Please help me! I'm addicted to food and cant stop eating and I'm severely overweight! What do I do? =[

Question

Please I really need help! I'm 12. I'm severely overweight. My parents just tell me to keep a diet but I keep breaking it because I can't stop thinking about food! I can't find pills because I'm too young. My parents won't take me to the doctor because they think he will just tell me to eat helthy and thats it. They don't believe any pills will work either so it will be a rip off. I'm too lazy to go and run and my dad keeps annoying me. When I'm mad, only eating calms me down and I get annoyed and mad a lot from my parents. Please help me? What should I do to keep food away from me and stop thinking about it? And I don't like running!

Answer 1

First of all, to lose weight YOU HAVE TO EXERCISE. There is absolutely, positively no way around it, believe me I know because I tried the diet-only thing so many times and never got anywhere. Join the YMCA and get a personal trainer, or you can usually pay $2-$5 without a membership to go and use the gym equipment at the Y. Go with your friends; I do that and it makes it a lot more bearable. Think of exercise like you would a long bath or a manicure. This is something you're doing only for yourself to pamper and improve yourself and boost your mood. You can join sports at school, too. Most middle schools have intramural leagues after school that you can play in without trying out, and summer sports like AYSO soccer and swimming lessons are good options, too. About the food: what works for me is a combination of portion control and changing what I eat. You shouldn't starve yourself, because in the long run that simply doesn't work. Do some research online or at the library and become familiar with what a reasonable portion size of the foods you eat looks like, and stick to that. Have your parents replace the junk food in the house with things that aren't as bad for you like Quakes and Triscuits, mini-bags of popcorn, fresh fruits and veggies, salad mix, low fat yogurt, whole-grain breads and cereals, and soy milk. You can find lots of swaps for things that you really love but are traditionally high in calories and fat, too. Smart Ones makes a really good frozen macaroni and cheese, Boca American Style patties taste BETTER than beef burgers, and hummus and salsa keep longer than traditional dips and can be used in more ways. I get tons of swap recipes and tips about low calorie and low fat products from http://hungrygirl.com/ and I haven't ever had anything that was a total strikeout from them. Just so you know, once you get motivated and find things that you can live with and do every day, living healthy will become second nature to you. I never believed that I'd be anything but extremely overweight because I was bigger than everyone else since 2nd grade on, but this year I finally decided I'd had enough when I got up to 220 pounds, and from exercise and changing the way I eat, I've worked my way down to 194. I've still got a long way to go, but it's my time to stop being unhealthy and feeling bad about myself, and I'm going to keep working! You, like me, can take this in hand and do what you need to in order to get healthier. One final note: you should definitely talk to your pediatrician about being overweight and ask her or him for advice on what you can do to safely lose weight and build strength without damaging your growth. Keep your chin up, sweetheart because you CAN change and start on a healthy lifestyle that you can carry into the rest of your life!

Answer 2

Calm down and we might be able to get through this.

I'll give you a diet plan that takes only a week, however you can use again and again. It's called the Sacred Heart Diet. You do have to put some food together but that's about all the work it takes.

I would also invest on swimming, using a trampoline, or just plain walking for exercise. Doing the diet plan and this is sure to help you lose.

When you get mad don't eat. Don't eat when you are bored or when you have nothing to do either. This will make you lose. To help you stop eating pick a celebrity and print out a picture of them. Whenever you feel ready to eat look at the picture and think to yourself, "I wanna look like him/her." This might stop the cause of wanting to eat. Drink plenty of water each day so that it fills you up and try eat healthy foods. You will lose.

See, I told you we would get through this. Here is the link and have an amazing summer.

http://www.everydiet.org/sacred_heart_diet.htm

Answer 3

Ask you parents to take you to a psychologist. Tell them that you believe you are a compulsive eater and ask them if they would be willing to pay for a few sessions with a counselor.

If that fails, you will have to become your own counselor. You will have to find the reasons that you overeat and learn to overcome them on your own.

Common issues with overeating include:
Boredom (find a new hobby that you can do when you begin to think about food)
Loneliness (make an effort to spend more time with friends)
Availability (ask if you can get rid of unhealthy foods from the kitchen)
Poor Choices (choose to eat green vegetables when you have an uncontrollable urge rather than snack foods or sugary foods)
Overeating (eat slowly and stop eating AS SOON as you feel satisfied. Don't eat something just because it is in front of you. Ask your parents to put less food on your plate, then take a little more at a time until you feel satisfied.)

A recent tactic is to eat small amounts of food 6 times a day. This way, you can feed your urge to eat every 2 hours making it easier to get through the day. However, the meals are much smaller this way so you also have to cope with the reduced satisfaction that comes from eating less food. After doing this for a while, though, your stomach will begin to shrink and you'll find that you enjoy smaller amounts

Answer 4

You are an emotional eater. Admitting this is the first step.

Now that you understand this, think of ways to delay eating. If you want to go have a snack, try painting your nails or listening to another song on the radio. If you are still hungry after this activity, then maybe your body is hungry.

Drink more water. Sometimes when you are dehydrated you think you are hungry.

