# You helped me before, please help me again. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 17, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-helped-me-before-please-help-me-again/437963 "2008-02-17T05:20:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-helped-me-before-please-help-me-again/437963/1 "2008-02-17T05:20:09Z")
When I decided to quit smoking, I posted my plans here: > **[Anybody want to quit smoking with me?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=449967)** > > So I’ve decided to quit smoking. I have a plan and a quit date. What I’ve done is this: I kept track of all the smoking I did yesterday. I smoked liked a chimney so I could get my number high, which is cheating a bit I suppose. I smoked 15... Most of you suggested that a better idea was to purchase The Easy Way to Quit Smoking, which I did and quit. Many of you obviously have good ideas and I want to take advantage of them. I am a serious, serial junk food junky. I go to a different store each evening to get my nightly stash of goodies because it’s too embarrassing to have the clerks see me every day getting my junk. I hide food so nobody will know the extent of my overeating. By some miracle I only weigh 155 lbs. Which isn’t horrible for someone who is 5’3 and eats 4 bags of chips and 3 chocolate bars every night. It truly feels like an addiction, not unlike smoking. I really need help and I’m not sure where to start. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-helped-me-before-please-help-me-again/437963/2 "2008-02-17T05:27:25Z")
I wished I could, but I can’t help you here. If I knew what worked, I’d be using it. Allen Carr also has a book on losing weight, but it isn’'t nearly as effective as his book on smoking. You might want to give it a try, though. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-helped-me-before-please-help-me-again/437963/3 "2008-02-17T05:52:55Z")
**Maastricht** have you read his weight loss book? ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-helped-me-before-please-help-me-again/437963/4 "2008-02-17T13:47:16Z")
Try here for some information: [http://www.oa.org/index.htm](http://www.oa.org/index.htm) I attended a few meetings back in the 80s with a friend who was bulimic and the one we went to seemed like a very supportive place to start getting help. It’s a 12 step, so the group dynamics will no doubt vary from group to group, but it may be a great place for you to start out. Good luck to you. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-helped-me-before-please-help-me-again/437963/5 "2008-02-17T20:37:56Z")
Struggling with this one myself. My Aunt had success with replacements - having a carrot or piece of fruit instead of one ‘treat’, then building up to the point where “All the treats reminded me of carrot and I hated the bloody carrots!” She also went walking whenever she wanted chocolate, same as I did in the early stages of non-smoking. It’s worked for her, butI think it’s like smoking in that you’ll just have to keep gathering info till something sparks for you. ---
**Author:** ![Montgomery0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Montgomery0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montgomery0)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-helped-me-before-please-help-me-again/437963/6 "2008-02-17T21:07:02Z")
1. \*\*\*\*\* Go see your doctor for dietary advice. \*\*\*\*\* 2. To start, drink a glass of water a few minutes before you start snacking, and one in between each snack. (You probably don’t need it, but it gives your brain time to catch up with your digestive system, sorta.) 3. Tell us what/how you eat, in what amounts and what sort of schedule you eat it in. 4. What sort of exercise regimen, or lack thereof, do you have? 5. Stashing away food and being ashamed of your eating habits suggests some emotional/psychological … “disturbance,” anything you feel you need to share? ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-helped-me-before-please-help-me-again/437963/7 "2008-02-17T22:22:42Z")
