food + shopping addiction = closed off for love

[SerCay]

I am slowly starting to accept my own problem after years.

While I have been denying it to myself, I have 2 serious addictions.

 

Food and shopping.

The food addiction causes me to be overweight, the shopping addiction causes my finances to be a mess.

 

These reasons have made me closed off, masculine while being a woman, and left me with very low self esteem.

 

Of course, these addictions were caused by childhood problems.

Unfortunately, the country that I live in does not recognize these addictions as being a real problem. Therapy has not reached a level here yet, where it's accessible to everyone.

 

I will have to get out of it myself. For starters I am proud that I finally after years, recognized and acknowledged that I have a problem with addiction.

 

 

Has anybody else been through this?

[d0nnivain]

Recognizing a problem is the first step to solving it.

 

 

If you can get an app on your phone & there are many you can track your calorie consumption & log exercises. My favorite is MyFitnessPal but there are others. Find the one that works for you. Given your shopping addiction, pick a free one, not a for pay one & don't upgrade to premium.

 

 

Once you get going with that, instead of shopping or buying something, try going for a walk. You won't be spending money but you will be burning calories.

 

 

Also make a budget. Take a long hard look at your income & expenses. Keep track using an app or good old fashioned pen & paper. See where your money goes. Seeing the numbers may curb your shopping appetite. What helped me to curtail my retail therapy was getting my fix elsewhere. I discovery thrift stores & wet about bargain hunting. I was at least spending a LOT less.

 

 

Finally when you get the weight & the spending under control, after you bank some savings, at least 2 months of living expenses, you can treat your new body to a new outfit. (Notice I said outfit -- one / singular, not wardrobe)

[SerCay]

These are very useful tips!

I downloaded myfitnesspal right away and will sart tracking my calories tomorrow.

 

 

My shopping addiction manifests like this:

I see something cheap I dont need,I buy.

I am in the grocery store, I buy tons of stuff that I dont need....

Is there even a name for a shopping addiction like that?

[d0nnivain]

My shopping addiction manifests like this:

I see something cheap I dont need,I buy.

I am in the grocery store, I buy tons of stuff that I dont need....

Is there even a name for a shopping addiction like that?

 

 

Does it matter what the name is? I'm sure it has one but I don't know the name.

 

 

To curtail the shopping put yourself on a cash diet. If you can't cut up your credit cards (Because you might need one in an emergency), freeze them. I mean that literally. Only take cash or a debit card to the store. Take the credit cards & wrap them in a plastic bag. Now wrap that plastic bag in a 2nd bag. Put the double wrapped cards into another bag & fill that 3rd bag up with water. Put the whole thing in your freezer. It will be such a pain in tail to get the cards out by the time you get them, hopefully your desire to buy something you don't need will have subsided.

[Fruitee]

Understanding you have a problem is the first step. But to get rid of it.. you need to find the reason and fix that. Thats not gonna be easy and no app or budget is going to fix it. You need to deepdive into your childhood and understand why youre behaving like this. Then you start your healing process and can get your life together.

 

I used to eat and shop my feelings. I was so profoundly unhappy that I was filling emptyness inside of me by shopping for shoes and eating. I only got rid of both addictions by changing almost everything in my life. Only thing I kept was my job.

 

Whatever it is that makes you act like this need to be recognized and healed. Then your new life begins. Good luck!

[SerCay]

Your story is inspiring to me.

What did you change in your life?

[Fruitee]

Your story is inspiring to me.

What did you change in your life?

 

Thanks. Well I left my ex, I moved to live alone, I stopped talking and being in contact with toxic people, I started new hobbies, I started studying, I made new friends, I started new relationship, therapy, journalling, yoga, open communication with people around me, understanding my childhood and trauma and how it has / is affecting me and my life, being honest to me and people around me, looking my demons in their eyes and detoxing.

 

And mental decision to be better. And learning from my mistakes. I stopped being afraid. I also travelled alone.