hi Bob - the weight loss was secondary really - i was just so deeply depressed and apathetic when i was eating like that. i could barely drag myself around - also totally desperate that i couldn't stop eating, no matter how i tried, or how i thought i had it sorted in my head - it ws as though i was watching someone else doing it. this programme did it for me. then weight loss, which made me feel good and in control, but now strong depression... which is somehow 'clean' - if that makes sense - though very challenging. i feel i'm getting down to what the depression has been about all my life.... Bella

Bella Wow...congratulations. I lost weight by focusing on lean proteins and green vegies. i treat myself to junk food and sugars ocassionally..i just try not to pig out on them. I suppose different things work for different folks...i'm going to take a closer look at your approach to see how it relates to me. bob

Hello Nadia I have this problem too but lately i have found a way to help myself. i'm not saying i'm perfect at this but it really has changed me and i'm losing weight steadily. i have lost 14lbs in 6 weeks and it hasn't been hard. i'm writing from england and i know that in the states you are a lot more 'up' on eating disorders (particularly overeating) than we seem to be here. i found what i was looking for in a book from the states called 'Why Can't I Stop Eating?' by Debbie Danowski. i recognised myself in it! you have to read it to get the whole thing but, basically, my 'trigger' food (though it's not a food!) is sugar and also i have a sensitivity to wheat which produces the same result. if i eat this stuff i simply can't stop eating more (and more and more :(...). also if i do eat it the depression is almost instant - at least within the day and it takes a few days for it to go. if i eat the wrong stuff i am also incredibly tired and can't concentrate, my ears ring and i am generally in a hopeless state. i also food combine - not eating protein with carbs (=carbs/veg or protein/veg but not protein/carbs together). this is not hard to do and the results are amazing. i don't watch quantities as since doing all this my appetite is back ie i know when i'm hungry (i didn't know when i was hungry when i was eating the wrong way - it was all just 'craving'; physical as well as emotional). i also know when i'm full and can stop. the big one for me was throwing food away - that was tough but i do it now. the other thing that is important is to make sure to eat 3 meals a day - even planning the next day's meals in detail the day before. this has helped me as i can easily not eat - then my blood sugar goes down and the craving for the stuff to bring my blood sugar up quickly is very strong indeed. i put on so much weight by not eating then eating the wrong stuff in massive quantities. that said, the feelings i was pushing down with food have come up strongly and i wouldn't recommend doing this without the support of a therapist of some kind to deal with the feelings coming up. however, it really helps me to know that the answer to the food problem is simple. i have not stayed on the programme consistently but somehow i don't beat myse

Nadia you are going in the right direction by posting on this site. i use food to soothe my troubled feelings. i can't stand to see food wasted, so i ate everything. ......and i love the taste of food. however i recently lost lots of weight. i don't quite know how i did it or why all of a sudden it worked...i think it came about because i changed my diet to lots of green vegies and lean protein. i eat as much of that stuff as i feel like. Try to exercise...take small steps and try to increase the amount of exercise you do. you sound like you are on a downward spiral...you can't just rely on medication and therapy as the only methods to cure you. i think they will certainly help, but i think that usually they will help you help yourself. I think somewhere, despite your depression you have to find a resolve to change things, to do something different...to try new things that may eventually change how your body and mind functions. theres lots of good stuff on this site if you read the postings, you may gain insight into fighting depression..... some postings that may trigger some action Your depression is not your fault, but it unlikely that someone will step up to magically solve your problems. you probably have to dig deep to also help yourself. perhaps you can make a list of small steps of positive change, not only in terms of eating, but in terms of general behaviour, that can easily be accomplished and that will start you on the road to success. i hope i make some sort of sense...i just got up so am sort of groggy. take care, i hope you will keep posting on this site. bob

I have the same problem, to some extent - I must by the size of me; however I was told at an eating disorder clinic that people over eat for a reason, and until the problem is solved, we will probably keep coping in the best way we know how. Eating certain foods does help me feel better. I just have to try to limit amounts.

This is new to me, but something I thought I would give a try as these feelings of complete sadness have not been going away. I'm in my mid 20's and for the last 3 years I've been on this roller coaster of feelings, and many times it feels like it's never going to stop. Not only do these feelings last for weeks, but I also begin to overeat which makes me feel even worse. I'm tired and feel that things in life could be so much worse and that I should be thankful for what I have. But why is it that I can never truly feel that way? I rely on eating to fill a type of void, but not only does it not get filled, it just makes it more empty. I've seen therapists and have been on anti-depressants and still am, but I still feel this way. I know it takes time. I go to work and come back, eat and sleep; I hardly have any friends and the few that I do have, I move further and further away from. I don't want to get out of bed most days. I have not been in a serious relationship with someone in over 3 yrs. now and am scared to at this point, given my condition. Sometimes, all I can do is sleep, thinking that I can escape from all these feelings. I am just tired and want to get better.