Extremely discouraged... overeating is killing me

Binkie1955

I'm puzzled. I clicked on your overall comments and a lot of your comments are along these lines. My perspective is that you need to find and consume food that actually satiates you. And your habits need to change. so here's my thought

-There are a number of good books on the subject of simply building good habits. you can find a number on Amazon. instead of focusing on dieting per se, on a number of calories for example, decide that you're simply going to start on building good dietary habits and put aside the calories, the weight, etc. and focus first on the 'habit'.

Because you have cravings, I'm going to suggest that you begin by counting carbohydrates and NOT calories. While there are many on here who would have you count calories, or even limit your carbs to some very low number, i'm going to suggest that YOU pick the number of carbohydrates (in grams) and please do give yourself credit for the grams of fiber and count your 'net carb grams' (grams of carbs minus grams of fiber). Try some reasonable number of 'net grams of carbs' to limit yourself too. When you get hungry, eat as much as you want calorie wise but try to stick to the 'net grams of carbs' number that YOU picked.

Now as you might guess, as you lower the number of grams of carbs you'll begin to rationalize OUT of your diet the junk food. but go slow, don't starve, but don't binge, it takes about 8 weeks to really create a new habit. try this one for about 8 weeks and don't beat yourself up when you go over the carb number you've picked.

if you can begin this exercise you will begin to change your habits about food and over time, your habits will simply improve and you will also lose weight.

and practice LIKING yourself. make that your second habit.

storknursekelly

this has my name all over it, been there done that & still would if I didn't figure out my triggers. If you would like add me, we have some support groups here for bingers I can hook u up with too. I agree with the triggers, whether they be food, emotions whatever once we're able to realize ok that was a trigger we can figure out how to move in a better direction. Fast foods, processed foods, diet sodas are triggers for most of us. Wishing you much success in your journey.

joellemorin

I feel you. As soon as I part from my diet plan, just for an icecream or something, it's like my body goes in the "GIMME SUGAR!"-mode.

Allow yourself one cheat-day per week. Try to stick to it, keeping in mind that once EVERY week, you'll be able to indulge in junkfood no matter what Good luck! xoox

abetterluke

It is not for us to say whether someone needs medicine or not.

But it is for us to say someone is depressed? K.

Akimajuktuq

Being at home thinking about food all day is a recipe for disaster. You must keep your mind and body busy in order to be successful. I'm not a doctor, but you sound like you might be depressed. Depression can definitely make it impossible to meet your goals. You might consider seeing your doctor to see if a mild prescription might bring your energy and moods up.

Yes, sitting around doesn't help. NO to meds. Please don't hand out this advice!!! Depression, low energy, hopelessness, etc can be cured with diet. Yes it can! There are a whole bunch of us right here on MFP that have done just that, along with many other illnesses.

It is not for us to say whether someone needs medicine or not. I simply suggested seeing a doctor. Depression is a very complex condition and should be evaluated on a case by case basis. Saying that someone should not take meds for an illness and that it can be cured by diet is a disservice to all who read this. Depression is real. True depression is not something you just snap out of. There is a stigma attached to taking medication for depression that makes people feel ashamed because they got help. WHY??

Do not tell me what advice to hand out. It is not your place. It is not your place to judge those who reach out for help with their depression and are prescribed something that improves their life. Medication is not shameful. Looking down on those who take it is.

Read your comment that I quoted. You recommended CLEARLY that this person seek meds. And doctors are all too quick to hand them out. It is my opinion that it is not YOUR place to tell someone to seek medication. All of which have serious side effects including death.

I gave my opinion directly from my own experience. I struggled with SEVERE depression all of my life and it was resolved with diet. AND I was severely damaged by medication. So please, stow the accusation of judgement and THINK about what YOU say to people who are asking for help. I have no power over whether the OP will use my advice or thinks I'm a nut, but I have every right to share my experience.

I did NOT judge the OP but I DO have a problem with what you said and that's what I responded to.

Akimajuktuq

Sounds like I've been in the proverbial boat with lots of other people. I was really struggling with staying within my calorie count (1600) until about 10 days ago. Then I decided to start to figure out this macro thing. My cholesterol was way up. The good kind (hdl) was super high, the bad, and total were also high so I decided to do an experiment. I cut my fat intake from 30+% that I was eating due to daily intake of good fats from nuts and olive oil to 20% and upped my carbs to 50%. I've been trying to get 30% protein and am finding protein foods take away my cravings. I don't know if the numbers are good or bad, but I'm simply amazed at how I look at food these past few days. I don't choose my food based on how many calories I have left, but I do make sure it works with my macro goals. It's like I have less desire to eat high fat food because I know it won't serve my purpose of getting my cholesterol numbers down. It means looking at food as fuel, not as something that will fill an inner need other than hunger. If I'm hungry, I eat. But I know I can't go rummaging through the frig or cupboards looking for something that I can't justify eating. For an evening snack I might have albacore tuna with pickle relish and multigrain crackers. It really works for me. I also love fat free lime or vanilla greek yogurt with a tablespoon of chocolate syrup (150 cals...no fat). I'm going back in 10 days for another blood profile and I'll see if this made a difference. Even if the numbers don't change, I'm going to continue watching my macros and trying to stay within them most days. I believe we can take control of our health but it's all about the choices we make and where our goals are on our priority list. Good luck to everybody.

