My friend recently mentioned this image she saw.

In the middle was a giant circle that said WHERE MAGIC HAPPENS

And then way down the page at the very bottom right corner was a little tiny box that said "Your comfort zone."

That's so hilarious but true.

PJ

Judy, Judy, it's all so true. Sad, uncomfortable, but true. Its a lot of work and it takes time and time is something I dont want to invest because it takes to long. It is so in human nature to wanting to change everything NOW. And it doesnt work this way.
Time is something i will have to invest in myself with Lab Band or without ( i decided though that i will do without). I really throw up in my mouth thinking that i will have to dig in myself to discover the truth and reason for my overeating ( and i have been avoiding this for a long long time). I hate emotional pain, physical pain I can live with, but not emotional. This scares creepers out of me....
But first I have to control my cravings by cleaning my food. Its like catch 22.....

Re: emotional causes of overweight (thread is moving fast).

I sort of feel like the reverse has been true for me--I started what would end up being my first successful weight loss venture (of many many failed attempts) while I was at a serious low point in my life, a couple of years ago. Horrible, horrible job, major family drama, depression, self-loathing for the weight, etc. I suppose it's possible that one reason (in addition to IF) that it turned out to be the time that worked is because I was groping around for ANYTHING I could have some control over.

But my point is that, typically in my life, that should have been the point I was drowning my sorrows in lots and lots of food. I started out miserable, and as I've lost weight (and gotten off carbs), my moods have vastly improved and stabilized, depression is gone, ability to deal with stress (formerly nil) greatly improved, etc etc etc. So I guess I'm just saying, re the "it's not what you're eating, it's what's eating you", philosophy, sometimes it's hard to tell which is the cart and which is the horse.

This said, I know a girl in her 20s who is probably getting close to morbidly obese...and based on her behavior, the way she talks, and some other cues, I often get the sinking feeling that she is one of those people who is putting on fat as a defense measure, maybe acting out something to do with past abuse. So I do recognize that it can be either chicken or egg.

I've failed to have a real opinion on the topic, I guess. WLS scares the crap out of me. I contemplated it wistfully, years ago, before I understood what it entailed, but I would have never gone through with it (too much of a sissy, terrified of medical procedures). It feels like giving up control and letting the band make the choices you don't want to make about what you put in your mouth (but I feel that way about the Jenny Craig type stuff, too). And I know what it was like, to feel that way, that I couldn't trust myself not to, well, screw myself over food-wise, and it would be so much easier if someone (or something) else controlled what I ate. But it in the end, it was just the carbs that took away my choices in the first place and turned me into a person who was constantly obsessed with food. And, apparently, shot my moods to hell most of the time.

I do think that emotion can legitimately tie into people's eating -- not just because people say that, but because emotions are closely tied to hormones which are closely tied to eating in many ways. The blackest moods will make me stalk chocolate like it's a life ring, seems like the same thing to me.

The the less grains I eat and the more consistently I get enough protein (and getting a lot of regular D3 and multi-vitamin, multi-mineral, helped I think) the more optimistic and ambitious/proactive I am -- it affects my perceived-psychology as much more as my perceived-physiology.

I can always tell when I'm eating better. I will actually realize how much my bookshelf or cupboard needs to be cleaned out and rearranged. I don't even notice let alone care if I don't have the energy. Eating well seems to amp up the energy not just for being more cheerful about life but for proactively improving my environment. I've come to recognize this as a good signpost no matter what is happening on the scale.

PJ

Congratulations on your archer Icon !

Patrick

So, I have heard 2 different opinions so far:
1. Its the emotional state that makes people overeat on carbs to feel better
2. Or eating the wrong foods make people overly emotional which leads to overeating.

So which one, chicken or the egg? Or may be it doesnt matter? Am I opening a can of worms? lol

people i know who have had the surgery regret it.
their health, digestive system, eating... it all is screwed up now.
if you have relatively good health, good digestion, no ill effects after eating, i would certainly weigh the prospect of ill health after surgery.
is it really worth it?
and none of the people i know, have kept the weight off because they're still eating like they did pre-surgery.

the only person i see that has kept his weight off is Al Roker.
but i think he has the money to hire lots and lots of people to keep him on the str8 and narrow.

your pro and con list should include good health vs bad health after surgery.

You might want to actually google on the subject. Look up bariatric surgery, there are a number of types. Bypass is just one sort. There are types that remove part of the stomach.

Bypass surgery may not remove part of the intestines, but it is not being used any longer. It's virtually irreversible so they might as well just remove it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bariatric_surgery
http://www.mamashealth.com/diets/soptions.asp

Well, IMHO it's a whole lot easier to work on the diet first and see if the mental stuff improves with the diet. It's like trying to get a drunk person to stop drinking. They're drunk, you can't reason with them. No chicken and egg, you gotta do it when they're sober.

At least the worms are low-carb!

You should read this: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fa...hysiology.html/
Patrick

I couldn't agree more with this.

Lee

I know I wasn't all that succinct in my post, but what I meant to get across was "for me it was the chicken, but I can acknowledge that for other people it's the egg." Helpful, eh?

Still, I think a good run at a few months of 'clean' lowcarb eating would be a worthwhile experiment. And I do think anyone with serious appetite problems should look into IF.

Then you must read Gary Taubes Good Calories Bad Calories. Good luck.

One of the first reaction to grains is depression. Imagine having to live with depression constantly. Heart-healthy-whole-grains indeed.

This isn't just about being fat, either. We all know people who are skinny and addicted to sugar, bleary-eyed and tired all the time.