newwhole30er Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 While I do think that avoiding grains, sugar, and dairy is going a long way towards avoiding eating for emotional rather than physical reasons, I feel like I could use some extra help. Has anyone tried any sort of therapy or meditation or EFT or something that helped for this? I'm considering hypnotherapy, because I used that for labor and found it REALLY helpful, but I'm hesistant to drop $100/session on this without knowing for sure if it will help in the long-term. Would appreciate any advice, personal experiences, etc.! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirkor Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Having a successful Whole30 under your belt will be a good place to decide what to do going forward. Follow the meal template, get support here on the forums, and then see how you feel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newwhole30er Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 Well, I mean that I feel like I could use some extra support just in getting THROUGH my Whole30. For example, I am having really strong cravings, and ended up snacking 2 days in a row on things like bananas + almond butter, roasted nuts, etc. - which I know are officially allowed but to me, I KNOW I'm just using them as substitutes for the sweet/crunchy/salty things I really would like to be eating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyS Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Well, I mean that I feel like I could use some extra support just in getting THROUGH my Whole30. For example, I am having really strong cravings, and ended up snacking 2 days in a row on things like bananas + almond butter, roasted nuts, etc. - which I know are officially allowed but to me, I KNOW I'm just using them as substitutes for the sweet/crunchy/salty things I really would like to be eating. As I said on your other thread, you really just need to eat. Four full meals, plus added fat throughout the day. Eat up. Eat up. Then eat up some more. There's a difference between cravings and nursing. You're nursing a 13 month old, and they nurse A LOT. Yeah, they nurse quickly, but they're getting a whole lot of milk in those quick nursing sessions. A whole lot. You need to eat. Really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted June 26, 2015 Administrators Share Posted June 26, 2015 Erm...ya, what AmyS said. If you are "craving" nuts and bananas it's because your body is trying to get a whole lot of caloric density into itself. Eat more food and see how you do. Yes, cravings are real and you might be experiencing them but they shouldn't really be murderously hard to deal with to the point you are considering behaviour altering therapies. Truly. If you eat enough starchy veggies and enough fat and protein and food in general at three to four meals a day, a craving is an annoyance that can be dealt with by distracting yourself. Gnawing, overwhelming NEED for the food is actually a need for food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newwhole30er Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 So...Amy and ladyshanny I'm wondering if you have ever been emotional eaters ;-) What you are saying, to me, sounds no different from telling an alcoholic that if he really NEEDS a drink he must NEED it and he should drink up. I KNOW I eat well beyond feeling full, mindlessly, NOT because I'm hungry. To be specific, before doing the whole30, I would regularly binge on saltsugarfat kind of foods all afternoon and then feel literally sick to my stomach at night. I love to eat while going online, reading, etc., total mindless eating that lets me ignore the fact that my stomach is NOT hungry and just enjoy the mouth feel of the food. Bottom line is I'm just not so sure. Can't gnawing, overwhelming NEED for any given thing be a sign of an addiction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newwhole30er Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 But I will try to eat more veggies and fat at meals and see if that makes a difference. Those two, I know I'm not necessarily doing great with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted June 26, 2015 Administrators Share Posted June 26, 2015 So...Amy and ladyshanny I'm wondering if you have ever been emotional eaters ;-) OMG, you have no idea just how much. Yes, of course I am an emotional eater, I think most people (especially women) in our culture are. I can say for absolute certain that by eating enough food at meals you are better able to deal with it. When the emotion hits you are better able to choose a cup of tea to comfort yourself or to scream into a pillow or go press yourself up to your spouse and give them some of the burden to hold. Being underfed leads to having to use excess amounts of willpower to make the right choices...if you even can. It leads to a half-second argument with yourself before giving in to whatever it is you're wanting to eat. Being properly nourished gives you mental fortitude to examine the situation logically and figure out what you need and what you're missing. Sometimes that does result in eating when you shouldn't. But it is easier to control. I'm curious why you are so certain that you are having an emotional food attack that should be wiped out at all costs vs the fact that nearly a half dozen people have told you that you are not eating enough for a woman who is busy being alive and also keeping another human being alive? Is it so hard to believe that you might need more than the pittance of food that society says is acceptable for you to have? Sure, maybe you are completely addicted to bananas and nut butter. It could happen. But instead of going there first and wanting to erradicate your feelings with behaviour modification, try a softer approach and actually eat more food first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators ladyshanny Posted June 26, 2015 Administrators Share Posted June 26, 2015 What you are saying, to me, sounds no different from telling an alcoholic that if he really NEEDS a drink he must NEED it and he should drink up. PS. This is not the same thing at all. There is nothing bad about eating food. Absolutely NOTHING that is going to hurt you by eating an extra two eggs, one sweet potato and spoonful of mayo every day. Alcohol is poison to your body, I hope you can understand the difference between us telling you to nourish yourself more vs telling an alcoholic to go and drink themselves under. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeGA"gardener" Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 You also need extra Protien with the extra fats Eat your child is If it were an addiction would it still happen post breastfeeding your child? 