Eating out and with others

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone!

First of all, I want to say that I am so very grateful I found this forum. You

are all so sweet and helpful and insightful and I feel very fortunate to have

people who understand exactly what I am going through in terms of my compulsive

eating and especially people that are committed to changing the way they

approach food!

I wanted to present the issue of eating out and eating with others. I find this

to be a HUGE struggle. I have always reacted to the question from my husband

)or anyone else for that matter), " Hey, Jen- you want to go out to eat tonight? "

with extreme excitement and enthusiasm. My heart lifts, my face brightens, my

mood lightens and I feel high. I've never needed illegal drugs because food

always makes me high! I also get this way in social situations that involve

eating.

There have been occasions in which my husband will ask, " Do you want to go to

's Deli? " (or whatever) and I'm not hungry but I battle with myself about

how to respond. Should I just go and not eat while he eats? Should I go and

eat something small? Should I say " No. I'm not hungry " ? And turning down this

" opportunity " feels scary to me. Especially if it's a restaurant I really LOVE!

Does anyone else experience this sort of thing?

Jen