While I know that part of my problem with losing weight was due to always being hungry, I've also come to realize that I honestly think I'm addicted to food. I binge eat and I eat to feed my emotions. I also have depression so my emotions are all over the place.

If I don't fix this I'll never reach my goal weight. Where do I go from here? Any advice?

Should I just seek out a good counselor or what?

Counseling would be best for you I think.

I agree, I would find a counselor who specializes in eating disorders. You need to get in touch with your emotions, and find alternative ways of dealing with them. Good luck!

Many people say they're addicted to 'food'...and that may be true. Some believe they eat for emotional reasons...and that may be true also. It may also be that their bodies just don't process certain carbohydrates properly and as long as they're eating these particular carbs, their body physically craves them. Stress can cause insulin responses in our body as well and again start the carb cravings.

Diabetes has become an epidemic in the U.S. and what a lot of people don't realize is that insulin resistance generally starts years before the diabetes and can be prevented and reversed in these early stages just by eliminating these particular carbs. There's a wonderful book by Dr. Richard Bernstein called "The Diabetes Solution" that explains all of this and the science behind it.

As a result of Dr. Bernstein, I no longer eat grains, starches or fruit (none of which are necessary for the body). Many people might say that you can't eat this way for life. They're wrong...people do. It just depends on the motivation. Some people would say you can't give up peanuts or wheat...and yet people with allergies to these things do because their feedback for eating these foods is immediate and, perhaps, fatal depending on how extreme that allergy is. Their motivation is literally keeping their life.

My suggestion, if you're struggling with carbs, experiment and see if ridding yourself of them decreases or eliminates the physical cravings. It may provide the answer you seek. It may also eliminate the depression (they're finding a link to that as well.

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yeah, i agree. i strongly believe that american's excessive intake of refined carbs is one of the leading causes of obesity and a feeling of being addicted to food. how often does one crave and feel a loss of control over eating a chicken breast or a can of tuna? doesn't happen. excessive carb intake can absolutely lead to insulin resistance and is one of the reasons i ended up needing lap band surgery.

if you gain control over your carb intake, i strongly believe that you will lose the feeling of being addicted to food. and that's a good book that elfiepoo recommends.

I can totally understand where you are coming from. I am a self-confessed and proven food addict. I am absolutely powerless over food, particularly things with sugar in them. I will honestly tell you that just as an alcoholic drinks to self-medicate, I used to eat to numb my emotions and fill some void. I have really found a lot of help in Overeaters Anonymous. You can go to their website (www.oa.com) and find a meeting (either a face to face meeting in your area or a call in phone meeting you can do from home). My philosophy is take what you need and leave the rest from the meetings. I am doing pretty well right now but I know it is a process that will take time.

Good luck with everything!

:-) Katie

I agree with Elfepoo. I was one of those people. I don't process carbs very well but my body still craved them like mad. I could go a couple of days and be fine without them but then it is like my mind would search them out like an addict and then i would binge on them to make up for what I had been without for the past few days. For me, I started doing research on the internet and started looking on forums for what other people had tried. I tried all different kinds of vitamins and minerals and visited my Dr. I found out that I had a thyroid converstion problem but I was also severely deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to some depression. After I got all of that fixed, I was still craving the carbs. I did some more research and ran across an amino acid that a lot of people were trying called tryptophan. I was determined that I was going to try what ever it took until I found the answers I was looking for. I have been on the tryptophan for a few weeks and it has gotten rid of my depression completely. I have to take it in the morning before I take in any protein. Listen to your body and go from there. You may benefit also from some counseling. Trust yourself in where you are. Be your own physician as well. We know ourselves better than we think we do, it's just hard to look inside sometimes, especially if we expect that a doctor is the only person who can heal us. Every person that you go to can give you a different answer. I would suggest doing some of your own research. I had to do that with my thyroid. I actually had a converstion problem, which meant that I was making the thyroid hormones that I was supposed to but my body stopped converting them and using them the way they were supposed to. I had a low body temp, was tired all the time, had depression, craved carbs, didn't sweet when I worked out. Each time I would go to a doctor, they would draw blood and tell me everything was normal. I just kept looking and searching for answers and finally found the right doctor who would listen to my symptoms and not just the lab results. I also did a lot of research on the internet about my particular symptoms and had to work with her to help find out what was wrong. If you feel you could benefit from counseling, by all means, give it a try. Good luck sunshine. We are cheering for your best progress.

yeah, i agree. i strongly believe that american's excessive intake of refined carbs is one of the leading causes of obesity and a feeling of being addicted to food. how often does one crave and feel a loss of control over eating a chicken breast or a can of tuna? doesn't happen. excessive carb intake can absolutely lead to insulin resistance and is one of the reasons i ended up needing lap band surgery.

if you gain control over your carb intake, i strongly believe that you will lose the feeling of being addicted to food. and that's a good book that elfiepoo recommends.

also, i suffer from depression and took antidepressants for about 15 years and that's what made me gain a lot of weight. i felt though that my brain was trying to regulate serotonin by making me crave carbs.

Counseling never hurts anybody! If you want to try the carb elimination route, as some are suggesting, there's no harm in that either, but I would not delay the counseling. Don't put off counseling while your waiting to see if eliminating carbs is the answer...you might just set yourself back even further from feeling better. I have eliminated carbs from my diet for decent periods of time and thought "wow" I'm cured. But I always relapse. Now I eat what I want when I want but in very small quantities. The band totally controls how much I am able to eat. Even if I try to binge (I have the urge to do that sometimes as well) it's always stopped short by the band. Don't give up!

Where in the world are you getting Tryptophan? I thought the FDA banned it in 1989. The closest I've been able to find is 5-HTP.

I ordered it online. The ban was lifted several years ago.

I ordered it online. The ban was lifted several years ago.

ok. thx.

While I know that part of my problem with losing weight was due to always being hungry, I've also come to realize that I honestly think I'm addicted to food. I binge eat and I eat to feed my emotions. I also have depression so my emotions are all over the place.

If I don't fix this I'll never reach my goal weight. Where do I go from here? Any advice?

Should I just seek out a good counselor or what?

Do you eat a lot of carbohydrates? My sister is forever grazing because she is eating a lot of carbs at the moment and never feels satisfied. She and I have both been on low carb diets and feel completely stuffed and deliciously satisfied after having a nice good size piece of meat or fish. My sister is eating more carbs now and her larger hips have come back and she is constantly eating and eating.

Definitely find a therapist. An eating disorder specialist would be good, but if you can't find one, a general adult specialist will have LOTS of experience treating depressed folk. Also, look for someone who is Cognitive Behavioral in style-- that's your best bet for effective treatment for both depression and eating disorders (see the APA website for psychotherapies that have been found to be effective in well-controlled research studies).

Certainly one issue with the binge eating could be carbs, but depression is a real disorder that isn't caused by food. Work on both simultaneously, and I'm sure you'll be pleased with how much better you feel.

Being a psychologist I am a bit biased but you can get support through seeing someone who can help you with your emotional eating. You still do the work but get good education as well as empathic support, and help with behavioural monitoring. I also help clients with some very simple aversion stuff (linking 'don't like foods to binge foods). I hope this helps, binge eating and emotional eating are very real psychological issues to struggle with and they generally can be helped. Good luck