Over-eating and Depression

[Convert_in_99]

So another thread got me thinking…

I have a terrible problem with overeating. I have chronic depression (am on several meds, but they only provide limited relief) and feed my sadness with food. I am overweight, and gaining more. I feel so guilty that I cannot get a hold on this sin. I eat all the time, large meals and always snacking. I am wondering if gluttony could even be a mortal sin at this point? At one point, when my depression was doing a little better, I had lost 60 lbs. Now, sadly I have gained it all back. I feel out of control with my over-eating. I don’t know what to do.

So, is my overeating a mortal sin?

And any personal experience you have with conquering this fault.

Prayers are always welcome too!

 

[Joe_5859]

So another thread got me thinking…

I have a terrible problem with overeating. I have chronic depression (am on several meds, but they only provide limited relief) and feed my sadness with food. I am overweight, and gaining more. I feel so guilty that I cannot get a hold on this sin. I eat all the time, large meals and always snacking. I am wondering if gluttony could even be a mortal sin at this point? At one point, when my depression was doing a little better, I had lost 60 lbs. Now, sadly I have gained it all back. I feel out of control with my over-eating. I don’t know what to do.

So, is my overeating a mortal sin?

And any personal experience you have with conquering this fault.

Prayers are always welcome too!

I would ask a priest about this in Confession. I don’t think any of us can answer the question of whether or not the sin is mortal for you.

Certainly, gluttony is a sin. However, when you factor is things like depression, then I could see how the culpability would be diminished. It would seem more difficult to “completely consent” to the act with depression in play.

 

[Catya]

Overeating is often a symptom of depression, so please be kind to yourself in your approach to conquering this problem. You might also want to talk to your doctor about whatever antidepressant you’re on, as some can cause significant weight gain.

 

[Robertanthony]

So another thread got me thinking…

I have a terrible problem with overeating. I have chronic depression (am on several meds, but they only provide limited relief) and feed my sadness with food. I am overweight, and gaining more. I feel so guilty that I cannot get a hold on this sin. I eat all the time, large meals and always snacking. I am wondering if gluttony could even be a mortal sin at this point? At one point, when my depression was doing a little better, I had lost 60 lbs. Now, sadly I have gained it all back. I feel out of control with my over-eating. I don’t know what to do.

So, is my overeating a mortal sin?

And any personal experience you have with conquering this fault.

Prayers are always welcome too!

Turning to food for comfort, stress relief, what have you, is a self-feeding monster. When you overeat, you gain weight, eventually you can become more than slightly overweight, there is, socially, a negative stigma attached to being overweight, you may not get as much positive reinforcement as if you had a healthy weight, which in turn makes you turn to food to fill that hole. I also have depression and a riverful of issues along with it, losing the excess weight and keeping it off seems like the Everest to climb. As a guy with insecurities running deep and wide, losing size and some of the modest amount of muscle mass I have alerts those insecurites BIG TIME. Vicious circle, I tell ya.

 

[RoseMary131]

So another thread got me thinking…

I have a terrible problem with overeating. I have chronic depression (am on several meds, but they only provide limited relief) and feed my sadness with food. I am overweight, and gaining more. I feel so guilty that I cannot get a hold on this sin. I eat all the time, large meals and always snacking. I am wondering if gluttony could even be a mortal sin at this point? At one point, when my depression was doing a little better, I had lost 60 lbs. Now, sadly I have gained it all back. I feel out of control with my over-eating. I don’t know what to do.

So, is my overeating a mortal sin?

Your priest is the best one to help you on what is sinful and what is partly from your medical condition with chronic depression.

Over eating and being over weight also has negative effects on you mentally and physically.

It is good that you not only recognize your weight issues, but see a connection with emotional eating and being an over-eater.

Maybe Weight Watchers would be a good place to start. My friends have lost an amazing amount of weight and regained their lives from the help and support of Weight Watchers.

You may be able to meet with a nutritionist if your doctor makes a recommendation.

Taking classes like Zumba, Step-Class, and Spin Classes at the gym is fun and can help with weight loss and decreasing depression. I have found that everyone of every shape and size is welcomed in class.

Add walking to your day.

Good luck on your journey back to healthier eating.

 

[Convert_in_99]

So gluttony can constitute the “grave” matter required for a sin to be mortal?

