Re: Willingness without fusion is difficult with strong pain

September 23, 2011

This thread says so many important things, thanks to all of you for your

resposne. I can see how ACT has given all of you a new way of thinking. I am

definetly a newbie.

Before reading the comment on accepting pain, I didnt realize by accepting the

short term pain I would help stop the suffering in my head.

I must go back and reread the defusion words that Helena wrote,

Acceptance

........ just allow it to be there;

Voice your acceptance

accept it in the moment. " It's OK if I am feeling discomfort right

Voice your intention

I do this in honor of my value to < fill in the blanks >; for example, in

honor of my value to be physically healthy, if that's what it is.

Thank you , all

Lin

September 23, 2011

I used to suffer from unbearable hunger which was caused by medication. As the medication helped with my despair and anxiety I stuck with it which was disasterous because the unbearble food cravings I had remained for years after stopping the meds. In the end I managed to bring it under control by only eating carbohydrates once a day which meant I lived on cabbage and cheese for the rest of the time. Even broccoli contained too much carbohydrate and would make me very ill - I could end up staying up all night in a state of biological torture craving for food. My reaction to the drug was extreme but I believe this was caused by my terrible tension, stress, and anxiety.

The dieticians at my hospital had never heard of such a thing and told me to eat more carbs, and my doctor said he had never heard of such a bizzarerre set of symptoms. I remained on the low carb diet for years because if I ever straid I would go through hell, but eventually I gave up eating cabbage or anything during the day and would only eat once in the evening - I needed to eat all my carbs in an hour otherwise my pancreas would over react.

One day I got terrible acid pains and I went through hell with for months which forced me in the end to eat some low GI carbs again during the day. To my surprise my pancreas had reset and my extreme reaction to carbs had healed. I still do overeat and crave fatty food but I don't go into the that agonising hunger like I did before, which was unbearable torture.

As a result of my problems I learnt a lot about the body and food. Many people with stress issues might find they are driven to overeat as this is the body's way of ensuring you get sufficient calories in any percieved dangerous situation becaue you might not get food for a while. When you are in deadly danger the body loses interest in food, but in other stressful situations the body drives you to eat.

I have no idea what makes you want to over eat, but if stress is a part of it rest assured it will lesson as you learn to manage stress. I hope ACT works well for you and brings you peace of mind.

Here's an article you might find interesting: (I do love my fatty food which I have recently given up due to weight gain but I am suffering more stress because of it - oh well)

Comfort-Food Cravings May Be Body's Attempt To Put Brake On Chronic Stress

ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2003) — UCSF researchers have identified a biochemical feedback system in rats that could explain why some people crave comfort foods - such as chocolate chip cookies and greasy cheeseburgers - when they are chronically stressed, and why such people are apt to gain weight in the abdomen.

The finding, to be published this week on-line in the Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, focuses on a glucocorticoid steroid hormone (corticosterone in rats, cortisol in humans) that plays a key role in the stress-response system. In their study, the researchers determined that 24 hours after activation of the chronic stress system - which stimulates a flood of hormonal signaling from the hypothalamus to the adrenal glands – glucocorticoids prompt rats to engage in pleasure-seeking behaviors, which include eating high-energy foods (sucrose and lard). The animals develop abdominal obesity, and the negative aspects of the chronic stress response system, otherwise ushered in by the glucocorticoids, are blunted. The researchers suspect that the metabolic signal to inhibit the stress system comes directly from fat depots.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030911072109.htm

Kv

>> I read that when I have a painful experience - due to the desire to eat and when I try to resist overeating I can feel hunger pains and tell myself I am suffering. Through ACT I learn that I can accept my pain and not call it suffering. And the action of enduring the pain comes from willingness (the action that comes from acceptance). Well this can be so strong, that it is difficult to adjust my thoughts to ones other than fusion.> > And very much related to this, when I - further on in the process - look at my values and choose one to be 'moderation' or 'moderation with food' - I then have chose a path, a process. I can then set up a short term goal - lets say to be moderate with eating from breakfast through lunch .... I am advised through the program to become committed and do it as fully and well as possible .... Again as with the first paragraph I can accept that this will be difficult and I can employ willingness to make the effort to follow through .... And suppose, because this is so painiful to do, I get into the / willingness process again .... and again it is difficult to express to myself emotions or thoughts in a defused manner.> > Marty K>

September 23, 2011