HELP!!

Hi, I havn't posted in awhile, but I need some help. I have been working with my doctor, jumping through the hoops to get approved for wls. I recently lost my job and no longer have insurance to help pay for the surgery and without it there is no way i can afford it.   My problem is that I am a food addict. I can't control my hunger, or my eating, and I desperatly need to gain control now. I have just about hit rock bottom today, when I noticed at the ripe old age of 27, I can barely get out of a chair because my knees hurt so much (because I am almost 400 pounds). I don't want to live like this anymore. I've tried so many diets and so many exercise programs with little or no results that I just dont' know what to do anymore. If anyone has any advice, comments or help, please, please, lend me your wisdom! Thanks!

Hiya,      Welcome, from another food addict!       First off, you need to put some strategies in place so you don't just have to rely on willpower. 1.  ALL of us make mistakes/have bad days/fall off the wagon.  You have to release any guilt about when this happens.  It's that old pattern of guilt that makes us follow one binge/inappropriate food with another and another.  Let mistakes be isolated incidents and move on. 2. Start squeezing in 100-120 oz of water a day.  It will help to dull your hunger. 3.  Pick how many calories you should reasonably eat in a day and divide them up between 5-6 "mini meals."  This keeps your metabolism running at a steady state and prevents extreme hunger. 4. Prioritize your food groups as if you were a post-op patient: lean proteins first, then veggies, then fruits, then whole grain carbs.  Avoid simple sugars like the plague (they'll spike your blood sugar and trigger more hunger). 5. Clean your trigger foods out of your house.  Don't be a martyr.  Personally, if I had a birthday cake sitting on my kitchen counter all the time, I would NEVER be able to lose weight.  It's a bad trigger for me and always causes a binge. 6. Finally, figure out a cardio exercise you can do.  Start slow in intensity and time and build slowly over time (but try to do it every day).  This will also keep your metabolism running normally and is the best way to remove fat.  Once you're down a bit in weight, then starting some resistance training to build muscle becomes a second important part of the equation.      Please check in often.  A vital part of successful weight loss/maintenance is a support group of like-minded people.  Good luck and hope to see you often!

Julie has laid it out nicely. You're definitely not alone. Everyone on this site is a food addict.  The important thing you have to realize is that you can do this and if you are able to lose weight without WLS then you don't need WLS to reach your goal.  If you can't afford it, forget about it. It's not an option.  My recommendation is to read over what Julie has posted and learn it. Start trying to change your thinking.  Don't do it all in one day either.  The very first thing I would do is start telling yourself everytime you think about it "I am getting healthy. I don't have far to go. This is something I can definitely do. I am getting fit!".  Just try it! I know it sounds corny but you'd be amazed at what you can do just by thinking.  Next thing is just drop out the soda and other things that you drink and replace them with water. Start small...remember baby steps. If you can't drink 80 ounces then start with 20 ounces and try to drink more everyday. Just try to do this for a week. Eat whatever you want for now and keep telling yourself that you're getting healthy and  making healthier choices. Immerse yourself in learning about nutrition and weight loss. Get active on this forum and talk to your friends about it. Get support from everyone. I bet you after the first week you'll want to go run marathons and eat tofu! hahah okay kidding about the tofu but I bet you will start wanting more.  Then you'll lose that 5 or so lbs right off the bat and ohhh that feels so good!  Just take small steps, don't try to rush anything, it's gonna take time and you're gonna succeed and you're gonna goof up. We're here for you through everything...unless I get fired and I lose my house and everything..but then I hear there are java cafe's with free computers and internet.... wonder if they'll make be buy a latte?

