You have to replace one addiction with another.

Try to make your replacement addiction a healthy one.

That simple.

What about doing a cup of herbal tea or chewing gum.

You’ve gotten good substantive advice here, my one tip (I struggle similarly) is to have cups of unsweetened herbal mint tea when these urges hit. Sometimes just subbing in the tea will “scratch the itch.”

You need to remove all the junk from your house the same way an alcoholic would remove all the alcohol.

Only keep healthy food in your house.

You’ve probably messed up your insulin levels so I would pick two days in a row that you can eat only organic fruits and vegetables.

You can drink a juice from one of those juice bars, you can eat fruit all you want, you can make vegetable soup, you can eat dates to stave off sweets. But only fruits and vegetables for two days.

After two days, see if you feel like you don’t need to binge eat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about talking to someone professionally? It looks like your solutions are to focus on the eating but I think you have to focus on the feelings/situation (which is much harder).

My therapist thinks it’s an addiction brought on as a trauma response. Like, some people chose drugs, some alcohol, some sex, and I’m numbing with food.

Vyvanse can help with this, it is prescribed to treat Binge Eating Disorder. It helps quiet the food noise similar to the way GLP-1s do without the gastro side effects that could complicate your IBS.

A combination of vyvanse and wellbutrin (not just an anti-depressant) helped me a lot when I was in the throes of food addiction.

It's not as swift of a "cure" chemically-speaking as GLP-1s, but it helps put your brain back in a place where it is more receptive to therapy and treating the why behind the food addiction.

You need a therapist who specialises in ED, which, essentially, is what you have.

Anonymous wrote:What about calling a friend to talk in the evenings, so you don’t snack? Or straight up leaving the house. Walk around somewhere instead of getting all up in your feelings/pantry?

Most of my friends are asleep or I wouldn’t feel like imposing myself at that late an hour. I have little ones here so it’s not easy to just leave. I appreciate these suggestions.

Anonymous wrote:Are you talking about talking to someone professionally? It looks like your solutions are to focus on the eating but I think you have to focus on the feelings/situation (which is much harder).

My therapist thinks it’s an addiction brought on as a trauma response. Like, some people chose drugs, some alcohol, some sex, and I’m numbing with food.

Are you talking about talking to someone professionally? It looks like your solutions are to focus on the eating but I think you have to focus on the feelings/situation (which is much harder).

What about calling a friend to talk in the evenings, so you don’t snack? Or straight up leaving the house. Walk around somewhere instead of getting all up in your feelings/pantry?

Anonymous wrote:Are you exercising? With the days getting longer, an evening walk after dinner could be helpful to break the cycle.

Yes, I've actually been waking more in the evening since the days are longer and more temperate. I also weight train 3-4 days a week. I’m hoping to increase that, too.

Are you exercising? With the days getting longer, an evening walk after dinner could be helpful to break the cycle.

Anonymous wrote:First off. I'm sorry about the trauma you experienced. Don't judge yourself for your new-you.
You may have found comfort in food at the beginning and now you realize that food may not be as satisfactory as you first felt.
Specific advice? You can always go the therapy path (i know, hard to find a therapist). Start easy... maybe online?
Also, if you want specific food help, try a guide and help. I've done Noom for a year and I like it. It's SLOW but you may see results faster than me. Also, it talks a lot about non-food relationships.
And, lastly... by kind to yourself. Weight is not WHO you are. You got this!

Thank you so much for this post. Something you said really resonated with me: I found comfort in food initially, but it’s not satisfying me anymore; now it’s bringing me down! I’m writing this on a sticky note now, so I can remind myself of this FACT. Thank you for this.

First off. I'm sorry about the trauma you experienced. Don't judge yourself for your new-you.
You may have found comfort in food at the beginning and now you realize that food may not be as satisfactory as you first felt.
Specific advice? You can always go the therapy path (i know, hard to find a therapist). Start easy... maybe online?
Also, if you want specific food help, try a guide and help. I've done Noom for a year and I like it. It's SLOW but you may see results faster than me. Also, it talks a lot about non-food relationships.
And, lastly... by kind to yourself. Weight is not WHO you are. You got this!

Almost six months ago I experienced a devastating trauma, and after the initial shock wore off, I began eating. I suppose you could call it “eating my feelings”, because that’s exactly what I would do. But I’ve gained 10lb since then and I’m beginning to not recognize myself. I needed to lose 10lb even before the event, and now I’m up 20lb and bloated and just know I’m not taking care of myself.

Every night I vow that the next day I won’t “eat my feelings”, and I’m good most of the day, but then after dinner it’s like I lose my mind.

I’ve tried everything I’ve ever read here (brush your teeth, just go to bed, etc) I’ve tried advice from my therapist (mindfulness, meditation, distraction). My doctor won’t prescribe the meds because my BMI is too normal and she thinks it would escalate the issues I already have with IBS-C since it slows down your digestion. Nothing seems to work because I’m always convincing myself that “tomorrow will be different”. But I’m disgusting and hate feeling this way. Please don’t attack me, but I’d love any advice you have.