing myself to put it away was a big thing. I’d tell myself, “its not going anywhere, it’ll be there in 30 minutes if I want more”… same with “pizza hut is still going to be there tomorrow”… But, this wasn’t a diet I was following. I made the conscious decision that this was how I was going to live from now on. And, it was thrilling when I made progress. “Hell, my new hobbies are gonna be jogging and yoga I says to myself. I’m one of those fitness dudes, thats fun as hell, no more body shame”… Its a new lifestyle, not a temporary job, being healthy.
But mindfulness is the key, and its something that has to be exercised like anything else. Every day, meditation, mindfulness, count your chews, count each cracker one by one, throughout the day think “I have this in me, thats enough for now”… It helps with my alcoholism too, although I don’t have as much success with that at the moment. But mindfulness is, I think, one of the huge huge key things for recovery from any addictive habit. And it must be exercised and practiced, and when it is, it becomes stronger and more effective.
Good luck, I understand that struggle, and although I’m probably going offline soon, I’ll be pulling for you.
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