Yup yup, welcome to hell - here's your accordian, sweetie! If you had gone to Heaven, youda got a harp.  But you're here. Start playin, sister. Julie did a great job right there laying out the basics.  of course, i HAVE to add SOMETHING. Plan your meals ahead of time and eat nothing different from what you laid out based on balance for 3 days. Plane 3 squares and 2 high protein snacks (string cheese, hard boiled egg, etc).  For these few days, don't try to worry about portions, just lean meats, veggies with no mayo or butter, plain fruit, low fat dairy.  If you cannot afford lean meats just now, okay, whatever you make for your family - spaghetti, chili mac, just have a good sized portion. Frozen spinach or turnip greens are cheap and use those as a side dish.  Don't like 'em?  Don't care - eat like you are trying to change your life, like good medicine.  wa**** down with water. Buy a bag of apples and have one at one of your meals daily.  Canned or frozen fruit, low to no sugar, buy it, di**** up, eat that. No desserts, no "extra" foods = chips, dips, etc.  Next step:  plan smaller portions of these good foods. As I have said, bulimics are treated this way - a healthy diet. - Who knew????  Your body may be filled with junk and it is crying for good food, which is why you feel hungry alla time.  Feed it what it craves and you will be amazed.  Most fat people are actually terrified to eat regular meals. We tend to think we aren't going to get hungry, then when we do, we go ape**** and clean out the cupboards.

Read old posts, a few of us are Overeater Anonymous folks and will lay down some of that wisdom.  If you have a group in your town, GO.  No matter what you think about it, drag your butt there for 6 meetings before quitting. Even if you hate it, even if you cry, i don't care.  Set your watch and be there.  Please come back, even to lurk, you will be moved by one of us, i promise. best of luck, hun.

Girl, I had to lose weight fast before my WLS and I went the Atkin's road.  It worked for me really nicely, I never felt deprived, and I could eat whatever portion I wanted (because I'm a food-addict aswell).  I would suggest Atkin's.  Read the book (the version that was written in 2002) and follow it to the T.  That's my opinion.

I have a suggestion.  Since you recognize that you are a food addict, why not attend a meeting of Overeaters Anonymous.  They can help you address your addiction, and arrest it, one day at a time.  It's a spiritual program, so you can get the support of the OA group plus the help of your Higher Power, whatever you conceive that to be.  I have gotten real help, since I was failing miserably at Weigh****chers.  Please try attending several types of meetings, since each one is a little different.  If you attend a "lead" meeting, you will hear other people's stories at how they succeeded at controlling their food addictions. Lovingly, Denise Phares

These guys and girls know what they are talking about.....please take it to heart at least what one of them says....they've been through it and are going through it....

I only have one more piece of advice......learn about who you are and what creates the monster that is hungry inside of you.....once you know you, you can slay that dragon!

Julie- can you give me some examples of lean proteins? i need some good food to eat but im not exactly sure what all is good in that category. thanks.

Hiya,      There are tons of things that fit this description: low-fat mozarella cheese sticks (mine have 9g of protein with only 60 calories), skim milk (9g protein for 80 calories), beef jerky (although this will usually cause temporary water retention due to the sodium content, just increase your water), anything with egg whites, non-fat hot dogs (40 calories), non-fat lunch meats...there are literally hundreds of foods.  If you let us know what some of your favorite types of foods are, we can probably suggest healthy versions/alternatives.      And healthy fats (like in nuts or fish) are actually a good thing in moderation.  I keep unsalted roasted peanuts in the shell by my computer (as well as almonds).  Having to remove the hulls slows me down so much that I actually eat far fewer than if they were already shelled.  You just have to pay attention to how many you're actually eating (putting a serving size in a baggie can help).  And if I was a good girl, I'd eat salmon 1-2x every week, but I'm just too lazy to cook it most of the time. :-)

Thanks for all the ideas!  I have tried atkins in the past, and found that I crave carbohydrates to the extreme while following that program. I Bread and sweets are my comfort foods, and I have a hard time denying myself those foods. Other than drinking lots of water, does anyone have any tricks to making yourself feel full? It seems as though no matter how much lean meats and protiens I eat, I always crave junk food. I can make it all day till evening without giving in to temptation, and then once I put my daughter to bed I pig out...Also, how do I find out if there is an overeaters anonymous in my area?