Please do more research on cholesterol. Good luck with your lower fat diet.

OP: this is likely not good advice for someone struggling with craving/bingeing, and many other metabolic disorders. Reducing carbs and increasing healthy fat really is worth a try. It's been AMAZING for me and lots of other MFP members. Unfortunately, many people with lifestyles similar to mine start avoiding the general forums because of our experience getting ridiculed. However, if conventional advice fails, maybe it's worth exploring something different?

CountryGirl8542

Follow the Canadian food guide... I know it sound dumb but it works... and it keeps you full... I am the same way... and I binge it sometimes... but just make sure you brush yourself off when you fall down and keep going... read peoples success stories... say if they can do it so can you....

Eat a protein at breakfast, lunch and dinner (2 eggs, 2 tbs peanut butter, 1/2 cup of chicken, turkey, steak, roast, tuna. salmon)... and eat some thing orange and green once a day... 5 veggies servings a day (1cup of leaves count as 1 aka lettuce or 1/2 cup of carrots, broccoli, etc. ) and 2 fruit (1 cup of fruit), 2 dairy servings (1 cup servings) and 4 grain servings/carbs (1 slice of thick toast, 2 thin and 1/2 cup of pasta, rice, potatoes, squash).

If you check out my food diary it is following the Canadian food guide and if you love the junk (I have never really liked it... just carbss!!) treat yourself at the end of the day, to a little bowl of chips or candies for doing a good job with your eating all day (even if you made the minor mistake)... I premeasure my food for the day and make my food diary in the morning and click complete diary so that I stick with it for the entire day...so premeasure your goodies and only have one serving... and then BRUSH your teeth... no joke... food tastes gross after you brush your teeth so do it and you won't want to eat We all have ups and downs... just make sure you get up after you have a down and things will get easier...

Also, eat when you are hungry... the human body works as a clock so if you can eat around the same time ever day for each meal (within and hour) you can kind of control when you will get hungry! Who would have though... and drink 2 litres of water ever day!
If you need a friend for advice with eating or to even say "I FEEL LIKE BINGING" I will be there to say "DON'T DOOOOOOO ITTTT! YOUUU CAN DOOOO IT" ..............feel free to add me.... anyone for that matter... I see a Dietitian regularly and I can ask her question for everyone!


And remember...

"Motivation is what gets you started but habit is what keeps you going" - Jim Rohn (no idea who that is??) Lol


Cheers,

Corinne, xoxox

P.S. Best of luck to you if I don't hear from you again You can do this... you are amazing and strong! I believe in you...

kyleekay10

Hi all,

I am feeling extremely discouraged today. I am finding it so hard to find balance in my life. I want to enjoy the foods I love which is mostly junk, but I need to lose the weight...

I have always been a yo-yo dieter. I will eat healthy, fell great about the weight I am losing and then all it takes is one slip up like eating a piece of candy and I am binge eating for the rest of the day. I feel that I am always craving junk even if I do allow myself to have a small handful of chips to curb the cravings. I just want more and more.

I never used to be like this. I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted - but since I didn't think about my weight I would never go on psychotic binges where I have to eat everything in sight - therefore I always maintained my weight. I hit my highest weight after losing 20 pounds on a pretty restrictive diet... I couldn't take it anymore and ended up binge eating for a month.

I don't know what to do. I sit here all day craving food. I am trying to eat 1500 calories per day instead of 1200 but the weight just isn't coming off...

I need some advice and support

- don't restrict foods from your diet.
- don't buy into all that clean/primal/paleo/low car/low sugar/low fat/gluten-free/etc. nonsense that tells you that certain foods are good and other foods are bad. food is just fuel.
- don't hold yourself to a standard that NOBODY can meet. we are not perfect.
- learn about your macros and strive to meet those goals.
- set a smaller deficit from your daily TDEE and strive to lose the weight over a longer period of time.
- be patient.
- allow yourself treats every day if that's what you need to do to avoid later binges.

losing weight is not rocket science. so many people fail and yo-yo because they fall into an antiquated mindset about what they must or must not eat in order to be "healthy". it's all unnecessary. worry about your calories and macros and not what food choices you're making. if you are meeting your calorie and macro goals, the majority of your food choices will be good ones anyway, but you can still have pizza and ice cream and bread and hamburgers and all sorts of other things you love, as part of your diet.

also, lots of people find that protein helps keep them full, longer. not keeping too many snack foods in the house can help combat mindless eating. switching to drinking mostly water can be a big calorie saver.

