Why do you overeat

goldengirl

Full Member
Hi all,

Has anyone got to the root of why they overeat?
A few years back i went to a diet councellor to examine my issues around food and to try to get to the bottom of why i overeat and also horde food.

Anyone else done the same?
 
Not done that, but would to love to know why I overeat. I think sometimes growing up with 5 of us in our family(brothers & sisters) when we got treats they went straight away before mum even got them in the cupboard. I think my mentality is quick get your share before they have gone. When I left home I found I was in control of the shopping and loved buying what I wanted which was probably my downfall. What did your counsellor tell you?
 
I think the reasons I do it is for comfort. Food makes me feel better whether I'm happy or sad. I also think I overate due to being thirsty and I would mistake thirst for hunger.

It doesn't also help when I'm tired - I seem to eat more. I think I failed today as I'm so tired.
 
i know my reason its because i actually enjoy cooked meals and for comfort and when im board
 
When I moved out of home at 18 cos I bought what I wanted that's when the weight started piling on. No control whatsoever over what things I was eating.

I also know that a major problem of mine is portion control. I used to be able to eat more than my hubby, which is terrible.

Also, I think my full up feeling was non-existent. Just kept on eating til I had had enough in my head, which was obviously way too much.

I can't even remember the last time I felt really hungry. Can't seem to remember that for a very long time. Hopefully LT has changed some of these bad habits and I am determined to change them and eat sensibly and healthily when I finish this. Can't wait!
 
I think that I overeat because I'm lazy. I can't be bothered to cook/prepare a meal so I just pick at what ever is in the fridge or get a takeaway. And because I'm just eating rubbish my body is never satisfied and always wants more. I'm not necessarily hungry, I just want it.
 
It was quiet an emotional time for me and i don't share this with may people,
When i was growing up (7-14) i lived in a 3rd world country and during this time, my mom and dad got divorced....anyway to cut a long story short.
we struggled to get food on the table every day and sometimes had to go without for a few days.
When i came to england i ate like i've never eaten before i just never stopped.
i also horde food.....waiting for the famine i call it.......we have enough food in this house to feed 20 people :D
i also keep food in the car (tins of tuna, mackarel, cup a soups)
The hording will never change, but what i've learnt to understand is that i don't need to eat it all today, because i can afford to eat tomorrow.....don't know if that makes sense. :confused:
 
I married at 18 to get away from home, became pregnant soon after and money was really tight, we had to rely on handouts a voucher of £5 to buy food for the then 4 of us as my husand had lost his job. I hated going to a cupboard and seeing it empty....later on I brought the kids up on my own and would struggle from one end of the week to the next as had no help from ex husband. I now stock my cupboards to brimming and regularly have to throw stuff out for being out of date. My freezer is also stuffed to over flowing because I never ever want to go to the cupboard and there be nothing to eat. Whilst surgery and getting to grips with issues have helped in my over eating (which was nearly always healthy stuff) I will always remember having empty cupboards and two young mouths to feed...xx
 
Aww golden girl thanks for sharing that I can understand what you mean. Although I never went without food. Money was tight and treats were rare. So when I left home I spolied myself silly. My husband could never understand why I have to eat everything in sight. I used to say please eat your choccy in the fridge or I will eat it. LOL
 
i do it becasue of boredom and i used to enjoy eating infron of the telly and i quote used to i wont be doing that again thats where i went wrong sleeping on all that junk food and not burning it off xxxx
 
Me too Monique. Evenings were my worst time. Sitting there like a great big spud eating crisps and chocolate like they were going out of fashion. Stupid, stupid times. Not anymore though. Learnt from that mistake.
 
I just ate because I thought I could...Purely greed I think!
And I ate when other people ate...
And if I was angry or annoyed or upset lol
 
From a very young age, I was given sweets as a treat, always loved my food, was bought up to clean my plate and even had a little bit of my dad's dinner on a tea-plate if he came home late from work (after I had eaten mine of course....) I was a sneaky eater when I was a teenager/adult and no-one saw me eat sweets . I never gave myself any biscuits or cake when I made tea for my parents at 9.00 pm evey night BUT I used to scoff some down in the kitchen and eat sweets on the way home from work every night....Why???? I also dont have an "I'm full" switch and can carry on eating forever! I love everything about food from shopping for it to cooking it and of course eating it!! When I'm happy, sad, angry, bored.......so I really have to re-programme my brain into accepting smaller, healthy portions from now on. I promise myself I will eat a lot slower than I used to to try and get that "I'm full" to register!
 
