im really struggling to eat healthy

venetianz

It gets worse in the evenings, i just binge so much.

misswager

There are a few tips that might help,

1. Dont buy the 'bad' food in the first place, if its not in the house, you cant eat it
2. Keep healthy, low calorie, low sugar snacks on hand, eg. celery
3. Drink a glass of water, you might be dehydrated which can be confused with hunger
4. Take up an evening workout session
5. Read a book
6. Set a time limit on eating eg. no food after 8pm lol like the gremlins!
7. Do anything to keep you busy
8. Go to bed early, even at 8 pm
Hope some of these help?

wiggywompus

had the same problem. Drinking more water (always having a glass of water by me) and adding a bit more excercise. In my fridge I have a piece of lard so when open fridge first thing I see is this and it reminds me and my cupboard has picture of how much weight I want to loose in lard. Pretty yukky but it is working.

marycmeadows

There are a few tips that might help,

1. Dont buy the 'bad' food in the first place, if its not in the house, you cant eat it
2. Keep healthy, low calorie, low sugar snacks on hand, eg. celery
3. Drink a glass of water, you might be dehydrated which can be confused with hunger
4. Take up an evening workout session
5. Read a book
6. Set a time limit on eating eg. no food after 8pm lol like the gremlins!
7. Do anything to keep you busy
8. Go to bed early, even at 8 pm
Hope some of these help?

These are all great ideas..... I buy all the groceries in the house..... My boyfriend goes shopping with me sometimes, but I control everything that comes into the house for the most part.... This way I ensure that there's only healthy stuff in the house. I buy snack-y stuff because he likes it but I make smart choices so there's nothing really bad in the pantry or fridge. I always keep tons of fresh veggies, salsa, hummus, protein powder, almonds, natural peanut butter - all my go-to's for healthy snacking. Also, 2-3 hours after dinner - usually around 8pm - I have a high protein sweet snack. Typically it's something like this - chocolate protein powder, pb2 powdered peanut butter or natural peanut butter (depending on how much I need to eat that day based on exercise) and cocoa powder -- mix it all up with a little water - freeze for 20-30 minutes -- Delish!! This helps you not get ravenous at night - and makes you less ravenous in the morning.

Eating a high fiber, high protein 'diet' helps you feel full longer too.

Helloitsdan

You probably dont eat enough and so your body is saying "Hey!!!! WTF DUDE!?!?!?"

So my question is how much are you allowing yourself to eat?

How tall are you?
How much do you weigh?
What kinds of workouts are you doing per week?
Are you bottoming out your hormones by eating too low and thus getting a ghrelin response thats forcing you to add nourishment?

CyberEd312

Until your able (mentally strong enough to resist) the best advice I can give is rid your house of those trigger foods, replace them with lower calorie healthy choice like apples, grapes, individual low cal snack packs... Until such a time that you have the control to have a box of cookie in the cupboard and still turn to the apple because you know its the better option... And drink lots of water, it will help some..... Best of Luck....

cramernh

Im going to add this where I didnt see it mentioned:

You need to be better at meal planning throughout the day if you are truly consuming the true healthy foods and staying well hydrated.

If you skimp on your breakfast and lunch, you are setting yourself up for the "need-to-feed" feeling for dinner... the body probably digests dinner within record time and then the hunger bells ring and say "DAMNIT IM STAHHHHHHHHVING"..

Plan your meals better, strategically...

TTHdred

I agree with most of the advice you have been given so far, esp keeping only clean items in the house, adding a afternoon workout session and making sure you are eating enough cals per day.

I just wanted to add, that it is ok you are struggling. It's hard, that's why most of us are on here. You are supposed to struggle until you get good at it. So try not to beat yourself up and refocus on your goals and remind yourself of the potential reward.

best of luck

Helloitsdan

Im going to add this where I didnt see it mentioned:

You need to be better at meal planning throughout the day if you are truly consuming the true healthy foods and staying well hydrated.

If you skimp on your breakfast and lunch, you are setting yourself up for the "need-to-feed" feeling for dinner... the body probably digests dinner within record time and then the hunger bells ring and say "DAMNIT IM STAHHHHHHHHVING"..

Plan your meals better, strategically...

I dont know.
Maybe skipping breakfast for a while would retrain ghrelin to peak its head at dinner as opposed to before bed.
Read up on Intermittent fasting before spouting on about "Eating proper breakfast".
Studies are showing that some people actually overeat due to breakfast.


A good article for you on what i'm talking about.
http://www.leangains.com/2012/06/why-does-breakfast-make-me-hungry.html


If you are cutting calories and eating enough nutrients, maybe moving the eating window till later would help because you can have bigger meals.

I'm guessing that OP has a terrible macro breakdown and probably eats enough protein to make a mouse happy but not herself.

jsidel126

Doesn't everyone struggle to eat healthy?

