How do I learn to control myself

meganamber86

Im a stay at home mom to7 month old twin boys. I really want to lose50 pounds. I can't control the urges to eat crap food. Or binge eat.

courtneyfabulous

If you get all the crap food out of the house it won't be there to eat or binge on... time to purge the pantry, fridge, freezer, cupboards...

katie_rnc

Well then you'll buy more. I have the same problem. It's sooooo hard. We have to hold each other accountable. Feel free to add me.

peterbuller8

I was the same always eating crap i stopped buying 1 crap thing at a time or put the sweets and biscuits in my teenage kids rooms so i could not see them out of sight and all that .
Friends on MFP are always a good way to help keep yourself in check.

winonaalls

Hi Meganamber, I'm Nona. I know how you feel. I have weakness for soda, more particularly coke (which is like one of the worst ones). And let's not forget chocolate. I found it easier to slowly wean myself off and yes not buying makes it much easier. Since I have a sweet tooth I've opted for more naturally sweeter foods such as apples, grapes, and melons. If I'm feeling something savory I usually settle for some sharp cheddar cheese or a protein option like some eggs. Quick and easy, comes in handy with the kids running around like hellians.

hatchizzle

I find that logging EVERYTHING has helped me. When you are in the pantry looking for something yummy, Log it! Count out 25 cheese-it's in a bowl and go to town and savor every bite! It's all about portion control. If you cut out everything then the urge is still strong but if you keep logging (even if it's not the healthiest thing) then you can at least see your weaknesses and go from there. Also finding something that isn't too caloric and start using that as a treat can help too! For me it's fun flavored teas!

meganamber86

courtneyfabulous wrote: »

If you get all the crap food out of the house it won't be there to eat or binge on... time to purge the pantry, fridge, freezer, cupboards...

I wish but my husband all 5 10 and 170lbs of him eats that way and doesnt wanna stop

jhandur

Honestly getting over the hump is hard but once you start not giving in to snacks you'll find that it gets much easier as you go. It helped me to get rid of all the snacks I liked for about a month and to give my husband a list to do the shopping (I told my husband to get the snacks that he liked and that I hated). Once I started buying them again I still wanted to eat them but I had also gotten into a routine with my meals. So now I could snack and give myself treats but I had to plan them out. If I get a craving for something I could either log it for the next day right as I'm craving it, log it for that day and decide if it was worth it to replace that one meal plan, or I could log it with the meal and exercise for the extra calories before I ate (Always do it before).

janekana

Maybe have your husband to hide all the crap food so that you won't be able to find it?

amusedmonkey

Try to win smart, not hard. Tackle the easiest things first then gradually move to the hardest. It will take time, and your weight loss may not be as great at first (if any) but you will end up winning the war long term instead of a temporary battle of willpower. What high calorie food you are not particularly attached to? Start by controlling that.

Example: if I have constant access to say, cookies, ice cream and chips and I find chips the hardest to control and ice cream the easiest, I would start by trying to reduce my ice cream portions. Once I have that under my complete control and I'm able to only eat reasonable amounts I move to controlling cookies, and tackle chips last after I have built some confidence in my food control strategies with practice.

Another useful thing to do is to set certain rules for your food intake that are not too overwhelming.
Example: If you feel never eating pizza would be too overwhelming, only allow yourself to eat pizza after you've had a large salad and a bowl of soup. It would make it easier because you will already be feeling full and that slice or two of pizza would be just for the sake of enjoyment, not to stave off hunger.

Set yourself up for success instead of trying to white knuckle it.
Example: there is no point in keeping a bowl full of candies on the counter then struggle to control your intake. Have a bowl of ready to eat vegetables or berries on the counter, and put the candies in the darkest corner of your cupboard. This way your husband will have access to his favorite foods but it won't be standing there teasing you every time you pass by. If you want a piece you will have to physically reach for it, removing all the other items blocking access to it, which will give you enough time to evaluate your impulses instead of immediately act on them. I do that with the fridge as well. I keep the lowest calorie foods in front and the higher calorie foods in the back so if I'm tempted to just randomly grab something from the fridge, my eye doesn't immediately fall on the higher calorie foods.

Talk to your husband about buying calorie offensive foods in smaller amounts, just enough to sustain his weekly intake. You will be less inclined to consume a lot of it because you know you would be robbing him of his usual intake which might make you feel uncomfortable enough not to go overboard.

