Fell of the wagon

Well, I had such big hopes, and had the pantry all on program ready. I did great the first week. Lost 10 lbs. Now I know if I stop the horrible emotional eating that my sleeve will do its job. And will do it well!!
I started journalling my thoughts yeasterday. And filled 6 pages, double spaced, hand written...lol, but i still made high protein no bake cookies and ate, and ate, plus PaPa Johns pizza. I am so horrible to myself. I know this is a long post. Just trying to decipher and fix my issues so I can become 40lbs healther.

Someday,,someday soon....
Thanks for listening,
You are my support group...lol

Barbara,

Sorry you are struggling, I have been there myself with a 30lb regain and I know it's a slippery slope.

You have done great knocking off that first 10 lbs. Rationally, you know the pounds from here on out will come off much slower. Are you exersizing? I found that to be the "key" to getting off the last 30lbs, it took me 8.5 months. I am also a compulsive emotional eater, so those 8 months were full of "episodes" when I would eat off plan for weeks at a time, but stayed commited to the yoga and circuit training.

Now, on to what seems to be an anxiety problem. Have you seen a doctor to try to rule out an anxiety disorder? I started on Wellbutrin and it made a world of difference in my impulse control with food.

I hope the very best for you, please let us know how we can help.

Best,

Heather

I too am a compulsive/emotional eater.  I know how much you can struggle with that.  You have nothing to feel bad about.  You are a success just for realizing what you are doing and looking for a way to correct it.  You can't let yesterdays struggles poison tomorrow's joys.   Awesome job holding yourself accountable and reaching out for help.

As I got close to maintenance I started 1 on 1 counseling to help reinforce the tools I developed during weight loss.  When I start getting compulsive here are a few tools I use:

 

1.  Journal the food before I eat it:  Look up the nutritional info, put it in your journal, and see what it does to your plan.  A lot of time just seeing it written down like that is enough to shock me out of my compulsion

 

2.  If I am cooking, before I cook I use the nutrition data.self.com website to make a food label for my recipe.  If its something I would normally like to eat, and eat a lot of I will print the label and put it on the container.  Then I can look at it before I take a bite to see what it would do to my plan.  It works like number 1.

 

3.  I use  my mental tools to try and analyze why I am feeling hungry - to try and separate head hunger from physical hunger.  I do not always trust myself to know the difference, especially right now as I am transitioning to maintenance and learning my new tolerances.  I try to examine how I am feeling and classify my feelings before I eat.  I use the CALM method for dealing with cravings and a tool called "feel and Deal" where I allow myself to feel whatever emotion is going on and learn to deal with that emotion.

4.  AVOIDANCE - redirect the impulse to eat.  Go for a walk, clean your house, do anything you need to do to distract yourself from the craving and compulsion.  The craving is a form of anxiety attack and will usually pass in about 10-15 minutes if its not acted on.

 

 

Thanks guys for the input!!

I have never felt "hungry" since my surgery, I mean the real stomach hunger, if not for my stupid head hunger emotional eating I would be 0 lbs...lol


I have started journaling my feelings yesterday, and am looking for a cross-stitch to start, and going to the library and start reading again. I have not read a book all the way thru in years. I was always a book a week reader.
I hate that I love the feelings after I eat carbs.

Sounds like a lot of us are in the same boat!  Don't give up.  You can do this....WE can do this!!

I'm just going to go way out on a limb here and suggest something you may not have considered.  But first, a little back story: 

I teach college readiness and life skills at our local community college.  When I started, I taught in a program specifically for people on welfare who were trying to go back to school.  The program had this video series about changing your thought patterns to be more successful in your lfe.  I  went through the program several times with my students and most of them really enjoyed the program.  It's all about using positive affirmations to change your thoughts.  

A couple months ago, I too started putting on a few pounds and it was really doing a number on my emotions.  It got me to thinking that here I am very successful in other aspects of my life but why was I still struggling in this area?  I realized that I was beating myself up for these mistakes and I was not heeding what I was trying to teach my students.  I decided to try some self hypnosis and bought a book called I Can Make You Thin.  The book comes with a hypnosis CD.  I listen to it most nights and have found that I'm starting to think more positively about my relationship with food.  I also think it is a good idea to seek out professional help and keep journaling. 

I hope this gives you some hope.