Jimmy didn't get to me during his advice show today, how about your advice then.

2  2013-12-17 by Biohzd79

I'm in a 12-step to quit overeating. I just wanna stop overeating not subscribe to their lifestyle of no sugar, flour, high fat and high salt. I have problems with trigger foods I can pretty clearly define. Everybody in the group pretty much has the same food plan of 6 oz. protein, 5 oz. starch and 2 vegetable servings per meal 3 times a day with nothing in between. I've been a long time lurker at /r/keto and wanna try it but I feel like I will piss off my sponsor if I drop the food plan she gave me.

EDIT: I got off the phone with my sponsor and she was not having any of it. We jokingly added stubbornness to my character defects and I know she is right. I know the its not supposed to be about the food but I am sick and tired of being sick and tired at this weight. Honestly I feel like she is holding back my motivation to change quickly. So i'm still at atleast 30g of carbs 3xper day. I'm thinking about just cutting my carbs back to get me into ketosis for about a week & not telling her, then seeing if I can in ketosis at nearly 30g per meal.

65 comments

Maybe if you didn't take so much vacation time you could have asked him yourself today at work.

Literally burst out laughing at this.

OP literally burst out of his pants.

Agree with this. Keep on truckin', Piggy Boy!

Jimmy is the last person to ask for dieting or nutrition advice. The collective dietary wisdom on that show is rooted in thoroughly debunked 1960s pseudo science (fat is bad, margarine is good, etc).

I'm not severely overweight but would say I'm prone to food addiction on some level. I would absolutely recommend going keto. If you can wean yourself off of carbs (and I would recommend no artificial sweeteners either) you will soon find yourself less and less hungry and interested in overeating.

But it takes discipline. I would say keto is easier and more effective than a low fat diet. And once you become adapted even more so. But it still takes effort and dedication.

As for your OA situation - I would say that any support group that only allows for one dietary approach is very out of touch. I personally would turn elsewhere for support.

I want to dive into keto so bad. I did it for a week and I felt great. Then I got my sponsor and she told me its not about food. Thats basically when I got her food plan. I listen to national meeting recordings an it sounds like everybody is on the same food plan. But the literature says we don't endorse any kind of food plan and encourage the advice of outside medical help.

I'm pretty well conditioned - I work out pretty religiously and watch what I eat (for nutritional and performance purposes).

What's always worked best for me is finding healthy alternatives of the foods I love - growing up, I had the worst diet possible (tons of fast foods/fatty foods). There absolutely are healthy versions of things like burgers, steaks, breaded chicken, etc. Seeking those out is huge - this way you don't feel like you're denying yourself, and your modifications are sustainable.

Healthy versions of food have never worked for me because i just overeat them. I've honestly tried baking chocolate multiple times because my mental twist told me it wasn't that bitter the last time i ate it.

There does have to be a degree of discipline that comes into play too. There also needs to be a differentiation between foods that are productive and that aren't - something like lean burgers add value to your diet (by providing lean protein), whereas something like chocolate really doesn't (reduced fat/no fat chocolate is better, but still isn't giving you a ton). It ultimately does come down to self-discipline - healthy versions of good food helps, but you also need to cut out/cut down on the bad things.

I have had almost none of my binge foods since I've been in the program which is great.

That's huge. Another big thing is accepting that, at some point, you'll probably have a bad day and slip... The key is responding appropriately; not going into a downward spiral, but chalking it up as one bad moment from which you can move forward.

Thanks man. I just wish my sponsor/program would not make me feel guilty about eating foods that I never over-ate on.

It's my pleasure, buddy. Like others are saying in the thread - the sponsors are well-intentioned, but it's Ok to question what they say a bit. No one has every answer, and this is a learning process - you should be questioning things, and figuring out your best path.

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Just stop eating so much you fat fuck. Replace your addiction with another one like cigarettes or better yet exercise.

Like Yimmy said, just talk to your sponsor about it and let her know you want to try something different.

Everyone except myself and 2 other people are women. I'm a fat guy in his late 20s. I feel like if I bring it up she will ask me to find a different sponsor then I'll be fucked. Know what fuck it I'll bring call her today.

Thanks for giving me a good answer. It definitely helped to hear it twice.

