Food as a crutch: replacing bad habits with good ones

4realrose8

I'm sure I'm not the only person here who has used food as a crutch-- something to turn to when stressed, sad, bored, and even as a reward for hard work.

Knowing that physiology is a complicated matter and that in some instances, processed carbs and junk food have a somewhat addictive aspect when acting on the brain, how are you breaking those bonds and forming a new relationship with food?

Anyone want to share some concrete examples of exchanging a bad habit or pattern of behavior with a good one? Have you identified triggers and changed how you are responding?

How are you dealing with feelings of hunger or cravings?

JanetFaye75

Music!! I have found that I crave carbs most when I am bored or having anxiety about something. I have started playing music in my kitchen during the day. I find myself singing, and dancing (I may look a little goofy, but it works for me ). When I find myself getting hungry, I cut fresh berries, and put them in my bottle of water. I have also found that mint is keeping my cravings to a minimum! I am putting fresh mint leaves in my water with my berries. It is yummy (I am not a big water drinker, and this is helping with that too)! I am getting there.... It is a process, and won't happen over night, but I am staying positive

SunofaBeach14

Exercise. Go for a walk. It works.

I now enjoy running, lifting weights, and a heavy bag, but it all started with walking and an elliptical machine.

Chance535

When I get bored I have started going for walks, biking or jogging for 30 minutes.

scubasuenc

When I feel hunger or a craving, I stop and ask myself am I really hungry or is this a response to something else. If it is not true hunger, then I try to understand the emotion that is driving the craving. If it is boredom, then I seek out something to stop the boredom, maybe take a walk, read a book or do some crafts. If it is some other emotion then I seek out another way to release that emotion.

I also have my day set to have 3 meals and 2 snacks. That way even if I am hungry I can ask myself is it time for a meal/snack? If not, do I really want to eat it now or can I wait 30 minutes? If I can't wait then I eat early.

It is all about being mindful of what you eat and when you eat. I found that I used to eat when I was bored, and I would graze. I was not conscious of the quantity of food I was eating. I could sit down and a large bag of potato chips or microwave popcorn would be gone and I wouldn't really remember eating it. Now I try to make every decision of when and what to eat a conscious one. I don't eat out of the bag, but give myself a serving of something. That makes me have to choose to get up and get another serving.

And of course logging everything. That makes me very aware of what I'm eating and how many calories I have left in the day.

stephanj

MFP! There are times when I was on these boards 10 times a day in the beginning to keep myself motivated.

crt714

i'm with stephanj on this one. i'm on here so much that i'm now hyper-aware of what i'm consuming.

here's another factor that's helping: until recently, i've never really been READY to give a flying flip what i eat. i've just complained that i'm not happy with my health.

as of recently, i'm so doggedly focused, that i'm really not interested in the junk that my husband and son are eating. i know what they're loaded with -- crap my body doesn't need. yes, i had a drop of key lime pie ice cream on my thumb when i bussed up his mess last night. yes, i licked it off, and yes it was insanely delicious.....but no, i honestly wasn't tempted to scoop some out for myself. i would have undone what i had worked all day to accomplish.

sometimes, just the satisfaction of seeing the numbers on this website is motivation enough.

(of course, it's only been 2 weeks, and my wardrobe is still a bit shrunken......but i'm on my way, right? right??)

Peyten_Kendall02

Good for you!

Suzibluski

Yes I agree come on this site as often as possible. If you have a craving come here and go to the community and find something related to you. Before you know if the craving is gone and you have some new information. this site is wonderful for support and information. add me as a friend if you wish I will support you. I am an emotional eater and doing this and it's working awesome!!!

beaches61

One of my worst habits was coming home from work hungry and snacking a lot before dinner, mindlessly. I know this is my trouble time so I have to plan ahead for it. I have packaged nuts and protein bars at work and sometimes I eat one before I leave work so I am not hungry when I come home. Or I come home and eat one of my predetermined "acceptable" snacks, nuts, fruit, yogurt, protein bar, and then I force myself to wait 30-45 minutes for the snack to fill me. At that point, I'm usually satisfied enough not to eat more.

I also have to realize whether I'm really hungry or I'm just bored and feel like snacking.