 

[Allegra]

You should speak to a priest to determine if your over-eating is a mortal sin or not. If it is a result of depression, I would think your culpability would be lessoned, but I’m not really sure. I have a couple ideas that might help with controling the behavior though.

First, I would make sure to only buy really nutritious, low-fat, and non-processed food. If a person eats mostly processed food, alot of times the chemical makeup of these foods can contribute to depression and make the person feel worse. Since it is summer, there are tons of fruits and vegetables that are in season. Even if you completely pig out, you aren’t going to do much harm if it is only carrot sticks and hummus. (You might want to plan extra time for the ladies room though.) In my opinion, this is an easier way to start getting eating under control that punishing yourself with grueling exercise or counting out six potato chips or a thimble of double-fudge ripple. I tell you what, you come back from the market with nothing but cucumbers, blueberries, green beans, asperagus, watermelon, sweet corn, greek yogurt, and fresh chicken breast and you won’t feel bad even if you do eat more than you should.

However, if you do have a problem with turning down the ramen noodles and cookie doodles when you actually get to the grocery store, you could consider doing most of your shopping at the farmer’s market. Most of the time, they’ve never heard of the Keebler Elves there. Then you can pick up a gallon of milk at Walgreens on the way home.

 

[Lady_Love]

I can’t speak about breaking a food addiction but I can speak about quitting my addiction of smoking.

My husband and I picked a day that we wanted to quit. Both of us had smoked for over 20 years. As the “quit day” was approaching, I started to panic. I was so afraid that I wasn’t going to be able to quit. I loooove smoking and I really did not have a strong desire to quit but I knew I had to if I wanted to have a baby. I actually had a dream I was pregnant and I was more bummed that I had to quit smoking than I was excited to be a mother. This dream indicated to me how serious my addiction was/is. So I started doing some research online. I discovered a miracle story about a woman who smoke 3-5 packs a day and had smoked for thirty-five years. She was sick and probably going to die if she didn’t quit but even all that couldn’t get her to quit. In her desperation to be free of her addiction, knowing it was beyond her ability, she turned to the Divine Mercy Chaplet novena. Nine days she prayed the chaplet, smoking the entire time, and then miraculously on the ninth day she woke up and did not even want a cigarette. So, after reading that story, I started a nine day novena of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I prayed one chaplet for myself and the other for my husband and I called my Dad and a friend and asked them to pray it with me. They agreed.

We are now four days without smoking. It is miraculous but my husband and I are not completely free of the cravings we definitely have to fight them but we are doing it. I believe when you are an addict (no matter why you are an addict) you cannot save yourself but you must be saved by someone more powerful than your addiction, Jesus.

God be with you and please be encouraged.

 

[Ruthie_again]

First - where’s the hidden camera??!! Have you been watching me!!??

Yes, I, too am depressed (and on meds), and eat for comfort.

Happily, my priest told me that over-eating rises to the level of grave sin only if it deprives someone else of needed food. It’s more than eating more than your share; it’s eating someone else’s share.

And I’ve just begun a new battle against both the depression and the weight. On two levels.

First, I’m working with a behavioral therapist to try to control comfort eating.

Second, I have just this week started swimming. It’s not weight-bearing, so I don’t have to worry about hurting myself.

And just so you don’t make any of the depressing assumptions I tend to make - I swim just two laps: 25 meters, stop for a few minutes (not seconds!) to catch my breath, swim 25 meters (one full lap), and rest again. It took me 10 minutes.

And I was happy to find that, at the time of day I go, the other lap swimmers were all slow and pudgy. So much for my fear of being stared at by skinny athletes.

 

[Joe_5859]

So gluttony can constitute the “grave” matter required for a sin to be mortal?

That’s a good question. I’ll have to think about that one some more. Gluttony is only mentioned once in the Catechism when it lists the seven capital sins (AKA seven deadly sins). But it says “They are called ‘capital’ because they engender other sins, other vices.” Note it doesn’t say they are called capital because they are all grave matter.

This is why talking to a confessor is going to be your best bet.

 

[CarolNoel]

I will keep you in my prayers. Do you have a friend that you can be with and have a buddy to workout with or do things with?

 

[Elizabeth779]

Dear Convert in 99 – As suggested above, please check with your priest about this. I had asked my priest about it at one time also. My priest explained to me how I wasn’t actively engaged in gluttony or overeating as a rebellion against God, but because of bad habits, and/or depression, and he suggested I also check with my doctor.

