How do you control yourself?
tmanross
Posts: 35 Member
With food? I’m always in the negatives.
0
Replies
-
You mean that little voice inside your head that tells you what not to do? After a while, I have expectations of what it's likely to say, and I just get into various habits. I extremely rarely suffer from overeating guilt (maybe once every year or two) so I have to rely on other strategies.1
-
I try not to dwell on thinking about food. I don't let myself feel deprived and develop resentment about what I don't eat anymore. I try to think positively about the good food I can eat.7
-
Prelog what pops into your head to eat so you can see if it fits or not first
Stay busy.
Make a habit of taking a moment to think about why you want to eat, and make a conscious decision to eat everything you want, a little of it, or to do something else.9 -
Oh, I forgot one strategy. Keep food out of sight. If I can't see it, I'm not forced to think about it. Cans of tuna are fine, but fruit, biscuits etc I always keep hidden away from view.3
-
Sometimes I drink a cup of water and contemplate. Also, I make myself do some kind of exercise at the end of the day to compensate if I am over. Yoga, a brisk walk etc.3
-
Take a walk if I get snacky
I also use the thought process from Beck’s Diet Solution and put myself in the mindset of “no choice” when I am thinking about eating something I shouldn’t.
I keep a list of my whys for weight loss near me.1 -
It took me 20 years to stop allowing food to control me. I look at everything I eat as fuel now. No longer is it a reward, a way to relax or something I convince myself that I deserve. Because I’ve joined a bunch of classes and am now a “regular” at the gym, I am too afraid of eating something crappy, because it’ll make me feel like crap & I won’t want to work out. Fitness has become an absolute passion (and it’s fun because I’ve met so many other “regulars”) and that’s what drives me to fuel properly. This has been working about 8 months now, but man it took a LOOONG time to change my mindset!4
-
In don't want to be 400 lbs again. That's enough, but I also will give myself some flexibility.2
-
To make it easier to control myself around food, I
eat food I like.
don't demonize or deem any foods off limits.
tell myself I can eat anything I like, but not everything at once, and not all the time.
plan my meals.
avoid unnecessary temptation. This includes scheduled shopping trips and not buying things I have trouble moderating.
I also
think of myself as a person who doesn't sit and eat all the time.
don't yell at myself when I do lose control.7 -
If I don't see cookies, chocolate etc. I don't think about it. Recently a half jar of delicious coffee / chocolate filled sugar waffle things happened to sit o the table - but not for long. Totally delicious, but I don't make it a habit...0
-
- I have an appropriate deficit. I know I would be doomed to fail if I attempt to stick to 1200 calories.
- I earn extra calories through activity.
- I try to eat foods that are satisfying most of the time.
- I don't forbid myself any foods because that would only make me want them more, but I don't keep the foods I tend to overeat in plain sight because constantly tempting myself wouldn't be smart.
- I don't "restart", I recognise a setback and move on. If I restarted every time I overate I would be tempted to go overboard with my overeating because "I'll start dieting tomorrow".
- I replaced brute force willpower with reasoning driven willpower - I go over my calories sometimes, but only when I have thought about it extensively and decided it was absolutely worth it. Most of the time, my perceived "need" to eat something is downgraded to a milder "want" once I think about it carefully. It's easier to deal with "want" by distraction, replacement, future promise...etc.
14 -
1. Fill the fridge with food that needs to be prepared in order to eat (no instant stuff).
2. Weigh your food.
3. Log what you will consume before eating.
4. Drink water if you're still hungry.4 -
I try to eat foods that give me a satisfied feeling - for me, it's usually higher protein foods. This isn't to say that once in a while I don't get into a carb craving mode. But overall this strategy has helped me stay on track.0
-
Interesting answers. I've never been compulsive with food so it's interesting to see how others cope with that.0
-
For me it took time.
In the beginning of my time of weight loss I had trouble with this but in time I decided I really wanted to be at a healthy weight more than I wanted _______.
Once I got to that weight, it was even more awesome than I had ever imagined - so it's been relatively easy to reprogram my thoughts toward all the great things people have already mentioned in your thread here.
Keep going. Do what it takes. It's worth it.1 -
Another trick is to log your whole day up front. It's strange but it does help counter your urge to snack. Sort of a contract with yourself.7
-
I've been logging my entire day ahead of time, sometimes the night before. Dinner is usually my weak point because I don't do the cooking. We have a discussion the night before and I put it in ahead of time so I know what I can eat the rest of the day. I also don't give up anything so I don't have any crazy cravings. If I want ice cream I find a way to make it fit in for the day. My boyfriend thinks I'm silly but I'm perfectly happy to pass on vegetables at dinner in favor of ice cream for desert.
3 -
As others have said, pre-logging helps for me. I log my entire day before breakfast. Then if someone brings doughnuts (or whatever) into the office, I can look at my log and see if I want to make that doughnut fit into my day. I'll likely have to forgo my nightly dessert, which I don't like doing, so I'll usually pass on the doughnut. But...not always.3
-
makkimakki2018 wrote: »1. Fill the fridge with food that needs to be prepared in order to eat (no instant stuff).
This is basically my fridge! And one of the biggest reasons i've lost 103lbs.
1 -
makkimakki2018 wrote: »1. Fill the fridge with food that needs to be prepared in order to eat (no instant stuff).
This is basically my fridge! And one of the biggest reasons i've lost 103lbs.
This would be very bad for me. I have many foods that need to be prepared, but I also need to have foods that I can just grab or toss together in seconds and eat, or else I'll be tempted to order in more often than I would like or to pick up a candy bar at the nearby corner store if I'm too busy or too tired to deal with food preparation.
