Eating disorder after the divorce... alternatives?


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It'll be comforting to know that I'm not alone in this boat of eating disorder that I find myself in. 

I know it doesn't help, I know binge on sugar doesn't change a thing. But I feel at least a tad better during it, before the guilt and fear sets in,  that I'll repay this too, later....either in exercise or obesity.. :(   

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Can you elaborate? It sounds like you are comfort eating to soothe emotional pain which could certainly be considered disordered eating, but isn't necessarily an eating disorder. Some alternatives to disordered eating could simply involve reconnecting with old passions that you haven't been able to enjoy in years or taking up a challenge such as learning new knots to tie or solving a Rubik's cube. Spend time with friends and family. Learn to bake some healthy treats.

However, if you think you have true eating disorder, get some professional help with that. It can become life threatening and you are role modelling for your 18/19 YO daughter. You don't want her picking up on this type of imbalanced coping strategy.

Edited by SpiritDragon
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19 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

Can you elaborate? It sounds like you are comfort eating to soothe emotional pain which could certainly be considered disordered eating, but isn't necessarily an eating disorder

I think you are right... I normally eat healthy, but ever since my divorce... I find myself take it all out on cookies, brownies, lots of sodas.. while binge watching tv shows on the couch. 

20 minutes ago, SpiritDragon said:

 Learn to bake some healthy treats.

Do you have any advice on that..?

 

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18 hours ago, B.cole2 said:

It'll be comforting to know that I'm not alone in this boat of eating disorder that I find myself in. 

I know it doesn't help, I know binge on sugar doesn't change a thing. But I feel at least a tad better during it, before the guilt and fear sets in,  that I'll repay this too, later....either in exercise or obesity.. :(   

I can’t say I understand what is going on in your life, but it appears to me that you are being too hard on yourself. Based off your other posts it looks like this is all very recent. Your self diagnosis if this eating disorder seems rash and just another tool you can use to beat yourself up during this hard time. 

I imagine, given your situation, you are dealing with it the best you can. Don’t prematurely diagnose yourself with things to beat yourself up more.

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Wait up.  I'm confused.  Aren't you only 18 years old?  And you're recently divorced?  I say eat all the comfort sugar you want.  18 year olds can handle the temporary sugar load.  Just make sure you're working your way out of the doldrums.  Your diet will work itself out of the sugar too.

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2 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

Wait up.  I'm confused.  Aren't you only 18 years old?  And you're recently divorced?  I say eat all the comfort sugar you want.  18 year olds can handle the temporary sugar load.  Just make sure you're working your way out of the doldrums.  Your diet will work itself out of the sugar too.

My daughter is 18... she accidentally posted one thread without loggin me off, now that everyone jumps on it... 😐

Edited by B.cole2
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Just now, B.cole2 said:

My daughter is 18... she accidentally posted one thread without loggin me off, now that everyone jumps on it... 😐

Ohhh!  Got it.

Okay, my advice remains the same.  Don't worry about your sugar intake.  Just worry about your psyche - you get that stabilized and the nutrition will go with it.  Think Holistic.

But if you're really worried about the sugar then you can replace that dopamine hit with running/aerobic activity.  The problem with a sugar dopamine hit is, you're up high then you crash.  And the crash sucks.  Running/exercise gives you that dopamine hit without the crash.  If running/exercise is not your thing, I'd spend the money on shoes.  The cool thing about shoes is they make you look good which makes you feel good without having to worry about your weight (which usually bloats when you're psyche is low) as no matter how bloated you are, your size shoes will still fit nicely.  ;)

 

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5 minutes ago, anatess2 said:

If running/exercise is not your thing, I'd spend the money on shoes.  The cool thing about shoes is they make you look good which makes you feel good without having to worry about your weight (which usually bloats when you're psyche is low) as no matter how bloated you are, your size shoes will still fit nicely.  ;)

 

haha.. this made my day, 

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20 hours ago, B.cole2 said:

It'll be comforting to know that I'm not alone in this boat of eating disorder that I find myself in. 

I know it doesn't help, I know binge on sugar doesn't change a thing. But I feel at least a tad better during it, before the guilt and fear sets in,  that I'll repay this too, later....either in exercise or obesity.. :(   

I had a fairly traumatic time about a year ago.  I ended up going on a low carb diet and dropping a lot of weight.  

But I get where you are coming from.   I could down a quart of ice cream with out batting an eye to sooth the sadness away.

The low carb diet really helped cure the munchies.

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3 hours ago, B.cole2 said:

Do you have any advice on that..?

It depends a little on what you prefer as your go to and how much effort you are willing to put in. @Jane_Doe is correct that veggies are easy to go to and take very little preparation time. That being said, they are not most people's idea of comfort food either. One of my all time favourite comfort health foods is brownies using beans as the base - here is the recipe my family enjoys:

https://www.drfuhrman.com/recipes/1556/fudgy-black-bean-brownies

If the weather is hot and your looking for something cool and refreshing you might try a frozen mixed berry smoothie. I love putting in a banana with a bunch of mixed berries and almond milk. As a stand alone that's pretty decent, but I also like to throw in ground flax seeds or part of an avocado for a richer creamier texture. 

If you prefer crunchy snacks you may enjoy some DIY Kale chips. I love these spicy chipotle ones: https://justglowingwithhealth.com/cheey-chipotle-kale-chips/

The biggest challenge with these scrumptious chips and brownies is the time investment to prepare them for how quickly they can disappear.

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@B.cole2 I don’t bring anything into the house that is on the naughty list. Unless, I am feeding the missionaries in which case, leftovers go home with missionaries.

No the kids do not need the sugar. Everyone eats clean in the house. While you are grocery shopping, you could give the kids some treats from the bulk section. They eat them on the ride home or on a bench.

Edited by Sunday21
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  • 2 weeks later...

YOu have been given lots of good advice about eating, but I would question if your behaviour is due to underlying depression which needs dealing with.  Its difficult to fight either comfort eating or depression and I would encourage you to seek appropriate professional help, you dont need to go through this alone.

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