Why are you trying to sabotage someone who is struggling with craving/bingeing with the above advice? "Treats" often trigger binges. Yes, sometimes the only way to overcome cravings/bingeing IS to eliminate certain foods (sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently), most of with are low in nutrients and not healthy anyway. It would help if you understood how certain foods affect hormones in the body-hormones that regulate appetite and fat storage. Just because you don't have experience with uncontrollable craving/bingeing that can't be resolved with willpower and a "balanced" diet doesn't mean that other people aren't experiencing just that. Thanks for playing your part in helping keep someone in the dark and away from trying a possible solution. If I had kept eating a "balanced" diet I probably would have been dead before 60. I might as well have been dead at 39 because that's how bad my quality of life was because i was so sick and fat.

But yeah, I'm soooo deprived by eating steaks and salads. It's so terrible. Feeling AWESOME is soooo not worth giving up a few foods. Instead, I should have never eliminated any foods or changed anything until I had full blown diabetes, etc. Whatever.

Akimajuktuq, no one is trying to sabotage OP. I'm curious as to why you are responding to several suggestions with such hostility.

You implied in your own post that everyone is different. Everyone has different triggers. Different things work for different people. Maybe OP *not* completely eliminating treats from their diet IS the solution- it's not for you to say.

None of this advice is directed at you- you don't need to try and make everyone sound like they don't know what they're talking about. I was a binge eater. My diets failed when I restricted myself too much. Then, I started allowing myself to have one of those "treats" every day, or at least a few times a week. I'm down almost 17 pounds.

Food is fuel for your body- true. But food can also be something to enjoy. Losing weight is about a LIFESTYLE change, and completely cutting out the things you love is NOT a long-term solution for many people. Learning to enjoy the things you love in moderation, however, IS a healthy long-term solution.

jlmoses91

I know it's hard, trust me I have the same problem you do. What I have started doing, and it seems to work is to incorporate my binging foods that kill me in my everyday diet. I could eat chips and salsa forever. That is my problem, so I added. Inchon salsa to my omelets and eggs. I love chocolate so I drink chocolate protein shakes. You also need to know when you have to worst times. I want to binge at night so bad, so that's when I try to stay busy. If your wanting to binge eat a little bit of what you want and then brush your teeth. Buy snack size portions and when you finish your snack leave. Or just keep busy. Out of sight out of mind. Just ask yourself am I really this hungry, do I want to do this? I hope this helps! Good luck

michele040673

Bump.
Anyone one who replied to this thread please ADD me. I loved the motivation, love and outpour of support.

mspoopoo

I have battled with the sugar binging and no I really can't just eat one chip or one bite of something sweet and be satisfied. It triggers a binge.

I too would start and lose 5-6 pounds and then be tempted usually by husband with chocolate or pizza or something like that because he is over 6 foot tall and one of those burning machines who never gains an ounce even though they are a human garbage disposal.

What it took this time was ending up in the hospital and not for anything weight related and then my doctor thinking I might be pre diabetic. I was in a ward where 3 other women were suffering with diabetes related complications. It was not pretty. Bad infections, amputations.

People say not to deprive yourself or eliminate foods well some things we eat just aren't really food. They are just man made junk with no nutritional value. They aren't foods. Cool whip is not a food.

Deprive yourself? We aren't toddlers. Treats. We aren't dogs. We don't need a treat. Cheat days? Why? This is a lifestyle change. A cheat day just reinforces the idea you are just doing this until you lose the weight and then you can eat like you did again. And that is what most people do.

Nobody wold tell an alcoholic they could have a cheat day where they could drink or a shot as a treat.

Finally, I tried eating plain old food. Nobody makes a tv commercial for what I eat. eggs, fish, meat, chicken, fresh vegetables and fruit.
No goey sauces, nothing in a box, no HFCS, no diet anything, or low fat, no soda, no crystal lite. Just plain old food.

And guess what, it works. After about a week, the sugar cravings are completely gone. I feel full all the time. I am not thinking about my next meal all the time.

Other people lose weight doing it other ways but this is what I found that works best for sugar addictions.

goodnamegone

I have that too, I've been losing and gaining for a year now and haven't made much progress. I am now just beginning a low carbs diet and that has helped a lot with the sugar cravings although I did cave and have some ice cream two nights ago - that said - it didn't bring on a massive sugar relapse. I think not eating bread for me was the biggest gift I gave myself, it lowered the sugar intake, I had no idea how much that had been affecting me. I also use honey sometimes if I need something sweet. Take it one day at a time and if it gets too big to handle on your own then try a 12 step program I know they work.