addicted to shopping and food!

I am post op 2 years and 4 months.  I find myself wanting to either eat or shop.  I snack on good stuff for the most part but alot of times I'm not hungry.  Any words of wisdom?  Thanks and God bless, Penni

I'm not sure how wise my words are, but I can share how it is for ME.

I'm compulsive by nature.  While alcohol is the substance and behavior that got me into recovery, I spread out all over the place.  Just this last week, when fighting the urge for a drink, I've probably consumed TWICE the number of calories (bad stuff - cookies, chips, candy), and spent 300 bucks on CRAP that I don't need.  I behaved better yesterday - drove around comparing prices on a new tv i want, and didn't buy ANYTHING.

For me, these are all outlets for anxiety and self-soothing behavior.  I need to work on finding new and healthier self-soothing behaviors. I've shared before that my recovery has been rather like herding feral cats in a cow pen.  Two cats leave the pen.  You get those two back into the pen only to find that another 3 have left the pen on the other side - rinse, repeat. It's more a matter of getting everything coralled than it is just not drinking for me.  It's more a matter of learning to LIVE using the principles of the 12 steps and not going for the ingrained soothing behaviors.  It's about me trying to get better. Looking at my triggers helps somewhat, but it doesn't stop the behavior as much as it reinforces the guilt.  ("oh great, I'm eating this cuz i feel X") Sorry - I know I didn't have much advice, but I sure identify with you. Love and light, Michelle

Well, i am 7 years post op and i have been through the gamet of cross-addictions.    After i lost my addiction to food after surgery,  turned to shopping.   OMG, QVC and i were best friends and i had closets full of clothing that i never wore, tags still on them.   The UPS man thought there was something wrong if there wasn't a package to deliver to me from one of the home shopping channels 3-4 days a week, sometimes multiple packages.   After that, i became addicted to sex.    I was recently single and after going through a period of recovering from the divorce, i sowed my wild oats!!!     i was living a very unhealthy lifestyle and finally met a man who would eventually become my husband .  It took me quite a while to put that addiction aside.  i had spent so many years of my life considering myself to be unattractive, and asexual, that i was trying to make up for lost time.  i was so insecure that i thought that having physical attention from these men would make me happy, would give me that completeness that i sought.  Fast forward a couple of years, and i began abusing alcohol.  i first used it to cope in social situations and then found that i could not stop.   i embarassed myself and my husband, tried quitting on my own several times.   A year and a half ago, i joined AA, made it 3 months sober, and went back out during a business trip.  i hid my drinking for 6 months (or so i thought) and finally broke the cycle in September 07.   i am working the program, and i ake one day at a time. i recognize that i have an addictive personality.   i am learning the tools that are helping me to cope with life.   Life is good, i face ,my battles head-on and am not looking to replace this addiction with another one.  With God's help i will continue working on this problem, this disease.   Seek help, join a group - and remember, you are not alone.   We are many, those of us with cross addictions! Barbara rny 02/19/07

the one thing that has saved me some.. is I do shop alot.. but at thriftstores and then I'm reselling on Ebay.   It is feeding my buying crave(addiction).. yet I'm making money on top of it.. woot woot.   You may want to try that route.. I love the hunt of the game.  Learning and finding what sells.. my greatest sell so far was a pair of shoes I bought at GoodWill for $6.00 and sold just last week for $222.50.  I REALLY don't think that will happen again.. but sure would be nice.  They were a pair of mens Cole Haan original crocodile shoes. I don't really think it's a bad thing.. we do need a hobby of sorts.. and if good comes from it, then more power to us.  I guess it's when bad consequences happen (from a hobby/addiction)  that we need to relook at it..  I'm still battling my snacking craves.. lately I have just refused to bring it in the house.. and that is working so far this weekend.  My biggest downfall is grazing at work.  Hopefully no one brings donuts in today..  hugss

Hi Penni, I abused alcohol then cigarettes, then food, then baking, then shoes, then shopping (helllloooo QVC, Zappos, Target and Macy's)...and not quite sex, but Domination and then Sadism. I took a ride on the wild side. I'm seeing a shrink to discover why I do a lot of what I do. What I've found is that I'm fairly insecure and need the approval of others. I'm working on giving that to myself. I didn't do AA meetings on a regular basis, but rather took advantage of them when I felt I needed them.  You can find the 12 steps at www.aa.org  and take a look around.   The need to eat and shop is a compulsive behavior. What you need to try to figure out is what's behind the compulsion. That's not always as easy as it sounds. For me, once I figure out WHY I do something (like the D/S), I no longer need it to soothe my anxieties. I still have plenty of anxiety, unfortunately, that changes daily!!  I fill my online cart and delete it. I stop myself before I buy and end up reading online instead. MOST OF THE TIME. What I bought yesterday was protein shakes.  Find out what works for you. There is plenty of help out there. Keep posting and reading here, too. It's an amazing group of gutsy, strong people. :)  Welcome!! Marie