Opportunity eating

RivenV

So this is going to be a convoluted post because I believe the issue here is mostly mindset.

On my lunch hour at work, I'll be headed to a popular book chain-store to pick up a book. I thought that while I was there, I might pick up some Godiva chocolates because a day without chocolate is truly a wasted day. However, part of the reason I'm even trying to lose weight is due in large part to the fact that I have trouble resisting temptation. I've gotten better about office snacks; when someone brings in treats, I often pass on them by avoiding the "contaminated" area altogether. Up to this point, I've avoided keeping snacks in my office that weren't meant to be consumed that day because of my sordid past with boredom-munching. Initially writing this post, I had been intending to ask a question regarding etiquette and sharing them with my coworkers to help remove the temptation entirely. However, now I'm more concerned about my own pattern of avoidance. Simply avoiding the issue doesn't solve it--living the rest of my life constantly dodging snacks using the excuse "I can't help myself" is not cultivating a healthy relationship with food. I know not everyone has this type of issue, but I'm curious what the people who have had it (and no longer do) have done to change their mindset.

TL;DR -- If you've had trouble "opportunity eating" in the past, how have you overcome this?

BEERRUNNER

HI V!
I have had this issue all my life......I just cant help myself. But I realized that the best cure for this is to give in to temptation, just a bit and NOT TOTALLY deprive myself of something. I learned IF I totally deprived myself and dodged food that just surfaced out of nowhere(office treats etc..) it only mad eme want it more and thus I would overdo it when an occasion arose(opportunity eating).
Now I just have a Bite of the treat, junk food etc...
So instead of flexing 2 donuts.........I have 1/2 of one
Instead of having a burger n fries..........I just have the burger.
Instead of having 3 glasses of Coca cola I fill 1 glass full of ice and just pour in some of it.
Instead of drinking 1.5 bottles of Merlot...I drink .5:devil:
etc..
moderation

RivenV

HI V!
I have had this issue all my life......I just cant help myself. But I realized that the best cure for this is to give in to temptation, just a bit and NOT TOTALLY deprive myself of something. I learned IF I totally deprived myself and dodged food that just surfaced out of nowhere(office treats etc..) it only mad eme want it more and thus I would overdo it when an occasion arose(opportunity eating).
Now I just have a Bite of the treat, junk food etc...
So instead of flexing 2 donuts.........I have 1/2 of one
Instead of having a burger n fries..........I just have the burger.
Instead of having 3 glasses of Coca cola I fill 1 glass full of ice and just pour in some of it.
Instead of drinking 1.5 bottles of Merlot...I drink .5:devil:
etc..
moderation

That's excellent advice. :flowerforyou:
I think it would be easier to maybe have a bite or two of something (and then posisbly pitch the rest) if I was alone in my office. We have cake in the office break room all the time. I used to have a couple bites off half a slice and then sort of pick at it until break was over... I work in an office full of large men (many of whom are married to large women), so there are always comments about my weird eating habits.
Man, just half a bottle of vino?! You're really cutting back, Runner! I'm slowly coming off my low carb diet, so I'll have to have half a bottle for you, too! Now all we need is one more person, and we three can drink and be merry! :drinker:

ViktoryaC

My office is also full of larger women......when I first started at, 110 pounds, there were numerous comments about my figure and eating habits. Now, after eating like them and ballooning up to 161 pounds, they still comment, very satisfied at having "fattened me up". People will talk no matter what you do, so ignore them and stay healthy...I wish I had! Tell them you don't need to defend your eating habits to them!

RivenV

My office is also full of larger women......when I first started at, 110 pounds, there were numerous comments about my figure and eating habits. Now, after eating like them and ballooning up to 161 pounds, they still comment, very satisfied at having "fattened me up". People will talk no matter what you do, so ignore them and stay healthy...I wish I had! Tell them you don't need to defend your eating habits to them!

