Obesity Discussion Forums

[ccwilloe]

for me, have noticed that my body weight seems to track my overall level of happiness. when I get stressed out, i turn to food for comfort. food is comforting and it doesn't talk back at you. food is there to soothe my nerves. food is a short term fix much like alcohol is to an alcoholic. food is a band-aid to patch a broken heart. food is love. it is if my brain has been programmed to seek out an endorphine release by ingesting food to feel good. of course, this just backfires when i pile on the weight and then just feel worse.

some folks say you have to love yourself first but i'm not sure what that means. it seems that just when I begin to feel good about things, something comes along and knocks me right back into the self-destructive cycle of food addiction. i've tried various SSRI medications to no avail. i've tried atkins, fasting, and other diets and although i might take off a few pounds initially, i end up going right on back to my old ways. it's almost as if i have a starving heart and am filling it up with an artificial fillings and stuffings.

so is it psychological, biochemical, or both?

is there a way out?

how?

i wanna try this again and maybe a support group can help. i dunno.... and so here i am. i'm almost 50 and my weight is really starting to take its toll on my feet, hip, and knee joints - and if i don't do something about it soon, i'm gonna end up in a wheelchair headed for an early checkout.

[Chrisydj]

from my experience you gotta fix the psycological aspect first and then the rest just seems to fall into place. I know it is easier said than done but it seems to have worked for me. I faced all the things that I had been ignoring, the problems with my mom and i and my sister and i finally realized that i dont deserve to be treated the way i was letting people treat me that i was worthy of being loved that i deserved to be loved once i finally realized that i was able to start doing what i need to do to get healthy which is change my life not go on a diet because diets never work because a diet is temporary we no longer buy candies and cookies seldom order out for pizza at least not when i'm home i eat smaller meals but more often and i try not to skip any meals like i used to plus getting off my butt and moving helps even just walking around the block is better than nothing to start

[Obesity Discussion]

I couldn't agree more on the correlation between weight and happiness for some people. As far as things you can do to help you along, here are some great tips:

http://www.obesitydiscussion.com/for...eres-3689.html

Could you get someone to join you in your weight loss quest? At the end of the day you need to find a reason to motivate you enough to do this, whether it be living longer, being there to see your grandkids, feeling better, looking better, having more energy, having less health risks, or just in general to do it for yourself, because you deserve it!

If you'd like to start a topic in the blog section and track your progress, you'll get a lot of support from us! We can also help you with counting calories if you'd like.

[ccwilloe]

thank you for your replies and yes,o.d., i can do that.
i am new here and wish to navigate around this site as well to get familiar with it.

[healthy_drinkr]

Originally Posted by ccwilloe

some folks say you have to love yourself first but i'm not sure what that means.

Self-love is very, very different for every person. You'll have to identify something that is at your core value. Something that is so valuable to you that it will drive your emotionally to do ANYTHING.

There are 4 basic emotions: happiness, sadness, anger and fear.

You need to tap into 1 or more of these emotions, and use them as your driving force to lose weight permanently.

For example, there are highly successful professionals in the workplace who are very, very confident about themselves, well respected in their communities as, enviable role models as parents, and maybe even talented as athletes and/or musicians.

These people have had to have a lot of self-love in order to develop their skills and personality at a level to achieve all these wonderful things.

Yet they are overweight, and they themselves admit that they can do better...but somehow can't overcome this specific hurdle.

Maybe they have this deep fear of being slim & attractive. Maybe they've had some bad experiences in the past associated with being slim & attractive. Something so painful, that their minds bury it so deep, that they are unaware how it affects them.

Without adequate self-love, then self-sabotage takes over.

Yes, I agree with Chrissydj...this is the first thing you need to address.

[Mollymouser]

For me, my "happiness" wasn't so much weight-related, as health-related. 85 pounds ago, I had no energy, poor mobility, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and was on 4 insulin shots per day. I was NOT happy. Though I am still incredibly overweight, my mobility is much better, I have tons of energy, my cholesterol is normal, my blood pressure is normal, I am OFF insulin, and I'm VERY happy. (Buying smaller clothes will really cheer you up, trust me!) In some ways, I do believe that improved nutrition and the knowledge that I am eating a healthy diet and getting exercise has gone a long way to improve how I feel about myself and my body.

You can do this!!!!!

=^..^= MOLLY

[Erin]

I'm sort of the opposite.. I'm always the skinniest when I'm stressed out and depressed. I stop eating during those times, and shed pounds in very unhealthy ways. Then when I get my life back together, I start eating and gain more than I lost. That's how I got to the weight I'm at right now. I lose 20 lbs within 6 months after my dad passed away, stayed at that weight with no energy for another 6 months, then finally started eating right again and gained back 35 lbs.