Food

bryleesanneman446

How do I resist my temptation to eat when I’m not hungry but I want to eat?

frhaberl

Some things that have worked for me:
- Remind yourself that you have meals and snacks planned for later that will keep you in line with your goals.
- Distract yourself with another activity, ideally away from food or that would make it harder to eat. I crochet to keep my hands busy. Don't want to get the yarn dirty or lose my place. Or get out of the house and go for a walk or go to a room that doesn't have food and chat with a friend or scan MFP discussions.
- Eat or drink something that is low calorie. I sip hot tea or pop in a sugar free mint, or chew sugar free gum.
- Go ahead and eat a small portion of what is tempting you, if you can fit it into your calorie goal. And be sure you really savor it. Mindless eating is not satisfying.

Are there specific times of day or situations where you find yourself facing that temptation? I have found that making plans to avoid the temptation is often more effective than trying to figure out how to resist, but having a game plan for resisting is awesome. We might be able to help you formulate more effective plans if you're more specific.

SuzySunshine99

Distraction is always a good strategy.
Make yourself busy.

mimimunchery

I really struggle with this, especially at night. Something that help me sometimes:

Drinking an herbal tea, maybe with a little honey to get a little sweetness hit

Snàcking on something like raspberries - they are sweet enough to feel like they are a bit of a dessert and take a while to eat

Drinking a flavored bubbly water - like topo Chico or polar orange vanilla

Apple slices with cinnamon

I realize some of these solutions include eating, but it’s not stuffing my face with chocolate or cookies

AnnPT77

Think about why you have that impulse. If the problem isn't fueling or nutrition, the best solution isn't food. Find and address the root cause.

Boredom? How about resuming an old hobby, or starting a new one? Bonus points for hobbies that require clean hands (sketching, needlework, playing a musical instrument, etc.) or create dirty ones (painting, gardening, carpentry, etc.).

Habit of eating at a particular time or in a particular situation? The easiest way to break a habit is usually to form a new replacement habit, rather than trying to quit cold turkey. Think about stretching, drinking a hot tea (herbal if too close to bedtime for caffeine), or one of those distracting hobbies.

Fatigue? Work on improving sleep quality/quantity, or reduce over-exercising if that's part of the picture.

Stress? If you can eliminate or reduce the stress, do that. If you can't get rid of it, consider non-food stress management tactics. I can't say what that is for you, but examples of things others do would include journaling, mild exercise, prayer or meditation, adult coloring books, aromatherapy bubble baths, calming music, and more.

Emotional soothing? Some people report good results from learning to sit with the feelings and explore them, rather than stuffing them down. That can be uncomfortable. I'm not advocating rumination/perseveration, but acceptance of the feelings, or focused, productive analysis and problem-solving about how to deal with the situations that provoked the feelings.

There are lots of options, but it matters why the eating is happening. Successful long term weight management really is a long sequence of opportunities for analysis and problem-solving. The results can be very much worth that effort, in improved quality of life, in my experience.

Best wishes!

tomcustombuilder

Drink a glass of water or a diet soda if you want something sweet

zebasschick

i also struggle with this. i deal with it - for now - by drinking herb teas i really like, sweetened with stevia extract, which has no calories. i eat a lot of calorie-free popsicles made from my favorite 0 calorie sodas and water enhancers. i may eat a fat-free light yogurt - there are some flavors i really enjoy. sugar free juicy gels - 5 calories each, strawberry and the orange ones are good. there's more tasty low to no calorie things.

as to ann's point about why one eats, for me it's a combination of exhaustion - there's not a lot of positive things one can do when you're too tired to stand up, and stress combined with exhaustion. for a while, i stopped my munching, but after some scary things, i'm still dealing with processing my feelings about it.

neanderthin

Well, you could be fatter in the morning, if that's an incentive, then go for it.

cmriverside

Practice.


Ya hafta start saying, "No."

Womona

I make myself a cup of tea, and the craving goes away.

wm3796

That is at times very challenging. These are things that work for me… chewing sugar free gum, water, flavored no calorie seltzer, go for a walk

hounton

Dr. Weil's 478 breathing
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=weil+478+breathing&mid=35EDBD5DCD943DF34AFC35EDBD5DCD943DF34AFC&FORM=VIRE

neanderthin

hounton wrote: »

Dr. Weil's 478 breathing
https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=weil+478+breathing&mid=35EDBD5DCD943DF34AFC35EDBD5DCD943DF34AFC&FORM=VIRE

This is mostly about increased nitric oxide production and it's effects on our overall health and well being, which is well documented and I guess it could relate to this post in a way of reducing inflammation and stimulating white blood cell production and a bunch of other effects. One thing he didn't mention is that humming during these sessions increase nitric oxide production 15-20 times. Twice a day is my particular schedule, once in the morning as soon as I get up and another in the afternoon.

gothchiq

Drink herbal tea or chew sugar-free gum. Also, get busy doing something. It's hard to eat while doing crafts or cleaning.