Compulsive Overeating - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

***PaperDolls*** · 08-12-2011, 08:44 AM

So, since I've stopped drinking my eating habits have really declined. It seems like I crave junk food, fast food, and all the crap that is bad for me. I've gained probably 40+ pounds since I quit drinking. I'm disappointed in myself as I do know HOW to eat healthy, I just don't do it.

I can see so many parallels to my drinking yet I can't help thinking that OA won't work for me. Ugh.

Neagrm · 08-12-2011, 08:54 AM

Love your icon, lol, my sentiments exactly. Also your post as I've done the same thing despite knowing how to eat right.

I keep working the steps and going to my Al-Anon meetings. I'm rebuilding my self-esteem and hope that I'll soon reach "critical mass" to turn things around and stop victimizing myself.

Don't know if I can do it since I choose to stay in the relationship with AH, but I do find peace and serenity in the Al-Anon Twelve Step Program.

Let's keep showing up here and with the help of others we become stronger.

***PaperDolls*** · 08-12-2011, 08:56 AM

I keep thinking .... once the pain gets great enough, may be I'll make some changes.
I'm very disappointed in myself. I know better than this.
But then, I knew better than to think I could have just one drink ....

LifeRecovery · 08-12-2011, 09:21 AM

PaperDolls-

I am in recovery from an eating disorder. I have not done OA, but a lot of counseling, body work, work with a dietitian etc. In the last 1.5 yrs I have also joined Al-Anon I thought to help me cope with my loved ones addiction (husband, but I am finding out a long family history of problems on both sides of my family).

I am finding Al-Anon to be incredibly helpful not just in my reactions to my loved ones, but my life in general. For the most part the meetings are helping me to keep a handle on food behaviors also. Just yesterday I ran into a woman who I was in an eating disorder group with at Al-Anon too. She has had a similar experience. That is just my two cents.

I also read a lot. A great book on this topic is Intuitive Eating by E. Tribole and E. Resch (I may have the spelling on the R name wrong).

I think with my addiction recovery, just because I "knew" better did not make the healing easier. When I started to talk to myself like that I would just get mad at myself and make it so much worse.

roxiestone · 08-12-2011, 09:27 AM

My experience has been that my codependence was at the root of my addictions (food, al-anonism). Dealing with the food/body/self/spiritual issues have helped.

Neagrm · 08-30-2011, 07:51 PM

Same here, Roxie, codependence.... Al-Anon principles have helped me in all areas.

However, most recently I got an idea I tried out today. You'll probably think I'm nuts when I tell you what I did differently.

It sounds silly, but somehow it worked for me - for today. Keep in mind, I like to read sci-fi and fantasy, so I decided to give my addiction to a character. When I felt tempted to eat poorly, in my head I yelled, "Demon-thought, go away!"

I don't know if it'll work all the time. But it worked today, yay :-)

butterfly175 · 09-26-2011, 05:03 PM

Hello, I'm a Compulsive Overeater/Pill Addict/Alcoholic, my food addiction at 10 years old, I'm 39 now, pills and alcohol followed after my gastric bypass surgery, my AA/NA sobriety date is 9/5/11, originally 11/27/08, but my main drug has always been food, I've never made it 30 days in OA...

Nina Kay · 09-26-2011, 07:56 PM

Butterfly175,
Please let me Welcome You to SR & the Eating Disorders Forum particularly. I hope that you'll keep coming back & that you'll find here amongst us that share your addictions, the help & support that you need & we all need. We hope to get to know you better.

TigerLili · 09-27-2011, 03:33 AM

I struggle to contain my eating. I lost about 50 pounds over 2.5 years when I stopped drinking, but I've regained about 20 since February.

Bamboozle · 09-27-2011, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaperDolls

So, since I've stopped drinking my eating habits have really declined. It seems like I crave junk food, fast food, and all the crap that is bad for me. I've gained probably 40+ pounds since I quit drinking. I'm disappointed in myself as I do know HOW to eat healthy, I just don't do it.

I can see so many parallels to my drinking yet I can't help thinking that OA won't work for me. Ugh.

Same here.

