I find it a bit interesting that no one ever talks about 'issues' with food. I read a comment on another branch about food being used for fuel for your body, rather than as a treat 3 times a day, as well as a few other posters have briefly touched on this.

I think most of us are here because we have some food 'issues'. I would think that just because we are 'fixing' the weight issue associated with our previous food issues, doesn't mean we are fixing some of the deeper rooted issues that got us to where we were in the first place. Not to get all touchy feely on everyone, but I wonder how people who have reached their weight goals but have never dealt with some of the underlying causes of binging on calories and fat and chronic dieting, etc are doing in other aspects of their lives.

I have always had food issues. I am sure I learned them from my mother. I have hidden in food, hidden in weight gain and being heavy, hidden in being very, very skinny, all the classic 'issues' that people have.

Any other thoughts on this? or should I just pack up and move to the DR.PHIL bulletin board somewhere?

I have lots of trouble with this diet, starting and quiting, because I have not dealt with my food issues. My psychiatrist does not know what to make of my food problems since growing up I had a normal childhood and nothing traumatic ever happened. I guess I will always wrestle with the food demon.

My parents were very, very busy and drank alot, but I always was the kid that had the new cereal or the new snackin' cake flavour or whatever to make up for it. The kids loved to come to my house because we always had all the cool junk food. I think I ate some nifty kind of frozen dinner every Friday night of my life between the ages of 8 and 12. I grew up to eat the same way and to cherish food, particularly junk food. Fortunately it didn't impact on my weight until in my late 20's and after the birth of my daughter.

I think about food all the time, not so much on Atkins thankfully. You know how they say men think about sex 24 times a day or whatever, that is me with food...

No!

There are many people with food issues here, you'll find them if you read through the Journals and in the Addiction and Depression Forum.

One of the "classics" is here. It may be well worth reviving.

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...535&goto=postid

Karen

Thanks Karen. That is a good thread. I guess I don't branch out much, just sort of stick to the Atkins thread and the 2 threads for newbies. I was beginning to wonder if it was just me...

Yes, absolutely. But I dealt with food issues the year before I started Atkins. The pressure to be rail thin made me very afraid of food.

I know I have problems. When I first started this WOE I was spending a ton of money on LC foods, books, or what ever caught my fancy. I finaly relized I was replacing my food addictions with shopping to feel good. When i was doing low fat and lost quite a bit of weight, I had replaced my food obsession with exercising obsessions. I still think about food constantly, and have fun planning out what I will eat, and all the things I can come up with. The difference now is I think of LC meals. I've also learned to identify when I'm feeling low or insecure and try to find non food comforts.

I've had issues with food all my life. Some of my earliest memories are negative, involving family members, and lots of argueing over food, around food, and who gets what food.

At the same time, I've always eaten for comfort, as food never turns you down. So, now, I look at the Atkins WOE as respite from cravings, emotional binging, what ever else took me to being 50 pounds overweight. Still have a way to go, but roaming in the kitchen in a carbo frenzy is no longer a problem.

Oh, alot of what people have written sound all too familiar.

I have had food issues from a young age, mum always dieted so it stayed with me subconsciously I guess.

2 years ago I managed to lose weight by exercising and basically not eating much. even at that weight, 20lbs ago, I still felt fat and I still tried to lose more weight. I look at the photos now and think, wow, I was thin! I didn't think it then.

I don't know if this ever goes away, food is on my mind 24/7. I hope some day I'll look back and think I was foolish, right now though I hate how I look and I wish those 20lbs would leave me for good.

so food issues you ask, YEP, alot of people do have them, not everyone is prepared to admit it though. I haven't felt comfortable telling anyone apart from on the forum.

goodluck with your struggles, I know it's painful and I would not want to ever wish these issues on any future children I may have.

cathie

I think most of us who are/were overweight had some sort of "food issues".... Emotional eating, or the way we were programmed as children. Now is the time to break those issues and start new ones.

Issues! I've got 'em! And I have no idea how to deal with them.. Maybe I need counseling ... who knows? When I make it to my goal weight, I'll have to judge how things are then. See, I am determined to make it.

I think it all began for me when I was around 9 years old. I was always a very tall, skinny kid. My mom and dad divorced and my mom and I moved away. My mom was working so hard to support us that I basically had totally responsibility for the household and cooking for myself. I was not allowed to go anywhere after school and I always had lots of chores to do. My mom didn't get home in the evenings until around 8:30 or so. My mom also turned into the meanest, nastiest person I have ever known after the divorce. I just wanted to disappear, so she would leave me alone. Anyway, when I was home alone I can remember, for example, eating 10 oranges at time or a whole package of icing filled cookies and hiding the empty package in the trash. I did this trying soothe my lonliness, sadness, lack of selfworth, etc. No one knew I did this and they still don't. I didn't gain a lot of weight either ... I just moved up to a normal weight.

Then I married my highschool sweetheart at age 20. Geeze, he turned into a jerk and I had an awful boss on top of it. So I ate more and started to gain weight. Also with my husband there was competition for food. I had to take what I was going to eat before he did or I would not get anything. He came from a large family. So I coped with that by taking half of what I made for dinner to make sure I got my share. Hum!

I cannot blame these situations for my weight gain (and my continued yo-yoing). I blame myself for the way I coped with them and letting things in the past control my behavior now. I am trying to dump this bagage, so I can get back to my healthy, fit self that I have not seen in almost 20 years. I deserve it, my wonderful daughter deserves it and so does my loving SO.

I wish everyone well in dealing with their struggles.

Food was my best friend, my companion when I was lonely...etc etc etc. It replaced true joy in my life. I wasn't hungry at all but food was there to take the place of everything else. Now I know that piece of cake will never bring me joy like a long talk with a friend....or a sweet kiss from that special someone.
Horrible state to be in when you fill that empty space inside of you with food.

When I was a kid, I was very skinny, I had my tonsils taken out when I was in 4th or 5th grade and I wouldn't eat cause I wasn;t hungry. My mom MADE me eat cause she didn't want people to think she was starving me, cause I lost weight. When puberty came, the weight started creeping on. During my teens I had a lot of problems with my mom, (in addition to her calling me names when she was drinking) I walked to work and school so that helped keep my weight down. When I turned 18 I met the love of my life and moved in with him. Got a car, stopped walking, and started eating more convenience food. Needless to say the weight has been creeping on at 10 lbs a year for the last 6 years. I felt so bad, I hated going clothes shopping cause I would have to buy a bigger jean size. It hasn't been until this year that I realized that I had to stop eating food when i wasn't hungry. It was a mind set that I realized I have had since childhood. I grew up without a lot of money so we would run out of food towards the end of the month

I have had issues with my weight since I was about 4 years old. Not one day has ever gone by when I have not had my weight on my mind. It can be tortuous...it can be deadly. But even though I have these issues and will probably always have some of them, at least here I'm able to give somebody a little bit of my knowledge so that maybe they won't have to go through some of the pain. And most important, when I look in the mirror now, I don't see an ugly, fat monster with still another 100 or so pounds to lose. I see an intelligent, honest and beautiful creation. I'll still have some of that pain even when I reach my goal weight, but it will be just enough to keep me on track and to remind me to lend a helping hand if someone needs it.

STILL dealing
Finding out just how many emotional triggers I really have...