Sheryl wrote:
> They say that when we start eating compulsively, we are trying to
> block out some other upsetting thought.
Wally Ballou wrote:
> Sorry, but I cannot sit still for this... People have attributed all
> sorts of "compulsive eating," "emotioinal eating," or outright gluttony
> to physical, mental, and emotional problems
....
> However... most people who begin a low carbohydrate plan (paleo or not)
> and follow it for a reasonable time (sometimes a matter of weeks is
> sufficient), they discover just how incorrect all those "diagnoses" (or
> calumnies...) really were. To be sure, there ARE people who do have
> problems of that sort, but for most, it simply turns out to be addictive
> behavior triggered METABOLICALLY by the food...
I very strongly disagree. For starters, I must point out that you are not a
woman (I don't think "Wally" is a woman's name--correct me if I'm wrong).
Compulsive eating, like anorexia, is almost entirely a woman's problem. Be
very careful about extrapolating from yourself!!!!
Second, I am a case in point. I weighed 137 when I started eating a low carb
diet (averaging 100 grams of carb per day). I now weigh 147. The
restrictions of the diet triggered my compulsive eating issues, and I gained
10 pounds. Another man on the list said the same thing happened with his
wife. Ray wrote in a post to this list a couple of years ago that women seem
to gain weight when they start a paleo diet. Ray's theory was that they are
eating high calorie "gatherer" foods (nuts and dried fruit). I think the
reason is that going on a diet--any diet--will trigger a compulsive eater,
and compulsive eaters are virtually all women.
I am only now getting my compulsive eating under control, using the
principles I described in some other messages. The way around it is to tell
myself that the paleo guidelines are just guidelines, and I can eat whatever
I want. If I don't feel I "can't" eat something, then I don't crave it. I
can have just a bite of chocolate cake, for example, and be satisfied--or
maybe not even want it at all. With this mindset, I can eat a (mostly) paleo
diet without being triggered to eat compulsively--out of a feeling of
deprivation.
- Sheryl
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