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I am 58 year old man ,I weigh 165 lbs and I am 5'9 and I should weigh about 400 lbs with the lifelong eating disorder I have. I constantly crave and consume snack cakes ,chips,etc and when I sit down to eat meals I devour massive a amounts of food.obviously this is unhealthy and at my older age I know I have to stop,I am extremely fortunate that I am not obese,have diabetes and am only borderline high on cholesterol.i am seeking help and don't know where to start.I thought diet pills might help but I don't know.over the last 7 years I will have spurts where I go to the gym for long periods of time and get into really good muscular shape.then one day I just drop everything and my diet goes straight back to ****.I do not eat fried foods and rarely eat red meat,but I eat a ****load of other junk.how do I control the urges to eat garbage and literally pounds of food at one sitting, I am usually not hungry and I just eat to eat.maybe I live alone and I now abuse food for comfort? Where do I begin?
Have you been checked out for thyroid disorder (among other things...)? Otherwise I don't know how you can eat that much without purging and be the weight that you are.
If you check out okay then I think either therapy and/or working with a dietician on how to moderate both your food intake as well as your exercise level (all or nothing) might help. Both seem extreme.
Looking at the foods you eat from a nutritional standpoint. Read the nutritional labels. Count the calories, proteins and other micronutrients. Use a measuring cup or food scale to weight out portion sizes.
Find foods that are both healthy and you enjoy. If you don't like what you're eating, it'll be harder to stick to it. Same with exercise: find physical activities you enjoy.
That is tough, binge-eating and overeating are indeed addictive.
You realize that the problem is there, that is a good first step.
Also, being honest and admitting just how enjoyable and wonderful many aspects of this behavior truly are, will make it somewhat easier for you to overcome the cognitive-dissonance that pops-up all the time, when trying to beat such a destructive addiction.
Look into seeing a registered dietician, specifically one who either works with men or who specializes in binge eating disorder. It's not so much a matter of willpower as reframing your behavior. Have you ever been diagnosed with ADHD? That can also lead to impulsive behaviors around using food as a stimulant.
Also, 165 lbs is a normal weight for 5'9". The average American male weighs close to 200 lbs.
Even though you eat junk food, you're still eating less calories than the average American. What feels like "a lot of food" is subjective. The portion sizes you think are super large and binge eating, the average American might think is normal or even small.
I am 58 year old man ,I weigh 165 lbs and I am 5'9 and I should weigh about 400 lbs with the lifelong eating disorder I have. I constantly crave and consume snack cakes ,chips,etc and when I sit down to eat meals I devour massive a amounts of food.obviously this is unhealthy and at my older age I know I have to stop,I am extremely fortunate that I am not obese,have diabetes and am only borderline high on cholesterol.i am seeking help and don't know where to start.I thought diet pills might help but I don't know.over the last 7 years I will have spurts where I go to the gym for long periods of time and get into really good muscular shape.then one day I just drop everything and my diet goes straight back to ****.I do not eat fried foods and rarely eat red meat,but I eat a ****load of other junk.how do I control the urges to eat garbage and literally pounds of food at one sitting, I am usually not hungry and I just eat to eat.maybe I live alone and I now abuse food for comfort? Where do I begin?
You start by going to a primary care doctor (aka "general practitioner" or "internist," or "a regular normal doctor).
It sounds like you have more than one issue going on. It might be easier to address them separately, instead of trying to change everything all at once.
1) Try giving up the junk food for a specific, limited period, like a week. Tell yourself that you can go back to "normal" after that, if you just don't eat any at all for now. When the time is up, check to see if you really want those foods. Maybe decided to continue avoiding them for an additional time period.
Recent studies show that the microbiome (the many species of bacteria and such that live in our guts and help digest different foods) influences our food choices.
If you eat a lot of carbohydrates, for instance, bacteria that mostly consume carbs will proliferate, and you'll find yourself craving more. If you stop eating carbs for several days, the population of those bacteria will get smaller, and you won't want it as much.
