Thin Blog

Posts Tagged ‘emotional eating’

If you are overweight and really want to make a change in your life to become thin and are considering weight loss surgery we want to get your attention for a moment.  You are obese and you not only want to lose weight, you need to lose weight for health reasons.  You are considering the option of weight loss surgery and that is alright, but we really want you to stop and think for more than a moment.  Weight loss surgery may cure obesity in the short term but it may not cure you for the long-term.  In fact, weight loss surgery may create more issues than in the long term than you realize.

Not too long ago I went out to dinner with a friend of mine and he had weight loss surgery about 18 months ago.  Back when the surgery was recent he could only eat a nugget and a french fry with a few sips of water.  Since the time he has had the surgery he lost over 100 pounds and that is great.  It is what I saw next that really caused me to worry about the reality of weight loss surgery.  Not too long ago we were out to eat and I was shocked with the fact that he ate an entire meal.  He had a bit of bread, drank soda with a straw and ate a meal that anyone would be able to eat, surgery or not.

While we were eating he was still basking in the reality that he lost so much weight but he said that the weight loss had slowed down quite a bit.  He said it was normal for the slower loss but what was not normal was how much food he was able to eat.  It was obvious to me that his stomach pouch is expanding again and is getting larger with every meal.  I feel as if he is setting himself up again for weight gain and more obesity issues.

What we have learned over the years is that food is only the end product of obesity and the root cause of obesity is never merely food.  What we mean is that there is always an emotional issue that causes a person to over eat.  For some people there may be binge eating while others may have issues with eating as a relief for some emotional insecurity, such as suffering from lonliness. The superstar trainer Jillian Michaels covers this subject quickly on almost every Biggest Loser episode.  She is always clawing her way past the tears to reveal what causes the personal issue that is behind the obesity that her contestants deal with.  What is revealed so often is that obesity is only the end result of some emotional roller coaster ride.

As you consider the option of weight loss surgery you need to be aware that surgery is merely a business.  As nice as that doctor may seem you are merely a down payment on that new car or summer home.  Weight loss surgery will never be able to force you to put that fork down.  Weight loss surgery will not heal the emotional wounds that caused you to overeat in the first place.  These are the issues that need to be resolved prior to any weight loss diet, meal plan or surgery.

As with any diet or meal plan you need to be committed for weight loss surgery to work.  Do not think that by merely having surgery you will never have to be concerned with your weight again.  The fact is that after the surgery you will have to be very concerned with what you eat and how much you eat.  If you do not cure or deal with the emotional issues before you have the surgery there is a good chance you will be forced to deal with it after the surgery.

Weight loss is not something that you can decide to do on Monday and be done with it by Saturday. Granted weight loss surgery will speed the entire process up, but for the mere mortals among us it needs to become a fairly long journey. The hardest part for many people is the changing of the habits that got them over weight in the first place. One of the habits I deal with daily is eating as a form of entertainment.

Sometimes I just love to use food as a comfort item. I like to eat as a backdrop when I watch TV or read the paper. It really amazes me to realize that I think of food almost all day long. I decide early what to eat for dinner and plan lunch out for work so I do not go hungry. I think about where to eat and what to eat and who I will eat with. I plan many of my events around food. My spouse and I always go out for a bite to eat and have friendly bickering sessions to decide on what restaurant. Eating has evolved into an actual pastime that requires alot of thoughts throughout the day to complete. The sad and ironic part is the actions I take while eating. Think for a moment about your eating habits because I bet they are alot like my old habits.

When I used to eat I would spend too much time thinking about food and when it came time to eat I ignored what I was doing. I would break out lunch and read the paper. I would sit down for dinner in front of the television. I would spend too much time thinking about food only to ignore the food while I was in the act of eating! Now that I look back I was pretty lame about my eating habits and it was no wonder I was over weight.

I have since learned to pay a bit more attention to the act of eating. I enjoy my food more and I pay attention to not only my food but also to my body. When I now eat I am more in tune with the portion size of the food and do not just fill up the plate. I cut back on the portions because when I eat slower I give myself the time to hear my belly advise me to stop eating. I have become more attuned to not only the food but also to myself.

I now use food for what it needs to be. I use it to sustain my life and well being. I no longer use food as a form of entertainment. The odd part is that I have learned to appreciate food more now than when I just shoveled it into my mouth. I guess my mind, body and food are all kind of on the same page now.

Food……… it should not be eaten for entertainment.

The other day I felt as if I could not stop eating.  It was the cookies, the candy, the pizza and anything else I could get my hands on.  I was binge eating and I knew I was, and yet I could not stop myself from the simple act of eating.  I was eating non-stop and was powerless to stop myself.  Knowing that I really want to lose weight it made me wonder what my problem is really all about.  I have watched Jillian Michaels on The Biggest Loser counsel enough players to know that THEY all had issues that they needed to deal with in order to lose weight.  In my wildest dreams and over the course of seven seasons, I never really thought I had a problem.  It was not until I tried a new weight loss product called Sensa, which is suppose to help control how much a person eats.

I like Sensa and I know that it is working for me because I now pay more attention to the fact that I am eating when I am no longer hungry.  I am not here to extol the virtues of Sensa, I am here to lay out the fact that I now realize that I have difficulty stopping to eat when I am full.  I know now that being full is no excuse for me to stop shoveling food into my mouth and for the first time it has made me realize that I am an emotional eater.  I know that I have little self-control when it comes to putting down the fork during a meal.  I now, for the first time in my life realize that the reason I suffer from being overweight is because I have the same type of issues that Jillian Michael’s speaks about.

Now that I can make the statement that I have emotional eating issues I know that something needs to be done.  I now know it is not because I eat the wrong foods, it is not because I like pizza.  I now realize that I just like to eat.  I have used food as a form of entertainment, as a way to pass the time while sitting in front ot the television.  I know now that I need to break the chains of this addiction.

You may say that I have become aware that I am a food addict.  Me being a Internet type of person I typed in “food Addict” on Google and was given the following link: http://www.foodaddictsanonymous.org/faq.htm#plan

That link provides a path to a free organization that has a fair amount of stuff to read.  What really caught my eye was the phone conferences that are free and all you do is call and you are in a meeting with others?  No cost, no fees, just help.  I am new to this site, but I will be checking it out.  Maybe I will see you out there one day soon.