OCD and Dieting

[adaptive1]

For the longest time, I feel like I have waged a battle against my obsessive mind. I have found using the "Four Steps" probably more helpful than anything and using principles of mindfulness a good resource in dealing with the thoughts and behaviours.

Most of my of my obsessions can last a long time, but many intrusive themes come and go. But the worrys and thoughts I have about weight loss and dieting just don't seem to respond to the same methods. Does it not make sense that they should? Are obsessions about weight, calories and food in away not similar to OCD obsessions.

I wonder what I am doing wrong that I can't tone down the volume of the noise on this one.

 

[Daniel E.]

Have you been diagnosed with an eating disorder, too?

Distinguishing between OCD and eating disorders can be a tricky task. A person with rigid beliefs, anxiety-provoking thoughts, highly ritualized behavior, and shifts in weight can describe a person with an eating disorder, a person with OCD, or a person with both.

OCD and Eating Disorders: Untangling the Diagnostic Web | OCD Chicago

 

[adaptive1]

Thanks for the link Daniel. I really don't know to be honest. To me it feels very similar in that it is just something else to obsessive about. I attended a session with people that have shape and body concerns and it was about the myth of dieting. I didn't feel like it was quite a fit with what I worry about, I am not sure I am all that concerned with my weight, but I constantly obsess about calories, food and weight loss for reasons I dont even understand which makes me feel it is like OCD, just an obsessive worry. Alot of the things that I obsess about dont make sense either, but I have a hard time not giving in on this topic.

 

[Daniel E.]

Did you see this?

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/eating-disorders/28444-orthorexia-nervosa.html

BTW, the people who wrote that article, OCD Center of Los Angeles, provide online and phone therapy for people in California (the state in which they are licensed) as well as Canada and other countries. I don't know what their fee is. They do offer a sliding scale.

But the worrys and thoughts I have about weight loss and dieting just don't seem to respond to the same methods. Does it not make sense that they should?

Certainly, many books and therapists use mindfulness for everything now, including eating disorders.

 

[adaptive1]

Thanks Daniel I appreciate the links, I dont think I have orhtorexia, but I probably have both an eating disorder and OCD, I am trying not to get hung up on labels, because in the past I think I obsessed about my diagnosis and obsessed about finding treatments. I try now to focus more on solutions, but it is hard not to worry about symptoms sometimes. You have given me some ideas. Thank you.

 

[Daniel E.]

BTW, some reminders about OCD and unwanted thoughts:

When most people have thoughts they don’t want to have, thoughts that interfere with their lives, they try to get rid of them by suppressing them. If you try to suppress a thought, it makes the thought stronger and more likely to come back. The secret to mindfulness practice with thoughts is to simply watch them. Read more about watching your thoughts at Mindfulness | Behavioral Tech, LLC

The "winning strategies" mentioned in the video by Dr. Wilson, co-author of Stop Obsessing!:

1) Do NOT pay attention to your content. ("This is where everybody gets stuck.")

2) Accept obsession when it pops up. ("It's fine I had that thought.")

3) WANT to be anxious and stay anxious ("It's about purposely choosing to feel the generic sense of uncertainty and anxiety.")

Anything that is resisted will persist; therefore, the best perspective is a paradoxical one: When facing a problem, one must go toward uncertainty and distress.

"Courage first; comfort last."


http://forum.psychlinks.ca/obsessiv...ocd/28683-dr-reid-wilson-on-handling-ocd.html

---------- Post added at 03:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:26 PM ----------

Are obsessions about weight, calories and food in away not similar to OCD obsessions.

BTW:

As part of cognitive-behavior therapy and/or exposure and response prevention therapy, you may be asked to participate in exercises designed to build your capacity to tolerate a loss of control.
​

OCD Perfectionism - Learn to Cope with OCD Perfectionism

In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Stephen Hayes (2005) makes the argument that people should let their decisions and behaviors be dictated by their values (in contrast to anxiety). One way to tap into these values is to write your own eulogy. That is, if you projected yourself into the future and look back, what would you like for your life to have stood for? What do you want to be remembered for? Based on this then, one begins to form their A list (tasks to be completed at or near 100%), a B list (tasks completed at 80%), a C List (tasks completed at 50%), and an F List (what to let go).

