Home Health & Wellbeing
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.

Obsessed with food

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Just recently, probably since i started feeling low again, I've become obsessed by food.

I've put on weight gradually and hate the way i look. Lookin in the mirror disgusts me. Recently its gotten worse tho, and im gettin to the point where i dont want to eat a thing.

Ive gone from eating too much in a day to not enuff, and its doin my head in. I'm not excercising as much as i should be because i'm not going out because i feel so down.

Food is always on my mind, and its driving me mad

Sorry, just needed to rant

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    jelly tots wrote: »
    Ive gone from eating too much in a day to not enuff, and its doin my head in.

    if you are not eating enough. naturally you're body will make you constantly think about food. thats why people on diets always talk non stop about food, dream about food etc.
    eat 3 sensible proper meals a day and i bet you'll sort yourself and your head out just by doing that. otherwise you'll go one extreme or the other which 'aint healthy.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    otter wrote: »
    if you are not eating enough. naturally you're body will make you constantly think about food. thats why people on diets always talk non stop about food, dream about food etc.
    eat 3 sensible proper meals a day and i bet you'll sort yourself and your head out just by doing that. otherwise you'll go one extreme or the other which 'aint healthy.

    What would you class as three sensible meals?

    Ive gone from overeating:
    perhaps pancakes (2 or 3) for brekkie/dinner;
    Pork chop, chips n peas for tea;
    Chocolate bar;
    Packet of crisps (1 or 2)
    Yoghurt

    Thats in a day. To eating in a day now:

    2 ricecracker breads;
    half tin of beans (the sml tin)
    half tin soup
    (I had this yesterday)

    I know its not healthy but im constantly worrying about putting on more weight.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    jelly tots wrote: »
    im constantly worrying about putting on more weight.
    and thats what will keep you stuck in the cycle.
    3 sensible meals = 3 plates of food with adequate amounts of carbs, protein and fat amounting to roughly 2000kcals/day
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think you need to recognise you're in a cycle which needs to be broken and reinforced with positive thinking (easier said than done). It's perfectly ok to be conscious of what you're eating, but your basic premise is that you're worried you will put on weight - and as you've said, the outcome is a result of going from one extreme to the other.

    You mentioned you have been feeling low recently. Do you know why this is, or is it weight related? Sometimes you can tap into that cycle by seeing what's going on e.g. you put on a bit of weight, feel low, worry about food, feel more down, then start withdrawing etc.

    Have you ever used MoodGym? It really helped me when I was going through a bad patch, I still use it when I start to feel negative thoughts creeping up.

    I'll go against the grain here and not recommend 3 'good' meals a day, but rather at least 5 or 6 (including snacks), with the main meals being slightly smaller portions than what you'd find in a conventional 'square' meal. Some friends of mine live by the 3 square meals thing, and they beat themselves up when they start snacking at 11am or 4pm, when rather they should listen to their bodies and stock up on fuel.

    Having said that, the meals have to be sensible, and with the first example you posted of a meal, there are quite a lot of simple sugars there that will cause your insulin to spike and slump - when it happens to me, I get irritable, feel bloated, and what is worse: I feel hungry soon afterwards. Stuff like fruit, nuts, seeds, complex carbs etc will have you feeling fuller for longer, and it might help you to stop thinking about food so much.

    Having a negative body image is a shitty thing. I've been there and it sucks, quite frankly. Since Jan I've read up on nutrition and fitness, and I now do regular exercise, and it has not only changed how I look, but how I feel about myself too. If you want to get into exercise feel free to jump in on the gym rats thread, we only bite if asked :D What really helped me was my approach to food - instead of dreading what I was about to eat thinking it would make me fat, I thought to myself that my body needs fuel to live on, and I can either give it the top stuff, or not. It's a weird habit to get into, but now that I eat more, I have less body fat (and also got rid of my 'Heathrow strip').

    I'll always recommend Stumptuous to people as it really changed my approach to food and exercise. Have a look at the articles under How to eat they really helped me to see where I was going wrong. A friend of mine who dropped from a size 18 to a 10 over a period of 2 years told me that the books 'Body foods for life' and the 'Food doctor' helped her to see where she was going wrong, I'm sure some libraries must have them if you don't want to fork out for them (no pun intended).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    jelly tots wrote: »
    What would you class as three sensible meals?

    Ive gone from overeating:
    perhaps pancakes (2 or 3) for brekkie/dinner;
    Pork chop, chips n peas for tea;
    Chocolate bar;
    Packet of crisps (1 or 2)
    Yoghurt

    Thats in a day. To eating in a day now:

    2 ricecracker breads;
    half tin of beans (the sml tin)
    half tin soup
    (I had this yesterday)

    I know its not healthy but im constantly worrying about putting on more weight.

    Being blunt, your 'over eating' example is still far too little in my mind. Sure, you're eating some rubbish which will up the calorie count a bit, but you've only got one proper meal there.

    Have a think about it. You have pancakes for brekkie/dinner. That's just not enough for your body to function properly (and they're hardly good for you). I'd recommend some readybrek or porridge or something for breakfast (I find readybrek easier to eat first thing as it's not as heavy going...), fruit as a mid morning snack and then at least a sandwich and some fruit for lunch. Lay off the crisps - there's no nutrition in them at all. As go_away says, nuts and other complex carb rich foods will be much better for you.

    You're not eating enough thing is, as you say, waaaaaaaaay too low.

    Without being funny, in another thread, you're asking about trying E. Personally I'd leave off it until you get your eating/mood sorted out or the comedown could hit you like you like a ton of bricks. You NEED to be able to get plenty of food into you the few days after a session as you won't eat when you're mashed.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Break this quick, before it breaks you.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    [QUOTE=go_away;1989230


    I'll always recommend Stumptuous to people as it really changed my approach to food and exercise. Have a look at the articles under How to eat they really helped me to see where I was going wrong. A friend of mine who dropped from a size 18 to a 10 over a period of 2 years told me that the books 'Body foods for life' and the 'Food doctor' helped her to see where she was going wrong, I'm sure some libraries must have them if you don't want to fork out for them (no pun intended).[/QUOTE]

    Thanks a lot. All of what you said was really useful. I've been lookin at the moodgym thing too. Think ill give it a go. Thanks.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    g_angel007 wrote: »
    Without being funny, in another thread, you're asking about trying E. Personally I'd leave off it until you get your eating/mood sorted out or the comedown could hit you like you like a ton of bricks. You NEED to be able to get plenty of food into you the few days after a session as you won't eat when you're mashed.

    Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm gunna try and start eatin right again, n I'll steer clear of trying E for a lil bit too. Thanks
Sign In or Register to comment.