I always keep canned things, instant ramen, instant grains, pudding cups, boiled eggs, various sandwich spreads...etc for busy/stressful/lazy days.3 -
If I go over, I go over. My life is an ocean of opportunity that is not torpedoed by a single swell caused by poor decisions.
It's just food. I try to make sure I only go over 1-2 days a week (if I go over at all), but there are some weeks that's not true, though my habits are such that it's rarer than it once was. I have built strong, healthy habits around how and when I eat and recognizing what's hunger and what's boredom or what's dehydration (I'm terrible about drinking liquids). So if I'm tempted by something, I stop and ask myself, "Are you REALLY hungry? Or are you thirsty? Or are you bored?" 9 times out of 10, I'm thirsty or bored. And if I'm really hungry? Well, I've surrounded myself with tasty treats that fit within my day's calories, but every single time I open a package, I tell myself.
"Okay, self. You feel hungry so we're going to eat this, but this means less dinner. And the husband is going to make THE THING. THE DELICIOUS THING. ARE YOU GOING TO BE OKAY WITH LESS OF THE DELICIOUSNESS?"
I like bigger dinners, so this usually derails me and suddenly, I'm not so hungry! Sometimes not, lol. Sometimes, if I've gone over and had more dinner than I should have, I'll tell the husband.
"We're going for a walk." He'll look at me like I'm a crazy person, and I'll add, "YOU OVER FED ME WITH YOUR TEMPTATION OF DELICIOUSNESS. QUICK! WE GOTTA WALK OR THE WIFE-BEAST WILL BE LIKE GIZMO AND TURN INTO SOMETHING GROUCHY!" That gets him going. XD (And me too, with a laugh!) Which means mitigation with exercise.
But... the next day, I have an opportunity to make better choices, and 95% of the time, I do.
The other 5% I chalk up to enjoying life!1 -
During any moment of weakness or doubt ask yourself:
‘How will I feel if?’
And consider both options. E.g.
‘How will I feel if I eat this pizza’ vs ‘how will I feel if I have a healthy dinner’
Your options are so I want to feel sluggish and disappointed in myself or light, healthy and proud of my choices?
The ‘feeling’ relates to both physical feelings about something. I do it when I’m talking myself out of an early night or when I was struggling for motivation to go to the gym.0 -
There’s also a difference between Motivation and Discipline. Motivation relies on the state of emotions and often hormones whilst discipline will see you through those moments of weakness.
Create a routine and do not see the options of doing something or not. Treat it like getting dressed or brushing your teeth, it’s just routine so get on with it.
The mind will naturally talk itself out of doing even the things it wants to do. So remove the thought process and get on.0 -
Lastly:
Be realistic about what you will achieve with the effort you’re willing to put in.0 -
TotalFoodEase wrote: »During any moment of weakness or doubt ask yourself:
‘How will I feel if?’
And consider both options. E.g.
‘How will I feel if I eat this pizza’ vs ‘how will I feel if I have a healthy dinner’
Your options are so I want to feel sluggish and disappointed in myself or light, healthy and proud of my choices?
The ‘feeling’ relates to both physical feelings about something. I do it when I’m talking myself out of an early night or when I was struggling for motivation to go to the gym.
I do that too, but my conclusions are a bit different. I don't feel sluggish when I eat pizza, but I do feel like it could hog up calories for something else. Sometimes I decide that pizza isn't worth it because I will feel bad later if today is a hungry day (if 3 slices won't cut it), other times I decide that it's worth it because I would feel deprived if I don't have it. The key is to plan the food and be 100% aware that you are choosing to eat it, regardless of what it is. Impulse eating was the hardest and most rewarding thing to overcome.2 -
I've decided that I'm going to exercise off any overeating. eating perfectly all the time is simply not realistic. But I can burn the calories off if I do. Somehow, I find comfort in that.. because if that wasn't the case.. I'd regain.0
-
Great advice has been given! My biggest help is to track everything I plan to eat that day first thing in the morning. I can always go back and tweak later on but I at least have a true game plan. I also make sure that my calorie deficit is realistic and I exercise to be able to eat more. If I don't exercise then I don't eat more.
2 -
I don't restrict anything, I have what I want, but I want different things now, and my cravings have adjusted. So now I'll have a couple bowls of muesli or granola, 3 or 4 sugar free sweets, a low carb protein bar or shake, or occasionally one of those low calorie cake thingies as a last resort. It's taken a long time for my tastes to change, and settle down to a preference for more nutritious food. I had a cheeseburger and fries two days in a row this week. The first time was okay. After the second, it was no longer appealing. I want more nutritious stuff than that. But that behavioural change has been a long time in the making, and it's hard work, but changing the way you think about food is half the battle. It will settle for you the more you keep at it, until you can better control the overeating, and gravitate towards more nutritious food on the occasions when you do overeat.0
-
I don't
Was going great for the last few weeks then had a massive day-long binge today. It wasn't even a one-off as I went out at lunchtime, bought more food and then carried on eating! Have easily eaten an extra 3000 calories in the last few hours (on top of maintenance calories). What a PITA!! 0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »
This would be very bad for me. I have many foods that need to be prepared, but I also need to have foods that I can just grab or toss together in seconds and eat, or else I'll be tempted to order in more often than I would like or to pick up a candy bar at the nearby corner store if I'm too busy or too tired to deal with food preparation.
I always keep canned things, instant ramen, instant grains, pudding cups, boiled eggs, various sandwich spreads...etc for busy/stressful/lazy days.
Same here. Having hard to cook things means they don't get cooked. I have 3 little kids. Stuff has to be easy. Snacks need to be prepared. String cheese is fab, yogurt in cups. Oh yes.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 427 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions