[Lost Dog]

Everyone's different, but when I was a big guy, I didn't binge. I was always an emotional eater, but if you're always eating too much, there's little reason to binge. You just keep eating...

Now, I get upset, sad, pissed, worried, anxious, etc. I feel like OVEReating. I need to channel that somewhere or find a way to ditch that feeling. When I'm alone, I can hit the gym or go to a movie or just go to sleep. When I have my kids, this becomes harder.

Everyone needs a social network for support. This weight loss thing is freakin' hard. Things go well and we like to get the high-fives and congrats from our family and friends. Things go poorly and we pull in like a frightened turtle.

It's hard to successfully ride out a binge if you don't have support. Posting a problem in your training log might help. Don't count on it. I did that last night. Put my problem out there. Forty long minutes passed before (Thank God) my friend saw it and popped in to help. It sure did help, but even as I was being rescued from my mood, I realized that I'd chosen to rely on others to fix my own problem. If she hadn't seen the post and decided to help, would I have continued to let myself feel down? Yes. Luckily, my posted cry for help allowed me to ride out that forty minutes. But, if it hadn't, how many cupcakes could I have eaten in that period of time? A lot.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't post these things in a log or forum. That perfectly fine. But, realize that if that's all you do, you are taking a passive role in stopping the binge. You need to take an active roll.

Develop a support network. It can be as simple as making a deal with a friend who you can confide in. They don't need to know anything about food, nutrition, diet, exercise, or psychology. They need to be able to listen and be supportive. Our binges aren't about the food. The binges are about emotions.

Have multiple people in the network. Your goal should to be able to reach someone in a reasonable amount of time. Live contact, too. Personal contact is best (drive, ride, walk, or jog on over), but a phone can easily do the trick. IMs, PMs, emails are fine, but you need to quickly get into a "conversation." Sending an email that gets responded to tomorrow doesn't help. Have a couple of people that you can get in touch with.

Also, make sure that these people know that they are in your network and agree to try to be available. If they are in the same boat, it can help ease the guilt of disturbing them, but if they are truly a good friend, it's usually not a problem.

There's no shame in needing help or a shoulder to cry on (Yes. I've cried. Once. One. Single. Tear.). We're used to talking about our problems, and, in general, feel no shame. But, when it comes to our feelings driving our eating behavior, suddenly we're ashamed? Why? Because we feel out of control. But, it's our responsibility to get our feeling under control again. Get our eating under control again.

So, any tips or suggestions to add? We talked about physical methods to get off the binge bandwagon, but those things only work if you want them to. How do you get to that point? You've got to talk, sometimes.

Hopefully, this makes some sense. I don't have an Editor, but I do have two kids wanting my attention. Rather than be my own Editor, I now will hit "submit" and hope for the best.