Hi

Can anyone recommend a good book on compulsive eating?

I go through phases of having a problem with this and really don't know why. For example, I was on Atkins and lost weight for a couple months and then began regaining for 4 more months. I think I was eating too much legal fatty stuff (maybe out of anxiety?). Then I got exasperated and went totally off and ate everything in sight.

Then being completely disgusted with myself I tried Fat Flush after reading some of Mila's journal. I was SO hungry that I didn't even make it through the first day. I left work early to go home and eat. I seriously overate and then I was mad at myself. Even though I was stuffed, I went and bought 4 huge, gooey cinnamon buns. I ate 3 1/2 of them that night. I was so strung out on sugar that I couldn't sleep till 3 am.

But I also go through months without bingeing at all. I need to figure this out.

~Mel

A good book that I recommend for really any eating disorder is When food is your best friend and your worst enemy. It is based on twelve step principles and a really great read. The author is Jan Johnson. This is a Christian based book. There is also the Twelve Steps for Overeaters, The Don't Diet Live it Workbook by Lobue and Marcus and Conquering Eating Disorders by McGee and Montcastle. Have you tried OA? That might be something you could try. Hope that helps.

Melinda......

If you haven't already had a chance to read Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, check it out at your local bookstore or library. He specifically addresses compulsive eaters and says:



He goes on to say:



And finally:



I thought I was a compulsive eater too. Then I read in Atkins book that following a low carb diet could correct the uncontrolable craving I had. I was sceptical by decided that I'm worth the effort that it would take to find out. That meant following the plan as it was written and giving my body a chance to come clean from my addiction. I haven't looked back since September 13, 2001.

Marlaine

P.S.

Please consider starting a journal here and posting your menus. That would give some of the eagle eyes around here a chance to look things over and give you some help with resolving your difficulties.

We'd be pleased to support you in your efforts.

eating disorders -- including emotional overeating and "fat flushes" and other such thing -- are difficult to climb out of. I know, I've been there. But recovery is also very possible.

I got some good info out of E. Abramson's Emotional Eating. Geneen Roth's books on ED recovery are very popular. I also found it useful to work with body image--for this, I loved Leslea Newman's books, which give specific tasks to do, which are really fun.

You might also look at the website Something Fishy and the website for ANRED. The Something Fishy bulletin board, at http://fishyvb.something-fishy.org/ , had forums for compulsive overeating, general ED recovery, childhood abuse issues, and more. Overeaters Anonymous is a 12-step program that is, in effect, free therapy. They too have a website at http://www.overeatersanonymous.org/

HTH

Sorry to take so long to get back. I typed out a long reply and somehow it got lost.

J. Missy - thanks for the titles. I like the idea of a Christian-based one. I'm a bit put off by pop psychology. As for OA, I haven't considered it because I keep thinking that the bingeing is behind me. I did a lot of bingeing as a teen but have mostly settled into more routine overeating (meals too big, too many snacks). But maybe I'm kidding myself. I'm a hundred pounds overweight.

Razzle - Thanks. I'll look into those books and websites. Emotional Eating sounds about right.

You brought up childhood abuse. Do you think it's possible to move forward without digging up old issues from the past? I read one of Geneen Roth's books years ago. It was too focused on her mother's failures and she was far too confrontational for me. I'm not up to all that rehashing old stuff from decades ago and confronting people. I just want to move on.

Marlaine - I noticed the same thing - my cravings mostly went away when I was on Atkins. It helps, but I seem to want to eat sometimes when I'm not hungry or having cravings.

The other strange thing was that I started getting hungry all the time. The diet killed my hunger at first, but it came back. Even the past few days while I've been completely low-carb I've been abnormally hungry. I eat lots. More than 2600 calories lately. I'll try your advice and attempt a journal. I can't think of any reason that I'm so hungry but maybe someone else can figure it out.

Thanks for all of the input!

~Mel

I think it is. Although I mulled around on things for ages thinking that it would be the answer, it was never until I started to do the work that I actually started changing.

For me, change begins in the present. And while change may bring up old issues, you don't have to dwell upon them. Recognize that they are past, and you are alive in the present.

A 12-step group can help you out with this.

Karen

Thanks Karen. And phew! I don't want to go back there! When you say, "until I started to do the work" I can't imagine what kind of work that is. I guess that's what the 12 step group is for.

