Re: New Finding - Stress Causes Weight Gain

[Guest guest]

GO YOU for losing weight! That is so great.

In the 3 months I have been LC I have lost 15 lbs.

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Ha! That's great! Also, I no longer panic when the phone rings (thanks

to call blocking).

I didn't know how bad it was til I got away from it.

>

> GO YOU for losing weight! That is so great.

>

> In the 3 months I have been LC I have lost 15 lbs.

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> It's here! Your new message!

> Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar.

>

>

[Guest guest]

We all rock! Awesome for you both on the weight loss. I haven't

lost any weight yet but I am doing my first triathalon Wednesday that

I have trained for a year for. We have lifted the chains!! Yeah for

us!

patinage:)

> >

> > GO YOU for losing weight! That is so great.

> >

> > In the 3 months I have been LC I have lost 15 lbs.

> >

> >

> > ---------------------------------

> > It's here! Your new message!

> > Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar.

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Congratulations! I just had to say too that I have lost 10 pounds

that I have been trying to shed for years since I joined this group

and have gone LC with my nada.

My husband programmed our phone so that when my family calls there

is a different ring tone and it reads DO NOT ANSWER. Yes, the

panic when the phone rings is gone now. I honestly did not realize

that i didn't have to pick it up!

Sara

> >

> > GO YOU for losing weight! That is so great.

> >

> > In the 3 months I have been LC I have lost 15 lbs.

> >

> >

> > ---------------------------------

> > It's here! Your new message!

> > Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar.

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Congrats to everyone losing weight! Go all of you!!!!

Also, I wonder if this ties in:

I was a chubby - no, kinda fat - kid, back when most kids were super

skinny. I thought I was always hungry, but I really wasn't (I know

now I was an emotional eater, my primary emotions being depression

and boredom), but what was weirdest was that I NEVER got full. I

didn't understand it at the time, but I literally could not tell you

what either hunger or fullness felt like until I was well into

adolesence and out of nada's range. Today, it blows my mind how " out

of tune " I was with my appetite. When I analyze that broken hunger-

meter now (and add perfectionism and low self-esteem, minus parents

and love), there was pretty much no way I was going to escape eating

disorders.

Oh, and even with about 4 years of eating disorders before I moved

out, the first time I really lost weight and kept it off was when I

moved in with my aunt and uncle at 15. How 'bout that. Now I have a

basically healthy plan/outlook on food, and I listen to my body

above all others (and manage to maintain my weight pretty well that

way), but:

I've realized in the last few weeks that when nada's crap comes up,

that mechanism breaks. It's hard for me to feel hungry, but when I

force myself to eat, the " tank full " signal just doesn't come on and

I overeat.

So, my question/point is: has anyone else experienced a complete

lack of bodily communication like that? If so, could it be possible

that we learned to ignore/misinterpret these signals to survive? Or

to have control (I know eating disorders = control issues) over

something? I think I was just trained to believe I didn't deserve to

have feelings or wants that it carried over into hunger.

Oh boy, I feel a food-related post coming on . . .

*hugs*

PS: The lack of bio-feedback (or whatever you'd call it) used to

also spill over into insomnia, needing the bathroom, and being sick.

Damn.

>

> According to the Associated Press, the brain under stress releases

a

> hormone that activates a gene in fat cells, causing them to grow in

> size and number. Stressed mice gained twice as much fat as those

fed

> the same high calorie diet.

>

> The hormone, called neuropeptide Y, works like a key that unlocks

> so-called Y2 receptors iin the body's fat cells, then pumps energy

> into them. Blocking the receptors stopped fat cells growing and

> multiplying.

>

> ***

>

> In a completely unrelated note, I'm three months NC with nada and

have

> gone down a whole pants size.

>

> ***

>

> -Deanna

> :-)

>

[Guest guest]

,

For me, eating calms anxiety. It helps with boredom too, but it

mainly helps me with anxiety. I don't think that is just the way I

use it. I think there is something biochemical in it, though I cannot

say what it is. I know eating sugar on an empty stomach gives me a

high, and that is " real " .

I remember sitting on the kitchen floor at five, opening the cupboard

and sticking my hands into cereal boxes of lucky charms and eating it

by the fistfull. I've said here before, so forgive me, that I thought

it was about the sugar, but now I think it was about eating to

self-medicate. Although I have no memory of my day to day life at 5,

it must have been stressful, as it was later. I had not only nada's

hate and rage to deal with, but my father's short temper and yelling

and my brother's being mean to me.

Geneen Roth has many books on emotional eating that I know you would

find helpful. You can probably get them at the library.

And yes, we ignore our hunger when we eat to self-medicate. I know

when you eat, your body diverts blood to your stomach and starts

" working " there, diverting energy from the rest of you, so maybe that

actually, physically lowers your stress level.

-Deanna

>

> Congrats to everyone losing weight! Go all of you!!!!