If a sponsor in a 12 step dumps you because you talk to them about something before doing it, they are a total fucking cunt and should not be a sponsor in a 12 step. That is what they exist for, isnt it?

Now, if you disregard her advice blatantly and purposefully, I can see it. But talking to her shouldnt be a reason to dump you.

So I just got off the phone with her and she didn't dump me. All the nutritional advice she gives me is the same advice her nutritionist gave her. Basically whenever I bring up changing my food plan she tells me the program is not about the food(which it truly isin't). I just kinda wanna go through the program not eating my binge foods which will cause me to lose weight.

Wanna lose weight? AIIIDDDDDDDSSSSS

Honestly, I've fought with my weight my whole life - though admittedly not to the level of a 12 step, but have you explicitly talked to a nutritionist?

No insurance, no nutritionist. All the research I have done is researching the fuck out of /r/keto.

Maybe try eating slower, they say it helps. I don't know if snacking is part of your problem but I've convinced myself that eating candy and stuff is for kids, seeing a grown man eat sweets looks silly.

seeing a grown man eat sweets looks silly.

I've never thought of that. Thats a really good fucking point.

Talk to a doctor. Get some advice on how much you should eat to lose weight in a healthy way (if you eat not enough it's almost as bad as eating too much). If that's absolutely not an option (but really, you should even if you have to shell out some cash for a checkup), do some research on a healthy way to lose weight. I always used the metric of eating 10x your current weight in calories per day to lose 1-2 lbs/week (so if you weight 300 lbs, eat 3000 calories a day).

Get a free tracking program like MyFitnessPal. Be religious about putting in everything you eat into it, even if you fuck up. If you fuck up for one meal/day, don't go "oh well, diet's over". Stick with it. It's a cumulative thing, and a few mistakes won't matter over a matter of months. It's about doing the right thing a majority of the time.

Learn how to drink water. Buy one of those Brita 2-gallon jokers and stick it in the fridge. Drink a cup between meals and with as many meals as you can. Stop drinking calories.

I love MyFitnessPal. Water and tea are really what I drink anyway. And I completely have a problem with a slip leading to a major eating event. A slip yesterday led me to fast food online fast food reviews.

Why don't you just ask him off the air E-Rock??

Eat what you want, just eat less. I understand that one thing leads to another and before you know it you've eaten an entire bag of chips but the alternative is illness or death. Try not acting on every single indulgence. Drink more water when you have an urge, wait 20 minutes and see if you still have that craving. Order a small instead of an extra large. You don't need an extra fucking large anyway, you know you're just going to feel like a sack of shit later. Eating right and cutting out the shit doesn't come quick. Just take it slow and occupy your mind with other stuff. Get a hobby other than eating food all the god damn time. You can't snack if you're busy cruising playgrounds and middle-schools for a date.

Eating less just isin't an option for me. That realization is what led me to the 12-step program I am currently in. Twice in my life I ate less, getting close to a normal body size. I reached my goal weight for about 1 week each time only to again pickup the foods that caused me such problems before. I cannot have certain foods, ever.

Your idea about a hobby has also helped me recently. Getting back into r/c planes has helped me.

Best of luck. Also, I think Jimmy might have told you to just "go to the gym, and eat better".

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Keep at it my friend. You can do it.

Thank you.

Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet to stop yourself from overeating. I read an interesting article in Scientific American a few months back, which went into the psychology of overeating. It drew many correlations between the biochemistry and behavior of drug addicts and compulsive overeaters, and postulated that many of the same mechanisms were at work in both types of addictions.

As someone who has struggled with obesity my whole life, but not as much as I have gotten older, I will offer up some advice, which I hope you find helpful (though I am still fat, so take it with a grain of salt).

1.) Listen to your body. Do not allow your mind to tune it out, which is probably a habit at this point. When you overeat, there is a good chance that you feel physically ill to some extent following a binge. You likely feel a combination of upset stomach, bowel cramps, nausea, indigestion, etc. Focus on this unpleasantness, own it, savor it; most importantly, fear it. The sickness you feel is your best friend, and your strongest ally when it comes to rewiring your psyche. Do you know why rat poison hasn't killed every single rat on the planet decades ago? It is because the rats who consume a non-lethal quantity of it become ill, they associate the illness with the poison, and they never consume rat poison ever again. The drive to avoid gastrointestinal discomfort is a primal one that was wired into the human psyche eons ago. Regain a connection with this aversion.

