Food addiction. Help!

LeenaGee

l19kiki wrote: »

Ok well, I might not have an eating disorder but I constantly find myself eating on a lot of crap!
For instance, I'll pack some carrots and hummus to snack on and I'll look for chips, crackers, bread, etc
Dinners are the worst. I'm so hungry after a good workout that I find myself eating anything in sight.
I know what I'm not suppose to eat, but I eat it anyways. I find snacking on healthy gets me bored so I tend to do intense workouts to eat what I want. Although, I know I shouldn't because I'm not seeing results.
When I did lose 20 pounds 3 years ago, I felt that I was hungry most of the time. I don't want to under eat as well. I just have really bad eating habits.
I like that idea of pre plan and pre logging food.
I'm going to try that.

As you say, you might not have an eating disorder but it is worthwhile acting now so that you do not develop one in the future. MFP's Facebook page had a recent article called
"5 Steps To Break Free From Binge Eating" which might be of use you. If you do not have a FB account I would be happy to paste it for you. There are some really helpful hints in there to help you get started.

999tigger

OP I think it goes a bit beyond pre logging because you have to get control of what you eat and in what proportions. It would help if you opened your diary (assuming its accurate) so that people can understand what you are eating. I do a lot of gym time as well, but make sure im properly fueled up with water and carbs during. If its the post gym when you are hungry then thats where you need extra calories alloted.

I eat chips and chocolate but not before ive had fruit veg lean protein and complex carbs to fill me up. You need to get what you eat as well as amounts under control to get you into deficit and weight loss.

kimny72

OP, if you are struggling, try starting out as simple as possible. Put your stats into MFP, and set your goal to 1 lb per week to get your calorie goal.

Then for a few days, eat without worrying about your goal, just weigh and measure your food, and log everything accurately. Then take a look back at those days. Were you over your goal? By how much? Where did most of your calories go? You will probably see places where you have to improve and things you are already doing great. Are there calories that would be easy to get rid of? Where were you most hungry? What did you eat that didn't fill you up?

You will probably quickly see patterns and opportunities for improvement. Now you can start really trying to hit your calorie goal every day, and continue to tweak what you are doing as you go to make it easier. Pre-logging is a great idea so see if that helps you. And don't feel guilty if you slip up every once & a while, that's life! Good luck

SandyBVTN

kimny72 wrote: »

OP, if you are struggling, try starting out as simple as possible. Put your stats into MFP, and set your goal to 1 lb per week to get your calorie goal.

Then for a few days, eat without worrying about your goal, just weigh and measure your food, and log everything accurately. Then take a look back at those days. Were you over your goal? By how much? Where did most of your calories go? You will probably see places where you have to improve and things you are already doing great. Are there calories that would be easy to get rid of? Where were you most hungry? What did you eat that didn't fill you up?

You will probably quickly see patterns and opportunities for improvement. Now you can start really trying to hit your calorie goal every day, and continue to tweak what you are doing as you go to make it easier. Pre-logging is a great idea so see if that helps you. And don't feel guilty if you slip up every once & a while, that's life! Good luck

This is the best advice. Great for anyone starting out.

lemurcat12

Yes, kimny72's advice is fabulous, as is the suggestion to pre-log and plan your day.

Related to that, I'd recommend looking over your day and taking note of how the food choices affected you--were you hungry only an hour after breakfast? What did you eat for breakfast? Does adding more protein or fat or skipping breakfast entirely help? Would adding a mid-morning snack be feasible? Same for the rest of the day. Some people find they like eating lots of small meals, whereas others (like me) feel more satiated if we can eat a smaller number of larger meals (I usually like 3, although sometimes I have a snack depending on workout time) and that we prefer just feeling a bit hungry in-between on occasion if necessary.

If you aren't eating your "healthy" snacks because they seem boring and so are tempted to eat other foods, you might want to find snacks you enjoy more--sometimes I like a protein bar or flavored yogurt (the horror!) ;-) for that purpose, although sometimes I like just having a piece of fruit or nuts or raw veggies.

If there are foods you have trouble fitting in unless your calories are a bit higher (and I know MFP puts a lot of people on 1200, especially if you asked for 2 lbs/week), that might be a sign that 1200 just isn't realistic for you and exercising more to eat more makes sense (or perhaps lowering your goal some). I'm 5'3 and in my 40s, which means that now I'm near goal my maintenance would probably be near 1600 if I weren't exercising. I'd rather not be restricted to 1600 forever if I can avoid it (or lower), so being active IS a huge priority of mine, and that I find it motivating and it promotes health are an additional bonus.

tennisdude2004

ndj1979 wrote: »

greghurley3950 wrote: »

Only buy healthy foods, you can't eat stuff that isn't in your house.

no food is unhealthy or healthy…overall diet and dosage is what matters

Certain foods aren't healthy - really ????

Care to explain?