Weight Loss Tip # 16: Don’t transfer your compulsive eating and dieting behavior to a new addiction such as shopping, sex, overwork or smoking.
It’s common for compulsive overeaters and dieters to set down the problems with food — only to pick up the credit card and start shopping like crazy. Some turn to unhealthy relationships and sex. Others pour everything into work. People turn to new compulsions when they give up eating or dieting compulsively because they are not doing the work they need to become emotionally healthy. When a person acts out with excessive spending or compulsive sexuality or overworking, it’s just a new method of running away from uncomfortable feelings.
Get the support you need to work through your feelings — a telephone network of friends who understand and appreciate your desire to change — a therapist, mentor or pastor. Maybe consider attending some group therapy sessions or frequenting a support group for compulsive overeaters. Check with mental health experts in your area to find out what’s available.
If you just find yourself trading one addiction for another, you’re not really getting well. And you deserve emotional health and freedom. Remember, you’re not looking for quick weight loss. You want to get off the yo-yo cycle forever and build a healthy relationship with food that lasts a lifetime.
Daily Inspiration: “The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life.” ~ Albert Einstein