Overeating

[peyden]

Hello, I've been having problems controlling my weight recently. I had an extremely stressful year in 2011 and when i am stressed i eat - a lot. I put on several stone in about a year, previously I was a nice healthy weight. I have before managed to get round this, but last year following an accident I was unable to exercise. I previously used exercise to help control my weight - i also eat a lot better when exercising. However, i am still very limited in what exercise i can do and on occasions I'm forced to have bed rest. I previously used to run 6 miles, 6 x a week. Recently, I've managed to get some grip on my weight - a little is coming off albeit slowly. Can you offer any help with emotional eating?? When i go on a binge its terrible, i also don't seem to feel full when bingeing. If i could get rid of this association it would help so much. I've tried lots of different advice, books, self-help, diets etc and nothing appears to work. Thank you kindly.

[Lisa Holmes]

Hello, it sounds like you have had a big change from lots of running and eating well to limited exercise and bingeing. Well done for managing to start to turn things around and begin to get your weight to move downwards to your previous level. I would suggest that you do whatever activity you can manage comfortably and start to think about how you were eating before and work on how you can make changes back to that in a balanced and healthy way with a variety of different foods and lots of fruit and vegetables. If you can distract yourself from the beginnings of the feeling to binges and to try and go and do something else and if you are managing small amounts of activity that should help towards you feeling better in yourself and so encourage you to avoid feeling the need to binge.

[mindfuleater]

You might want to try hypnotherapy ( check out alternative therapies NHS for a hypnotherapist).Its been an amazing experience for me.

I had comfort eaten for very many years, tried endless diets and struggled with my weight and my health but could never stop my emotional eating. I went to hypnotherapy at the beginning of March and its been a totally life changing experience for me from the moment I stepped out of my first session. I eat healthily, can recognise when I am actually hungry and when I am full, and have no desire whatsoever to comfort eat, no matter whats happening in my life. I enjoy my food, dont 'diet' and choosing enjoyable healthy food just comes naturally. I have very positive thoughts ( I never realised how negative I was before I went to hypnotherapy). I have also lost 9 kgs, and drastically improved my Hb1C results (am a diabetic). I walk, and do a little exercise which I actually enjoy - which is something I could never get myself to do before.Do look at the website if you want to find a hypnotherapist as choosing the right therapist is important. best of luck! (http://www.nhstadirectory.org)

[Jenny Radcliffe]

Emotional eating occurs when we use food to suppress or anaesthetise ourselves against uncomfortable feelings, like loneliness, anger and fear. We dont want to feel bad so we numb ourselves with food, especially high fat, energy dense food. If you are facing a very stressful time in your life and are also unable to exercise, the risk is that you fall into a negative cycle of emotional eating and weight gain which in turn affects self-esteem, food choices and your capacity to handle stress. It sounds like this is what's happened for you over the past year or so and turning things around may take a little time and patience. Importantly you need to think about alternative strategies you can use to cope with stress and upset. One person has suggested hypnotherapy and that may be beneficial. You can also think about starting mindfulness meditation, challenging negative thoughts (there's good information on this at the Get Self-Help website) and asking for support and help from others. Learning to tolerate and manage painful emotions (that are an inevitable part of being an alive human being!) is a great first step in developing a more positive relationship with food.