Guest guest Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 A lot of my binging was simply to suppress my thinking about my emotions, regardless of what they were. I found that eating eas simply my preferred response to *every* emotion, no matter how innocuous. Then I started practicing identifying my emotions. The nice thing about this is, you don't have to get it right, because emotions go away pretty quickly. Now I can identify most emotions, and sometimes I still eat to numb them, but I'm at least choosing consciously to do it. Now that I've had lots of experience in handling my emotions in other ways, I rarely eat over them. lrc > > > > Hey J--I've been binge eating since I was a small child. I'm > 41 now and have only realized in the past few years what binge eating > is...I have a really hard time identifying the emotions I'm feeling > when I binge. Mostly, it's boredom I suppose that starts it, but it's > also almost exclusively when I'm alone (and almost always sugar or > chocolate). I feel like I want to be bad. Does that make sense? > What sort of emotion is that? > > > > I ordered the book " The Food and Feelings Workbook " recently that > I read about on these boards. Anyone else out there having trouble > identifying with your emotions when a binge begins?--Lise > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 A lot of my binging was simply to suppress my thinking about my emotions, regardless of what they were. I found that eating eas simply my preferred response to *every* emotion, no matter how innocuous. Then I started practicing identifying my emotions. The nice thing about this is, you don't have to get it right, because emotions go away pretty quickly. Now I can identify most emotions, and sometimes I still eat to numb them, but I'm at least choosing consciously to do it. Now that I've had lots of experience in handling my emotions in other ways, I rarely eat over them. lrc > > > > Hey J--I've been binge eating since I was a small child. I'm > 41 now and have only realized in the past few years what binge eating > is...I have a really hard time identifying the emotions I'm feeling > when I binge. Mostly, it's boredom I suppose that starts it, but it's > also almost exclusively when I'm alone (and almost always sugar or > chocolate). I feel like I want to be bad. Does that make sense? > What sort of emotion is that? > > > > I ordered the book " The Food and Feelings Workbook " recently that > I read about on these boards. Anyone else out there having trouble > identifying with your emotions when a binge begins?--Lise > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Katcha--I can see that, but my issue is I can't figure out what emotion I'm numbing. It's hard to admit that I'm that out of touch w/ myself or my feelings. I mean I can identify the fact that I'm not hungry and I'm eating, that I'm alone and I'm eating, and that I'm not doing anything but watching t.v. and I'm eating. I don't "feel" much more than that--other than guilt (for bingeing), of course. Does that make sense?Katcha wrote: Reading this got me to thinking about how so many of us 'credit'boredom as a main reason we eat. I know that was my first impressionwhen I started IE. But what sparked for me now is to wonder if whatI'm naming 'boredom' is really numbing (of emotions) instead? Both aresort of 'spaced out' type states....>> Hey J--I've been binge eating since I was a small child. I'm41 now and have only realized in the past few years what binge eatingis...I have a really hard time identifying the emotions I'm feelingwhen I binge. Mostly, it's boredom I suppose that starts it, but it'salso almost exclusively when I'm alone (and almost always sugar orchocolate). I feel like I want to be bad. Does that make sense? What sort of emotion is that? > > I ordered the book "The Food and Feelings Workbook" recently thatI read about on these boards. Anyone else out there having troubleidentifying with your emotions when a binge begins?--Lise Luggage? GPS? Comic books? Check out fitting gifts for grads at Yahoo! Search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Katcha--I can see that, but my issue is I can't figure out what emotion I'm numbing. It's hard to admit that I'm that out of touch w/ myself or my feelings. I mean I can identify the fact that I'm not hungry and I'm eating, that I'm alone and I'm eating, and that I'm not doing anything but watching t.v. and I'm eating. I don't "feel" much more than that--other than guilt (for bingeing), of course. Does that make sense?Katcha wrote: Reading this got me to thinking about how so many of us 'credit'boredom as a main reason we eat. I know that was my first impressionwhen I started IE. But what sparked for me now is to wonder if whatI'm naming 'boredom' is really numbing (of emotions) instead? Both aresort of 'spaced out' type states....>> Hey J--I've been binge eating since I was a small child. I'm41 now and have only realized in the past few years what binge eatingis...I have a really hard time identifying the emotions I'm feelingwhen I binge. Mostly, it's boredom I suppose that starts it, but it'salso almost exclusively when I'm alone (and almost always sugar orchocolate). I feel like I want to be bad. Does that make sense? What sort of emotion is that? > > I ordered the book "The Food and Feelings Workbook" recently thatI read about on these boards. Anyone else out there having troubleidentifying with your emotions when a binge begins?--Lise Luggage? GPS? Comic books? Check out fitting gifts for grads at Yahoo! Search. