comfort eating

Are your conerns about your weight causing you emotional problems? Does your self esteem suffer as a result of have concerns about your weight? If so, ask our experts your questions here.

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dancermum
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Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 7:37 pm
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by dancermum on Sat Jan 12, 2013 7:48 pm

comfort eating

Hi I generally eat proper meals however snack majorly in between meals. I eat a great deal of chocolate or crisps and soft drinks in one sitting. If I am upset I eat. I think i may have a sugar addiction. I am about 2 stone overweight. I feel awful, ugly and disgusting. I used to be thin but have steadily put on weight when I started dance college 10 years ago. I have had two children only 15months apart. I know I should be eating healthier and exercising more. But I can not seem to find a healthy balance and either eat little or binge loads. I have not lost any weight and I hate the way I look and am embarrassed when I go out. I have recently started jogging and find this hard even though i used to be quite active. I don't know where to start with healthy eating. I also have coeliac disease, and think i am replacing foods I can no longer eat with high fat sugary foods. I do not know what to eat. Can you give me some on best advice to loose weight and any food suggestions would be extremely helpful. Thank you.

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Dr James Thompson
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Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2013 1:58 pm
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by Dr James Thompson on Thu Jan 17, 2013 7:29 pm

Re: comfort eating

Hi Dancermum,

I note that you have entered your post into self-esteem and emotional problems - do you think that this is a key reason for your "comfort eating"?

You have also mentioned that you started doing this since starting dancing college and also stated about your children being spaced only 15 months apart - are there reasons why you have mentioned these? It would be worth looking at the potential triggers for why you get unhappy and seeing whether you can tackle them because as you mentioned if you are happier it is likely that you will eat less.

It sounds like, if I am interpreting "proper meals" correctly that you are eating healthily and have already found alternative options to gluten containing food stuffs.

The problem seems to be the snacking in-between. Are you able to find an alternative snack? E.g. some nuts or fruit to snack on. Or perhaps take yourself for a walk or get on the phone to a friend instead of the snack? I suspect that if you can successfully tackle the snacking (which I suspect comes with guilt once you have snacked) I think that you will be on the right road to losing weight.

Hope this helps.

Dr James Thompson
www.askdocjames.com
Dr James Thompson

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Jenny Radcliffe
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Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 12:54 pm
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by Jenny Radcliffe on Sat Jan 19, 2013 4:49 pm

Re: comfort eating

Hello Dancermum,

A good place to start may be keeping a food diary. This will allow you to get a clear idea of where and when your eating is problematic. Recording physical hunger (for 0= not at all hungry to 5= ravenous) before you eat will help you become more aware of the difference between physical/stomach hunger and 'wanting' hunger (often for high fat/high sugar foods). Also try recording thoughts, feelings and social situations that are affecting your eating to help understand those times when you may be eating to push down feelings of upset, anger or loneliness.

From a practical point of view, try to make sure you have three meals a day to stop you getting overly hungry and overeating later in the day. Avoid watching TV or having other distractions while eating so you can concentrate on the food. Even if you decide to have a snack, sit at the table and really attend to the food (when we are snacking we are often eating mindlessly).

Just another question for you to think about - do you make time to look after your own needs or do you concentrate entirely on the needs of your family? If you don't look after yourself - like having time for yourself, to exercise, see friends or just relax - food may become an important source of pleasure and comfort. Remember that you can do the best for your children by showing them the importance of eating regularly and healthily. Ken Goss' book "A compassionate mind approach to beating overeating" may help you think about these issues and offers advice about developing a mindful approach to eating.

Good luck.
Jenny Radcliffe
Consultant Clinical Health Psychologist

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Dr Masud Haq
Posts: 85
Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:48 pm
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by Dr Masud Haq on Sun Jan 20, 2013 3:45 pm

Re: comfort eating

Hi

Thank you for your post. I would recommend you see your GP and request a referral to your local community dietitian. If you suffer from coeliac's disease, it would be sensible to gain some specialist advice on correct foods to eat if you wish to lose wait safely with additional advice on portion control. The jogging is a positive step, so keep going as it will get easier as you become fitter.

As you have coeliac's and have difficulty losing weight, I would recommend your thyroid function be checked as an under active thyroid is more commonly associated with coeliac's disease.

Best of luck.
Masud
Dr Masud Haq
Consultant in Diabetes & Endocrinology
Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells Hospital

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... ud_haq.php

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Wendy Green
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Joined: Thu May 24, 2012 11:27 am
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by Wendy Green on Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:57 pm

Re: comfort eating

Hi Dancermum,

It does sound as though you are comfort eating and that this a key reason for your weight gain. I think therefore that the key to solving your weight problem is to identify why you are comfort eating and to tackle any problems or underlying issues.

If you comfort eat to suppress emotions such as sadness, anger, or hurt, explore ways to express and deal with your feelings, such as talking them through with an appropriate person, or writing them down. Find ways to resolve issues and problems, so that you treat food as fuel for your body, rather than as an escape from your emotions. Food may provide a temporary distraction or comfort, but the emotions or problems you’re trying to distance yourself from will still be there, with the added problem of weight gain - as you've already discovered.

You may also be eating from boredom - if this is the case, plan ways to beat boredom that don’t involve food. For example read the new novel you’ve been meaning to read, catch up with your friends, find some new interests that take your mind off food. That way you’ll stop turning to food to solve your problems, or relieve your boredom, and start ‘eating to live’ rather than ‘living to eat’.

The fact you have coeliac disease could also be a source of the stress that is fuelling your comfort eating. Perhaps you might benefit from meeting other people with the condition? There are Coeliac UK Local Voluntary Support Groups all over the UK; they aim to improve the lives of people with coeliac disease by offering the chance to get together and share experiences. Here is a link to their website http://www.coeliac.org.uk/
You will also find nutritional advice and gluten free recipes on the website, which will hopefully also help you to tackle your weight problem.

Once you start feeling better about yourself and your life in general, you will probably start losing weight and this will improve your self-image. I hope my suggestions help you. Good luck! :)

Wendy
Wendy Green
Health Expert and Author

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... _green.php

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