ty

Pam........i know diddly about ed, but it sounds eerily like drug addiction, i've nioticed that for a long time........and i do know something about that!

daughter Carrie's ex-b/f is going to N/A meetings to try and stay off the coke, and Carrie is going with him for support, and she likes the meetings too, the people there are great and supportive.........and nobody undertands like someone who's been there..........

point is, most addicts who quit do it with outside help........it is necessary, period, few can do it alone though everyone thinks they can at first..........

of course i'm probably dead wrong (which is fine), but it's possible a good group there (if there is one) could help?????  i reckon it's like narcotics anonymous, at least the people there have been/are going through it, not just preaching..........i've seen that aspect reach a few addicts when nothing else did..........

 

just a thought, Pam, i'm not supposing i know what's best for you........just that sometimes what has helped a few others might be worth a try

 

sheesh, when i quit my major addiction many years ago, there wasn't anything by way of support, so  it can be done........took me over a year to quit though, and i had to get out of town where i knew too many people, i hitched 3000 miles to Vancouver and by the time i got back 3-4 months later, i was 99% off the stuff.........i don't advise you to do the same in this day and age!!!

 

luck, Pam     i'm around if you ever want to talk about it

Lol, go Pam!! (the lol is 'cause i sound like a cheerleader!  go team!).  it's good you're wrestling with all aspects of the problem, though i know it's stressful beyond endurance sometimes.  but what else can ya do?  giving up is not an option, if you want to move forward.  it's just so hard to conquer though, right?

 

I know with drug addiction, people focus on the physical addiction, not realising that all the underlying psychlological factors have to be dealt with.  say that to most addicts, and you get "duh?".  but of course, something led to self-medication in the first place, with most anyway--there's the odd addict that was just naive and got hooked by mistake & lack of knowledge.  i think ya have to go deep (obvious, isn't it?) and wrestle it out.

 

I don't know if these drug addiction analogies are true, but it's a way for me to think about ED and try to understand it.  i was wired to speed (methamphetamine) for a couple years, and quitting also involved (as i cme to learn) replacing the effect of both the drug  and the habits of that particular world........i think they call it "getting a life"?  perhaps any obsession/addiction takes over gradually, until all you're doing is fighting the thing that comforts you!

 

I guess i don't understand ED 'cause for me, food is just fuel, lol, just throw down some carbs and protein and sally forth to do battle with life (i almost said reality!!  maybe closer to the truth?).  like sleep, it's just something the body needs to keep functioning, and cerebral crackpot that i am i sometimes resent the necessity, but--there ya go, no one has yet figured out a way to do without.  though while i was a speedfreak, i had the "sleep problem" solved, i think i crashed 2-3 times a week for a couple years........and it sure took it's toll in the long run!!  got the most out of those summers, though...........

 

i have an idea, but i don't want to seem a know-it-all (i sure don't know it all!) or whatever..........but if you have the means to do it...........step 1--throw away all the food that's bad for ya (you know what it is, i don't, but start with chocolate!)..........step 2--when you get cravings, go for a brisk walk or, even better, abuse an exercise bike until you're gasping for breath and sweat is running off your chin.  sounds terrible, but after you get your breath back you feel great!  and good about yourself.  (i did).  it's hard to shift momentum, it takes time, but time you got........

 

I'm not being holier-than-though here........i'm still addicted to cigarettes, and i'll only get off 'em by doing what i said above (though it ain't the chocolate that i need to throw out!).  me ex. bike and weights await me, so it's up to me to "buckk up my grit and see to 'er".

 

jeez, that's way more than i was going to say.............gotta stop 'fore my puter runs out of words, and i gotta send to Mr. Gates for a shipment of vocabulary!  take care.......

Hi ya Jim..(((Hugs)))..Thanks!..I appreciate it muchly as always..I don't hear "holier than thou" in your words..I hear understanding bout something you know, addiction, and I respect that..I have faith that if you can beat drug addiction you can beat the cigarettes..There is a way and you will find it..

