Overeating

[Zod]

I feel sometimes better if I over-eat, especially when I have to sit down and focus on something. Often when I start something, and I am eating healthy doses, I feel like some sort of emptiness, and restlessness and also tiredness. Easily distracted.

When I eat a lot, and drink a lot of soda, I kind of feel more at ease to just sit down and be productive/creative. The trouble is that this can't be healthy, and will probably result in me being overweight, which I already slightly am.

Could it be diabetes? Some sort of blood-sugar problem?

 

[selon]

Well, only a doctor can give you a reliable answer. But depending on how long you've been doing this it might lead to diabetes.. I used to overeat a lot.. considering the amount of food I ate I'm surprised that I'm only slightly overweight.. losing 16 pounds would be great. ^__^ It's definitely not healthy. Changing your diet will help, going on a diet would probably be the worst thing to do (been there, done that). We need to find out WHY we are overeating before we can successfully stop doing it! Hard journey though 0_o

 

[Caderyn]

I know the feeling, over the last year I started eating for comfort as well. I weighed about 115 lbs a year ago and hit 175 last time I was at the doctors. Blood pressure has gone up and I'm not very comfortable with the increase. Still, I end up eating just to feel good even if I say I want to cut back. That said, over eating is certainly not healthy but like selon just said... we need to know why we do it and cutting back isn't always easy once we start.

 

[MikeyC]

It could be an eating disorder, mate. You need food to help you mentally. Selon hit the nail on the head that simply changing your diet is unlikely to help. You have to get to the reason why you're eating so much and what triggers such bad eating choices.

I have a similar problem, so I relate all too well. Good luck, mate.

 

[Zod]

It would seem like it's a mental thing.

Sometimes even when I feel mentally good I have this problem. So I am leaning towards something physical. But maybe it's depression or unhappiness after all, and just hiding beneath the surface.

 

[MikeyC]

It would seem like it's a mental thing.

Sometimes even when I feel mentally good I have this problem. So I am leaning towards something physical. But maybe it's depression or unhappiness after all, and just hiding beneath the surface.

It's almost certainly a mental thing.

Depression can make you eat. If eating makes you feel good, then you're going to do it to subconsciously defeat depression. It doesn't work, though.

That's why working out why you eat so much is a good way to go.

 

[Odo]

It's because your blood sugar is spiking and giving you a temporary boost, which is going to be followed by a crash. A lot of the food out there is designed to be addictive, as they have practically all nutritional value intentionally stripped from them and are basically just salt, fat or sugar and that's it... and all of those things have a similar effect to drugs.

There are so many empty calories in snacks and even some meals that you couldn't possibly feel satisfied with what you're eating for very long... these calories can't be used by your body in any meaningful way except to be stored as fat.

It's going to be hard to quit this stuff cold turkey because it's basically the same as smoking crack, but what you can do is slowly wean yourself off of it. I would definitely start with the soda, because that's probably the worst thing-- you're basically drinking a cup of sugar and the fact that it's a liquid means your body doesn't have to spend very much time breaking it down, so it goes straight to your flab.

If you go for walks and stop drinking soda, you'll feel better... I wouldn't concentrate on being thin right now, because you can be big and healthy... but it's going to be hard to be healthy if you're drinking a lot of soda.

 

[Zod]

Good post Odo.

I've struggled with this for a pretty long time. I've always had quite unhealthy eating habits as a kid (some chips and soda every night) and into adulthood I try to eat healthy, but from time to time I just give in to the urge to eat too much, because that restless/tired feeling that prevents me from being active occurs again. And then it becomes an addiction, vicious cycle kind of thing. The day after binge eating you feel a big energy crash, so you eat more again... It probably also correlates with sleep.

About two years ago I went broke for periods of time and sometimes survived on things like a jar of chocolate spread or peanutbutter for a day. I think that messed my health up even more and may have had lasting effects.

I think I'll test for diabetes soon. I'm sure part of it is mental as well. Also.exercising should become more regular and daily. Need to snap out of the unhealthy habits.

 

[Odo]

If you eat right you'll have more energy and that will help to motivate you to exercise... if you haven't been getting any exercise don't start with too much or it will get hard and you'll stop doing it. You'll probably feel great for the first few weeks or months but then it will get hard and you'll start to slack off... this happens a lot.

