If this isn't a disorder in the medical world it should be and I think I have it. It's amazing to me to look back over the last few years and see that I really do have APD. My struggle these days is that I've taken away the things that I've been addicted to my whole life and now I feel like I'm lost and scrammbling for something to replace them. I quit smoking(which I desperately miss) and now I can't eat either.....my coping abilities seem to be all over the map when I'm faced with a stressful situation because the two things I would have turned to in order to cope are no longer available to me and holy cow does that suck!

I need a hobby...anyone else feel like this?

If this isn't a disorder in the medical world it should be and I think I have it. It's amazing to me to look back over the last few years and see that I really do have APD. My struggle these days is that I've taken away the things that I've been addicted to my whole life and now I feel like I'm lost and scrammbling for something to replace them. I quit smoking(which I desperately miss) and now I can't eat either.....my coping abilities seem to be all over the map when I'm faced with a stressful situation because the two things I would have turned to in order to cope are no longer available to me and holy cow does that suck!

I need a hobby...anyone else feel like this?

It's a b*#ch isn't it? Most of us feel like you do, I'll bet and I hope you get a lot of good ideas from other bandsters.

The best way I know how to feel good about myself that doesn't involve smoking or eating or brazen promiscuous sex is to do something for somebody else. Every time you do something for another human being, it heals something inside of you. Build a house, hug babies in a hospital nursery, staff a hotline, volunteer at a kid's school. Are there volunteer opportunities you have been meaning to get around to? Now's the time to follow up. If you are the least bit "crafty" I came across this website and bookmarked it to come back to "someday". Maybe you can beat me to it!

Click here: Snuggles Project - Home

Best wishes,

Jo Ann

I really don't go along with the theory that everyone's eating "disorder" is the result of something that happened in their past. I enjoyed eating, I ate when I was happy, sad, whaterever the emotion.........I just simply liked good food and the act of eating. I had a wonderful childhood and my life to date has not been so shabby. I didn't have any particular reason to eat, I ate all the time because it was something that I really liked to do.......no different from someone who loves to paint, or shop, or quilt, or knit, or walk....I had a passion for food. I wouldn't say that anyone who has a passion for quilting and wanted to do it often had some deep dark secret in their past as the reason for the passion. On the flip side, having a passion for eating and a passion for quilting reap different consequences and benefits....that is what I needed to get under control.

Now.....after all that is said and done....I agree with the previous post that mentions doing something for someone else. I have transfered my passion for food with a diversion to a passion for helping people. I live in a small village and we have a lot of very young single parent families. I have befriended a few and I help them take care of their families. I shop for their school supplies, send the children to camp, have them to my restaurant for meals "on the house", plus many many more activities. I get a real "high" from this and it is such a great feeling when you have helped a young struggling Mom send their children off to school with the necessary tools and appropriate clothing.

A hobby that benefits others as well as yourself is so rewarding....go for it.

Carol

(just wanna say, I quit smoking 4 days ago.... it's hell. I'd like to eat... I'd moreso like to smoke. I don't know WHAT to do. AHH! Maybe I'll knit or crotchet....)

Mansdi what are you doing? I thought you were getting drunk in a bar in Nova Scotia?? LOL

Haha now your Mansdi!!! "giggling to self" Who's been drinking?? LOL

LOL, not yet! Tomorrow!

... going to bed now, though.

Have another one for me, Lila!

It's alway nice to have permission to drink!! Thanks Mansdi. Have fun tomorrow and I give you permission to drink then! 'Nite.

I started to make jewellery for my dance group fundraiser. I am hooked. my beads are spread from one end on the table to the other. I make bracelets/ anklets for at least one hour every day. Financially we are doing very well with it and I an always trying different styles to foster my creatiavely.If I had more free time in the days, I would have no trouble filling it up with jewellery.

Yasmina:clap2:

Anyone know any good bead shops in Toronto. I will becoming down Dec1st

Yes, I would have to say that haobbies are good for replacing the food. Since my banding, gardening this summer was real fun. Not only did I have a keener interest, but I could actually bend over and work in the garden, ha ha. I already have a couple hobbies, but adding gardening and probably a few more is a good idea!!

Yes, I would have to say that haobbies are good for replacing the food. Since my banding, gardening this summer was real fun. Not only did I have a keener interest, but I could actually bend over and work in the garden, ha ha. I already have a couple hobbies, but adding gardening and probably a few more is a good idea!!

Another great NSV, bending over!!!

Tee Hee, Yes, I guess thats true!!!

You guys are amazing. In a few quick posts you have managed to erase all the negative things I have heard about re-assigned addictions. The idea of helping others is the best thing I have heard on this board yet.

Hey guys! :wave:

I'm in the exact same boat. My last vice is smoking, and I'm working on it. I'm having a tough go of quitting. Here's the good news (kinda). :gossip: I read recently that food produces the exact same feel good chemicals in our brain that any other addictive substance produces. So for any of you who feel that this is an addiction, I believe it is. We can beat it though.

I wish I knew how to crochet or knit! :doh: There are tons of great charitable organizations that need donations done by crocheting or knitting. Instead, I've taken up a couple of other hobbies. When I am done with my projects, I donate them to organizations that I feel don't get enough support so that they can use them for silent auctions or put them in their stores. Since I can't always afford all of the costs, what I do is make several projects for donations, and recover the costs by auctioning the rest of what I've made on ebay, or I sit at a flea market with my creations. It always works out in the end, and it really does make a person feel better about themselves.

Another thing that I did that really helped, was made a list of things I want to achieve in my life. It's my to-do list for my life, and it's helped put things more into focus. A great site to check out is called umm..43 Things (I think).

:grouphug:

P.S. My new hobby:using smilies in posts and pm's.

Hey ya, this is true. Being on the website is a new hobbie. To bad I can't figure out a way to excersise at the same time.

Well Cloe you are exercising your fingers. LOL

Maria:)