Go places where food may not be readily available. Play in the park or take a walk.

You don't have to run all the time. Try jumping rope, bike riding, playing four square, swimming , or even dancing.

Answer 5

You should like running. Why?
Why is everyone putting such great emphasis on exercising? Isn't it just worthier and easier to become a couch potato and lift your dear beverage? Anytime you exercise, you do so in order to try and maintain agreeable health. You also know that you have to eat enought fruits and vegetables as well, so your body will have the energy it needs to exercise and maintain for the everyday tasks of life. What you eat before and after you workout is very necessary. It really does not matter if you are going to be doing a cardio workout or a resistance workout, you should always make it a point to eat a balanced mix of protein and carbohydrates. What really makes that determining percentage of carbs and protein you consume? Whether or not you are doing cardio or resistance exercise and the intensity level that you plan to work for your workout.

Answer 6

Ok look in the mirror and ask urself if ur happy with how u look!U obviously arent cz ur asking for help!The only way ul be able to keep a diet is when u really decide u wana stop and lose weight not cz ur dad annoys u but cz U want to.U keep thinking about food because u have nothing to do!Maybe u could go running with a friend if u dont like running alone,or u could walk!You could play basketball with friends or any other activity that will keep u busy and make u stop thinking about food.


Tell ur parents that a doctor wont just tell u to eat healthy and they wont waste their money.He would give u a healthy diet and if u manage to stick with it for 2 weeks ul lose weight and ul gain confidence and ul wana lose all the extra pounds so ul keep doing the diet and ul make it!

Pills are crap and not healthy.

When ur on diet u have to eat every 3 hours..HEALTHY!Always eat breakfast!a toast with butter or cereal (avoid those with high fat) Special k r nice with milk...after 3 hours have a small snack ...then for lunch u could have anything but avoid fried ,junk food and have small/normal portions...after 3 hours you canhave a lowfat greek yoghurt with honey which is great and healthy and then somethin for dinner!Just avoid junk food!Also tryto eat fruits for snacks and eat salads with ur lunch dinner.

U can have a chocolate ro an ice cream now n then..but not everyday.

Its not that hard if u really wana lose,how bad can ti be ul eat 6 times every day!Healthy food isnt always ew,there are many tasty foods that are good for u!

Also drink LOOOTS of water and if u like, tea!Its said that green tea helps for losin weight!

When ur mad,listen to music and dance.If u dont lose weight now that ur young..it will be HARD to later..

Good luck!

Answer 7

Try overeaters annonymous. Just like alochol & drug addictions, eating can be an addiction as well. You need someone who understands the dynamics of the illness. Unlike chemical addictions, food addictions are more difficult, because you do have to eat. You can't abstain from food like you can drugs or alcohol. That is a drawback. And your parents need to understand that addictions are family illnesses as well. It's not just your illness. They need to be involved in your recovery as well. They could help you by serving balanced portioned meals to the entire family & keeping junk food or binge foods out of the house. They could also help you by having family exercise activities. Try altering your snacking to fresh fruits, vegatables, low-fat yogurt or Jell-o. Keep away from high carbohydrate foods, (sugar & potato chips) because they encourage binge eating. Try not to have any refined sugar or flour. Eat whole-wheat products & naturally sweetened foods. It doesn't happen overnight. It took you 12 years to learn those habits it will take a long time & a lot of help & set backs before you change your habits for good. Learn to to associate food with feelings or rewards. I truly wish you luck & I hope your parents will become more sympathetic to your condition.

Answer 8

You need a little bit of self discipline is what this sounds like to me. If you're overweight and you know it, and you also know the cause you have done quite a bit of hard work by recognizing there is a problem. Now it is up to you to act. Pick a sport, any sport and start doing it. I was overweight when I was younger, but at 13 I joined the school athletics team and did shot-put and discus, and that changed me from being overweight to athletic. It took self discipline but it was well worth it. Patience and perseverance are important. Hope this helped

Answer 9

Honestly, I really hate eating. I don't like things that are too sweet or too salty or too sausy... I hate vegetables... whatever...

You're only 12; you are still growing, so I don't think you should be on diet. My recommendation is that you should try to ONLY have 3 meals a day, no tea time, no snacks...
If you're too lazy to exercise, you should not eat things that have high fat, sugar or whatsoever. However, you don't have to do things all at once. Just try to change your eating habbit little by little.

Also, remember! don't eat within 2 hours before sleep!
Try to take at least half hour for each meal, don't eat too fast! Otherwise, you will gain weight!

Of course if you like food, it's hard to avoid sweet and salty tasty snacks and all that. After you have foods or snacks like that, drink green tea, it will "kill" fat!

Answer 10

Eating can become an addiction just like cigarettes and drugs. If you find that you are eating compulsively then it may be important for you to see a therapist that can help you with this issue. Talk to your parents and tell them that you are preocupied with your health and explain to them the issue, tell them that you feel it is in your best interest to talk to a doctor about it.

Remember, there is no magic pill to fix our problems. The best way to do so is through our own personal effort.

-D