13 months is a long time to starve You need extra nutrition vitamins and minerals Don't be depriving yourself at this crucial time You do want to do this It's your choice Eating 2 fats 2 proteins makes sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newwhole30er Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 OMG, you have no idea just how much. Yes, of course I am an emotional eater, I think most people (especially women) in our culture are. I can say for absolute certain that by eating enough food at meals you are better able to deal with it. When the emotion hits you are better able to choose a cup of tea to comfort yourself or to scream into a pillow or go press yourself up to your spouse and give them some of the burden to hold. Being underfed leads to having to use excess amounts of willpower to make the right choices...if you even can. It leads to a half-second argument with yourself before giving in to whatever it is you're wanting to eat. Being properly nourished gives you mental fortitude to examine the situation logically and figure out what you need and what you're missing. Sometimes that does result in eating when you shouldn't. But it is easier to control. I'm curious why you are so certain that you are having an emotional food attack that should be wiped out at all costs vs the fact that nearly a half dozen people have told you that you are not eating enough for a woman who is busy being alive and also keeping another human being alive? Is it so hard to believe that you might need more than the pittance of food that society says is acceptable for you to have? Sure, maybe you are completely addicted to bananas and nut butter. It could happen. But instead of going there first and wanting to erradicate your feelings with behaviour modification, try a softer approach and actually eat more food first. Thanks. That does make sense. Kind of brings to mind one of the concepts I found most helpful in ISWF - that when you eat very nutrient-poor "food" you never reach a feeling of satiety even though your stomach is full, because your body STILL hasn't gotten the nutrients it actually needs. That really explained to me why I could eat half a (Costco-size) bag of Cheezits before stopping. My stomach might have been filling up but I hadn't actually FED myself... I'm going to try to keep a log of what I'm eating and post and then see what you all have to say Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators ShannonM816 Posted June 26, 2015 Moderators Share Posted June 26, 2015 So...Amy and ladyshanny I'm wondering if you have ever been emotional eaters ;-) What you are saying, to me, sounds no different from telling an alcoholic that if he really NEEDS a drink he must NEED it and he should drink up. I KNOW I eat well beyond feeling full, mindlessly, NOT because I'm hungry. To be specific, before doing the whole30, I would regularly binge on saltsugarfat kind of foods all afternoon and then feel literally sick to my stomach at night. I love to eat while going online, reading, etc., total mindless eating that lets me ignore the fact that my stomach is NOT hungry and just enjoy the mouth feel of the food. Bottom line is I'm just not so sure. Can't gnawing, overwhelming NEED for any given thing be a sign of an addiction? I can't speak for anyone else, but I definitely am an emotional eater. I think it's getting better and easier to control over time, but it's still my default response when I'm having a crappy day, to look for something to eat. I'm getting better about recognizing it and distracting myself -- I talked a little about that on your other thread -- but I'm not perfect. I will say that truly, eating enough at meals -- even if it feels like eating too much at first -- is key to not having cravings. There is a huge difference between sitting down and eating a meal where you focus on the meal versus eating in front of the computer while you check out facebook or the forum here or whatever you normally look at. I can't tell you the number of times I've made a plate of food and sat down in front of the tv or computer and didn't even really taste the food, or realize that I'd eaten it until I looked down and the plate was empty. I know you have a kid that demands your attention, but to the extent possible, make meals a time that you sit down and eat with as few distractions as possible. In the long run, starting this habit now will be good for you and for your family. And please, please relax and try not to worry about this. We're asking you to commit to doing this for 30 days. Just go with it for a month. If at the end of that, you have followed all the advice and don't see any positive changes, you can go back to what you were doing before, or try something else, but for one month, enjoy eating lots of tasty food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noelle Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Can't gnawing, overwhelming NEED for any given thing be a sign of an addiction? Maybe. But I think what you're experiencing is a healthy brain urging you to eat calorie-dense, pleasurable-to-eat, nutrient-dense food. For what it's worth, I came to my current Whole30 after a terrible binge-restrict cycle. And using sugar—to the point of just eating straight sugar—to "keep myself going." (Addiction? Maybe. Pleasure/reward-driven habit in the brain? Absolutely.) My first two weeks on Whole30, I "overrate" like crazy. To the point of being too-full after many meals. I don't know if this applies to you, but I was eating so little nutrient-dense food before (and often just so little, period) that when I did finally eat up for real, it's like my body said, "She's feeding me! WHAT IF SHE STOPS FEEDING ME AGAIN?!" So I got these crazy-strong "cravings"/binge-urges. After a few weeks of eating more than I thought anyone should eat ever, my "cravings" are more or less gone. And when I do have the urge to go nuts (on nuts, for instance), it's usually a sign that I'm either dehydrated, too tired, or under-fed for the day. Somtimes all three. Having said all that, if you want to work on emotional issues surrounding food and eating—especially if you subscribe to the idea of eating to cope with "other kinds of hunger"—Geneen Roth's books might be a good place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeGA"gardener" Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Yes that's true about nutrient dense foods Your body may be never satisfied on binge foods because it really never gets fed properly no matter how much it consumes Three full template meals is the way to go It's filling Satiating and is the right fuel to use I find I'm less emotional eating this W30 way and the binge cues have dissapeared Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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