First post - Loneliness and family support

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I have been in this group for a few weeks now. I stop by daily, and have found

great strength and motivation from reading your posts, as I discover that am not

alone with my struggles and see that many of my questions are being answered

here. Today, it is my turn to share - and hopefully get even more out of this

journey.

After having listened to 's podcast for a couple of months, I had found my

body, my mood and my lifestyle radically changed to the better. Although losing

weight was actually never my main goal (although I have been completely

powerless over food, my weight has always been quite normal and I have felt

completely misunderstood for years), I saw my excess fat being replaced by

muscles, my skin was getting tighter and smoother, and most of all: I was once

again in control over food! I was doing great on the self-accepting part, and

felt the law of attraction really working for me: just when I had started

thinking about wanting to quit my job, I got a phone call out of the blue for an

interview for my dream job... and I got it!

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I lost it completely. It was back to my old habits

of binging, eating excessive amounts of fat, sugar and carbs, and being very

hard with myself. Had this happened before discovering IOWL, it would have been

enough to make me give up the entire process. But this time I was able to push

away all those limiting beliefs, and really look into what was happening on the

inside. I figured this was a sign that I was not completely done with

identifying my internal conflicts, and as I have spent more time on this I know

that I have come closer to the root of my issues with food. This experience also

showed me just how much I want to resolve my problems, and that I really want to

be naturally slender - for MYSELF. I have re-listened to earlier podcast

episodes, and these last couple of days I feel I have found my way back on

track, stronger and more motivated than ever.

However, I still feel I have a weakness, and I am hoping to find some advice in

this group. One of the positive intents behind my eating habits has been

overcoming loneliness. Now, I rarely eat with my co-workers anymore, as I'd

rather go to the gym and get a salad for lunch. And the trickiest part is at

home, as my habits have changed while my husband's have not. He eats a very

light lunch, and therefore needs a bigger dinner. He has long and stressful days

at work, and I know dinner is one of the highlights of his day, so I don't want

to force " my " food on him. Usually, he will have something like pizza or pasta

(none of us really has time to cook anything more sophisticated), and recently

we have started eating separate meals. On the one hand because it is still

difficult for me not to overeat on the foods he likes, but also because deep

down I really prefer a healthier meal.

Little by little, I have started to feel that I am isolating myself from the

people around me. I live in Spain, quite far from my family (my parents live in

China), and I have moved too often to have made significant deep or lasting

friendships. When I got the new job a couple of weeks ago, the stress it caused

made me seek company. I started accepting my colleagues' invitations to have

churros and chocolate for breakfast (and eat too much although I had already

eaten at home), sharing my husband's dinner (and eating too much of that too),

binging on whatever I could find in the fridge when I was alone..... I am doing

well again, but I don't want the same thing to happen every time some sort of

stress comes into my life.

How does your families react to your changing diets? How do you get their

support? I would really like to find some sort of compromise, but I don't know

how... I am sure many of you have had to find ways to adapt your change to your

family life, and I could probably learn a lot from your experiences!

Thank you for reading - I would love to get your comments

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