Don't know what to do. With alcohol, it was simple. Cut out all alcohol. With food, practically everything is a trigger. I have to stuff myself full.

LifeRecovery · 09-27-2011, 05:30 AM

Food can add another dimension of challenge when we are struggling because it IS something we need to have every day. (I am not trying to discount how hard it is to recover from other substances by the way).

There is a element of moderation that has to be included when we talk about food, and I find that a hard part of my recovery to deal with. I think I am reading some of that in here.

butterfly175 · 09-27-2011, 06:43 AM

Thank you so much Nina Kay, I'm so glad to have found a site that has forums for all my addictions!!

Cathy31 · 01-24-2012, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaperDolls

I keep thinking .... once the pain gets great enough, may be I'll make some changes.
I'm very disappointed in myself. I know better than this.
But then, I knew better than to think I could have just one drink ....

Oh, I am with you! Also put on about 40 pounds (in fact lost about 40 pounds when I got sober now 6 years later I've picked them up again> I'm as heavy (nice euphemism) as I was at the HEIGHT OF MY DRINKING!?!?

I think I know OA will work...sure AA and NA did...but I am resisting just in the same way I resisted AA. I am wondering how bad it needs to get!?!? I want to raise the bottom! But not quite there. I do intend to get to OA this week!

I posted elsewhere here...the TIREDNESS I feel (apart from the horror of not looking nice, clothes not fitting) and LACK OF ENERGY the morning and day after a binge is soul destroying and incredibly upsetting that it's self inflicted.

Lily · 01-24-2012, 09:02 AM

I hear ya Cathy! I love the OA telephone meetings. I can call in and either just listen or participate. Last night I listened in and talked.... at a big book meeting! It does work the priciples cuz i am a recovering addict alcoholic as well as compulsive overeater.

mellenbal · 02-22-2012, 01:10 PM

[QUOTE=Cathy31;3254537]I think I know OA will work...sure AA and NA did...but I am resisting just in the same way I resisted AA. I am wondering how bad it needs to get!?!? I want to raise the bottom! But not quite there. I do intend to get to OA this week!
QUOTE]

I do hope you made it there! If you did,

It works for me, thanks to my Higher Power. In January of 2009, I gave up sugar and April 19th of that same year, I gave up flour. I've released more than 135 pounds from my body and I wear a size 8. Far better than the angry and fearful size 26 I once was.

It's all HP, and all He required from me was my willingness to put down the foods that triggered the physical allergy, leading to the mental obsession - primarily sugar. And I needed to work the steps with a recovered sponsor who understood food addiction and unhealthy behaviors with food.

I know of many recovering alcoholics who've found sugar to be a replacement for the fermented sugars found in alcohol. It kind of makes sense, no? :-)

You're not alone. I would suggest you find a strong meeting with abstinent (food sober) members who expect members to become abstinent. Fair warning: OA tends to be more touchy-feely than AA, which can lead to meetings in which its members simply diet with support. I'm fortunate to attend strong meetings - there's just no substitute!

I wish you the best!

***PaperDolls*** · 02-22-2012, 01:20 PM

I sort of forgot about this thread I started.

Turns out ..... I was about a month pregnant when I started it and didn't know it at the time.

A little less than two more months to go and I'll be a mother. OMG!

At any rate ..... no matter what, my eating habits need to change. I can only hope that once I have the baby I can stick to it.

heathersweeds · 02-22-2012, 01:22 PM

Me too Paperdolls!!!

I walked from the car to the front door and actually felt my back jiggling!
Today I went and bought a small ipod. I'm gonna start doing my treadmill again. Even 10-15 minutes a day to get started. I really let myself go

heathersweeds · 02-22-2012, 01:25 PM

Whoops just saw your last post!! Congrats!! AWW new baby!!!

Ghostly · 03-03-2012, 11:42 PM

Yeah...congrats Paper! Funny given your concerns of weight gain when you started this Thread...and you didn't know your were pregnant.

You have another reason to eat healthy.

Heather...good luck getting to exercising! Start small...and find something you ENJOY doing!

Others on this Thread...seems like most of you know of an avenue to get help to reach your goals. Get to it and keep us posted!

