- Do you keep thinking about food all day long?



- Do you turn to food when you are sad, happy, stressed, or bored?

- Do you feel that food has taken control of your life?

- Do you buy a large amount of food and eat it in one setting uncontrollably?

- Do you feel embarrassed to eat with your friends or coworkers because you do not want them to know how much you eat?

- Do you eat very quickly, not even tasting the food anymore?

- Do you feel that you do not know if you are hungry anymore? You just eat until you are sick and feel extremely uncomfortable?

- Do you feel guilty due to your eating habits?

- Do you like to indulge on junk food, high fat food, and sugary food?

If any of the above symptoms sounds like you, you might have compulsive overeating disorder.

If you have compulsive overeating disorder, probably you feel alone and helpless. When you tell your friends about your problem, probably they just simply tell you to stop eating. Unfortunately, it is not that easy. Your mind and body just cannot control your craving.

Do not feel discouraged! There are more people who suffer from compulsive overeating disorder than you think. There is hope!

Here are some ways you can overcome compulsive overeating disorder.

1. Share your problems with other people.

Talking to your love ones and asking them to support you emotionally is extremely important for compulsive overeater. Explain to them it is important that they understand your problem and give you emotional support. When you go shopping with them and pass by an ice cream shop, they need to tell you "you don't want that" when you start to walk over there.

If you live with your family and your house is full of cookies and candies for your brothers and sisters, explain to them that you do not want any junk food in the house. With someone who loves you to support you, you can stop compulsive overeating disorder a lot easier.

2. Find professional help.

Talk to your doctor about your problem. Many people who have compulsive overeating disorder also suffer from depression. Talk to you doctor about your problems, they can refer you to the right health care professional who can truly help you.

3. Get support from other compulsive overeater.

Like other addiction support group, you can find Overeaters Anonymous support groups in your area. You can find meetings in your neighborhood by going to oa.org. People who attend the meetings have the same problems as you. You can relate to them and they understand you. Getting support from them can make your recovery a lot easier.

4. Make a food journal.

Food journal is an effective tool to help you stop compulsive overeating. In the journal, write down everything you eat and drink, the amount you eat, what time you eat, how you feel before and after you eat. This will help you find out what triggers you to overeat. If you turn to food when you are stressed (which is very common), learn more about stress reducing methods such as listen to music, take a bubble bath, go out for a walk, or practice yoga. Once you find out why you overeat, then you are more likely to overcome it.

5. Change your food arrangement in your kitchen.

Throw away all the junk food you have in the house, do not go to the junk food isle in the supermarket, and rearrange your refrigerator so you can rich fruit and vegetables easily. These little changes will make it harder to overeat.

6. Do something you enjoy when you crave for food.

What else do you like to do besides eating? Watch scary movie? Read a novel? Find something you like to do instead of eating. When you are doing something you like, you will be completely distracted and not think about food anymore.

Don't feel helpless and alone if you are suffering from compulsive overeating disorder. With your commitment and support from people who care about you, you can fight this disease and regain control of your life.