Dear Amy: I am a high school guy with a big problem — my weight.
Up until this year I was just a little overweight (my whole family is). But I have begun getting the urge to eat more and more. I am not under any stress. I get good grades and have a great family. I have a normal social life.
No matter how much I eat, I am never full. My weight has ballooned. My clothes don’t fit, and my self-esteem has gone down.
I exercise intensely four days a week, but I keep putting on weight. I need help before I start having all the negative health effects of obesity. What should I do? — Can’t Stop Eating in Illinois
Dear Can’t stop: You need to look at your situation a little differently. You don’t have a weight problem. You have an eating problem.
Binge eating is complicated. You might have stresses in your life that you aren’t able to identify. Your compulsion to eat might also have a biological cause.
You sound like a smart and sensitive young man. You are correct to worry about the health effects of obesity — now you need to try to identify and tackle your eating issues. First, talk to your most sympathetic family member, saying that you need professional help. Your physician should then see you for a thorough checkup.
Check to learn more.
Dear Amy: My girlfriend and I are childless and in our 50s. We have been together for three years. Now she is getting laid off. She wants to spend some of her severance pay on a well-deserved trip to Australia and New Zealand. She plans to go for about a month, but I can only take off work for two weeks.
She is nervous about traveling alone, so she has asked several friends — male and female — to go with her. The only one who said yes is a guy who lives in her building. He has been to Australia and New Zealand before.
He will meet us there for a couple of days, then go with her for two weeks.
Now she says that to save money they are sharing hotel rooms. She has never spent more than two hours at a time with this guy.
But now I’m going to travel halfway around the world to hand off my girlfriend to someone whom I barely know! Do I have a right to object to this plan? — Steve
Dear Steve: You should focus more on her safety than your jealousy and urge her to sign up for a group tour.
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