08-12-2011, 08:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
*PaperDolls* Community Greeter Join Date: May 2004 Location: Midwest Posts: 7,794 Blog Entries: 10	Compulsive Overeating So, since I've stopped drinking my eating habits have really declined. It seems like I crave junk food, fast food, and all the crap that is bad for me. I've gained probably 40+ pounds since I quit drinking. I'm disappointed in myself as I do know HOW to eat healthy, I just don't do it. I can see so many parallels to my drinking yet I can't help thinking that OA won't work for me. Ugh. __________________ Advice is like snow; the softer it falls the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind. --Samuel T. Coleridg

08-12-2011, 08:56 AM	#3 (permalink)
*PaperDolls* Community Greeter Join Date: May 2004 Location: Midwest Posts: 7,794 Blog Entries: 10	I keep thinking .... once the pain gets great enough, may be I'll make some changes. I'm very disappointed in myself. I know better than this. But then, I knew better than to think I could have just one drink .... __________________ Advice is like snow; the softer it falls the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind. --Samuel T. Coleridg

09-26-2011, 05:03 PM	#7 (permalink)
butterfly175 Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Huntington, AR Posts: 10	Compulsive Overeater Hello, I'm a Compulsive Overeater/Pill Addict/Alcoholic, my food addiction at 10 years old, I'm 39 now, pills and alcohol followed after my gastric bypass surgery, my AA/NA sobriety date is 9/5/11, originally 11/27/08, but my main drug has always been food, I've never made it 30 days in OA...

09-26-2011, 07:56 PM	#8 (permalink)
Nina Kay Still Standing Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Here @ SR. Posts: 3,133	Butterfly175, Please let me Welcome You to SR & the Eating Disorders Forum particularly. I hope that you'll keep coming back & that you'll find here amongst us that share your addictions, the help & support that you need & we all need. We hope to get to know you better. __________________ Acceptance is key to my Serenity. Nina Kay

02-22-2012, 01:20 PM	#16 (permalink)
*PaperDolls* Community Greeter Join Date: May 2004 Location: Midwest Posts: 7,794 Blog Entries: 10	I sort of forgot about this thread I started. Turns out ..... I was about a month pregnant when I started it and didn't know it at the time. A little less than two more months to go and I'll be a mother. OMG! At any rate ..... no matter what, my eating habits need to change. I can only hope that once I have the baby I can stick to it. __________________ Advice is like snow; the softer it falls the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind. --Samuel T. Coleridg

08-12-2011, 08:54 AM	#2 (permalink)
Neagrm Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 355	Love your icon, lol, my sentiments exactly. Also your post as I've done the same thing despite knowing how to eat right. I keep working the steps and going to my Al-Anon meetings. I'm rebuilding my self-esteem and hope that I'll soon reach "critical mass" to turn things around and stop victimizing myself. Don't know if I can do it since I choose to stay in the relationship with AH, but I do find peace and serenity in the Al-Anon Twelve Step Program. Let's keep showing up here and with the help of others we become stronger.

08-12-2011, 09:21 AM	#4 (permalink)
LifeRecovery Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: All over the place Posts: 1,847	PaperDolls- I am in recovery from an eating disorder. I have not done OA, but a lot of counseling, body work, work with a dietitian etc. In the last 1.5 yrs I have also joined Al-Anon I thought to help me cope with my loved ones addiction (husband, but I am finding out a long family history of problems on both sides of my family). I am finding Al-Anon to be incredibly helpful not just in my reactions to my loved ones, but my life in general. For the most part the meetings are helping me to keep a handle on food behaviors also. Just yesterday I ran into a woman who I was in an eating disorder group with at Al-Anon too. She has had a similar experience. That is just my two cents. I also read a lot. A great book on this topic is Intuitive Eating by E. Tribole and E. Resch (I may have the spelling on the R name wrong). I think with my addiction recovery, just because I "knew" better did not make the healing easier. When I started to talk to myself like that I would just get mad at myself and make it so much worse.

08-12-2011, 09:27 AM	#5 (permalink)
roxiestone Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 626	My experience has been that my codependence was at the root of my addictions (food, al-anonism). Dealing with the food/body/self/spiritual issues have helped.

