Cannot stop eating

Lalaine1

Hi everyone,
I'm new here and don't have a lot to lose, but my biggest issue is the fact that I basically can't stop eating. I eat mostly healthy foods so I haven't gotten too heavy, but it's still a big issue. I go into the kitchen to get some water, and end up eating for half an hour. I mean to eat a small snack, and I just keep grazing. I eat until I'm beyond full, and I eat when I'm not even hungry. I can't seem to control it and I'm at a loss for what to do. It's not as easy as just stopping, trust me, I've been trying. Sometimes I even get a sense of panic when I try to tell myself not to. I hope I'm not alone in this... it's not a matter of hunger, even. I'm just frustrated and upset with myself and really don't know how to get this under control. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks so much.

alexandra0690

you just now ate alot. didnt you? lol sorry idk what to tell you other than...have some willpower. you ARE in CONTROL of your eating habits. GL

Lalaine1

I may be in control, but this is something that feels entirely out of my control. It wouldn't be an issue otherwise. Does anyone else have helpful advice, or am I the only one that struggles with this?

onyxgirl17

Must be tough. I find it best to keep my mind on other things besides eating. I try to make it something constructive. I have a slightly addictive personality so I find something else to obsess about, lol probably not the best way to deal with it but it works.

peeshy00

I don't have any answers, but EVERYTHING you said is how I feel/act also. I think I need an appetite suppressant to get me going . Thanks for writing.

cmayoung

I know its not easy for a lot of people to control their eating. If you really feel like you can not control it, then you need to seek out a professional who can help you. There could be some underlying issues that go beyond snacking too much. Do you think this is a possibility?

MoreBean13

Do you log everything- like every bite that crosses your mouth? I have found that just the act of logging forces you in to accountability for your choices. Looks like you just started here, so I think if you just honestly give it some time and log all of those munchies, you'll get some control over it.

FlutterShy13

You're not the only one who suffers! Warm water is actually really awesome for sedating hunger, while cold is good for thirst. Keep some warm water close, maybe even away from the kitchen.

Also, finding something else to do other than eat can help. It might take a few days, maybe a week or so to get used to it, but put something new in a routine. Running, pushups, situps. Painting, singing, dancing! Somethign that doesn't associate with the kitchen whatsoever!

Also, I know this is hard, practice on eating. When you are full, push the plate away. This is really hard for me to learn. For me, between every few bites, I took a sip of water and asked myself if I was still hungry. It just takes practice and a little bit of willpower.

Lalaine1

I'm the same way. I used to be a severe hypochondriac, and that obsession has apparently been replaced with a complete fixation on food. It's awful, and I honestly don't know which is worse.

Helloitsdan

I cant stop eating on lift days....so IMO lift heavy weights every day and eat all you want.

Lalaine1

You're not the only one who suffers! Warm water is actually really awesome for sedating hunger, while cold is good for thirst. Keep some warm water close, maybe even away from the kitchen.

Also, finding something else to do other than eat can help. It might take a few days, maybe a week or so to get used to it, but put something new in a routine. Running, pushups, situps. Painting, singing, dancing! Somethign that doesn't associate with the kitchen whatsoever!

Also, I know this is hard, practice on eating. When you are full, push the plate away. This is really hard for me to learn. For me, between every few bites, I took a sip of water and asked myself if I was still hungry. It just takes practice and a little bit of willpower.

That's great advice, at this point it's a matter of if I'm able to put it into practice. I'm working extremely hard to be more mindful, but it's so much easier said than done.

jaharrison763

Are you eating enough during the day? I find that if I restrict myself too much before dinner, it's really hard to stay out of the kitchen at night. But if I've eaten most of my calories by 7 pm, I feel more satisfied.

FlutterShy13

I know it's hard. The best advice I can give you is this;

You are going to have binge days, okay? There is going to be that day when you can't stop eating. If anything, just space out the time between each binge day. If you go three days until your next binge? Get back up, dust yourself off and aim for four or five days until your next binge. Tiny goals, because large ones, like going a week without binging might be a huge stretch!

It gets easier It took me two weeks to finally understand it, but it honestly gets so much easier.

Natashaa1991

story of my life.

DopeItUp

I am more or less the same way. If I have a couple of chips, I'll just keep eating them until the bag is gone.

A couple of suggestions that I have had great success with.

