Bad Day/Emotional Eating/Volunteering

[Guest guest]

Alice,

I know I'm new and don't want to just start going post happy here

but you bring up something else I struggle with when it comes to

food, weight loss, etc. You're lonely. Dawn's had a bad day. I

think successful weight loss is a two-fold plan for a lot of us. We

have to deal with the food, *and* many of us have to deal with being

emotional or compulsive eaters.

How do we deal with the emotional eating? I have come to the

realization that I *can not* successfully lose weight unless I also

deal with the many emotional issues that cause me to overeat in the

first place. I started seeing a very good therapist in late August

that deals specifically with eating disorders, but she has had

health issues of her own and she hasn't been able to meet with me

near as much as I need to work with someone in order to work on

these other issues.

Losing weight for me is a two-step plan, developing better eating

habits *and* addressing emotional eating. I suppose that's why I

asked if there were any r/t support groups. I'm pretty isolated

myself and could use the outside encouragement and support. The

holidays are lonely for a lot of us, I know. I went home to St.

Louis for Thanksgiving, but will not be going home for Christmas.

I'm looking into seeing if I can volunteer my time somewhere at a

local community agency during the next couple of weeks. I work in

the front office of a not-for-profit organization that offers

treatment to those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction and

I've found that staying later and helping with other things, doing

more than I'm asked to do, has been very gratefying to me

personally. I've gotten a lot out of it and find that getting

outside ourselves, helping others, goes a long way in helping to not

feel so lonely. Just my two cents, for what their worth.

Debbie

> Dawn...

> Sorry to hear about your bad day..!! I have had countless bad food

days since Thanksgiving. Everytime I think I am back on track I just

screw up remembering the Apple Fritters and Banana Cream pie

available just around the corner. Then I go for it and.well.... you

know the drill. I had lost 25 lbs. on SBD but haven't gotten back on

the scale since screwing up at Thanksgiving and ever since. Sorry

to be such a bummer to everyone but I thought by hopping on and

declaring all of this... I might wake up and turn things around. I

tend to feel lonely during the holidays and I suppose I use food to

feed my loneliness... but the subsequent extra padding it provides

leaves me feeling MORE lonely...

[Guest guest]

That is so sweet! :-)

Debbie

> Where do you lonely people live? You can come to my house for

Christmas

>

> Theresa

[Guest guest]

Well...you really can...I'm in NC.

Theresahermitesss wrote:

That is so sweet! :-) Debbie> Where do you lonely people live? You can come to my house for Christmas > > Theresa

[Guest guest]

In general I think women are often far more emotional eaters than

men. My husband never understands why when I get upset I eat

chocolate. He seems to be able to dissociate or something from a bad

day and switch off somehow. He'd always say " You know eating that

chocolate (or whatever I was binging on) will not fix (whatever the

problem is) " Of course I know that. But hey we all know where are

minds go when we are in that situation, cos we've all been there.

Maybe it is just the difference between the sexes?

Tink

> I really doubt that someone's entire progress will be lost from an

emotional eating episode. I am a man, so I have different thoughts

on feelings than women do. That being said, the emotional eating

still does not take care of the root problem. Yes, you'll feel

pretty damn good munching down on your faves, but in the end you'll

probably end up more upset.

>

> This all coming from someone who STILL managed to lose 2 pounds

the week of Thanksgiving. Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole,

mashed sweet potatoes with butter on top, cranberry sauce, cookies,

olives, and 3 pieces of pie (2 pumpkin and 1 pecan) with fresh

whipped cream all consumed without one pang of guilt.

>

> It can be done. 1 day off plan will not ruin you. 2 days off won't

either. Probably... ;-)

[Guest guest]

Remember we are allowed a 75 calorie per day treat.

Sometimes it is very hard to get back on track

> No amount of time off plan will *ruin* you. Be it a little cheat

on the cookies or fudge or even going off for a month. The

important thing is you jump right back in and GET BACK ON PLAN.

> S