Sometimes I find I get into a habit of eating when I do certain activities. I find that if I am eating for emotional reasons as opposed to I need food to survive. I can break this habit and save some mindless calories for other times in the day.

Sometimes I eat more than I should when I go to a ball game. If I plan for what I am going to eat and choose to stop eating at a certain time then I do not worry about food issues. If I stopt eating at a certain time, I am more likely to want breakfast in the morning. My breakfast foods are healthier than my mindless eating at night. Just a thought...

10kaday

Having high cholesterol and not wanting diabetes was the biggest motivation for me not to eat bad food. And actually, once you get in the swing of things, eating healthy will come natural to you. For instance, I no longer eat ice cream -- because it's so high in saturated fat (one of the worst) and that's really bad for your cholesterol. So instead I freeze a banana, then put it in a blender, put a scoop of protein powder in there, some unsweetened soy milk -- and presto you have what looks, feels, and tastes just like a real milk shake. Also, I now eat nuts and fruit for a snake instead of potato chips. Your taste buds will also get used to unsweetened tea and black coffee. I crave ALL these things now instead of the ding dongs, hohos and doritos. If I can help you in any way let me know... I"m here for ya!

cramernh

Im going to add this where I didnt see it mentioned:

You need to be better at meal planning throughout the day if you are truly consuming the true healthy foods and staying well hydrated.

If you skimp on your breakfast and lunch, you are setting yourself up for the "need-to-feed" feeling for dinner... the body probably digests dinner within record time and then the hunger bells ring and say "DAMNIT IM STAHHHHHHHHVING"..

Plan your meals better, strategically...

I dont know.
Maybe skipping breakfast for a while would retrain ghrelin to peak its head at dinner as opposed to before bed.
Read up on Intermittent fasting before spouting on about "Eating proper breakfast".
Studies are showing that some people actually overeat due to breakfast.


A good article for you on what i'm talking about.
http://www.leangains.com/2012/06/why-does-breakfast-make-me-hungry.html


If you are cutting calories and eating enough nutrients, maybe moving the eating window till later would help because you can have bigger meals.

I'm guessing that OP has a terrible macro breakdown and probably eats enough protein to make a mouse happy but not herself.

Without knowing her medically, that is why I suggested be better with meal planning. She might be someone who requires more caloric-monitoring..

That is where I am coming from, Dan

meljn82

Until recently i had the same problem. My over eating was due to extreme stress and depression. All I wanted to do was eat high carb foods and lots of it. I felt like i had no control over what went in my mouth. It was just about emotional survival. It might be hard for people who have not suffered from depression or emotional disorders to understand but it's not fun. I ended up putting on about 30 kilos in the last year and a half which made the depression harder to deal with! Recently my doctor put me on Pristiq (anti depressent) and I am working with a therapist to find other ways to handle stressful situations. It's been three weeks so far and it's become so much easier.

Its not always about the food. Sometimes it's about the head. Next time you feel like you want to eat everything in sight I suggest you stop and work out how you are feeling and see if that is what is making you want to over eat. I think losing weight is more about getting the mental state right first before anything else. Because I guarantee you already know exactly what is healthy and what you should be doing exercise wise. By the way I am not suggesting you go on anti depressants you are the only one who knows what you need. I'm just saying pay more attention to your emotions for example if you come home from work upset find things that comfort you other than food. And don't beat yourself up to much, your only human.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

10kaday

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/heart-healthy-food-10/slideshow-fat-foods-fit-foods?ecd=wnl_chl_073112&ctr=wnl-chl-073112_ld-stry -- 9 easy swap foods -- a slide show worth watching!

kwin91

There are a few tips that might help,

1. Dont buy the 'bad' food in the first place, if its not in the house, you cant eat it
2. Keep healthy, low calorie, low sugar snacks on hand, eg. celery
3. Drink a glass of water, you might be dehydrated which can be confused with hunger
4. Take up an evening workout session
5. Read a book
6. Set a time limit on eating eg. no food after 8pm lol like the gremlins!
7. Do anything to keep you busy
8. Go to bed early, even at 8 pm
Hope some of these help?

^^ This right here!
And I'm not sure if you're just starting out or not, but once you get these habits in check you forget about them. Just get a schedule of how you eat, and try to stick to it and then you're less likely to eat at other times.

venetianz

Thanks everyone for responding. I am almost 100% sure i know why i eat so much and cant control it. It is more emotional eating than anything else. Im a recovering smoker and after 8 months i still crave a cigarette and i find myself rushing for rusks and coffee or chesse puffs when i get a craving. I was also diagnosed with bipolar and i stopped taking my meds because of personal reasons, and i realised that as long as i havent been on meds i have gained 7kg.

So i think i will take your advice and also look into a few things that really needs to be fixed.