Don't snack. Easy enough, if you're not snacking you can't overeat. Eat sufficient enough meals that you don't get hungry between them. Takes a bit of trial and error.

If you must snack, plan it ahead of time. Set aside a pre-determined amount of food. Maybe it's a protein bar. That's easy to do, it's just one bar. If it's something that comes in a big bag, divy it up. Put 1 serving of chips in a zip-lock and leave the main bag in the kitchen while you eat your snack. Buy those 100 calories packs of stuff if you want too, even more convenient (but more expensive).

I divy up anything I snack on and I even log it in MFP before I eat it (sometimes hours ahead of time). I know that I am to eat 22 pop chips and a protein bar for my snack, for example. It's divided up in a bag already. I eat it until it's gone and move on.

So basically, it's a workaround. Either avoid snacking completely, or avoid putting yourself in front of a large bag/box of food that you can just mindless chomp on.

I used to eat until I was uncomfortably full at every meal. It was just mindless and I realized it wasn't even pleasant anymore. If you really have the desire, just chug a bottle of water. Or three. You'll be uncomfortably full really fast without any real detriment.

jerbear1962

I know what you mean, I've been there and still battle at times. I had a doctor recently put me on a very restrictive diet in the sense that I can have no starches. I'm thinking he's crazy...I eat a LOT of starches...he said to me, "That's what made you fat!" Wow just hearing that from him and knowing he is right made me stop eating starches that day. It's only been 5 weeks of this with almost 35 years of diets, over eating yo-yo up and down, strange diets. I've been there, I cook for a living so grazing is something we do all day long. I walk into the kitchen for a glass of water then have way to much other things yelling my name. I now keep water with me a large glass so I don't have to go back to the kitchen as often. I have fresh fruit, sugar-free jellos made and yogurts to keep my appetite down. Take baby steps take that half hour of eating and cut it in half...after 15 minutes leave the kitchen. Then cut that 15 down to 7.5 then to 3.5 and down to only getting that glass of water. You can't do it in one day but you can do it. Good luck and keep an eye on that time. Jer

MB_Positif

You're not the only one who struggles with this. I am a bit of a grazer myself, but I do two things to combat this. One, I eat small meals so that I have plenty of calories left for snacks. Two, I get my single serving of my snack and get the heck out of the kitchen. Hope that helps you a little!

ornski

Hi Lalaine,

You are definitely not alone in this. A lot of us are over eaters or grazers... It’s good that you are choosing healthy foods, but yes in time that this can cause weight gain. Usually when someone over eats like this it’s because of other issues going on. So first, don’t beat yourself up. It’s a process of Identifying why you are eating like this. Are you stressing out? Feeling out of control in your life or overwhelmed, Depressed, Board? Feeling aggression or anger, fear, all of these things can cause this type of eating and to stop over eating you need to identify what its caused from and work on those areas in your life. Finding other means to deal with underlying issues.
If you are not an emotional eater, then could be from Dehydration, Do you drink much water? Or if you are only eating say veggies and no fat based foods or enough protein, It could be that you are just not getting satisfied.

Hope this helps

JuneBPrice

You can't eat it if it's not in the house. Focusing on your shopping would help--make sure you only have fit-friendly food in the house. Also, plan out your day. This helped me a TON. Good luck

Lalaine1

Are you eating enough during the day? I find that if I restrict myself too much before dinner, it's really hard to stay out of the kitchen at night. But if I've eaten most of my calories by 7 pm, I feel more satisfied.

Eating enough definitely isn't the issue. I generally hit 1500 calories before dinner, I never go more than two or three hours without eating (regardless of if I'm hungry).

SPNLuver83

I think you need to eat more satisfying foods. Do you ever indulge or is it always healthy, all the time? Maybe if you let loose a little you won't be always trying to fill a need? I dunno could just be that mental part.

super_jade

I read some where (might not work no one spasm over it!!) But some people are afraid of getting hungry.
So you don't eat at all that day till like 6pm say. You will get hungry in that day. But you will also notice that it goes away after a little bit and you forget you were hungry. And hopefully walk away from it not as frightened of going with out food, obviously if your diabetic or what ever thats not an option but you could try it?
I also find that if im hankering for a snack i dont need i will drink a full glass of water and go away and do something else if in 10 minutes i can honestly say i am hungry then i will eat it. Majority of the time i forget i was hungry in the first place and can wait till lunch or dinner or what ever is next.
Hope that helps.