Another bad habit was eating a lot of things that people bring to work to share -- cookies, cakes, candy, donuts, cupcakes, cake, whatever. That eating was never planned, and it was almost like I felt like if I was eating at work the calories did not count. Now I keep some snacks at work and eat them when I feel hungry. I very rarely have eaten any of the food people bring in, but if I do I stop and ask myself, "Do I really want to eat this?" first. Usually, the answer is no, so I don't eat it, but if I really want to eat it, I do. I have cut way back on snacking on the food people bring in to work in this way.

4realrose8

Thank you everyone! These are all great ideas and habits to incorporate into my new lifestyle.

Another one for me, personally, is that I tend to be a night owl. It's the time when the kids are in bed and I finally have some time to myself (I homeschool so they are here 24/7). Staying up later, I tend to snack a lot more. If I went to bed earlier, I'd solve two problems: 1) I cannot eat while sleeping and 2) I'd be able to set the alarm to get in an early workout.

Anyone try melatonin to re-set your biological circadian rhythms? Just curious.

meshashesha2012

stress : find more constructive ways to deal with your issues. make a plan on on how to extricate yourself from the situation or solve the problem and start working on it. if you can't then learn how to accept things that you can't change and look for ways to turn it into a positive.

boredom : get some hobbies and dont have food in your house that's easy to mindlessly eat.

i know for me my biggest bad habit that contributed to weight gain and makes my weight loss slower is too much eating out. the main issue is that i'm lazy at times and instead of going grocery shopping on the weekend and planning meals and making meals for the week, it's easier to just order take out or go to a restaurant. one of the things i'm thinking about doing is ripping up my check card so i cant easily use it for offline purchases and only keeping a limited amount of cash on me.

nancybuss

Great info already.

Sleep is also a habit.
Melatonin helps many. We have to give it to my son who often can't 'calm down' at night. I hate when we have to, but his sleep is important.

I've taken it also.... wanted to try it before giving it to my child. It worked great!

Some people get bad dreams. Sometimes that is increased with a higher dosage. I say start with a low dose and give it a try.

I work out in the AM. I'm a natural night owl too but it was the only way to make it work.

You can do it! You have to be organized to home school! So I bet you can set a schedule to make your changes... food included!!!

Sunbrooke

My dad was into body building. He would cook whole turkeys and freeze the meat in baggies. He also always had baked little red potatoes. I wasn't allowed to use salt, but I could use mrs dash. So when I was young, I could go fix myself food with the turkey and little baked potatoes. It wasn't rationed and I didn't have to ask permission. It made me feel really empowered and I still like basic foods like that.

I slowly got my family used to plain non fat yogurt. First, I bought 2% and let them choose their own jam to mix in and we also had granola for a topping, then I switched to non fat plain with the jams, and now they like non fat with just some fruit and they will use it in place of sour cream. I also got them used to sweet potatoes with non fat yogurt, in place of potatoes. They actually prefer sweet potatoes now. I can't speak for everyone, but I can actually taste the natural flavor in food better now that I don't eat much sodium or refined sugar. I think the same thing happened with my family.

My advice for someone looking to eat healthier as a lifestyle change would be to cut out trans fats, refined sugar, and MSG as much as possible, focus on high fiber and low sodium ( things will start to fall in place with this), and to incorporate at least one serving of leafy greens a day, and one pot of beans per week. Then focus on adding more of any fruit, veggie, whole grain, or spice that you already like. Look up more ways to use things that work for you.

cateyedkp

Everyone has already provided great strategies- one other one I found helpful in the beginning was to pre-portion any food I had in the house that could be potentially triggering for me. I made vegan ice cream as my treat, but would portion it into 200ish calorie containers. So even if I "over ate" and had a second one, I had consciously limited my "binge" to only 400 or so calories. Same thing with dark chocolate chips, I put 80 calorie portions in the cupboard to help limit my intake.

Identifying your likeliest times to binge helps too. For me, it's after dinner when I'm bored. I have learned that if I exercise before dinner, and eat later, I am less likely to binge. Sitting on the couch for hours after dinner is a surefire trigger for me. Good luck! It's all a process, just stick with it even if you mess up, and you're sure to succeed. Time is your friend, so just keep trucking

1pandabear

A lot of good tips here! Thanks for that. Also thanks for setting up the topic. It really helped.