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/obsessiv...6-perfectionism-are-you-sure-it-pays-off.html

---------- Post added at 04:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:32 PM ----------

Regarding eating disorders:

As many as one in five people with OCD could also have some form of disordered eating. In addition, disordered eating may occur in as many as one in three patients with other anxiety disorders.

http://forum.psychlinks.ca/eating-d...valent-in-ocd-and-other-anxiety-patients.html

---------- Post added February 28th, 2012 at 02:50 PM ---------- Previous post was February 27th, 2012 at 04:02 PM ----------

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER ​	EATING DISORDERS ​
Individual counts the number of mouthfuls chewed or pieces of food in a meal, according to some fixed or magical number that is “correct” or “just right.”	Individual counts mouthfuls or pieces of food as a means of limiting portions and thus effectively losing more weight.
Individual repeatedly washes hands, due to a fear of germs, contact with waste products, or a number of other sources of possible contamination that exist.	Individual excessively washes hands to remove trace amounts of oil that might cause weight gain if ingested.
Individual throws out food in a can that has been slightly dented, for fear that it might contain food poisoning and later cause serious illness to someone.	Individual throws out food in a can because it was discovered to contain too many calories after reading the label.
Individual repeatedly asks a waiter in a restaurant about different dishes on menu, doubtful that he or she has enough knowledge to make the perfect meal decision.	Individual constantly asks same waiter about contents of dishes, so as to stay away from having any butter, oil, or fat.
Individual refuses to enter the kitchen in order to eat, due to fear of accidentally mixing cleaning items with the food.	Individual refuses to enter the same room, for it will only lead to the temptation to eat and thus get fat.
Individual repeatedly checks refrigerator, shelves or other parts of house, in order to make sure that every piece of food bought is in its proper, designated place.	Individual constantly checks same locations, in search of food to eat in an extensive bulimic binge period.

...In both anorexia and bulimia, the individual clearly becomes preoccupied by incessant thoughts revolving around body image, weight gain, and food intake, leading to ritualistic methods of eating, dieting, and exercising. The common thread linking both of these disorders to OCD is the overwhelming presence of obsessions and compulsions that eventually affects the individual’s daily functioning even to the extent of becoming incapacitated. Just as the OCD sufferer feels as though the door is not locked, despite evidence to the contrary, and is then compelled to check those locks hundreds of times in order to remove this doubt, so too the anorexic feels as though she is fat, despite the reality the mirror portrays, and she is thus forever checking her stomach to make sure that she has not gained weight but she is never satisfied and therefore she is compelled to lose weight by any means necessary. As with an OCD sufferer who can never achieve that “just right” feeling on a specific task, so too is a bulimic prevented from ever reaching his or her goals of fullness and emptiness in an endless binge-purge cycle...

Whereas patients with eating disorders are primarily driven by concerns of physical appearance and consequently alter their eating patterns in order to lose weight accordingly, OCD patients may be restricting their eating for reasons very different than body image concerns. Furthermore, for cases in which an individual qualifies for both diagnoses, such as an anorexic or bulimic who also experiences non-food related OCD symptoms like checking or contamination, it is still imperative to consider whether or not their symptoms are being motivated by both disorders simultaneously. For example, consider a patient washing his/her groceries due to the fear of contamination, as well as the fear that the products may contain high fat ingredients.

It should be noted that the recommended psychological treatment for both OCD and eating disorders usually involves some combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy, antidepressant medication, and family counseling. Successful treatment for bulimics, in particular, often entails classic exposure and response prevention, in which patients are exposed to their favorite foods, asked to eat, and then prevented with careful monitoring from vomiting, using laxatives, or otherwise purging. Additional techniques involve gradual alteration of eating rituals and increased flexibility in eating behaviors, which may include breaking rituals such as the need to use the same utensils, to measure food, to time meals, and to avoid certain restaurants. Because eating disorders typically result in numerous medical complications, we strongly encourage physicians and nutritionists to be part of the team...

More at: International OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) Foundation - Expert Opinion: Eating Disorders and OCD

 

[adaptive1]

I feel guilty for posting on here again but it does seem to help momentarily with my self induced anxiety, I wish that I could master this part of my obsessive thoughts......

1) Do NOT pay attention to your content. ("This is where everybody gets stuck.")

I totally get stuck with this, it's hard not to pay attention to something when its like a car alarm going off in your head. How do you tune out a thought that is repeating itself every moment you are awake? I am trying to practice mindful techniques but all I can not stop worrying about the same thing over and over. How do you let thoughts come and go when they just don't go?