Post work binge

clafairy1984

Really disappointed in myself. After a stressful day at work I've been raiding the cupboards. At first I thought it was a one off, but I keep doing it, and seem to have no willpower. I'm worried that the weight I've lost will pile back on and yet don't seem to be able to stop myself, it's pathetic.

scottwilson16

Why don't you try planning a little of what you binge on as part of your day, after dinner. Just reduce your previous meals slightly to allow for it and you'll be fine. Will make you realise you can have these foods without the need for going all out and binging

SquishyVicki

I'd say to take a look at the emotions as to why you're doing it.

Do you feel deprived and therefore are caving? In which case add these little bits into your day like scottwilson16 says above. Or are you bored when you get home maybe? So perhaps take up a hobby, one you do with your hands like knitting, colouring in etc. Are you genuinely hungry? If so, maybe bring dinner forward or prepare a snack to have on hand when you get home.

Don't beat yourself up though, we're only human, and once you can figure out why you and take action. I had this and for me it was boredom and tiredness that was causing me to raid the cupboards so now I keep myself busy until dinner time! Good Luck!

misskarne

I used to do this too. I started a new desk job right before Christmas two years ago, and I immediately started eating a lot, especially when I'd had a busy day and worked overtime.

You know what stopped that? Me taking control and saying that I am in control, I CAN stop myself, and having my meals pre-prepared at home. If I had it prepped and ready, I had no excuse not to eat that instead.

Tonight was one such night where the "old me" would have swung through the Maccas drivethrough, especially since I had to stop by the supermarket. But I didn't. I came home, did some cleaning, and then sat down to the meal I had prepared. And it was delicious!

lauli22

As other users suggested, try
1 prepare your food (either buy something at the supermarket that you like and it's nutritious)
2 save some calories from the usual balanced diet to eat something that you feel you are craving for, but choose in a way that you won't be eating too many calories

.. you will find this impossible now but, if you allow yourself to eat what you desire in small quantities every day all your anxiety towards specific foods will disappear and you will have days in which you won't even be fancy these kind of foods.
When your brain will understand that there is no absolute need to binge because you can eat that x food whenever you want, you will have back the control (on the contrary, if you label some foods as unacceptable then when you start eating one of those you will trigger a mechanism in which you think, "we'll today it's ruined so I'll eat whatever I crave for, from tomorrow serious dieting", and then the" tomorrow" is again giving up and thinking" tomorrow" ... and so on....and you end piling up pounds!)
Remember:
BREATH in and out 5 times when you are in front of these binge attacks, and breath even when you are in the middle of these attack
RELAX
EAT SLOWLY, TASTE and ENJOY every mouthful
SIT DOWN , don't stay in front of the fridge/corbet
DRINK WATER
FEEL your satiety, you will need 20 minutes to fill full, so eating slowly is a trick!
BRUSH your teeth when you feel you are almost there (mint toothpaste helps quitting hunger)

Last, if you have friends, flatmates or any distractions, use them , when you feel half full just start talking, whatsapping, watching tv,drinking something hot, taking a shower, going for a walk, reading books, whatever you enjoy!!!

You are not a failure, you are not pathetic, it is just that our body and brain tend to get obsessed by food we avoid. You will control this soon, don't worry if you are going to put on 2-4 pounds, when you will learn how to harmonize your desired food into your weekly diet you will be successfully losing all the wait you want!

Liftng4Lis

You've lost 64 pounds, so obviously you know how to do this, just need a little reminder right now. Pre-log your day to include a few snacks at night. Make sure you're getting enough fats and proteins for satiety. Most importantly, don't be so hard on yourself.

Purplebunnysarah

I used to do this because I was eating lunch at 11:30 and getting home close to 5 without having anything more substantial than a coffee in between. I added a snack around 2:30-3:00. It helped.

TamLam99

After work, before dinner is my worst time of day too. Sometimes a cup of coffee or tea is enough but other times I just need a snack so I'll make 150 calories worth of popcorn and munch away. Plan your pantry raid ahead of time so you can still indulge.

kshama2001

clafairy1984 wrote: »

Really disappointed in myself. After a stressful day at work I've been raiding the cupboards. At first I thought it was a one off, but I keep doing it, and seem to have no willpower. I'm worried that the weight I've lost will pile back on and yet don't seem to be able to stop myself, it's pathetic.

I'm curious on how you are eating before you have these days of raiding the cupboards. It didn't seem like you did this on Monday or Tuesday, but the rest of the week isn't fully logged. I suggest you make sure you are eating your breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and maybe consider eating more protein in relation to carbs.

I am very familiar with using food to relieve stress. Now I mostly use exercise.

Pushing away from the computer now to go do yoga.

rnohou2010

I have worked various shifts over the years but I almost never binge at work. I assume it's because I don't want to embarrass myself in front of my co-workers. I also need to be at my emotional/mental best when I am at work. But when I get home, I am in the privacy of my own apartment, the work day is over and that's usually when I overeat. I have tried telling myself, no eating after a certain hour, like 8:00 p.m. but that doesn't work. The couple of beers I have when I get home also don't help because the reduce my eating inhibitions. Now that I am single I honestly think the best thing to do is just not keep any of my binge foods in the house.

Good luck!

pstegman888

Have an apple or something on the commute home so you're not starving when you walk through the door. And have dinner already planned & somewhat prepared (veggies precut, meat thawed) or already cooking in the crockpot so you can sit down to a good well rounded meal fairly quickly.