I’m in trouble. Real trouble
Hi Heather this is Marie again. I’m kind of hesitating writing this because I know I won’t get a response for a month or so and I’m in need now but I understand your rules. First of all I want to tell you that what you are doing is amazing. How you are helping and have helped so many people and that you are at goal and have not gained your weight back, once again that is absolutely beyond words amazing, fantastic. So congratulations once again to you. I have been overweight all my life got really heavy between seventh and eighth grade. Have lost weight 100+ of times. The only time I ever reached goal was in 2013 and gained back over 100 pounds within six months. Now I started back June 25, 2021 and for 14 months and seven days I was perfect on program. September 2 I had a really rough day All I was thinking about was food and could not stop but I did reach out on the forums which I’m not real good at doing that. Then the third it started, I started overeating but I wrote down everything. Then the binge started. It has now been nine days that I cannot get back on program all I am doing is thinking about food and shoveling the food in like I did before all my good habits , all my hard work for the last 14 months down the drain. I have already gained over 10 pounds I am very bloated very disgusted and my family is very upset with me. I just turned 60 in August I take care of my 91 year old parents am under a great deal of stress. I guess I feel like I have nothing to look forward to Only sad things and what the heck am I losing this weight for. I started to do it for my health because my health was so bad with being a diabetic high blood pressure Hashimoto’s disease but since I’ve lost this weight that’s all under control for now. But now the way I have eaten the last nine days My heart is beating fast and what damage have I done to my body. I’m listening to your binging series I’m listening to different things that you have out there and I can’t change my mind. Any advice? I don’t want to write you back and tell you I’ve gained 100 pounds because with going up and down so much and Being the age that I am I probably wouldn’t last very long. I am beyond scared and I don’t know if you or anybody else can understand this but I feel like I don’t have any control over my body. People just say stop do not eat a second whatever. But I feel like I don’t have control like somebody else is running my body. Does that make sense or am I totally totally a lost cause. Oh well thanks for listening I wish I could somewhere just pay you for a telephone call to talk to you now Before I am more in trouble. Plus you know when you have an addictive personality and a binge disorder you switch from one addiction to another. You’re not supposed to buy clothes until you lose all your weight I have been buying so many clothes and I’ve been charging them I am thousands of dollars in debt for clothes that if I gain another 10 pounds I will not be able to wear and I got rid of all my fat clothes. I am a total mess. Thank you again. I’m desperate for a miracle. Why can’t I get back to it I just don’t understand myself. Help me please. Thank you thank you thank you.
Wedding weight loss advice, please
Hi Heather, Hope you're doing well! Thank you for the awesome work that you do; it's so inspiring. It has helped me stick to my core habits, and, as a result, I have lost 6.3 pounds since the last month. I make healthy food choices, mix up walks (3x a week), cardio (2x a week), swimming (1x a week) and strength training (2x a week). I lost 66 pounds in 2018 and maintained it for two years, but gained it all back in 2021 after contracting COVID. Suffering through long COVID symptoms for 9 months left me spent, with no energy to eat well or train hard. But I finally feel like my energy levels are back and I'm working hard once again to lose the extra weight for my wedding in December this year. Any tips you could offer to help me see this through so that I could fit into my dream dress will really help! I love seeing the weight trending down but get disappointed with fluctuations after a heavy leg training day or a cheat meal. Thank you again for the lovely work you do! Regards, Evita
What really is binging?
Hi Heather, and thank you so much for all your smart, witty, practical advice. I have gotten so much out of listening to your podcast over the past few years. So...I am a binge eater. I started when I was about 8, after my parents divorced and I was left at home alone often, sometimes overnight, which I found very stressful. I quickly figured out that food made me feel both loved and soothed, and like there was some benefit to this awful situation--I could eat as much as I wanted unobserved. It was one of the few things i had the power to do for myself. I'm 51 now, and weigh 362 lbs. I've lost and regained about 730 pounds over the last 20 years. I love the advice you've given Karolina to pre-track binge foods and eat them, and I was intrigued by her saying she did not enjoy the fast food as much because she was not able to eat it tucked up on her couch in magic binge mode. I am worried I will not be able to stop myself from binging by doing this because it feels like magic binge mode is more what binging is than the actual food. The desire is to feel comfortable, safe, and cozily fed--for the mind to go elsewhere--almost a disembodied, dissociated feeling. Was it like you for that? Anyway, I saved enough calories today due to sleeping late that I only needed two meals, so I pre-tracked a whole bag of BBQ pop chips and ate them. I still came in under my 2000 calorie target for the day, but I feel like a binged, and it worries me. Is it ok to go into that mode when you are not, in fact, overeating and it doesn't result in you reaching for more food afterward? It feels like it's not ok, and that binge euphoria is what needs to be stamped out. Also, after eating all that salt and starch, I felt dried out and cruddy--another sign of a binge. Ugh. I hate my brain. Thank you for reading my question! Katie T.
No question … just a thank you
Hello, I can not seem to find the adequate words to express my gratitude for the community you have built and hard work in making the maintainers PDF. I am simply BLOWN away with the information in this document. I have learned so much since joining HSM 1/2021. I call myself a HSM lifer now. I use my HSM tools not only in my eating and weight management but also in my everyday life. I am simply a better human being because of HSM. Thank you.
No question … just a thank you
Hello, I can not seem to find the adequate words to express my gratitude for the community you have built and hard work in making the maintainers PDF. I am simply BLOWN away with the information in this document. I have learned so much since joining HSM 1/2021. I call myself a HSM lifer now. I use my HSM tools not only in my eating and weight management but also in my everyday life. I am simply a better human being because of HSM. Thank you.