2.) Do not deny yourself foods that you enjoy; rather, exercise portion control. You can still eat food that you enjoy and feel quite satisfied by not overeating. If you are in the mindset that indulging in a single French fry (or whatever food you enjoy) is a colossal personal failure, it makes it so easy to binge if you slip up. Because after all you've already fucked up, so this day/week/month is already shot; may as well throw in the towel and wait it out to try again. I am sure that you can see the cyclical nature of this.

3.) Exercise. It will suck at first, but the gains will appear quicker than you could ever have imagined, maybe a month or so. Also, I have found that exercise majorly reduces my cravings for junk food.

Getting sleepy, so I will have to end here. Good luck in overcoming this addiction. Getting over it is a journey, not a destination.

Is the overeating a quality of feeling depressed?

I, personally, found my depression led to a lack of eating.

It's odd how depression works in terms of appetite. One will either overeat or have no appetite at all.

When I've gotten down this is how it's worked for me, too.

Did eating just not cross your mind or did you make a decision not to eat?

I have been severely depressed for the last 5 years. But I've been fat my entire life. Being at my heaviest and depressed is exactly what brought me to my first meeting 1.5 months ago.

Are you seeing a therapist? 12 step programs are shit.

Nope. No insurance at all.

Look for a NAMI chapter in your county. They will have a list of licensed mental health providers who will see you for free or on a sliding-scale based on your income (or lack or income). I see a few clients each week probono. There are many other therapists who do it too, it's just not advertised. NAMI is a great first step.

Will do. I still can't get over how you are a therapist and how you earlier said that 12-step programs are shit. Did your patients just never respond to them?

I prefer evidence-based treatment modalities with structure, an educational component and support. Not a single AA/NA/whateverA is consistent.

I see a few clients each week probono.

Blowing truckers at rest stops is very noble of you, Lady Trucker.

They go hand and hand. But if I get rid of one the other will still be present unless I can squash it as well.

I've got a severe anxiety disorder (Hence being called Nervous Jarred and sounding how I do when calling in) that keeps me from leaving the house most of the time. I'm also morbidly obese from being bedridden in highschool and I've struggled with overeating from anxiety/depression since then. Due to injuries I've sustained to my hips, knees and ankles from playing football in highschool and from my morbid obesity, I also have difficulty exercising and even standing for short periods of time. However, because of this I was recently prescribed a medication to control my appetite and give me a bit more energy and it's worked very well. The medication is a capsule containing both Topomax and Phentermine and while taking the medication I've lost 19lbs over a period of 4 months while leading the same sedentary lifestyle. I know the struggle you're going through and I think you could possibly talk to your primary care physician to see if the medication is right for you. If you have any kind of issues with drug addiction or any heart issues I would avoid it, however, as it's in the same family as Amphetamine and is basically a less powerful analog. Best of luck man, and keep on working.

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When my dad was alive he was agorophobic. Also when I had insurance I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Diorder, Social Anxiety Disorder and a very mild case of asperbergers. And because of me being heavy my entire life I already feel pain in my lower back when I lay down in a bed. Plus the weight has given my obstructive sleep apnea. Now that I just read that back to my self i'm fucked in terms of my health.

I was on adderall before which completely cut my food thoughts. But I had to stop taking it due to my high blood pressure. Adderall was a godsend for my depression. But since no insurance its a no go. I've researched getting it on the deep web but I can't risk it. I'm not getting arrested for something like that.

Is that Qsymia?

Yeah, it's Qsymia afaik. I'm really large in build as well at 6'5 so the recommended dosage wound up not doing anything after a couple of weeks but I'm sorted out now. I can't say it'll be a good choice for people who can't lose weight otherwise, but I would recommend it if nothing else works.

Good luck with it.

Your sponsor shouldn't take it personally if you're proactive and bring an option to the table. If she isn't qualified to help you with KETO for whatever reason, then maybe she would have to pass you on to someone else, but most likely you care more about what you eat, while she cares more about whether it's giving you results.