I would just say start by cutting out soda and going for a walk every night for half an hour. That's easy enough that it won't feel like you're seriously inconveniencing yourself. After a while, you can walk for longer or start jogging. Then you can throw in some pushups before you go out... and then some burpees, etc. etc.

I think a big part of why people fail at dieting/exercise is because they want to do it all at once and go from fat to thin in 2 months or something and they burn themselves out. You have all the time in the world to do this so it makes more sense to ease yourself into it. When you've gotten yourself into the habit of exercising and eating right it's going to be a lot easier than pushing yourself to do too much too soon.

You do need to push yourself a little, though.

 

[zen_mistress]

I kind of think that compulsive eating is a habit which fills a void. And I think it resembles obsessive compulsive disorder more than many things. And many people who do it also have depression. It is a complex issue.

 

[Zod]

I think a big part of why people fail at dieting/exercise is because they want to do it all at once and go from fat to thin in 2 months or something and they burn themselves out. You have all the time in the world to do this so it makes more sense to ease yourself into it. When you've gotten yourself into the habit of exercising and eating right it's going to be a lot easier than pushing yourself to do too much too soon.

That's true. There is no quick fix when it comes to becoming healthy, it takes some steady discipline and patience, and a sense of control of habits.

I've decided to do a few things:
- Quit coffee. This stuff only makes me more stressful and moodswingy. Liquid stress.
- Same goes for soda.
- Eat healthy portions, 3 meals a day, with small healthy snacks inbetween and really take the time to sit down and eat. No more snacking on bed with the laptop with no sense of what I'm eating.
- Eat before I go shopping, so that I don't feel hungry and buy unhealthy crap.
- No eating at the maximum 2 hours before bedtime. This is really difficult for me, because I work nightshifts which causes a lot of impulsive eating. I will have to carry on the regular healthy eating patterns at night as well. I noticed that when eating close to bedtime will make me more fatigued when I wake up.

- Atleast half an hour of walking a day. I already walk the 20 minutes to work often. I have a gym membership and have jogged, but very irregular and I couldn't stick to goals. I feel it's probably best if I follow Odo's advice and ease into it some more, whilst getting my eating habits on a good track.

 

[MikeyC]

It's going to be hard to quit this stuff cold turkey because it's basically the same as smoking crack, but what you can do is slowly wean yourself off of it. I would definitely start with the soda, because that's probably the worst thing-- you're basically drinking a cup of sugar and the fact that it's a liquid means your body doesn't have to spend very much time breaking it down, so it goes straight to your flab.

This is very true. I have heard that sugar is one of the most, if not the most, addictive substance in the world. Even if not #1, it has to be close.

If you go for walks and stop drinking soda, you'll feel better... I wouldn't concentrate on being thin right now, because you can be big and healthy... but it's going to be hard to be healthy if you're drinking a lot of soda.

This is also true that you can be big and healthy. In fact, being healthy and overweight is better for you than being thin and unhealthy. Besides, once you eat healthy, even only for a couple of days, you will notice an increase in natural energy.

I think a big part of why people fail at dieting/exercise is because they want to do it all at once and go from fat to thin in 2 months or something and they burn themselves out. You have all the time in the world to do this so it makes more sense to ease yourself into it. When you've gotten yourself into the habit of exercising and eating right it's going to be a lot easier than pushing yourself to do too much too soon.

You do need to push yourself a little, though.

I guess it depends on the person, whether easing into weight loss is going to work, because if I try to cut one bad thing out of my diet, but leave ten other things in, I will wonder what the point is. It's either all or nothing, but that's just me. Perhaps Zod is different.

I agree that you have to push yourself. Weight loss requires some amount of suffering, so keep that in mind.

Zod, also remember this: be patient. You can't diet and exercise for a week and hope to have a six-pack. These things do take time and it's even more so a mental battle to keep on track, particularly during those weeks you see little to no results from your healthy lifestyle. I wish you nothing but luck, mate!

 

[MikeyC]

I've decided to do a few things:
- Quit coffee. This stuff only makes me more stressful and moodswingy. Liquid stress.
- Same goes for soda.

...

- Atleast half an hour of walking a day. I already walk the 20 minutes to work often. I have a gym membership and have jogged, but very irregular and I couldn't stick to goals. I feel it's probably best if I follow Odo's advice and ease into it some more, whilst getting my eating habits on a good track.

Not to make this about me, but I think my dislike of soda and coffee, and my enjoyment of walking, is keeping me at an overweight level, and not an obese level, considering the amount of chocolate I eat.