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Comfort Eating

Chimes

Hi everyone.

I noticed a pattern I've been in for a while now. I've been a big person for as long as I can remember and a couple of years ago I made some good progress and lost nearly 3 stone.

Unfortunately I've put 2 stone back on since then and most of it is due to comfort eating. I've gone back and forth with losing a few pounds and putting it back on, thought I was in a good routine a month ago with healthy eating and counting calories but thats gone again.

Problem is I have depression along with OCD and Aspergers and food has always been a comfort for me, even if I don't feel any better after eating I still do it. I have my own money so find it so easy to go out and buy food and drink to binge on.

Just don't know how to get out of this rut I keep going in.

  • You may benefit from speaking to a psychologist who specialises in treating patients who are neurodivergent or a doctor. It could be physiological or partly psychological or their could be a problem with your interpretation of certain signals your body produces that make you overeat or not recognise when to eat at appropriate intervals that are making you overeat.

    I have ADHD and Autism & food is a massive problem for me because it gives me quick rush of dopamine and i also have multi gasto disease including Bile Acid Malabsorption and Irritated Bowel disease which make me put on weight because of how my body fails to absorb certain nutrients making me extremely hungry leading me to binge eat.

    You could consult your General practitioner who can fund or discount gym membership, You can request a referral to a dietritions and a specialist psychologist who specializes in eating disorders including over eating. Your doctor may also arrange and help fund or discount a membership to healthy eating group. Weight Watchers or slimming world. You can also request additional support to help you lose weight via a support worker, Doctor and even at the job centre in most areas.

  • I have the opposite where I don't eat enough food daily. It's often not a good idea to deprive yourself of your enjoyment of food, but to really take notice of what kind of memories and feelings you get out of comfort eating, and then try another outlet and find an alternative that gives you similar feelings of comfort. 

    If you find yourself getting into a habit that you feel guilty doing afterwards, try to find what brings you there in the first place. Maybe you buy fast food when you're hungry after work, and if that's happened enough times that it's become a pattern, then try to pack something so you'll eat it afterwork, and not be tempted to just buy food. It might save money too. 

  • I have the same problem. You need to think of it this way. Think of a dial from 1 to 10. Where would you put your diet now? On a 2 or 3? Well just think, you only need to turn the dial 4 or 5 notches and your on a 7 and you'll start losing weight. You only need to have a good run and the weight will fall off again. 

  • in reply to JuniperFromGallifrey

    Not that I know of but will look around to see if there are any groups.

  • I didn't comfort eat when I had depression. I do comfort eat to deal with stress. So absolutely do take appropriate steps to get yourself through the depression and into a happier place, but also do things to help with weight more generally.

    Luckily some things will help both. One is building a routine of getting exercise. Even if it's a 2km walk each morning before work that's a massive benefit, mentally and physically. If you're able to participate in something even more strenuous, even better.

    Pre-lockdown I was social dancing a couple of times a week. Short (3-4 minute) bursts of high energy partner dancing, then walk away. No need for small talk but satisfies the need for social interaction and human contact, and gives you a useful physical workout too.

    Comfort eating? Still happens, but the exercise offsets the damage.

    During lockdown I've been trying to keep to a routine of walking instead, and have adopted a 'zero snacks' rule that makes it much easier to avoid comfort eating. All the chocolate and cake I want, but it has to be as a pudding within minutes of finishing my main meal of the day. Again, a simple rule and routine based approach that still lets me enjoy the nice things, but structures when and how I eat them so that I'm always starting with a mostly full stomach.

  • It sounds like the core complexity here is depression. Fix the depression, and other things fall into order. From what I've read, isolation is many times at the heart of this. Now that things are opening back up, is there a support group which meets up you could join? Or perhaps some kind of community engagement around something you enjoy to connect with?

  • Yes, depression made me put on weight.

    I'm in Slimming World, but only weigh myself. Must get my *** in gear and measure my syns, again.