>

> Also, I wonder if this ties in:

>

> I was a chubby - no, kinda fat - kid, back when most kids were super

> skinny. I thought I was always hungry, but I really wasn't (I know

> now I was an emotional eater, my primary emotions being depression

> and boredom), but what was weirdest was that I NEVER got full. I

> didn't understand it at the time, but I literally could not tell you

> what either hunger or fullness felt like until I was well into

> adolesence and out of nada's range. Today, it blows my mind how " out

> of tune " I was with my appetite. When I analyze that broken hunger-

> meter now (and add perfectionism and low self-esteem, minus parents

> and love), there was pretty much no way I was going to escape eating

> disorders.

>

> Oh, and even with about 4 years of eating disorders before I moved

> out, the first time I really lost weight and kept it off was when I

> moved in with my aunt and uncle at 15. How 'bout that. Now I have a

> basically healthy plan/outlook on food, and I listen to my body

> above all others (and manage to maintain my weight pretty well that

> way), but:

>

> I've realized in the last few weeks that when nada's crap comes up,

> that mechanism breaks. It's hard for me to feel hungry, but when I

> force myself to eat, the " tank full " signal just doesn't come on and

> I overeat.

>

> So, my question/point is: has anyone else experienced a complete

> lack of bodily communication like that? If so, could it be possible

> that we learned to ignore/misinterpret these signals to survive? Or

> to have control (I know eating disorders = control issues) over

> something? I think I was just trained to believe I didn't deserve to

> have feelings or wants that it carried over into hunger.

>

> Oh boy, I feel a food-related post coming on . . .

>

> *hugs*

>

>

> PS: The lack of bio-feedback (or whatever you'd call it) used to

> also spill over into insomnia, needing the bathroom, and being sick.

> Damn.

[Guest guest]

This thread makes me think back to when I gave up a good job -- I'd

gone to college and then post-graduate Paralegal school! -- to stay

home and take care of my kids. I remember taking such pleasure in

placing a hot meal in front of them and seeing their delight.

I realized how the smallest things can convey love. Meeting their

needs -- caring for them. I saw what joys can come out of things

that had absolutely nothing to do with designer purses, fancy cars,

or achievement in the corporate world.

It then made sense why these concepts are even covered in the

bible: to share your food with someone, to give them shelter if

they need it. Basic human needs.

Being in the position to care for another person is such a

blessing. And it grieves me to think that there are mothers in the

world who are so wrapped up in themselves, that they leave the child

feeling guilty for their basic, human needs. That makes it

especially cruel.

-Kyla

> >

> > According to the Associated Press, the brain under stress

releases

> a

> > hormone that activates a gene in fat cells, causing them to grow

in

> > size and number. Stressed mice gained twice as much fat as

those

> fed

> > the same high calorie diet.

> >

> > The hormone, called neuropeptide Y, works like a key that unlocks

> > so-called Y2 receptors iin the body's fat cells, then pumps

energy

> > into them. Blocking the receptors stopped fat cells growing and

> > multiplying.

> >

> > ***

> >

> > In a completely unrelated note, I'm three months NC with nada

and

> have

> > gone down a whole pants size.

> >

> > ***

> >

> > -Deanna

> > :-)

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Clare,

I found that with eating too, that I was so out of touch with what my body was

telling me that I would eat and eat with no concern for how full I felt. And

this was not just when I was stressed or could pinpoint something that stressed

me out. This was almost every day. In fact, I feel like I've just started

working on this problem recently because my eating habits have been so bad for

so long. I've mentioned before that my mother used to use food as a bribe to

come visit her (instead of my dad) so she would let me eat anything in any

quantity. My father also seems to have some food issues, like we are both

secret sweet eaters and he used to put priorities on work instead of eating

well. He still sacrifices his health over eating properly.

I also went through phases of eating disorders. I sometimes think that

several of my friends and I only exercised for a long time to repress our eating

disorders (some of them had serious ones), and while that may have been true to

start, I think I'm getting better. Now I exercise because I want to for my own

motiviation, not to allow me to eat or to lose weight. These feel like big

steps to me.

is

---------------------------------

Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles.

Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.

[Guest guest]

Hi is,

I'm so glad you're figuring it out, too! Go us!

It is AMAZING to have the ability to eat and exercise for the right

reasons, and not turn every morsel and mile into a ritualistic

discipline of self-hatred. What a revelation, nearly 15 years later

(Oh my God, has it been that long?!?!): I am allowed to eat, I am

allowed to stop when I'm full (and digest it), and I can exercise to

make my body healthy and strong, rather than weak and depleted.

I've had my ED behavior generally under control for a couple of

years now (almost 2, to be exact), but it's the mean thoughts and

feelings that don't go away. The anger towards your self and body,

and most of all for me, the complete lack of worth. I felt like

every fat cell on my body was another reason I was not good enough -

add it to the " why I'm not loveable " list.

Now, I am finally finally starting to get it and my mindset is

changing, too. The turning point in my brain was recognizing it for

what it is (in my case): fleas. Remembering when/where I was when I

first started to feel truly worthless and unloveable connected

everything. I thought I was hung up on numbers and looks (which is

way shallower than I like to think I am), but it really served

several purposes:

1) It gave me something to obsess over that only I could control.

