How can I change my relationship with food? I always, always eat about 1,000+ calories at breakfast.

sunandmoons

diannethegeek wrote: »

Can you try skipping breakfast to see how you feel?

Yes! (IF) has helped tremendously. I would feel bogged down and sluggish eating that large of a meal especially in the morning. Have what you like if breakfast is what you like to eat... just lower your calories to 2/3rds less. Drink a large glass of water before you do and another when your done eating.

MarcyKirkton

Quit by quitting. Then you'll adjust to new portions like a any other change....slowly.

kshama2001

WBB55 wrote: »

Serena_Heart wrote: »

SingRunTing wrote: »

Personally, I would go with option 2. For me a clean break would give me a fresh start. Then I would slowly change my breakfast rotation to include the foods that I used to eat (not all of them all at once) after I adjusted to eating differently and that's only if I missed eating eggs or toast or whatever. It seems like that would be the easiest way to break your habit.

Option 2 seems like it'd be the most reasonable and successful. I doubt I'd be able to break my associations with those foods while I'm still eating them. Great idea - I think I might start trying a high protein shake with whole foods for breakfast, or oatmeal and fruit.

3 is never going to "work" for me, because my stomach is overly full when I eat like this. Being physically uncomfortable is the least appealing option.

Thanks so much for your input

Don't forget about #1 if you have a Saturday morning or something where you want the comfort of your old breakfast. Choosing between the toast OR potatoes is a great way to cut calories. This week you have the toast. Next week you have potatoes. Something like that. In fact, I've found the "stick to one carb" notion helpful at most meals. Like, have rice OR bread OR potatoes for dinner if you need to keep the calories down, not ALL of them (but also don't eliminate ALL of them altogether, either, if that's what you enjoy).

Ya, I stopped having bread with pasta, which has an additional benefit of cutting out butter calories as well.

With eggs I do the one starch thing as well.

RodaRose

Also look into DBT --- dialectical behavior therapy. It is involves dealing with / regulating emotions. There are some self- help type sites on the web

Francl27

I can't imagine skipping breakfast, like some people have suggested, but I know that I try to wait until I'm actually hungry to eat... so if possible, I'd do that.

Then I'd think about WHAT exactly you like about big breakfasts - feeling very full? Having a lot of different foods at once? What is it? I sorta get it because for me the idea of a great breakfast is a lot of different foods too... you don't want to see me at breakfast buffets, for example. And I have to restraint myself pretty much every day not to eat too much as well.

What helps me is figuring out WHAT exactly I REALLY want to eat (I do that for about every meal though). For example, if I want an omelet, I can make myself one.. but I don't have to have all the extra stuff. If I really want to have toast with it, I'll switch an egg for two egg whites, and have one piece of toast with a bit of butter instead of two... if I want eggs, potatoes, toast and jelly, I'll make scrambled eggs with one whole egg and 3 egg whites, have a little bit of potatoes, and one piece of toast (I agree though, usually it's toast OR potatoes).. I'll eat that, and I'll have my coffee, and by then I'm usually not hungry anymore (if I'm still hungry, yeah, I'll have something else).

If you want to feel full, go for huge egg white and veggies omelets.

The bottom line is that you pretty much have to decide to stop eating too much at breakfast. As others have said, therapy might help you.

But I eat most of my calories by noon most days so I kinda get it (and that's why I laugh at the 'skip breakfast' suggestions. That would never work for me).

SLLRunner

Serena_Heart wrote: »

My daily allotment is 1,460, which is manageable. My behaviors, however, are dragging me down. I have always had this compulsion to eat a ridiculously HUGE meal at breakfast, and then of course I'm left with only a couple hundred calories for the rest of the day.

Do you have any tips, personal experience, or any comments on this that may help me break through this cycle of feeling the need to binge at first meal?

Thank you!

it depends on what you like. I peronally love a big breakfast and have always had the bulk of my calories at that time, even when I was losing my weight (been in maintenance awhile now).

There is nothing wrong with how you eat as long as you like it and you are staying wihtin your calorie goals.

SLLRunner

Serena_Heart wrote: »

Thanks chollands29, you have a good point. Unfortunately, eating this much at one meal does cause me to be uncomfortably full. I will try flipping to dinner and see if that results in a more even spread of calories. It could work!

If this is the case, then you need to find the willpower to eat less at this time so you are not uncomfortably full. Spread your calories out.

MlleKelly

Try doing a pre-packed or pre-planned breakfast the night before so that you don't show up at breakfast time with no plan and nosh on everything you want.

WinoGelato

It seems like you have lots of food choices to play with to tweak your breakfast. I agree with others about making some small changes - for example, you eat toast with butter, peanut butter AND jelly? How about just pick one of those toppings? Or one piece of toast with two of the toppings? Or cook your eggs in Pam instead of butter. Or switch out the heavy cream for half and half, then work your way down to skim milk.

