i seem to have trapped myself into a vicious compulsive eating habbit. all day i'm fine, until some time after around 8 or 9pm i suddenly feel the need to go home and i always end up eating until i'm way too uncomfortably full. i'll eat anything and everything i can find that i can eat (i'm a vegan), healthy or not.
it didn't used to be this bad; when i first started i would do it once every three or four nights, only it would be much later than 8 or 9 and i wouldn't stuff myself silly.
but now i start earlier and it's every night, and i can't stop.
i'm gaining weight (which is adding to my already "severe" depression) and i always feel sick the next morning and early afternoon because of it. i'm embarassed by it, so i ignore my phone calls and i won't leave the house until the next day. i'm afraid i'm going to start my binges earlier and earlier until i just eat all day.

any ideas on how i can stop this? i'm getting desprate.

It can be very hard to break some habits. That is what it sounds like this is. When we suffer from depression, eating is one of the things that we sometimes do. Usually it is comfort foods. It can spiral out of control. Try finding something that will keep you mind occupied during the time that you usually binge. Write down your feelings, go for a walk, call a friend, or come here and chat. I used to binge eat from time to time, I would then go and throw it all back up. How long has this been going on?

I was vegan a few years back..I found is so difficult to find much to eat. I am now just back to vegetatian. Another thing that you might want to try is just eating fruit as a snack. You can get full and it is still healthy.

it started almost a year ago, but it wasn't every night until early july. the thing is when i eat at night, i'll eat anything from bananas to pop-tarts [unfrosted].

thanks for the ideas; i will try some of them. maybe this will give me a good opportunity to learn guitar?

Great idea..do anything to try and keep yourself occupied. I am wishing you lots of luck. :D

Maby insted of eating food you could get some flavored water like the fruit 2O and drink that insted. You'll get full, it tastes great and it wont affect you're weight. Just a thought. Hope everything works out for you :)

hey ivy

you sound just like where i was a little over a year ago. the farther the evening dragged on, the more i ate. the more i gained weight, and the more depressed i was!

i went to an eating clinic and what i found out was that i was starving my body all day, so it had to "catch up" on calories during the evening. i didn't eat breakfast, ate a crappy lunch, and the rest of the day it was sparse eating. so by 8 pm, i was hungry and spent the next few hours "fueling" my body. the later you eat, the longer the calories stay....

they put me on a 6 "meal" a day plan....regular breakfast, lunch, dinner routine (of totally healthy stuff - 3 veggies/3 fruits/2-3 proteins) and 3 smaller side meals/snacks. my body was full all day and i never got hungry. by evening, i was tired of eating and not the least interested after 7 pm or so.

i lost 35 pounds. it all came down to spreading out the food intake. my depression lifted (i also started working out regularly)

maybe that will help you.

irishred

Thats awsome irishred :!: Good for you :)

thanks beautifully - it was a long hard journey, but i got back to where i was supposed to be. i just got into bad habits, which it sounds like ivy is doing, too.

my depression lifted and it was awesome.

Ivy, thats great that you're going to learn the guitar. Good for you :!:

well, i'm going to try at least. i would feel a lot better about learning an instument than watching tv and eating food all night.