[QUOTE=Montgomery0] 1. \*\*\*\*\* Go see your doctor for dietary advice. \*\*\*\*\* 2. To start, drink a glass of water a few minutes before you start snacking, and one in between each snack. (You probably don’t need it, but it gives your brain time to catch up with your digestive system, sorta.) 3. Tell us what/how you eat, in what amounts and what sort of schedule you eat it in. 4. What sort of exercise regimen, or lack thereof, do you have? 5. Stashing away food and being ashamed of your eating habits suggests some emotional/psychological … “disturbance,” anything you feel you need to share? [/QUOTE] I don’t eat breakfast. I finish work at around 1pm. and then go to the store. I did this very thing today. I purchased a large bag of reese’s pieces, two large bags of chips, a cadbury creme egg and some lifesavers. This is typical. When I get home, I use the basement door so I can go straight to my room to hide my food. I will snack on these for the rest of the day, have a normal dinner tonight and then repeat this tomorrow. As for an emotional/psychological disturbance, the story is too long to get into right now, but I am on the path to recovery. It’s a long road with lots and lots of bumps. But this behaviour is making me fatter and fatter and this, in turn, contributes to some of those ‘bumps in the road’. I’ve gotten help from many therapists and have taken meds in the past. I don’t think my weight has really every been addressed though, because I’m not morbidly obese. I would really like to take care of this myself, and not have to go to therapy. Stopping before I gain 100 lbs would be much better. Oh, I don’t exercise at all. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-helped-me-before-please-help-me-again/437963/8 "2008-02-17T22:43:00Z")
Floaty Gimpy, yes, I’ve read it. What do you want to know about it? [Here](http://www.amazon.com/review/product/0140263586/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt/105-7637620-6998048?%5Fencoding=UTF8&showViewpoints=1) are some Amazon reviews of it. The book hasn’t helped me, but it might help you, if your pattern of eating is as you describe it. ---
**Author:** ![Montgomery0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Montgomery0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montgomery0)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-helped-me-before-please-help-me-again/437963/9 "2008-02-18T01:13:38Z")
[QUOTE=FloatyGimpy] I don’t eat breakfast. I finish work at around 1pm. and then go to the store. I did this very thing today. I purchased a large bag of reese’s pieces, two large bags of chips, a cadbury creme egg and some lifesavers. This is typical. When I get home, I use the basement door so I can go straight to my room to hide my food. I will snack on these for the rest of the day, have a normal dinner tonight and then repeat this tomorrow. As for an emotional/psychological disturbance, the story is too long to get into right now, but I am on the path to recovery. It’s a long road with lots and lots of bumps. But this behaviour is making me fatter and fatter and this, in turn, contributes to some of those ‘bumps in the road’. I’ve gotten help from many therapists and have taken meds in the past. I don’t think my weight has really every been addressed though, because I’m not morbidly obese. I would really like to take care of this myself, and not have to go to therapy. Stopping before I gain 100 lbs would be much better. Oh, I don’t exercise at all. [/QUOTE] I’m not an expert, but I do see a lot of problems with your habits. Hopefully, someone more experienced will come along and help you out. The first thing that a lot of people do wrong is to not eat [breakfast.](http://www.mealsmatter.org/EatingForHealth/Topics/article.aspx?articleId=5) > [@](#): > > When you skip breakfast, your metabolic rate slows down and your blood sugar drops. As a result, you become hungry and have less energy. This sets you up to impulsively snack in the morning - often on high-fat sweets - or to eat extra servings or bigger portions at lunch or dinner. > When you eat breakfast, your body feels nourished and satisfied, making you less likely to overeat the rest of the day. > > Eating breakfast every day may reduce the risk for obesity and insulin resistance syndrome - an early sign of developing diabetes - by as much as 35 to 50 percent, according to a study presented at a recent American Heart Association conference. Do you eat lunch from the time you wake up to 1pm, do you drink any water either? If not, I suspect that’s the main reason you’re buying all those snacks. It’s probably also why you haven’t gained a lot of weight yet. You don’t consume all that many calories, but your metabolism is very low (my guess.) Does the snack eating give you any sort of emotional “support/high?” Could you consider eating fruit instead or is that out of the question? I am absolutely not a therapist/psychologist/psychiatrist but I’m wondering if you are using snacking as a crutch of some sort. Again, I suggest you consult your physician to set yourself a proper diet, at least 3 meals a day with healthy snacks in between. It will be the safest, easiest way for you to get help with your problem. That said, make sure they check you out for physical activity. Regular daily exercise not only helps you to lose weight, it helps to curb an out of control appetite and often improves your self image and state of mind.