Self-Control while with other people

krismurphy798

Currently, my girlfriend is on a trip in Europe, so I’ve found it very easy to lose weight since I can eat significantly less when I’m by myself for some reason. However, when I’m around others, I find myself eating a lot more for some reason. Any advice on how to keep my control when I’m no longer living alone?

maybe1pe

Maybe you should consider the mental aspect behind this behavior? Are you eating because you're hungry? Are you eating just because you see other people eating? What is the reasoning?

I personally, don't do this anymore. But it took me a long time to cultivate the willpower to say no to free food.... because it's free. But when I deconstructed my reasoning for taking the food in the first place it almost always boiled down to "it's free" or "it's there" and the food wasn't beneficial to me. Didn't make me feel satisfied. Sometimes it was foods I don't even particularly like.... Once I deconstructed MY thought process behind the action I was able to better deal with it.

Now I ask myself "is this a food I like?" no... ok then no i don't want it.
Am I even hungry? No... then I don't want it.
If I am hungry I have to ask myself if this is the food that I WANT. Like is this food somehow better/more nutritous filling a craving, etc that my planned meal wouldn't have.

For things like family gatherings where everyone is eating I just make a point to take a small amount of everything that I want the first time I get food and then don't go back for seconds until I've waited at least 30 minutes and can determine if I'm truly still hungry.

It's definitely easier to do when living alone and eating most meals alone... but that's not a reasonable expectation to live life like that forever. So I suggest you start focusing on the reasoning behind why you're eating like you are when other people are around.

emmies_123

I second the advice given by Maybe1pe.

Are you eating more when it is just you and your gf, or are you mostly worried about social situations with more people? If your gf encourages you to eat more I suggest having a chat with her letting her know that you are trying to focus on being healthy and if you turn down extra servings or snacks it is for that reason, not that you don't want food she offers/makes.

I was the girlfriend wrecking a diet. My bf (now hubby) was trying to behave and I kept saying "oh one piece won't hurt" or "I'm done eating wanna finish this?" (my leftovers), or asking 5 times if he was suuuurrre he didn't want a slice of cake/extra serving. I didn't realize at the time how much harm I was doing just asking and making him say no each time (or not saying no, I was a terrible influence). It wasn't until he explained to me the struggle he had internally that I stopped asking him to eat.

And then when I finally started trying to be healthy he also struggled to help me behave myself, despite having personal experience with the struggle. He had gotten used to giving me multiple sorts of chocolate for every holiday, and I had to keep reminding him for a while "i love the thought, and this looks delicious, but please don't get me more choc next time."