i know why i overeat.... i do it when im bored, or feeling low.... if im out at a bus stop and im cold i think "when i get home i can a lovely warm bagel with lots of butter on" instead of thinkin "when i get home i can get into a nice warm bath"(or something more healthy like that) my eyes are bigger then my stomach so i will put out a lot of food but i eat it so fast i dont give myself a chance to get full if i ate slower, i wud get full easier and eat less.... i LOVE carby food like white bread and pasta, i used to eat pasta meals twice in one day!!....that wil make anyone gain weight fast. My friends are all those type of ppl who can eat whatever the hell they want and not gain a pound, i often forget im not the same when im around them.... considering all this, its no wonder iv gained weight(its not the only reason though, i can partly blame the medication i was on for a while) considering all the bad habits i have, its surprising i dont weigh more, i was getting there though, only a matter of time before i was obese, i gained my weight very quickly.... 4stone in a year.... anyway im gunna stop rambling....xx peace out
 
for me several reasons, boredom, work hard during the day, but come home stressed hit the wine and comfort eat. Another reason is that when I was young and slim I got quite a few sexual comments which made me feel uncomfortable I am no prude or anything, now I am older I think I will be able to handle it better cos more mature. I know thats sounds wierd dont know if anyone else felt that way.
 
I'm a carbohydrate addict - seriously I crave carbs and would rather have a plate full of mash or pasta than anything else:rolleyes: I would eat healthily all day but then come home and gorge on anything high carb :eek::( Before I stop lipotrim I know I need to get my head round that and I'm doing Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to help.
 
For me I think I have used food as a treat. My husband doesnt drink so we dont go out much to pubs or whatever. We have two kids with varying degrees of Autism so life has been fairly stressfull. when we sit down at night we love to treat ourselves to something "nice" or a take away hence my weight problem !!!!!!!!!. I definitly have an issue with sugar . the more i have the more i want and have binged and eaten in secret in the past.
 
Being on LT has really helped me to realise things about myself it's kinda unreal.

The reason why I over ate was because my mother was one of the mothers who made me eat everything on my plate until it was completely empty, thus getting older my stomache expanded and I ate more than what my body should have needed. I also overate because I was bored a lot of the time so I'm one of them bored eaters heh.

The main thing that caused me to overeat was because I used to starve myself and then binge a lot later in the day.
 
I'm a combination of what Binger and Supaslimmer have said.
I also find I will eat to choke down something I'd like to say, it's as if the food will stop me saying something that I'm not confident of vocalising, or may be thought of as confrontational.
I will want to eat if my husband goes out in the evening too. I don't feel lonely, but something internal must be.
 
I've been chubby since the day i was born, i was 10lbs something lol, so never been what you'd call slim, but not overweight either! I then went to a girls secondary school and got bullied for 3, nearly 4 years, mainly about how i wasn't a size 8 or had parents who were millionaires like the rest of the girls (was a posh school), and it was bad enough for my mum to try and pull me out during the start of my GCSE work. (I refused wasn't gonna let em get their own way, lol) So for the whole 3 years i pigged out on anything i could get my hands on! It was a way of coping with what was going on. After i finished school it was just second nature then and so it carried on!

Now i absolutely just love food. I enjoy eating..not just junk but proper meals too! Food is there to be enjoyed :)

When i first did LT it taught me how to control my cravings and get rid of bad habits i had picked up etc...we cant eat so it was necessary to find another way of dealing with being angry or feeling low etc. Now i'm back on it to lose any remaining weight i have, i know i can control everything else as i maintained my weight loss, but the issue i have to focus on is getting it through to myself that socialising with friends and going on days or nights out doesn't always have to involve food.

I think this is one of the hardest things and really do think a good way to tackle it is by not shutting yourself away whilst your on the shakes, but by going out and doing everything you would normally do. I go to the pub and sit there with a glass of water, i've been to restaurants and not eaten, i go on a girly night out into London every week and don't touch a drop of alcohol. I'm trying to get into the mindframe that if i can do it now i'll always be able to do it if i should choose to do so! :D xx
 
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