Great article, thanks.

Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply. I put your message aside to answer when I had time, and it took this long before I could read it carefully.

It sounds like you know what’s wrong – that you need more emotional support and nurturing than you are getting. Is this perhaps true personally as well as professionally? Can you take steps to fix this?

- Sheryl

It is truly amazing to read these posts. I have NEVER had a conversation that had any meaning or answers regarding this topic.Thank God I found this-

It is the middle of the night, and I actually woke up with a serious stomachache from all of the food that I ate after returning home from a VERY emotionally difficult day at work (I work as a therapist- but DO NOT get enough emotional support /supervision).

I VERY rarely watch TV or movies, it makes me anxious to sit that long and think of all of the things that I have to do. Sometimes I wish that I did- it would give me a place to chill after work (we don’t allow eating in the TV room in our house- so that would not be an issue). I have even fantisized smoking- just to chill. But I have never even tried a cigarette, as I am so terrified that I would get addicted- and I am so dead set against them. I wish that I felt the same about junk food.

So often I feel like the Eric Carle children’s book- The Hungry Caterpillar. In the story the caterpillar eats one food after another after another until he feels really full and then wraps himself up in a cocoon and later wakes up as a beautiful butterfly. Sadly- when I eventually wake up after eating one thing after another after another, I just feel fatter and hate myself!
my question is-

When I return home I actually do feel hungry, as usually I haven’t eaten for a long time (since lunch or even before). I can even go food shopping on the way home from work, and refrain from buying junk foods or eating in the car on the drive home. But I do want a meal when I get back. I start with a real dinner (often my husband has already prepared one for the kids), but then its one more thing and one more thing, and my cravings start leading down a long path that always ends in my feeling sick to my stomach and hating myself well into the next morning. Then the only thing that starts to make that feeling lift “the morning after” is exercising, which I can’t always get to- so, the whole thing cycles back into itself.

Honestly- I need to feel that I am taking a step- even a baby step- out of this “pigging out to feel better/chill and then feeling awful about myself” cycle. I like the 15 minute pause idea and I will try it. The question is- when do I do it? I am truly in need of nourishment when I return home, I actually start out hungry. Only after that- it become a binge.

If you see this, you might want to try a trial membership in the Normal Eating Support Forum. It’s just $10 for one month, and it will give you access to the book and a lot of people who share the same problem – and are solving it. These are people who understand that you can talk to and will be able to help. And I am there, too. The forum is hidden from search engines so nothing you say there can be seen by anyone but other forum members. Here’s the link to join:

http://normaleating.com/forum/index.php?action=subscribe

- Sheryl

No Bad Foods? All Foods Equal? Careful!
http://normaleating.com/blog/2010/10/no-bad-foods-all-foods-equal-careful/

So short answer, yes, there are good and bad foods. But you’re still entitled to eat whatever you like. Take a look at the post. I think you’ll find it interesting.

- Sheryl

It depends on the context!

- Sheryl