| The word diet tends to get to me to because diet means restrictions. If
I'm told I can't have something that only makes me want it more. I
recently lost 50 lbs on Weight Watchers. One thing they are very strong
on is that their program is not a diet but a food plan for life. I lost
my 50 lbs and still was able to enjoy an occasional candy bar, piece of
birthday cake with my family, etc without ever going off the food plan.
Due to that I never felt cheated or deprived so I didn't end up going
into a binge which I have done many times before when I've gone on
"diets." Hope these thoughts might be helpful to you. Diane.
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| Marie,
You really need to understand why you eat. You said you always think about
food. Why is that? You also said you eat more food than normal when you are
on a diet. Why?
It's obvious that food plays a bigger part in your life than just sustenance.
What you need to do is understand what part it plays. Right now, you are trying
to change your behavior, but you don't understand what the behaviour is you are
trying to change. For me, food represented comfort and reward. When I felt
lousy, I ate to feel better. When I felt great, I celebrated with food. I was
the one, who at a Chinese buffet, would reward myself for cleaning my plate by
filling it up again!
Another thing to consider is that your fat is a part of you. Think about the
psychological issues surrounding the loss of an arm, leg, breast, or even the
issues many people have regarding having their tubes tied or a vasectomy. We
tend to say "yeah but that's losing a part or a function that's normal, fat
isn't normal". Well, the truth is, fat is normal for everybody, and more
important, your fat is normal for you. So, you need to understand what it
would mean to you to lose your fat. Again, for me, my fat played a very
important role. It always kept me out of the social situations that I was
certain I would fail at. And for me, failure = mega food!
When I went thru Optifast, the psychologist helped me to understand the whys
and wherefores, and made it clear that I was not the only person who thought
like I did.
At your weight, a weight loss program could be covered under your health plan,
as long as it was medically supervised. You should ask your doctor about it.
If you can do it, see a psychologist. I've said a lot in here about realistic
goal setting. Perhaps the most realistic goal you could set for a weight
control program is to understand yourself as you are today.
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| Marie, I was the same way for a long time. I would manage to diet
for a couple of hours, maybe, and once or twice a few weeks - and
all that feeling of deprivation would build up and I would go out
on a binge to end all binges!!
The other problem is that, like you said, diets make you think about
food, and thinking about food was my problem. I was always thinking
about food. I was focused on food. I was *obsessed* with food.
Either I was obsessed with eating it (binging) or obsessed with not
eating it (diets). Either way, that was my focus.
What I found for myself was that I was a compulsive overeater and
no diet ever would work for me. For me, the only thing that works
is looking to other compulsive overeaters with the same problem and
learning to not be obsessed with food. If my food obsession decreases,
I lose weight without "dieting". So I go to Overeater's Anonymous
and I love it, it saves me.
This may or may not be right for you, but you might want to
consider it. Feel free to contact me off-line if you want to know
more.
Either way, good luck! It's a hard path, but I have faith you can do
it!
Hugs,
D!
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