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I play weird tricks with my brain. Do you?

CaliforniaRower
CaliforniaRower Posts: 187 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
So today, I ate right out of a nutritionist's textbook. Until 4:30 PM when I needed to get some groceries and I was hungry. I somehow managed to buy frozen dark cherries (Trader Joe's) instead of anything in the entire store with sugar in it. Gloating over my sudden and surprising burst of willpower, I got in the car. Got out of the car and opened the trunk. Hid the olive-tomato foccacia bread in my purse. Got back in the car. Tore open the plastic before I even got out of the parking lot. Promised myself "just one serving" - 2 oz.

By the time I got home, I'd eaten 2/3 of the darn loaf.

That's when I told myself I needed to eat something healthy...so THEN I had dinner, after I was already over-full from the stupid carb inhale.

Do you do dumb brain tricks like these, too? Solutions?

Replies

  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    edited March 2015
    You mean rationalizations? I used to. I almost did the other night, in a fit of I-don't-know-what. "It's just one night, I'll get back on plan exactly tomorrow, I just can't help it because I'm feeling down right now, I just can't help it because I denied myself Food X and I'm rebounding from that, so I'll binge tonight but won't make that mistake again," etc., etc.

    Then I thought: "I may be at a standstill with my weight these past three weeks, I may be feeling hurt and sad (over a private issue), BUT although there's no guarantee that I won't lose weight for yet another week, there IS a guarantee that if I overeat, well, then I've overeaten and my body won't simply ignore that fact" and I got past it.

    It's the first time in a long time that's happened.
  • CaliforniaRower
    CaliforniaRower Posts: 187 Member
    Beautiful! I'm on the westside, in MdR. Good to know there's a fellow Angeleno out there handling this matter expertly. ; )
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,858 Member
    You mean like the fact that I just ate a tuna salad roll, even though I'd just had lunch and wasn't hungry, because it was free?
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    Beautiful! I'm on the westside, in MdR. Good to know there's a fellow Angeleno out there handling this matter expertly. ; )

    Oh no, not expertly, LOL! I eff up on more or less a regular basis. But I'm working on it.

    Shout out to the Westside. I'm actually in the suburbs...way far from LA proper. But LA County, LOL. I wasn't sure what to put in that "location" slot as my town isn't a very big town, wasn't going to name it, +1 for paranoia!

    Nice to meet you and hang in there. I challenge you to meet the one person on earth who never, ever screws up. And when you meet him...I promise he's lying. ;)

  • areallycoolstory
    areallycoolstory Posts: 1,680 Member
    I'm in a similar boat tonight. I'm still under calories but my personal goal is to keep it under 1400. I am at 1399. There is really nothing I can eat without feeling like I have blown it. I still have a few sedentary calories and all of my exercise calories left, but know if I give in to a snack it will not be a moderate one. What I opted for was a cup of broth. I rationalized that since I don't count spices, I didn't need to count the bullion cube. I put in a bit of garlic and taco seasoning. About a half a cup was enough to make me a bit ill. I am not so hungry any more:-) My intention was not to make myself ill, but I guess it is better than feeling the need to binge. I don't feel like this that often, thankfully.
  • CaliforniaRower
    CaliforniaRower Posts: 187 Member
    @areallycoolstory, boy, do I know that feeling! Good for you for not indulging! Keep up the good work!
  • areallycoolstory
    areallycoolstory Posts: 1,680 Member
    @areallycoolstory, boy, do I know that feeling! Good for you for not indulging! Keep up the good work!
    Thanks:-) I won this time...It is hard though. You keep up the good work too. Noticing the way you operate around food is a big part of the process, I think. Good for you:-)

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I remove temptation. I speak to my subconscious - really - and promise I will never let it starve.
  • areallycoolstory
    areallycoolstory Posts: 1,680 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    I remove temptation. I speak to my subconscious - really - and promise I will never let it starve.

    Awesome. I agree. If you sit with it long enough. You can usually talk yourself out of a binge:-)
  • deannaaaaaaaaa
    deannaaaaaaaaa Posts: 238 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    I remove temptation. I speak to my subconscious - really - and promise I will never let it starve.

    this is awesome.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Oh how pre-logging the day helps to avoid this.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    So today, I ate right out of a nutritionist's textbook. Until 4:30 PM when I needed to get some groceries and I was hungry. I somehow managed to buy frozen dark cherries (Trader Joe's) instead of anything in the entire store with sugar in it. Gloating over my sudden and surprising burst of willpower, I got in the car. Got out of the car and opened the trunk. Hid the olive-tomato foccacia bread in my purse. Got back in the car. Tore open the plastic before I even got out of the parking lot. Promised myself "just one serving" - 2 oz.

    By the time I got home, I'd eaten 2/3 of the darn loaf.

    That's when I told myself I needed to eat something healthy...so THEN I had dinner, after I was already over-full from the stupid carb inhale.

    Do you do dumb brain tricks like these, too? Solutions?

    I don't understand the bolded above. You took the bread from your trunk and hid it in your purse? Hid it from who? Yourself? Your spouse?

    If you're having a problem with secret eating (I.. can't tell if you are?), you may want to consider more pre-meal prep. Never go to a grocery store hungry. Go after dinner. Only eat when you're sitting down at a table with a napkin on your lap.

    Also, unless you have a medical reason to abstain from sugar, why are you doing that? Everything in moderation. Abstaining from sugar may have contributed to your binge.
  • CaliforniaRower
    CaliforniaRower Posts: 187 Member
    @BritishBroccoli, I don't know why I hid it in my purse! I live alone, quite happily enjoying my empty nest.

    @jgnatca, what an insightful comment! Thank you.
This discussion has been closed.