~Mel

i can reccomend "breaking free from compulsive eating" by geneen roth (she's written a bunch of books, i'm not sure if you read that one...some of them are more "touchy feely" than others) "french toast for breakfast" by mary anne cohen, "overcoming overeating" by hirschmann and munter. "overcoming overeating" is actually the best one i've read. lc can help with your food problems, these books can address the underlying issues.

"intuitive eating" -- can't remember the authors, but this book is fantastic as it gives you actual steps to work though, and doesn't ignore nutrition like the other books often do.

hope this helps!

./su

I totally agree with Marlaine and what she posted. When I first read the Carbohydrate Addicts Lifespan Program and the Atkins books I would have told you that they were written about me!

I am exactly like that. I am a severe carbohydrate addict. AND I am now able to live each and every day without those cravings. I no longer binge at all.... hungry or not. I have finally found the road to my own good health.

Every bit of reading material that I would have suggested has already been listed.

You have gotten the best advice!

Best wishes,
Libby

Melinda,

I'm sure everyone here can sympathize with you. We've all had terrible food binges or we wouldn't be here.

Seeking help to address any childhood abuse and thereby working through it can help improve your life and change the way you eat.

I would also strongly suggest that when trying Atkins this time around pay special attention to the supplements that you are taking. For instance, individuals deficient in CoQ10 lose weight almost automatically when they start supplementing with it. L-Carnitine helps to burn fat and L-Glutamine taken one hour before each meal helps control cravings for carbs. These tips are in Dr. Atkin's book and on the website at:
http://atkinscenter.com/Archive/2001/11/30-273880.html

If you haven't read all of New Diet Revolution, you should do so. It has a chapter on going off the wagon. All anyone can do is start over again.
----------------
"Every new day is fresh with no mistakes in it."--Anne of Green Gables

Melinda,

One more thought. This might appear to others as heresy, but it worked for me, so I'm going to share it with you.

The problem with being on a diet--any diet is I always felt like I was depriving myself. That's why I had to get off and eat as much junk food as I could to satisfy my deprivation. So I tricked myself on Atkins. And I did it while still adhering to the rule of induction. This is what I did: I ate about 2400 calories per day which is actually too much to lose much weight even at 20 grams of carbohydrate per day. But I ate about 6 or 7 times a day. I ate a lot of sugarfree jello with whipped cream sweetened with sucralose. I ate a lot of homemade ice cream made with sucralose which happens to taste better than anything you can make in the stores. I chewed a lot of sugarless gum all day long. I made chocolate pudding with cream, cocoa powder, and Atkins Thicken Thin thickener. On top of the foods above I would have Cobb Salads with tomato, avocado, bacon, chicken, and blue cheese or other dressing. I would eat plenty of chicken and beef during the day and have broccoli too. And the beauty was that I felt like I was binging. I didn't feel deprived. I didn't let myself get hungry. I was eating about every hour and always had gum in my mouth, but I stayed in ketosis and I lost one pound a week.

I did sacrifice the fast weight loss of induction, but I gained the ability to stick with Atkins. Now, I've cut back to 1,750 calories per day, not because I forced myself but because I just couldn't keep up with all that food and I didn't feel as hungry. Now I've lost four pounds in the last week.

Not everyone needs to do this, but I have a psychological attachment to food and this helped me ease into the diet without feeling like I was dieting. It took away the anxiety about food and now I feel like I just don't want to eat any other way. I could make the good tasting low carb cinnamon rolls or banana bread or chocolate mousse, but I don't even feel like eating that right now.

Thanks for all the kind words and advice. I don't feel like eating much of anything today after some bad scallops yesterday.

Sue: I'll look into those titles. The Geneen Roth book I read was something like, When Food Is Love. It was basically a good book and I got stuff out of it, I just don't want to deal with confronting my mother and all of that stuff. I like the sound of the Intuitive Eating book. Specific steps sound useful since I haven't come up with my own.

Libby: Being back on LC for over a week has gotten me back in line. (That and the scallops.) It's after several months of LC that I run into problems. Maybe I get too lax after a few months and eating some kind of trigger food that I have yet to identify. And you're right: I'm getting great advice here.

Voyajer: I'll try the supps. and maybe double-up when I get hit by cravings again. I can always count on them every 28 days . My copy of the new version of Atkins arrived from Amazon this week. My weekend will be spent reading it and several others.

The next time the carb cravings hit I think I'll try your method of eating all that bad fake food. It can't be any more harmful than what I did last time and at least I won't be totally off plan.

Thanks everybody! It's very comforting to meet such kind, supportive people who offer help instead of judgement.

~Mel