Shelgirl001

One thing that may help you really think about what you eat and why and when you eat might be to journal your thoughts each time you go to the kitchen for food or a drink. It might help you clarify a trigger for your eating binges. It can put you in touch with yourself better. You could also do the same thing after you eat too much.

xachooo

I think there might be something to the drinking enough water---you could make tea and drink that? It has a ritual component, gives you something to do and might give you something else to think about other than food. And I don't have candy at home, or chips, or a lot of other junk. If i am willing to go to the store for it, then i must have ACTUALLY wanted it rather than just being bored!! (but hey, who am I to talk. I also still seem to be eating too much in spite of this...)

Lalaine1

Hi Lalaine,

You are definitely not alone in this. A lot of us are over eaters or grazers... It’s good that you are choosing healthy foods, but yes in time that this can cause weight gain. Usually when someone over eats like this it’s because of other issues going on. So first, don’t beat yourself up. It’s a process of Identifying why you are eating like this. Are you stressing out? Feeling out of control in your life or overwhelmed, Depressed, Board? Feeling aggression or anger, fear, all of these things can cause this type of eating and to stop over eating you need to identify what its caused from and work on those areas in your life. Finding other means to deal with underlying issues.
If you are not an emotional eater, then could be from Dehydration, Do you drink much water? Or if you are only eating say veggies and no fat based foods or enough protein, It could be that you are just not getting satisfied.

Hope this helps

I do drink a lot of water, so I don't think that is the problem. I think you're dead on with the boredom eating though, I eat because it's there, and because I don't have anything else to do or would rather eat than do whatever it is I have to do. I really don't eat much fat. I didn't even consider that would be an issue! Thanks so much for the advice. Tomorrow is a new day, all of your encouraging words honestly mean the world to me. For the first time I'm actually thinking I may be able to beat this.

Pebble321

It's not easy, I know!

You might like the book "Eating Less" by Gillian Riley.
She talks about addictive eating behaviour and some very practical strategies to recognise and control it. Interestingly, she doesn't recommend that you try to lose weight, but thinks that if you get eating under control, that will happen naturally. I found it a really useful read.

Lalaine1

It's not easy, I know!

You might like the book "Eating Less" by Gillian Riley.
She talks about addictive eating behaviour and some very practical strategies to recognise and control it. Interestingly, she doesn't recommend that you try to lose weight, but thinks that if you get eating under control, that will happen naturally. I found it a really useful read.

That sounds like exactly what I need! I will definitely look into it. I'm really interesting in modifying not only the behavior, but the reasoning behind it.

crafty_65

Do you think you might be missing something in your diet? I use to feel the same way and I haven't had that feeling in a while. Hunger is your brain's way of telling you I need you to give me something I need. It doesn't always have to be a lot, it just has to be the right thing. That is my experience anyway.

Mom22C2001

I have noticed that since i started with the application 2 weeks ago i watch what i eat ALOT more. Just having to log everything i eat is a good reminder of how many calories i am taking in. I log the food before i eat it. It gives me more of a sense of "control".

Pebble321

It's not easy, I know!

You might like the book "Eating Less" by Gillian Riley.
She talks about addictive eating behaviour and some very practical strategies to recognise and control it. Interestingly, she doesn't recommend that you try to lose weight, but thinks that if you get eating under control, that will happen naturally. I found it a really useful read.

That sounds like exactly what I need! I will definitely look into it. I'm really interesting in modifying not only the behavior, but the reasoning behind it.

Yup, it was really helpful for me. I bought it as an ebook on my iPhone Kindle app - the best $10 (or so) I've spend in ages!

Robin_Bin

Others have suggested some good things... look into addictive eating, make sure you're getting enough water, check whether you're missing other nutritional needs, and in the meanwhile until you get it under control, eat things that are not calorie dense.

I'm not an expert, but I collected some information about cravings in a blog entry -- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Robin_Bin/view/cravings-282817 See if any of those ideas look like they might help. For instance, if your body is not getting enough protein, it can cause that desire to browse until the need is met.

Oh, and one more thing... until you understand the cause and can get it under control, use delays... try to distract yourself and take a few more minutes before each time you graze.

Good luck!