You won't get a medal for having the best willpower. It's okay to work smarter rather than harder. As you continue dieting you will collect and develop your own food strategies and become more confident in your choices.

courtneyfabulous

meganamber86 wrote: »

courtneyfabulous wrote: »

If you get all the crap food out of the house it won't be there to eat or binge on... time to purge the pantry, fridge, freezer, cupboards...

I wish but my husband all 5 10 and 170lbs of him eats that way and doesnt wanna stop

Maybe have him keep it at his office then, or on a high up shelf that you can't reach? At least the most tempting most unhealthy stuff. And get yourself some less crappy treat foods. You don't have to go without treats completely, you can pick a couple to have every day and just make it fit into your calories & macros. It's just easier if they are semi-healthy, like I have something sweet every day because that's my preference but it's either a protein cookie, protein brownie, raisins, grapes, fruit juice gummies, fig newtons, something like that- instead of candy bars & ice cream. Technically you could actually fit in ice cream to your daily calories if you wanted to, but it would mean sacrificing carbs & fat from other meals... so I find it's just easier to make lower calorie or higher protein treats fit than truly indulgent junk foods.

H_Ock12

Try to purchase and meal plan according to your weight loss goals and tell hubby he can buy and eat his food while he's out of the house. Planning my meals in individual containers makes it easier for me to stay on track because I can pull it out and heat it up TV dinner style without putting any thought into it at meal time. If I have 5 lunches in the fridge, I know I can only eat one a day or I won't have anything to eat on day 5.

Lounmoun

meganamber86 wrote: »

Im a stay at home mom to7 month old twin boys. I really want to lose50 pounds. I can't control the urges to eat crap food. Or binge eat.

Don't buy much high calorie food that doesn't need preperation.
Put food out of sight.
Get out of the kitchen/house.
Stock up on things like vegetables and fruit, make hard boiled eggs
Plan meals and snacks. It is okay to snack stick to your calorie goal.
Do you have a schedule/routin with set times for eating and doing other things. It might help to nust always eat at tbe same times every day.
If this is food your partner buys view it as his and don't eat it. Set up a snack box/cupboard for each of you.
Are you getting enough sleep? I often overate when I was sleep deprived. Sleep more. Your house doesn't need to be perfect. You need to take care of yourself and your kids.
Do you have time to yourself or time to socialize?
If you eat because you are bored, lonely, depressed, tired or something emotional deal with that. Learn to use different coping tools, ask for help, hire help, change your routine or habits.

samchez0

I started slow. Cut out pop then candy. Stopped buying things like chips and cookies cause if they're here I'll eat them. The biggest thing that helped me was drinking more water. The more water I drink , the less I crave junk.

alias1602

I used to have a serious binge eating problem, to the point that I was bulimic at one time. It wasn't until this year that I can confidently say that I've finally kicked the habit. I did it by giving up dieting quite frankly. Now I just count calories, buy a balanced variety of foods (mostly healthy but a little junk too!), make sure to eat a big breakfast with carbs and protein, and portion my meals. That sounds so cliché but these are the only things that have gotten me out of the binge-eating cycle. As for portioning my meals, I don't do it every time but since I've made a point to make it a habit, I just naturally do it now. I've messed up a lot though. Like a lot. Still do sometimes. The important thing is to expect that so you never get too hard on yourself and instead you just pick yourself right back up where you left off

Ilovepeppers

I actually have a memory from the first time I lost weight. I was sitting there, measured out half a cup of ice cream and was doing my best to stick to it, but god I wanted more. I even started pacing back and forth until I picked up the ice cream and screamed YOU DON'T CONTROL ME!!!!! I know it sounds so funny now but at the time I was so frustrated with my lack of self control. I poured water into the ice cream and threw it out and just stopped buying it.

Honestly that's what worked for me, I stopped buying snacks food, ate fruit when I wanted a snack and spent a long time feeling unhappy about it. But as the weight came off, I began to feel better. There is hope! I'll send you a FR, I have a 3 month old at home

Whitezombiegirl

Id approach this from a psychological perspective. I suspect that if you got rid of trigger foods you would still feel the urge to go out and buy them.

From my experience im guessing that the food might be a source of enjoyment in your day. Something that makes you feel good at the time. Part of it will also be habbit.

Id suggest alternative ways to feel enjoyment and entertainment. see other mums, go for walks, meditate when possible. And also avoid trigger foods during this transition period.

StealthHealth

I love @amusedmonkey 's suggestions - I relate to eating whatever is in my eye line. I have a couple of kids and they often leave chocolate, sweets, and cakes out on the counter top in the kitchen. These are harder to resist than when I put them in the cupboard.