I would do it in baby steps - try to get your breakfast to maybe 800 cals for a week, then 700, then 600. Make sure with the additional calories you have for later in the day that you are making nutrient dense, filling choices. You may start to not crave as big of a breakfast in favor of something more filling later in the day.

jenoise

i have a protein smoothie.... protein powder, berry fruits,banana, half cup of oats, water with ice. All blended. its between 300 - 400 cals and keeps me full for around 4-5 hours.. taste great too

meritage4

so start by gradually making your breakfast smaller. For a week only use one egg. The next week lose a piece of toast. The 3rd week lose the potatoe. There- your breakfast is smaller-eat those calories late in the day. Move more calories our of breakfast as you need to. Just do it gradually and let yourself adapt.

jgnatca

I see lots of great ideas here. Breakfast is my favourite meal but if you are eating until uncomfortable you do need strategies to make it more enjoyable.

How about eating much more slowly and mindfully, at least one meal a week?

http://hfhc.ext.wvu.edu/r/download/114469

RMCottonRPh

Still eat a big breakfast, but change your choices
Eat lower calorie foods.

kiela64

I feel more compelled to overindulge in the morning if I give myself time to loaf around. (I'm a student with a 4 day weekend at the moment and I'm struggling with this too). Something you could do is pack something for the car and eat say just the toast and coffee perhaps before a walk around where your work is. Or perhaps spend the morning in a public library where food isn't allowed. I'm planning on trying that myself. Good luck!

falleninlove22

I don't know if anybody has said this yet, but try drinking a couple glasses of cold water in the morning before you eat anything, that might curb your appetite a little bit and save more calories for later

MelodyandBarbells

Serena_Heart wrote: »

chulipa wrote: »

Spread your calories out more evenly through the day. Why and what do you eat for breakfast just interested my breakfast is anywhere between 200 -400 and im full

I have struggled with binge eating issues since I was about 8 or 9. Here is an example of a breakfast I'd usually eat: 2 eggs fried in butter or olive oil, 1 potato, 50g onion, 1 T. ketchup, mushrooms, red peppers, on a bed of raw spinach. Then, 2 pieces of toast with butter, peanut butter, and jelly. On top of that, I could even eat 1 cup of grapes and then my usual coffee with heavy cream. It is not that food doesn't fill me up in the 200-400 calorie range, it's a behavioral issue.

No good comments about the behavioral or over fullness issues, but...

All I could immediately think of was some hacks to reduce the calorie content of this breakfast, some of them being a bit presumptuous, but stay with me...

Eggs - cook using Pam spray instead of oil. Keep the awesome veg!!

For your toast, use those 35-45 calorie low cal bread instead. I found a honey wheat one I like to buy in the grocery store. Use I can't believe it's not butter spray rather than statight up butter

Lose the peanut butter from the house - it can be hard to moderate for some people

Grapes are another fruit I find hard to just let sit in the house. I'll keep going back until they're gone. Consider buying as a more occasional treat if this is your issue, and look into other fruit instead

Coffee - switch to black, or smaller quantities of heavy cream

Potato - I'm actually thinking of adding this one either for breakfast or for lunch again. If it's a large potato, maybe use half?

Patttience

We don't know what your weight is and its possible that your calorie goal is too low for you. Its not a good idea to cut calories so much that you get very hungry between meals. If you have to go more than four hours between meals have a snack.

I think your breakfast could be smaller.

ONe of the best binge eating strategies i have come across is in a book called hte don't go hungry diet. The strategy teaches you how to eat to satiation and to stop before you feel full.

You can learn to like this feeling and it will help you lose weight and to recover from your behaviour. In her second book Don't go hungry for LIfe she goes into this strategy in great detail. And i would recommend you get hte book and learn her strategy. I followed her instructions for quite a while and now i do it naturally. I used to also be a binge eater but not in the same way as you. I binged on sweets and now i don't eat them very often at all.

Her first book explains other things pretty well. I do'nt follow her general intuitive eating approach for weightloss because i prefer to have a light calorie deficit. But i do'nt actually count calories anymore and so what i do is fairly intuitive. I keep a food diary. Although i have been able to stop that too.

allenpriest

Serena_Heart wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Serena_Heart wrote: »

chulipa wrote: »

Spread your calories out more evenly through the day. Why and what do you eat for breakfast just interested my breakfast is anywhere between 200 -400 and im full

I have struggled with binge eating issues since I was about 8 or 9. Here is an example of a breakfast I'd usually eat: 2 eggs fried in butter or olive oil, 1 potato, 50g onion, 1 T. ketchup, mushrooms, red peppers, on a bed of raw spinach. Then, 2 pieces of toast with butter, peanut butter, and jelly. On top of that, I could even eat 1 cup of grapes and then my usual coffee with heavy cream. It is not that food doesn't fill me up in the 200-400 calorie range, it's a behavioral issue.

Have you had therapy for this? In particular cognitive behavioral therapy?

I have had therapy for other issues, but not with eating as the main focus. Maybe it's time

I love all the suggestions I'm getting here, and think I will try them in addition to some CBT.

Please do. You need to explore what you are medicating with food. Until I did that I couldn't successfully keep weight off.