Post by hilwithonelary on Apr 5, 2013 15:04:00 GMT -5
This is kind of embarrassing for me to talk about. I'm ashamed that I have so little self control. I've been trying to lose weight since I had my DD a year ago, but I'm not having much success. I fid lose 10 pounds in January/February, but have gained 5 back. I eat fine most of the time and track my food in MyFitnessPal when I'm doing well, but sometimes I just go crazy. When I go overboard, I can't bring myself to track because I don't want to see just how bad it is.
It's been especially bad the past few weeks because Easter candy is some of my favorite candy. I resisted buying any for a long time, but once I did, the flood gates were open. I've eaten a whole bag of jelly beans in one sitting on more than one occasion. I don't even slowly enjoy them. I practically inhale them. I know I have a problem because I try to hide what I'm eating from DH even though he never criticizes my eating habits. If you've struggled with seriously overeating, has anything helped you? Books? Counseling? I need to break this cycle if I'm ever going to get to a healthy weight.
Post by explorer2001 on Apr 5, 2013 15:08:40 GMT -5
Check out the book "Women, Food, and God" by Roth. It's not really religious, but a good read.
Have you considered seeing a counsellor? Mine specializes in a few things, including eating disorders. Binge eating often has emotional/psychological issues tied up with it.
(1) Brush your teeth before you binge. Sometimes you won't want to after that. (2) When you want to eat something, drink a glass of water and wait 15 minutes. The urge often goes away.
You may also want to seek some counseling/treatment for this, as sometimes over-eating can be compensating for other psychological issues, like a need for control, etc.
I don't like wasting food, but if I have junk in the house and I really can't avoid it, I'll just throw it out. A more practical solution might be to portion it out into individual Ziploc bags, so that you know how many you can reasonably eat in one sitting.
I drove to return a Redbox movie yesterday and the kiosk is right by a Cold Stone Creamery. I thought I'd get an ice cream, but first I saw some cute spring dresses in the Dress Barn window so I went inside to browse. After I tried a few on and they looked terrible on me or didn't fit, I went straight home without getting the ice cream.
So, maybe if there's an outfit you have that you want to fit back into, you could leave it hanging up or maybe try it on before you get a snack, as a reminder of what you're working toward?
Ditto the tip about drinking water before you eat. I've also heard that chewing gum can help curb mindless snacking.
Eta: I'm very overweight and I also struggle with eating properly, so I get where you're coming from *hug*
I've lost 40 lbs in the last 6 months or so. If you're mostly overeating on sweets and junk food, I've found that it helps me to drastically cut back on sugar/carb intake - cold turkey. It takes away a lot of the cravings.
Sounds like you have some other psychological stuff going on with it, too...so definitely see a counselor if you have access.
Post by HoneySpider on Apr 5, 2013 15:54:21 GMT -5
I don't really have advice but I just want to say that I've been where you are many, many times, so I understand. I've struggled with binge eating ever since I was a kid. About 2 years ago I seriously thought about going to an overeaters anonymous group or the like but I was too embarrassed to go (which, looking back, seems stupid).
I don't want to take over this thread or really talk about my own issues, I just want to say I get you. And it sucks to feel that way
It teaches you how to tune into your sensory experience and be satiated with less food. Mindfulness practice helps with all sorts of things- anxiety, depression, etc. It may help with whatever underlying issues trigger the eating, too.
Post by pacificrules on Apr 5, 2013 23:05:12 GMT -5
I've had a lot of success on Advocare. They have a 24-day challenge which I started on January 7th of this year. I'm a rule follower so, for me, it was really helpful to have an eating plan for each of the 24 days. It was a short enough time that it was easy to stick with it, but long enough to help me create really healthy habits. I've learned to eat a TON, but to eat nutrient-dense food. I don't feel deprived at all and haven't had ANY cravings (which is huge!). Eating often has really increased my metabolism and made me feel like I'm not missing out on anything.
This has been WAY more than a diet to me. It's a lifestyle change that has taught me about being in control of food rather than constantly being subject to cravings. It's been a really empowering experience.
No advice, but I'll commiserate. I have no willpower for avoiding food that is in my house. My willpower is at the store and I try to never shop hungry and remind myself how un-MM junk food is. I've asked my DH to be supportive and not bring junk food in the house. I have a toddler and I am in my early 30s and losing the baby weight has been so hard, but I feel like I can't blame the baby anymore...
I have similar eating habits to you. I have never been diagnosed with an eating disorder, but I have weird control issues with food.
MFP doesn't work for me, because if I blow it one day, I just give up. I did WW a few years ago and lost 25-30 pounds, and I've started doing it again. I like it because I have flex points to use each week, so even if I go over a few days, I'm covered. I also like that most fruits and veggies are 0 points. That's encouraged me to eat more healthy foods, vs just focusing on the calories.
I don't actually use real WW, I just have a calculator on my phone. I think it's called Ultimate Food Value Diary? The icon is a red heart. I think it's $2.99, which is a steal when you compare it to paying for WW.
I have been a food hider since at least middle school. I still do some. But I have in the last year lost almost 40lbs through MFP. I do track everything, even on the days I lost control. And I focused on the week average, not the individual day. Mostly, I just had to battle my demons constantly during the day and ask my husband for support.
I definitely struggle with emotional eating. I am disgusted with myself that I am at my all time high when I worked so hard last summer to slim down. I yo-yo. Each time I resolve that I will be in control of my life and not let it happen again. I probably have psych issues, but I can't bring myself to go to a psychologist as I have beat this before so I can beat it again. I've done the hiding my eating thing before. I would calculate when my husband wouldn't be home and run to my favorite places and then take the trash out of the apartment to hide the evidence before he got home.
Since this is MM, here's what I do. I tie in my eating with money. I make myself feel guilty for spending money on food I know is not bad for me. I start with logging into my American Express account and labeling every digression at Burger King or Taco Bell etc. as "FATTY." I tell myself that by spending money on things that are bad for me, I am wasting my hard-earned money. I don't let myself withdraw cash at the ATM. (Some of my favorite cheat foods are cash-only places.) When food shopping, I don't let myself buy cake and chips - waste of money. At home, I won't let myself get take-out because that blows money really fast.
But this takes willpower. I lose all willpower when I am in that mentally foggy state where you don't care what it costs, you just want those 2 slices of pizza NOW. When the fog clears, I can start to tell myself no. Sometimes this takes months, sometimes weeks. If I lose it by Wednesday and the rest of the week turns to crap, I use Sunday to re-charge and start over. I tell myself "Today is a new week. This is the week we will get on track."
Today, I have been wanting chips all day. There are no chips in my house. I refuse to go outside and buy them - waste of money. So instead I started to hunt for something salty. I ended up raiding my fridge and found these uber healthy tortillas that have been ignored for like 2 months. I remembered that I used to make these home-made pizzas with those tortillas so I made myself that and eventually the chips craving went away. I burnt it in the oven a bit so it got crunchy. I forced myself to go to the gym with my husband. Ignoring gym membership = waste of money. I used to do the measuring and portioning out of stuff like pasta and candy when I was single, but it is hard to do that now that I cook for 2. I haven't figured out a good system to that yet.
Mostly I am scared that we have 2 weddings coming up in May and I won't fit into my red dress by then. That would mean I have to go spend money to buy a new dress. I spent $160 on that dress last year, I need to get my money's worth out of it and not be wasting money on a new fat dress. This fact is what is scaring me into clearing the mental fog, getting my act together, and trying to get serious this time after a rought fall and winter.