how do you deal with picking at foods

chantell7

Hi just wanting some help with how to cut out my picking. My
General diet is pretty good and I know my picking lets it Down so its going to b this weeks mission to stop it. So if anyone has this problem or has had it, suggestions on what you'v done to curb it would b awsome ;-) thanks heaps

skinimin

will power. or chewing gum. actually chewing gum is a really good one, and diet coke or coke zero. they both give taste/something to do with your mouth minus the calories. chew gum or drink coke while you're cooking or something. i'm pretty bad with picking too, i just pretend it doesn't count haha.

Elleinnz

For me it is easy as I live on my own - and dont have kids around....
I only cook one portion meals - so there is never "seconds" or left overs......
If I occasionally cook more portions I pack and freeze the rest immediately before I even start eating.
The other night I threw a nearly full pack of chocolate bikkies down the rubish shute when I kept going for "just one more"

Obviously you have more challenges as you need to have foods around for the family, but I would still say try and cook just enough.

icemaiden17_uk

Picking isnt bad. Its a natural thing to do. Please dont drink coke as it is full of aspateme and will slowly pickle you from the inside!! If you feel the need to pick eat some fruit. It will provide you with vital vitamins and curb your hunger without making you feel like you are making yourself suffer!!

shelly650

I thought it was just me who picked at food! I never did this before, because if I wanted something I would just eat it out of a face!! I dont know the solution, i still do it!! And the worst part is, if I take a tiny piece of something i just tell myself it "doesn't count" and I end up not logging it in!! This is fine but when I pick at food, I dont stop sometimes and by the time im finished, I have eaten more that I would have if I had just taken a full piece/slice!!

aimeelouwhite

Maybe you are picking because you are hungry??? I find having porridge oats in the morning fills me up completely :-) Maybe you don't need to combat the picking ... maybe you just need to prepare yourself some healthy picking snacks like carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber rounds, cherry tomatoes, grapes ???

MrsBlobs

I resist - pure and simple. I do have kids and one of my problems years ago was hoovering up their left-overs. I was at my highest weight in-between child number two and three and knew I had to address it so joined a slimming club. The first time I was stood there cutting the crust off of the kids pizzas I, quite literally, shook with the effort of throwing them in the compost and not eating them. I was shaking all over, my breathing was faster (gosh, this is a real admission for me), every cell in me was telling me to eat those crusts. The effort of throwing them was enormous, but I did it. I then phoned my husband and told him! I was so pleased I managed to do it and also a bit surprised at the strength of my reaction. He made me laugh about it which really helped.

I now always compost their left-overs with little or no effort. I don't pick anymore at all. I think it's just about forming habits. Although I'm back again after child number three I still managed not to go up to the weight I was and I beleive the habits I formed prior to this helped in me not gaining back ALL the weight.

That habit of resisting has helped me a lot, I've got cookies and brownies and stuff all over my kitchen and I never am tempted. I just don't see them. My issue this time was portion size and types of food, which - so far - I seem to be tackling o.k. I also weigh as I cook, which ensures I tend not to have left overs.

6heatherb6

Chewing gum

tmarie2715

I read somewhere that sampling while you are cooking adds an extra 100 cals, so it is def substancial enough to be logged and concerned about stopping.

Knowledge is power, so now that you know you are adding on around 100 cals every time you do it and you want to stop-- stop! Or find someone else to taste for you, just quickly wrap up and refrigerate leftovers... I put food away as soon as everyone has taken their share / what they want. It seems dumb, but it has helped me from going back for unnecessary seconds and picking at the dish.

roberts1013

As a mother of 3 i totally get the urge to pick, what works best for me is just keeping everything out of sight. ALL the food is put away in closed a closed cabinet and i even put a lock on my fridge. just the extra effort to unlock the child lock makes me think about what it is im actually doing in the fridge. and drinking a LOT more water makes me feel less munchie. good luck its a HARD habbit to break but you will get it

lmelangley

Try brushing your teeth or popping a strong mint into your mouth. Makes foods we pick on taste nasty.

Also, you can try keeping some healthy food around to pick at - grapes, baby carrots. Just log the calories before you eat them and set the portions out in areas where you pick.

Lastly, I try to buy foods my kids and husband like but I don't really care for. That way, I think before I pick.

carebear7951

I was actually going to post just now and ask how to count the calories of what you "pick". LOL I have been doing better but like right now I wanted a couple of bites of leftovers from our dinner out last night (before we got called home for a sick baby). I don't want to eat it all-even for my lunch as it's a pretty high calorie/fat meal....just wanted a taste and it satisfied me...but I have no idea how to add it in...
As for not picking, one trick I do is to make a hard and fast rule not to eat ANYTHING off my kids' plates. Even if it means throwing their whole meal away and making my own plate...b/c it's a mindset for me. And I make them take their own plates to the trash can and dump it...that way it's not even an option for me!
Oh, and try not to walk through/to the kitchen anymore than you have to. I find that every time I walk through the kitchen my impulse is to open the pantry or fridge!? What's up with that?? Good luck!