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 About 13 years ago my husband and I went through a very rough time and both ended up in counseling. We both grew up with alcoholic parents and it finally took its toll on us and we had to deal with it. We each went to counseling for two years (!) every week and are so much better for it now. When I first started counseling and was asked how I felt, the only words I could come up with were "good" and "bad"--and, just so you know, neither of those words is a feeling. There is a poster that we got for our kids around that time...it is an array of little cartoon faces--they are all different kinds of faces and under each one it identifies which feeling it represents. If you've seen the poster, you'll see that there are facial expressions for most feelings. Identifying how we feel is probably one of the hardest things to do. When you grow up in a house where you are not allowed to have feelings ("that doesn't hurt, get up" or "you can't be angry about that", etc) or your feelings are discounted when you try to share them, you eventually learn to put them away somewhere. I think I put them in my ass!!! JK! This is not easy work, but it is so worth it! Cheryl Shape Yahoo! in your own image. Join our Network Research Panel today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 25, 2007 Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 Katcha--I definitely know when I go into a binge (numbing mode)...now if I can just figure out what I'm thinking about when I start. Thanks for the reply. -LiseKatcha wrote: You bet it makes sense Lise So I guess simply being aware of goinginto 'numbing' mode is the first step we need to take. From what Iunderstand (haven't practiced it much yet myself though) is to try andthink back to what you were doing/thinking right before one starts theun-hungry eating. That is supposed to be the next step towards theunderlying emotion trigger. Reading this got me tothinking about how so many of us 'credit'> boredom as a main reason we eat. I know that was my first impression> when I started IE. But what sparked for me now is to wonder if what> I'm naming 'boredom' is really numbing (of emotions) instead? Both are> sort of 'spaced out' type states.... It's here! Your new message!Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 25, 2007 Report Share Posted June 25, 2007 Lise, I was thinking about what you wrote. It sounds like you are aware that you are beginning to binge, right? So that's really good, awareness is very important. I know it isn't always easy to figure out what you are thinking or what's going on when you want to binge, and sometimes you just don't want to go there because of the emotions. A step in between that may not be a difficult is to make a conscious decision to binge, instead of it just happening. When we make a decision to binge, overeat, or whatever, it takes a lot of the power away from the food and gives it back to ourselves. This doesn't mean you have to stop the binge, it just means you are deciding to do it. And by deciding, you are also taking responsibility for the consequences of that binge. You make a decision, you know what could/might happen, and then you do it! By doing this, there is no reason to feel the guilt or anger at yourself as if you have no control over yourself. Binge, and move on with your day. You may find it easier at some point to identify your reasons for wanting to binge or what you are feeling and deal with it before bingeing. Hope this is helpful. Thanks! Gillian Gillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM Healthier Outcomes It's not just about losing weight! Want to eat your favorite foods without gaining weight? Get your copy of our fr*e special report, " 6 Simple Steps to Guilt Free Eating " by visiting http://www.healthieroutcomes.com At 10:00 AM 6/25/2007, you wrote: Katcha--I definitely know when I go into a binge (numbing mode)...now if I can just figure out what I'm thinking about when I start. Thanks for the reply. -Lise Katcha wrote: You bet it makes sense Lise So I guess simply being aware of going into 'numbing' mode is the first step we need to take. From what I understand (haven't practiced it much yet myself though) is to try and think back to what you were doing/thinking right before one starts the un-hungry eating. That is supposed to be the next step towards the underlying emotion trigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 , That's so true, judging yourself as a bad person does nothing, except just confirm to your subconscious that it's right when it lets the little voices beat you up. I like what you said about how your eating behavior doesn't define you as a person. I was taking a training a while back and a very important thing came up that I never even thought about. We often refer to ourselves or others as " intuitive eater " , " binge eater " , " chronic dieter " , etc. By doing this, we are giving ourselves or others an identity with a behavior. So it is helpful to restate this as " I eat intuitively " or " she is always dieting " , you get the idea. Label the behavior, not the person. Besides, I think many of us fluctuate from one behavior to the other, so we can't really claim to " be " only one. Just a thought! Thanks! Gillian Gillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM Healthier Outcomes It's not just about losing weight! Want to eat your favorite foods without gaining weight? Get your copy of our fr*e special report, " 6 Simple Steps to Guilt Free Eating " by visiting http://www.healthieroutcomes.com At 06:43 AM 6/26/2007, you wrote: Gillian, I totally agree with giving yourself permission to binge. Once I let up on myself and gave myself permission to be human, that's when I was able to begin my recovery. Once you accept that you have a problem with eating, then you can begin to accept the behaviors that go along with that. What point does it serve to judge yourself as a bad person. My eating behavior is only a small part of who I am, it does not define me. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 26, 2007 Report Share Posted June 26, 2007 Thank you Gillian for this excellent clarification - we are not 'how' we eat from Gillian: We often refer to ourselves or others as " intuitive eater " , " binge eater " , " chronic dieter " , etc. By doing this, we are giving ourselves or others an identity with a behavior. So it is helpful to restate this as " I eat intuitively " or " she is always dieting " , you get the idea. Label the behavior, not the person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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