Good luck, changing habits is hard for everyone, but you can do it!

I just spoke to her and and replying to every comment. She truly does care about results while giving me the best non medical advice she can give. So I can't knock her for that.

Keto is great but it requires a lot of self control.

I'm no professional, but it seems the problem isn't as much in what you eat as much as how you eat. If you can deal with that then keto might be great, but if you can't stop yourself from binging on sugar then you're not going to make any progress

I've stopped myself from binging on sugar so far but I just wanna kick out the carbs from the starches that i'm supposed to be eating every meal.

Seeing what subreddit this is in, I'm very surprised to find the replies as positive and helpful as they are.

Every time you're craving a snack or a supplementary meal, do 10 pushups or sit-ups. It works for a fat fuck like myself and it makes you feel like you're being productive.

Good luck!

I would be on the ground ass up all day.

I lost 170lbs over the last three years. I did it calorie counting but no matter what sort of food restriction you try you have to put in the effort mentally. There's no "easy" way to do it, you're not going to be comfortable and for the first X number of months you're going to hate it. Not accusing you of this because I don't know you, but a lot of overweight people ask me for advice/help because of what I've done and to be honest that's always their problem. They just want it to be easy, and it isn't.

Human steroid repository Ronnie Coleman has a famous quote "Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder, but don’t nobody want to lift no heavy-ass weights.", weight loss is exactly the same. Every fatty wants to lose weight but no one wants to eat less or move more.

Anyway, good luck either way. As far as your question goes if you want to try it then try it. Your sponsor isn't going to be at your funeral when your heart tells you to go fuck yourself because it's under too much of a load, I'd even just lie to your sponsor about it. It's your body, use them as emotional support but if you think keto will work for you then do it.

Just spoke to her and i'm probably gonna just gonna go keto. A big undertone in the meetings is that if you aren't working the steps then you are just dieting with group support, which is what i'm trying to avoid by using my sponsor/meeting buddies as emotional support.

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I did it for a week before I got my sponsor and I felt great. Most of what I lost was probably water weight but I noticed a big different in mental clarity through the day. Kinda like driving with a dirty car windshield then cleaning it.

Sounds like you have no will power you fat cuntno offense.

it is a lifestyle change

You have to change your lifestyle forever. Seriously fatso ,you have to accept that you can't sit in front of the TV and eat chicken wings and drink Pepsi like your friends,and never will be able to. The only thing stopping you from being skinny is your weak mind.

Can't believe people in 2013 don't understand the weight loss concept.

American serving sizes are pretty big compared to the rest of the world. Try to lower serving size if you can.

If your sponsor wants you to stay, see if you can get out of the program if you really want to keep eating sugar, flour, high salt, etc. Yes, these things are bad for you, but it doesn't mean you can never have them. If you really have a problem and really can't stop eating these things every day, you might not have a choice.

The best way to lose weight is a combination of a good diet and exercise. Don't eat out all the time. If you do, try to eat healthier options like chicken instead of beef and fried foods. Try to cook from home if you can, and avoid processed foods. But remember that losing the weight isn't only about your diet, sometimes people (not pointing out anyone in particular) blame it solely on the unhealthy American diets, and neglect to mention that if you don't exercise, it doesn't matter how good your diet is. Take a walk around the neighborhood if you can twice or three times a week, for 30 minutes or more.

Whatever you do, good luck

Just try to limit fast food and processed food intake,

I've made it 1.5 months without fast food which has to be the longest of my life.

That's good. See if you can cook food from home, there are less chemicals. There are plenty of recipes online and in bookstores that can help you cook food at home.

I read a lot that you "eat with your eyes", that is, if you eat from a bigger plate, you'll be tempted to finish the plate more, thus overeating. American chains and cultures are guilty of huge serving sizes...so if you eat from a smaller plate, you should feel full from eating less. Again, good luck

How many of the women in your program look like Terry Clifford?

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I always envisioned that sound clip from a drill instructor in some movie.

It's my pleasure, buddy. Like others are saying in the thread - the sponsors are well-intentioned, but it's Ok to question what they say a bit. No one has every answer, and this is a learning process - you should be questioning things, and figuring out your best path.

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