Motivation and support

Purplestuff102

How do I remember to slow down when I eat so I can stop overeating it’s like I do okay for a week then I slip up then conviently forget to keep doing it?

NC_Gardener

I like to physically leave the food I'm not supposed to have in a different room. If I get too hungry later, I can eat carrots or something, which I have near me.

I don't have to do that forever. But I'm especially hungry as I start out and on random days! I think my stomach will shrink as I go; I've heard it literally gets bigger as you eat more over time. I figure that's why I'm so darned hungry at first when cutting calories? It growls, lol. I don't even cut many calories per day.

Oh, don't cut too many calories per day, either, if you can avoid it. That's much, much harder.

Purplestuff102

Thank u if I log my food walk and drink water lift weights the weight will come off as long as I’m patient right ?

NC_Gardener

Yes, it has to! As long as you can tell you are eating less than before and you move at least as much as before, it'll happen 🙂🙂

I just "gained" a couple of lbs that are completely fake. There's no way it's possible. It's my muscles storing fuel from using them more. It'll go away within a few weeks. I feel like saying screw it today, but I know better because I remember how the scale can be!

teigansdad

Yesterday was a bust. Sara made apple crisp and man i was off to the races from the minute I picked up the spatula. I simply have no ability to regulate once I let the Genie out of the bottle. Starts with heaping helping of Sara’s crisp, then why not hot chocolate? Well the hot chocolate is brewing and I don’t want to eat all the crisp before the hot chocolate so the Aldi’s triple dessert bar or three would be nice… WTH ??!!! 🤣 then after that of course comes the immediate guilt. There is this show on Netflix called bigmouth. Cartoon, widely inappropriate about teens. Anyway there is a character called the guilt monster. That guys is real for sure!
Well today is a new day
Yesterday goals
Under caloric limit❌❌❌❌
No beer✅
Family time✅
Forced day off trainer ✅

Todays goals
Do better
1) stay under basal caloric limit
2) zwift workout
3) no beer
4) log all food
5) substitute water for Diet Coke

AnnPT77

Purplestuff102 wrote: »

How do I remember to slow down when I eat so I can stop overeating it’s like I do okay for a week then I slip up then conviently forget to keep doing it?

Be patient with yourself. It takes time to establish new habits.

When you notice you're eating too fast, remind yourself. Use techniques like putting down your fork (or whatever) between bites, or counting when you chew so you don't swallow so fast, or something like that.

As others have said, don't try to cut calories super far (and it's OK to taper slowly into a sensibly moderate calorie deficit by starting with a very small cut then cutting a little more daily once a week until you're at target intake, if that helps). Any calorie intake below your current maintenance calories will result in weight loss, just a little slower or faster depending on size of deficit. Think more about how to make loss easy, rather than fast.

Some other things you could experiment with:

Choose foods (and an eating schedule) that you find are the best for making you feel full and keeping you full.

Avoid multi-tasking while eating. Set aside a place to eat, and make it pleasant. Use nice dishes, sit at a table, etc. Focus on tasting and enjoying each bite of food, paying attention to the taste, texture, etc. (This kind of thing can be an antidote if previous habit has been to eat while watching TV or playing with phone or something, so just shoveling in the food at speed, not paying much attention.)

Consider drinking a cup of something no/low calorie and warm before eating a meal - some people find that blunts appetite, so could make it easier to slow down. One thing I did while losing weight, since I'm the household cook, was to start by cutting up a plate of low-cal filling finger-food veggies (celery, carrots, cucumber, radishes, cherry tomatoes etc.) and munch on those while cooking. By the time I got to serving the meal, my appetite was blunted.

If part of the issue is that you're busy and stressed the rest of your day, so tend to power through meals/snacks at that same routine, frantic pace, create a ritual for yourself where you intentionally slooooow yourself down before you eat. Do a couple dozen slow, deep breaths (slow inhale, slow exhale, maybe a hold in between, counting to yourself) just paying attention to the breath. Or, stretch slowly a little bit in ways that feel good, release some tension/stress in your body. If you're religious, do a longer prayer (spoken or silent) before eating. When you've calmed, take that calm into eating.

Good luck!

DebbsSeattle

Eat with your non dominant hand. Set your flatware down between bites. Do not cut more than one bite at a time. Read an article out loud while eating (after you chew and swallow of course). Read 3 sentences then take another bite.

csplatt

Only put on your plate what you have weighed and measured and deemed appropriate for that meal. Then eat as fast as you want! I am also a fast eater.