08-30-2011, 07:51 PM	#6 (permalink)
Neagrm Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 355	Same here, Roxie, codependence.... Al-Anon principles have helped me in all areas. However, most recently I got an idea I tried out today. You'll probably think I'm nuts when I tell you what I did differently. It sounds silly, but somehow it worked for me - for today. Keep in mind, I like to read sci-fi and fantasy, so I decided to give my addiction to a character. When I felt tempted to eat poorly, in my head I yelled, "Demon-thought, go away!" I don't know if it'll work all the time. But it worked today, yay :-)

09-27-2011, 03:33 AM	#9 (permalink)
TigerLili Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 626 Blog Entries: 20	I struggle to contain my eating. I lost about 50 pounds over 2.5 years when I stopped drinking, but I've regained about 20 since February.

09-27-2011, 05:30 AM	#11 (permalink)
LifeRecovery Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: All over the place Posts: 1,847	Food can add another dimension of challenge when we are struggling because it IS something we need to have every day. (I am not trying to discount how hard it is to recover from other substances by the way). There is a element of moderation that has to be included when we talk about food, and I find that a hard part of my recovery to deal with. I think I am reading some of that in here.

09-27-2011, 06:43 AM	#12 (permalink)
butterfly175 Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Huntington, AR Posts: 10	Thank you so much Nina Kay, I'm so glad to have found a site that has forums for all my addictions!!

01-24-2012, 09:02 AM	#14 (permalink)
Lily Grateful Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Midwest Posts: 2,504 Blog Entries: 11	I hear ya Cathy! I love the OA telephone meetings. I can call in and either just listen or participate. Last night I listened in and talked.... at a big book meeting! It does work the priciples cuz i am a recovering addict alcoholic as well as compulsive overeater.

02-22-2012, 01:10 PM	#15 (permalink)
mellenbal Mellenbal Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 2	[QUOTE=Cathy31;3254537]I think I know OA will work...sure AA and NA did...but I am resisting just in the same way I resisted AA. I am wondering how bad it needs to get!?!? I want to raise the bottom! But not quite there. I do intend to get to OA this week! QUOTE] I do hope you made it there! If you did, It works for me, thanks to my Higher Power. In January of 2009, I gave up sugar and April 19th of that same year, I gave up flour. I've released more than 135 pounds from my body and I wear a size 8. Far better than the angry and fearful size 26 I once was. It's all HP, and all He required from me was my willingness to put down the foods that triggered the physical allergy, leading to the mental obsession - primarily sugar. And I needed to work the steps with a recovered sponsor who understood food addiction and unhealthy behaviors with food. I know of many recovering alcoholics who've found sugar to be a replacement for the fermented sugars found in alcohol. It kind of makes sense, no? :-) You're not alone. I would suggest you find a strong meeting with abstinent (food sober) members who expect members to become abstinent. Fair warning: OA tends to be more touchy-feely than AA, which can lead to meetings in which its members simply diet with support. I'm fortunate to attend strong meetings - there's just no substitute! I wish you the best!

02-22-2012, 01:22 PM	#17 (permalink)
heathersweeds Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: NJ Posts: 524	Me too Paperdolls!!! I walked from the car to the front door and actually felt my back jiggling! Today I went and bought a small ipod. I'm gonna start doing my treadmill again. Even 10-15 minutes a day to get started. I really let myself go __________________

02-22-2012, 01:25 PM	#18 (permalink)
heathersweeds Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: NJ Posts: 524	Whoops just saw your last post!! Congrats!! AWW new baby!!! __________________

03-03-2012, 11:42 PM	#19 (permalink)
Ghostly Groovy Dancer Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: The States Posts: 3,902	Yeah...congrats Paper! Funny given your concerns of weight gain when you started this Thread...and you didn't know your were pregnant. You have another reason to eat healthy. Heather...good luck getting to exercising! Start small...and find something you ENJOY doing! Others on this Thread...seems like most of you know of an avenue to get help to reach your goals. Get to it and keep us posted! __________________ Won't you look down upon me Jesus? You've got to help me make a stand. You've just got to see me through another day. My body's aching and my time is at hand, I won't make it any other way. - James Taylor

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