What is your demon?

auntjenny74

Just out of curiosity, how did you gain your weight? I am a boredom/emotional eater and mindless snacker. I think my biggest challenge has been to eat more mindfully and both to notice and enjoy every bite that passes my lips.

Are you a boredom eater? A binge eater? Is your struggle with portion sizes? I would love to hear about others' journeys - what habits brought you here and how you fight those specific demons.

Cheers,

Jenny

RozeGod

I quit smoking and gained about 15 pounds over the winter....ick!

Grimmerick

not paying attention to portion sizes and eating way too much at night, plus not exercising, I had a few demons

thetrishwarp

Bad portion sizes and generally unhealthy eating habits - ie fast food lunch at the mall, or 2 timmies donuts for breakfast. and just not realizing how bad it was for me!

yanicka

I got preggo again, and again, and again, and again and again again

LikeNoOneElse84

I was an emotional eater. I would literally sit and eat a whole sleeve of oreo's or a whole box of Drumstick ice cream cones. It was awful. I'm still somewhat battling that but its nowhere near as bad.

SweetStrawberry

Binge eater right here! ---usually at night time

rileymama

SODA.....and just a love for fast food, candy, and junk... Exercise doesn't do much when your feeding yourself bad food

Seanb_us

I like food and beer and didn't exercise much. That's pretty much it.

GorillaNJ

Booze and junk food... pizza, Chinese and BBQ. Then add in lazyness and it was perfect storm of fat production! Forgot to meniton donuts I still walk past the coffee cart and the guy says hello to me waiting to sell me a pink frosted donut. lol

Now I still enjoy some drinks, and BBQ but make sure I work at the gym before indulging.

jmruef

Cappucino from the gas station...beer...cocktails...lots of fried food and no exercise. And a lot of denial about how I looked. Every time I bought a bigger pants size I'd tell myself "Oh, it's *only* one more size up."

m2purple

I read constantly, and always seemed to need a snack when I was reading... That and I never paid attention to portion sizes... I always thought one pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream was the portion size! :laugh:

jend114

my emotions for sure

GorillaNJ

oops

OPQ37

I was at a healthy weight for a while but gained 20 lbs after a car accident put me out of commission for a few months, followed immediately by pregnany. Those were easy to get over

I'm still battling the demons from the first time I lost the weight...binge eating, trigger foods, etc.
My binge trigger is definitely lonliness. I fill the time with LOTS of food. And not carrot sticks either.

I've gotten better with being able to eat a reasonable portion of chips or ice cream, but peanut butter and breakfast cereal still send me into a tailspin.

I think there's also some kind of mental thing with "punishing" myself for food. I don't know exactly how to describe it

LittleMissAlx

Started going out with my boyfriend, and it was easier to order pizza multiple nights a week and snuggle on the sofa, that it was to cook ourselves. God knows why, not as if it is particularly difficult now when we're eating entirely different things. Sighs. Though not like that was entirely to blame. Led a life entirely without exercising, and I've never been a fan of fruit and veg. Combination of factors I guess.

byroman

That bag of chips that my wife and kids like to leave open on the counter when I get home from work.

TheMaidOfAstolat

Pregnancy....Lol. I had my daughter at 18 and while I didn't put on much weight...what I did put on has stayed right on my stomach. I still can't get rid of it...need a darn tummy tuck.

treasurep

CARBS are my weakness..I could eat 1 egg with 4 pieces of texas toast..then carbs for lunch and carbs for dinner. I can give up soda, chips, chocolate and beer...just please don't take away my breads and pasta's.

TaneeisFitforLife

I was a closet emotional binge eater. It was a very hard thing to stop & even now I have to mentally shake myself out of it.

I also over ate in the same typical American way.

morganhccstudent724

Blame it on the a-a-a-a-alcohol....

Fochizzy

ALCOHOL, I gained the weight after I turned 21 and started going out a ton...

cornerofgreystreet

I basically ate and drank whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.

LorinaLynn

Depression, denial, laziness and bad eating habits.

jiggs31

Demon... as in one??? Nope - I think I have a few.

Main problem - I eat when I'm bored. I get bored easily, even at work. I eat or shop. Now I find something else to do instead.

I also eat as a treat after a bad day at work. In the past I would also binge in secret on the way home from work....

These in themselves are bad enough but were kinda manageable.

Combined with no exercise and the better half (the chef of the household) working away for a year, that was the killer.
Nobody to say 'why are you eating a whole box of cakes instead of a healthy dinner?' and nobody to see how many takeaways I was eating or how many McDonalds snack meals I was picking up at the train station before my journey home.

No MFP to show just how many calories I was consuming so after this constant cycle over the space of a year I had put on over 28lbs. Tried to make myself feel better by buying a whole new wardrobe full of size 14 clothes. When they also started getting tight I knew I couldn't go on like that.

So now I spin and eat better and move more and it is coming off and I'm much happier and LESS BORED!!!!
Long may it continue!!

PeachyKeene

I am for sure an emotional eater!

tonilizzy88

not paying attention to portion sizes and eating way too much at night, plus not exercising, I had a few demons

these were alos mine. but since joining mfp i go to the gym 6 times a week,weigh everything andsnack on apples, yog and merangue nests

hafrench

I gained my weight through a combination of lack of excercise due to work shcedules( was working different hours all the time, couldn't play organized sports the way i used to. I also am not very good with portion size when it comes to pasta and carbs.

when i was younger and excercising all the time(organized sports, like soccer, basketball, rugby) i could eat whatever i wanted, unfortunately the activity slowed or even stopped and i continued to eat the same way.

I also eat emotionally and if i am bored. Chocolate really does make it seem like everything will be better after you eat it!!lol

I try to eat healthy things now when i am bored or feeling down, veggies/fruit. Haven't completely curbed that problem yet.

Low-fat coolwhip is my friend although not terribly good for me, makes that piece of fruit seem so much better!

BerryH

Laziness. I tend to "phone in" my exercise, as Jillian would say, when I know I'm capable of pushing myself much harder.

And an all-too-regular cheeky Cabernet Sauvignon.

ajbeans

My struggle is just with eating the right things and eating a variety of foods. I fell into a rut where I didn't feel like putting forth any energy to think about what I would eat, and I certainly didn't want to expend any energy to prepare it, so I ate toast for breakfast, toast for snacks. pasta or toast for lunch, and then a reasonably healthy dinner (because then I was preparing it for the whole family). My diet was really carb-heavy and low on nutrition, so I would eat more of it in an attempt to get more energy and feel better. Bam, 30 lbs in one year. Blech. I think I'll have to track my food even when I reach goal, because when I'm not logging I still end up reaching for the carbs and not getting enough protein or anything else.

Dtrmnd86

I'm an emotional eater and boredom eater. I also hate wasting food, so anything my sons didn't finish, I ate. And beer. My fiance and I would go through a 30 pack in a night, twice a week. We cut back on that big time... I'm losing weight and we're saving money.