Vegetarians often have trouble digesting red meat because they don't have the bacteria to help.
So giving up food you crave for even a few days can reduce or eliminate the cravings.
2) Make an effort to eat healthier foods. Depending on your diet beliefs, that might mean more veggies, less fat, fewer carbs, whatever.
Diets are very like religion and politics; most of us each think we know the one true way (cut those carbs! is my battle cry), and everybody else is wrong. Spending time learning about different ideas can help you figure out what's best for you. Diet is not one-size-fits-all, so educate yourself on different options. Youtube is an easy way to learn general outlines of various eating styles.
3) Find exercise that you enjoy. Walking outdoors or in a mall, playing tennis or ping pong, riding an exercise bike while reading a book or watching TV are all more fun than grimly doing jumping jacks until you sprain your ankle.
4) Eat at home more, and cook your own meals. Only cook as much as you think you should be eating. Don't buy foods you don't think you should eat. Shop the outer edges of the supermarket; that's where they put the real food like veggies and dairy and meat and eggs. The center aisles contain mostly processed foods that can have many dietary issues.
If you don't have it in the house, it's harder to binge (darn you, DoorDash!)
Thanks for the advice from everyone.i often sit and eat with "normal eaters" and I eat twice the food at one sitting as my friends,I think my saving grace is I am super active,the only time I stop is to sleep .I walk 7-10 miles a day,I work in construction,I am remodeling my house when I am not on the job.i am constantly moving.therefore I believe I am burning a lot of calories,thereby staying slim.I binge eat especially at night before bed.typical night may be 2-3 hamburgers,a lb of fries,and then I sometimes may eat a half a cake or a entire bag of chips and dip.whatever I have around.the sensation of being full oddly brings me a content,fulfilment of sorts.I recognize this as some sort of contentment that I reycannot explain.during the day at work I may be at the vending machines 5 or 6 times a day plus a lunch of several sandwiches that I bring,then after work on my way home it's slices of hunt brothers pizza to hold me till the big evening meal before bedtime. I have explained my gym and working out in a previous post.i will spend 8-10 months training hard get in great physical shape(still eating insane)then I drop training and won't pick it up for another 6 months.when I look in the mirror and I see atrophy to my muscles and become disgusted,then back to the gym I go to get muscle mass I lost back.still.eating like a hog.i realize I am chasing my tail In A vicious circle.maybe I can implement the suggestions given to me here,but that inner voice is a SOB.
Thanks for the advice from everyone.i often sit and eat with "normal eaters" and I eat twice the food at one sitting as my friends,I think my saving grace is I am super active,the only time I stop is to sleep .I walk 7-10 miles a day,I work in construction,I am remodeling my house when I am not on the job.i am constantly moving.therefore I believe I am burning a lot of calories,thereby staying slim.I binge eat especially at night before bed.typical night may be 2-3 hamburgers,a lb of fries,and then I sometimes may eat a half a cake or a entire bag of chips and dip.whatever I have around.the sensation of being full oddly brings me a content,fulfilment of sorts.I recognize this as some sort of contentment that I reycannot explain.during the day at work I may be at the vending machines 5 or 6 times a day plus a lunch of several sandwiches that I bring,then after work on my way home it's slices of hunt brothers pizza to hold me till the big evening meal before bedtime. I have explained my gym and working out in a previous post.i will spend 8-10 months training hard get in great physical shape(still eating insane)then I drop training and won't pick it up for another 6 months.when I look in the mirror and I see atrophy to my muscles and become disgusted,then back to the gym I go to get muscle mass I lost back.still.eating like a hog.i realize I am chasing my tail In A vicious circle.maybe I can implement the suggestions given to me here,but that inner voice is a SOB.
I think you very smartly realize that if not for being super active, your disordered eating
would be causing you a lot more problems, thumbs-up on that!
The amount of hedonistic-pleasure and fulfillment so many people derive from overeating or
binge-eating, may make this addiction fairly acceptable in the minds of large numbers of people. But you can see the havoc it has caused for many by going into just about any store.
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