2) It allowed me to punish my body and brain in a somewhat socially

acceptable way. Heck, it was downright glamourous compared with my

alternatives (cutting and beating myself with a frying pan)

3) It was a way of manifesting my pain that allowed me to deny the

unbearable reality (that I had been physically and emotionally

abandoned), and it didn't hurt anyone but me.

4) I had this delusion that nada would love me more if I were

better, thinner, prettier. Nobody leaves a pretty, skinny girl,

right? I've also read a lot of research about ED's being an attempt

to regress to a small body/childlike state. Now I've heard enough

about BP nadas turning on us at adolesence to really understand

that: maybe I just wanted to return to the small child that HAD to

be cared for.

*shrugs* Regardless, GO US.

*hugs*

claire

>

> Hi Clare,

>

> I found that with eating too, that I was so out of touch with

what my body was telling me that I would eat and eat with no concern

for how full I felt. And this was not just when I was stressed or

could pinpoint something that stressed me out. This was almost

every day. In fact, I feel like I've just started working on this

problem recently because my eating habits have been so bad for so

long. I've mentioned before that my mother used to use food as a

bribe to come visit her (instead of my dad) so she would let me eat

anything in any quantity. My father also seems to have some food

issues, like we are both secret sweet eaters and he used to put

priorities on work instead of eating well. He still sacrifices his

health over eating properly.

>

> I also went through phases of eating disorders. I sometimes

think that several of my friends and I only exercised for a long

time to repress our eating disorders (some of them had serious

ones), and while that may have been true to start, I think I'm

getting better. Now I exercise because I want to for my own

motiviation, not to allow me to eat or to lose weight. These feel

like big steps to me.

>

> is

>

[Guest guest]

I've been doing a very slow-moving LC for a year, and I'm down 22lbs!

>

> GO YOU for losing weight! That is so great.

>

> In the 3 months I have been LC I have lost 15 lbs.

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> It's here! Your new message!

> Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Um....I guess this explains why I just ate half a package of cookies

after seeing my folks.

And maybe why I lost 15 pounds after deciding to go NC with my raging bro?

Okay, two more cookies and back they go into the cabinet!

Typing with my mouth full....

Letty

>

> Yikes! As a KO, this is scary...I am a dietitian...at one time I

> wanted to specialize in eating disorders but had to change my area of

> focus secondary to lack of insurance coverage for eating disorders!!

>

[Guest guest]

I can sure relate to this one. Pushing food is one of the ways my

nada " shows " her love, what a great mother she is, which is of course

at odds with so many other actions. In her presence I approach mild

anorexia. Away from her, I feel free to eat and overeat to calm the

anxiety or in some weird way to get the nurturance I didn't get. And

like said, when I'm triggered by her feeling normal hunger and

satiation is just gone.

julie

> > >

> > > According to the Associated Press, the brain under stress

> releases

> > a

> > > hormone that activates a gene in fat cells, causing them to

grow

> in

> > > size and number. Stressed mice gained twice as much fat as

> those

> > fed

> > > the same high calorie diet.

> > >

> > > The hormone, called neuropeptide Y, works like a key that

unlocks

> > > so-called Y2 receptors iin the body's fat cells, then pumps

> energy

> > > into them. Blocking the receptors stopped fat cells growing and

> > > multiplying.

> > >

> > > ***

> > >

> > > In a completely unrelated note, I'm three months NC with nada

> and

> > have

> > > gone down a whole pants size.

> > >

> > > ***

> > >

> > > -Deanna

> > > :-)

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Chiming in late, but this is close to my heart... Two years ago or so

I began to focus on myself and lost over 55 pounds in the process.

I've been fairly steady this last year, down about another 5... I find

food no longer is a drug for me. But it had always been so before, the

first drug I ran to when I felt pain of any kind. Now I have (growing)

internal coping skills, and food is fuel, or a treat, but not a drug.

I've had a huge amount of stress this last few months, and I'm still

holding up to it, although perhaps a touch too much chocolate lol.

Congratulations to you guys on the weight loss, I truly see the

relationship with mental health, not for everyone, but for many of us

here.

As for the disconnect with the body, I had that my whole life too,

ignoring my most basic needs. It led to huge problems instead of

little ones, because I let things go too long. Tuning in to my body,

my needs, and nurturing myself in that way is also part of becoming a

whole person. I'm worthy of simple things like using the bathroom when

I have to go! Such simple things, huh?

Peace,

Liesl

>

> According to the Associated Press, the brain under stress releases a

> hormone that activates a gene in fat cells, causing them to grow in

> size and number. Stressed mice gained twice as much fat as those fed

> the same high calorie diet.

>

> The hormone, called neuropeptide Y, works like a key that unlocks

> so-called Y2 receptors iin the body's fat cells, then pumps energy

> into them. Blocking the receptors stopped fat cells growing and

> multiplying.

>

> ***

>

> In a completely unrelated note, I'm three months NC with nada and have

> gone down a whole pants size.

>

> ***

>

> -Deanna

> :-)

>