 

I understood the emotional aspects of ED many many years ago but never was enough..It's been so damn frustrating!..Came so close to giving up countless times..Since I can remember food had control over me..Like a drug..I would lie for food..Steal for food..Not proud of it but what's done is done..I just existed for food..When I binged I lost myself..I had absolutely no control..I was just numb..I would eat till I was sick and pass out just from sheer exhaustion..Binging gave me a high or it would make me crash..It definitely affected my moods..It all just depended on what I ate, I suppose as well as other factors Iam sure..As long as I felt it was in control I was in a depression..It all started cause of a low self esteem as well as emotions I didn't know how to deal with but I couldn't stop once it got ahold of me..I remember when I started binging..It's clear..16 years old..Wanna get back at the world for the hurts thrown at me so I take it out on myself to teach them a lesson..LMAO..Didn't work..Who I wanted to get back at didn't care..I had a rough time in school with kids..They can be so damn cruel..Was a bad time all around..Parents were getting a divorce..Was confused..The more I binged the more depressed I got..When I got  my first job ..wow.. I had the power to buy my own food and boy did I ever..I started eating secretly..Chocolate was always there..Never a day without it in abundance..In high school I completely sunk down..I was gaining weight..I hated myself..Boyfriend at the time dumped me..I spiraled out of control..Had a few dark years..Was hard..Gained alot of weight..

 

Off and on I learned tools here and there throughout the years which I always tried to apply to my life but they never worked for very long..A few days..Maybe a week and I was back to binging again..It never got any easier..It just got harder..I once lost 70 pounds which I never could figure out how I did it..Did I just want it that bad enough that I just made it happen?..No..Cause that would mean that now I don't want it that bad?..That all these years struggling I never wanted it as bad?..BS..I didn't eat any chocolate and I cut out sugar when I lost that weight..I never made the connection till now..All this time I have been kicking myself cause I wasn't strong enough or wise enough to beat it..I truely thought it was going to get the better of me..I know now it was cause I was making the same mistake over and over just not realizing it..I had to avoid certain foods as they had an affect on me I didn't realize..Its gonna be 2 weeks soon since I have had any chocolate..It's been 2 weeks since I have binged out of control..The longer I go without it the better I feel..Iam gonna go along while without it..Maybe just cut it from my life forever..It's so not worth the hell it puts me through..

Good for you Pam, sounds like you've discovered a key thing.  Now you're rockin'.........

I never forgot the advice an overweight friend of mine got years ago, after trying all kinds of diets and complicated strategies. Some old guy told her, "eat lean and exercise", and that did the trick.  If you think about it, "lean" excludes sugary treats, including most baked goodies, as well as fried foods, fatty meat, etc.  The very simplicity of it struck me, and my friend too.  She discovered that following (roughly) the diets of native peoples was wonderful.  Worth studying, anyway.  I've known weightlifters who stuck with chicken or turkey breast, some low-fat dairy, veggies and fruit--period.  They had no trouble sticking to that, I guess 'cause if you've got the willpower to pump iron several times a week, the diet is easy!

Did you know (I'm sure you do) that muscle tissue burns calories even at rest?  A muscular person lying on the sofa is still burning calories...........whereas fat tissue is just inert.  I know from my workouts that my metabolism was way faster, at times I couldn't eat enough, it was like shoveling coal into a furnace.  And I found that what I read in the muscle mags was true, when you're right into a workout regimen, your body won't let you eat what's bad for you.  It simply demands wholesome food.  I thought that was kinda neat.......I think we evolved to work physically, and if we don't we are open to physical and mental ills that just shouldn't happen.  They say, hard work never killed anyone, maybe so maybe not, but I'm sure lack of physical work is really harmful.  Slothful soul that I am, it's actually been good that I've done hard work all these years.  I can't imagine the shape I'd be in if I'd been a desk jockey for the last 3 decades!

 

Keep workin' on it Pam, kick that chocolate right outta there and go forward.........life can be a peach, just waiting for you to squeeze the juice out of it!  ('course, I'm not mentioning the inevitable pit......brooding on that won't get us anywhere!)