I'm sorry that the ladies at your office peer-pressured you to a size with which you're uncomfortable. Congrats on joining MFP and taking healthy steps towards overcoming it, though! We'll just have to keep our resolve at work and resist. Then we'll be fit and fabulous again. I guess they'll all still be pretty big, but hey! At least they'll serve as a nice reminder of the price of over indulging too often, right?

Burghaus

I have pretty much the same problem. If I see food and it is available, I will likely eat it.

Your comment “Simply avoiding the issue doesn't solve it” is pretty interesting and thought provoking. My figuring is to almost treat like alcoholism. Today, I am going to eat well and avoid situations that may cause me not to do so. I cannot tell you what I am going to do a year from now or what I will weigh but today will go well.

Unlike the other gentleman, I usually don’t eat half the doughnut. Maybe I take a half of one but I am usually back for the second half and maybe another.

JesterMFP

I have this problem, or something similar. I tend to want to eat things if they are free, and especially if they are not normally available. So, if someone has baked something that I like, or I happen to be on a training course or something with free food, or it's not something I've tried before, then I do feel more tempted than usual. If I see new or "limited edition" things on sale in shops (especially chocolatey things) then I'm more tempted to buy them (a classic marketing ploy I can't help falling for!)

The first thing that stops me is a trick you'll already be familiar with - logging on MFP. That has honestly helped a lot, as I'm just so aware now of what I can realistically fit into my day. If I can, then I sometimes pre-log whatever the unexpected food is, and sometimes that will put me off having it.

Apart from that, I just try to be more mindful, and have a little conversation with myself (in my head!) I ask myself if whatever the food item is, is really worth the calories, if it will really be that tasty, or if I'm just being tempted by the novelty of it. I ask myself if it's something I'll be able to have another time. If it's not, I consider whether or not I have the option of taking a small portion home with me, whether it'll keep tomorrow etc. I just try to weigh up all the options really. If it's something I'm really craving, then it's more helpful (for me) to have at least a little. If I stop and think about it, and find that actually I don't really want it, it's just that it's right there, then I can usually make the rational decision not to eat it. Also, I eat yummy things every day, so I often think "well, would I rather have this donut that I've chanced upon, or would I rather enjoy the gourmet chocolate I have waiting at home later on?"

And to be honest, it's become quite natural now, so I'm not having a massive debate with myself every time. I think if you keep practising making the right choices (and the "right" choice isn't always turning it down) then it really does become easier. I've kind of got in the habit of asking myself "is it worth it?" the same way I do when I'm shopping, but can't afford to just buy everything in sight. There are lots of things I'd like to buy, but if I can't afford them, there's no point lusting after them. I have a finite number of calories per day, and I want to fill them with things that are either highly nutritious, or highly yummy (or both). I do still get that temptation to eat things just because they're suddenly there, but I just mentally take a step back, ask myself if it's worth it, and I've found that the temptation/craving disappears soon enough.

hep26000

I usually avoid office snacks. When I didn't I wasn't losing any weight. I have my own snacks and just try to keep myself busy. I remind myself how great I have been doing and my scale has been making me very happy. Also seeing someone who is overweight and eating that piece of cake or doughnut makes me not want that food even more.
Every time I pass the box of goodies I am proud that I didn't give in. I wouldn't be mad at myself if I did give in but I wouldn't be proud of myself either. And I want to be proud.
When I am home, I like my chocolate after dinner and I will try to make sure it fits in my day.
One thing I do sometimes that helps is I will go brush my teeth- then eating something sweet isn't something I want to do when my teeth just had a bath.

RivenV

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you to the posters who have responded. Posting this, I was expecting the bulk of responses to be one or two lines of text from people who didn't really take the time to read the question, as is tradition.
May I just say that your well articulated points were quite refreshing and helpful.

Burghaus - I have the same problem you have with doughnuts or other office treats. One makes me want another. So far I basically have been treating snacking and the temptation it presents in the manner you've described. All I can do every day is my best to avoid those types of situations and try to make good decisions. Take it a day at a time, as they say.

