impulse control

er03bald

I like the trick of if you want to eat, eat an apple. If you don't want an apple, you don't really need to eat. Gum helps too. I'm proud of myself so far todau , I've been doing great. My birthday is 6wks away and I've resolved to lose 10-15lbs by then as a present to myself.

kristen6350

My trick is pre-logging my day a day ahead. If it's not on the log, I don't eat it. I plan in treats so I'm pretty satisfied, I know that I'm going to hit my macros and when unexpected things pop up I have a way to avoid the temptations. Like today, my office is having a corn hole tourney and hot dog lunch to celebrate the Ohio State/Oregon game tonight. It's not part of my plan so I'm not eating it. I figure if I spent the time figuring out what I should be eating, who am I to spend more time having to fix it.

eemmerson929

Here is what I have found in a few months of doing this. You can track all you want and plan all you want but you have to assign a value to the calories. A personal value. You have to define the value to you. This is where the exercise part comes in for me. I explain it to my friends that the exercise gives value to the diet and vice versa. If you know that you have to walk 1 mile to get back 100 calories, 100 calories starts to take on a new meaning. Visualize that 1 mile in your neighborhood that you have walked. Assign this to grabbing those little 'in betweens'. Here's the kicker. You earn additional calories from the exercise. If anything, just go out and walk a mile so you can apply this hack.

BONUS HACK: Never insult a person unless you have walked a mile in their shoes. When you do, you will be a mile away and you will have their shoes.

er03bald

I explain it to my friends that the exercise gives value to the diet andou know that you have to walk 1 mile to get back 100 calories, 100 calories starts to take on a new meaning. Visualize that 1 mile in yperson unless you have walked a mile in their shoes. When you do, you will be a mile away and you will have their shoes.

Its interesting you say this as my mother and I had a rowing machine 1000m race yesterday and she's crying out "this is only 30 calories so far?! I'm never eating again!!!"

gothchiq

This used to be me too. I went to my doctor and got one month worth of Adipex so that I could get the control needed to retrain myself and reduce my feelings of hunger. By the time the month of it was up, I had my habits and hunger feelings under control and was able to taper off the prescription.

wamydia

I have tried a lot of the suggestions above with varying success. Many of them have helped me for sure, but the one thing that can make a difference for me and mindless grazing is taking the time to understand why I'm doing it. Some do it when they're happy, sad, bored, etc. I've found that I do it either when I'm very anxious or when I am lacking feelings of accomplishment or enjoyment throughout the rest of my day. Putting food in my mouth just for the taste is like a replacement enjoyment for other things I didn't get or didn't do. Once you identify the underlying cause, it can be a big help in control because you can stop and think about what you're doing and you can plan other options to replace the emotional need that is driving you to eat mindlessly.

Juliegray1963

Wow! Thx to all of u. I guess I binged this past Saturday. I allowed it to be my cheat day and I definitely cheated. On days like this, i wld not log my food but this time I did. I figured I needed to be honest about it otherwise I am only hurting myself. I did ok yesterday, but its really cold and rainy here. Plus, I didnt get enough sleep so I am tired and I soooo want to stop and get candy or some kind of 'hunker down' food. I am in a 12 step program for another addiction so I keep trying to apply the tools I've learned to this situation. It is hard tho. I like the idea of drinking more water and maybe a cup of warm tea. Normally i would get a couple of dozen donuts! Thx for everyone's input!

MacCroc

How much are you eating? I will make a wild guess that if you are that hungry, your intake is too low. There is no point in starving yourself during the day and then binging in the evening. Calculate your TDEE accurately and cut no more then 20 percent. You will get much better long-term results.