Thank you for your perspective. I guess what I meant was that while people with drug and alcohol issues can choose to avoid ingesting their substance, food addicts cannot. Referring to triggers wasn't accurate. Dealing with addictions is extraordinarily difficult, but being able to make an all-or-nothing decision can…

That's fair enough. Perhaps fruit and veg aren't expensive in absolute terms, but they are more expensive than the same items in Ireland. She'd like to shop organic, but she hasn't managed to find a health food shop yet.

For the record, I didn't suggest that obesity is a personal failing or obese people are gluttons. There are systemic societal issues that contribute to obesity, and no amount of yelling "BOOTSTRAPS!" at people is going to affect that.

Nah, Godwin's Law applies to far fewer online discussions here in Germany than you might think. I mostly see it on English-language websites.

It's so hard, because an alcoholic can decide to never drink again, a smoker can decide to never smoke again, but someone with a food addiction has to face triggers every day and learn to manage them. It's not easy. Congratulations on losing so much weight, that's a very difficult thing to do and you've shown amazing…

Have you considered life coaching/therapy? Where I live, a lot of obesity is down to emotional eating, using food to try and satisfy other needs.

That's pretty much what Liberal means in Europe too, and we're the right way up :) Other words that have different meanings outside the US: democrat, republican, Christian, socialist, conservative.

'Merkins invading the comment section of an Australian blog were a big part of the problem, I think...

I love the Yeats references SO MUCH, you guys. Thank you.

What? They have the internet outside America?

That's shitty. I went through the same trajectory with my ex, rough patch, things feeling really good for a while for both of us, breakup out of the blue. Your boyfriend was cruel in breaking up with you that way, whether or not he meant it. Either he's callous and didn't care that it would be hurtful, or he's…

Does your husband also see this as an issue and does he want to be more emotionally intimate? Couples therapy can help, but people wait an average of seven years after the beginning of the problem before going for it, so it's often too little, too late. Gottman marital therapy is the only evidence-based form of…

Thank you for sharing your story. My mother had breast cancer five years ago, and is on tamoxifen now. It's not fun, it's causing her a lot of pain and joint instability, but as you say, it's better than cancer. Best of luck with your journey.

Biologically, no, the brain changes are in no way comparable, in scope or in longevity. The most dramatic changes are to the ventral tegmental area and to the insula, and even those changes are reversed within about three months of the breakup. And I'm just out of a ten year relationship that was quite nice in many…

Nope! Romantic relationships rewire your brain on a much smaller scale, and within 12 weeks of a breakup your brain chemistry and structure are back to pre-relationship status. Once you become a mother, there's no going back. You can leave a partner. Being in a romantic relationship tends not to cause a person's…

The cats at the Munich cat cafes are prissy bitches. You missed nothing.

That may be, but the people who don't want to be parents and the people who "should" not be parents are not always the same...

I know it's extreme, but it's not an exaggeration, it's genuinely how I feel. There are many reasons why I think having kids is not right for me, but mainly I just don't want them. They're a life sentence, a burden that you can never put down. I'd prefer to die free. I'm not dissing anyone else's choice and I know…

I really like children too. I'm a therapist who works with children, and I love to help them get back on their feet. Kids are fascinating and fun and nice to spend time with and many other lovely things. They're also not for me.

Me too, same age, never wanted kids. The idea is so awful to me, I'd prefer to get AIDS and cancer, and I've seen close family die of both and it's not pretty. The good news is, an IUD is actually more effective than tubal ligation and less invasive, so perhaps you can use that option?