Jester - I also get excited by the concept of "new" or "limited edition" foods--also with a specific emphasis on chocolate (or ice cream). If a treat looks tasty, I've never had it, and I'm not sure if I'm likely to encounter it again, it's hard to give up the prospect of at least trying it. Often trying it gives way to eating a whole piece/serving, and sometimes that really is ok. I need to get better at determining if I'm more interested in the food or in the novelty of it, as you said. There's definitely no shortage of delicious foods in my life, so I'm not sure why I feel so tempted by other foods--especially since they're rarely as tasty/healthy as the things I've made for myself. It's nice to know that the "Is it worth it" conversation gets easier with time.

Hep26000 - I've found that packing my own snacks does help, too. And it doesn't hurt that there are overweight people in the office who help give me pause about indulging my sweet tooth too often. (That came out waaaaay ruder than I meant. Not trying to get down on anyone for their decisions, I promise.) I look forward to couple tablespoons of peanut butter and jam each as an evening snack after dinner. There were a couple nights last week where that wasn't an option becaues I'd over eaten at other points during the day, and I was surprised at how much I missed them. So now I make room for something that was initially just a relatively healthy/tasty way to add some calories on days when I was too far under my goal.

RivenV

Just wanted to add an update to my employment of the above suggestions. Not fifteen minutes ago, I walked into our office break room to get some water and a fork (to eat the diced chicken breast I'm having for breakfast) only to find a decadent spread of doughnuts, specialty bagels, and assorted flavored cream cheeses. I love sweet, bread-like foods, so this was a potential issue. But as I looked at the spread, I took a moment to stop and think about it while several coworkers loaded up their plates. (Two of whom are females who are always trying to lose weight but have only gained weight since I've known them.)

Internally, I said to myself, "Self, I know you love to eat delicious baked goods but just look at those doughnuts. Almost every single one of them is that dough you don't like. As delicious as the maple bar topping is, the dough underneath it is always puffy and too squishy for your taste, isn't it? There are a couple cake doughnuts, and those are your favorite... but they're also frosted. You know how wrong it is to frost cake doughnuts. Plus, you've had enough coffee this morning, so you'd have nothing in which to dunk them. Of course, you could have half a bagel. Who are you kidding? You know you'd end up with a whole, anyway. Each of these bagels is flavored/gussied up just on its own, but I know you won't eat one without schmear. What might have been a simple, if especially carb-heavy, breakfast nosh is starting to look more and more like one of those ridiculous (but delicious) >600 calorie CostCo muffins. Seriously, you're about to eat a fair amount of satiating protein and fat in the form of last night's leftovers. Why sully this? Besides, think about what a pain all of that would be to log." On my way back to my office, I remembered that I do have some very sumptuous (and somewhat expensive) truffles in my office from yesterday's excursion that would be a perfect indulgence later. Plus, I'd already battled this morning with myself over packing a healthy lunch vs. going out for lunch. My intention going out for lunch is to get something healthy, but more often than not, I falter and make poor food decisions. So I nutted up, kicked my laziness in the keister, and packed myself a lunch about which I feel really good.

Then I realized I forgot to get a fork, so I had to go back. The breakroom was empty by this point... it was just me at the deliciousness. I stared straight into the doughnuts'/bagels' holes and felt... nothing.

Didn't even want one anymore. Granted, it took me a couple minutes of thinking to get to that point... but still!

Burghaus

Good job!

mv730i

Way to be RivenV! I really reccomend this book. It has a lot of work in it (it's basically therapy in book form). But the exercises they have you do to practice mindfullness are really awesome. My advice would also be to just keep trying. Your methods might not work every time, but if you keep trying you WILL get better at it. God Bless.


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JesterMFP

Didn't even want one anymore. Granted, it took me a couple minutes of thinking to get to that point... but still!

That's fantastic, well done you! I chuckled when you said "what a pain all this would be to log" - I tend to think the same thing!