I have been depressed in the past, and have had a difficult weight issue. I’ve never been able to successfully diet and lose weight, and had tried almost everything, counting calories, Weight Watchers, etc. Different things work for different people, so I would also suggest checking with your doctor. A lot of anti-depressants can actually create hunger. I remember that pill from back in the 80’s and ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh boy was I hungry.

I finally found a weight loss plan that works for me, and I have lost 50 pounds since January this year, and as i started to lose the depression started lifting – and it’s almost completely gone even though I still have significant weight to lose. And that’s because I finally have control over what I am eating. I truly was always hungry before, plus at times ate when I was full because of having I guess you could say a “hungry heart”. I started exercising after I had lost about 20 pounds, and that helps with depression also. There are a couple of online communities that are good for support also. I’ll send them to you in a private message.

Please remember you need to talk to your priest, talk to your doctor, and I’d also suggest you ask your patron saint, and Our Lady to pray for you also. There are friends and family who pray for me about my healthy changes, and I know that is very helpful also. Also please remember to find a plan that works for you and your life and one that is healthy. This is usually different for different people – what will work for you best is a plan you WANT to eat.

Oh dear, I’m repeating myself…it’s late and I need to sleep…

You will be in my prayers. God Bless You, and Best wishes for your success. You can do it.

 

[Deus_tecum]

So another thread got me thinking…

I have a terrible problem with overeating. I have chronic depression (am on several meds, but they only provide limited relief) and feed my sadness with food. I am overweight, and gaining more. I feel so guilty that I cannot get a hold on this sin. I eat all the time, large meals and always snacking. I am wondering if gluttony could even be a mortal sin at this point? At one point, when my depression was doing a little better, I had lost 60 lbs. Now, sadly I have gained it all back. I feel out of control with my over-eating. I don’t know what to do.

So, is my overeating a mortal sin?

And any personal experience you have with conquering this fault.

Prayers are always welcome too!

I cannot begin to tell you how much switching from a traditional American diet to a low carb diet has benefited me, both mentally and physically. I no longer discuss it much however because it seems to anger people to suggest that certain foods should not be daily staples. Let me ask you some questions and if you are further interested I would be happy to help. Could you give up cereal? Could you give up bread/rolls at most meals? Could you limit potatoes to 2 or less servings per week?

 

[Ruthie_again]

…at times ate when I was full because of having I guess you could say a “hungry heart”.

Elizabeth, that hit home so hard it made me tear up. And it reminded me of a song I love:

There’s a hole in the middle of the prettiest life,
so the lawyers and the prophets say.
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover’s
ever gonna ever make it go away…

…But if God felt a hammer in the palm of a hand,
Then God knows the way we feel,
And love lasts forever,
Forever and for real;
Forever and for real.

• Bob Franke

(What I quoted makes it sound like a religious song, but it’s not the kind of thing that gets played on religious stations. The last verse is the only mention of God.)

But it makes me think that we are indeed created with a hole in our lives - God gives it to us so that we can turn to Him to fill it. Only God can fill that hole. Food, booze, drugs, exercise, work, the internet - doing anything to excess won’t fill that hole.

Now, off to confession and Mass. Nothing fills that hole like the Eucharist! Nothing!
As Father told me once, it’s the best anti-depressant in the world! (And he didn’t mean that I should stop taking my meds, either.)

Jesus, I trust your Sacred Heart. Bless us all!

 

[LivingLove21]

God Loves you so dearly! He would never allow others to treat His beautiful creations with the disrespect we treat ourselves. Try this, Imagine yourself as His child, the loving arm of Our Father wrapped around you, you His precious love…Visualise just how much you need His love, the way an infant needs their parents to survive. Allow yourself to be dependant on Him…give over your worries and remind yourself to be gentle on yourself. Be kind. We can often be our own Bully…Our Lord would never allow anyone to talk to us the way we talk to ourselves sometimes. Live Loved and Love! I say this advising us both through the Holy Spirit. I truly relate to you in so many ways. I look forward to a new beginning and today is always the day to begin.
We are new in every moment, through the Cross. One moment at a time. See you the way the Lord sees you: Beautiful, worthy, deserving. Surrender to him, to his love. My prayers include you as you transform to live Loved.