Can't stop eating!!

Pastelll

Every time I see junk food I just can't stop eating it, and I don't know how to stop any tips?

ubermensch13

1. Don't buy it or keep it in your house
2. Figure out the underlying reason you have no self control over it.

Gallowmere1984

It actually requires effort to put food into your mouth, chew, and swallow it. You are in control of stopping this at any time. Worst case, the food is in your hand, arm is folded, food is about to hit your mouth...just don't open your mouth.

If it sounds goofy and straightforward, that's because it really is that simple.

madzzzzzzz

If you deprive yourself and try to completely stay away you will just binge when you get the opportunity to have something. Don't restrict yourself in order to avoid this, just think about portion sizes. Perhaps stick a picture of a skinny girl on your pantry door? hahaha. a bit extreme but.. Anyway, if you do binge, you might feel guilty for the next week so be healthy to the max?

madzzzzzzz

Also just think, its nice when its in your mouth, but as soon as you swallow it you have nothing to show for it, no enjoyment, just fat

Pastelll

Thank you all for the reply, I will try again tomorrow and hopefully won't eat that much junk food!

BarackMeLikeAHurricane

Keep busy. Feel like snacking? Play a video game, go on a walk, call a friend, browse the message boards on here, etc.

You could try drinking water, tea, coffee, or diet soda (if you're afraid of the "evil chemicals" get zevia which is sweetened with stevia) or chewing gum.

If you really feel like snacking, eat something really low calorie like cucumber slices, celery, etc.

lambchoplewis

I end up binge eating every now and then. It is like something takes over my body - I hate it. I have learned to take a bath, get out of kitchen as I am not hungry, I am eating for other reasons. If I do go on a binge, I get right back on the next day. I weigh my self every morning and I know what a binge will cause. It is not easy.

Nothing tastes as good as feeling thin.

Pastelll

I always binge eat after I have my tea... maybe I'm not eating enough calories but I'm not sure

ambrosdm

I love snacking and treats and can really go on a roll. Sometimes I psych myself out of a binge, though, by saying something like "I CAN have that cookie/piece of cake/candy but I have to wait for 10 minutes." I'm not saying I can't have it, I just have to wait a little. Sometimes, by time the ten minutes rolls around, I realize that I really don't want that treat all that much and I can skip it. Another trick was to say, I can have that piece of cake but first I have to eat this apple (or celery sticks or orange or "insert healthy snack here"). After I have the high fiber healthy snack, I have less room for the cake and will either skip it or eat a smaller portion.

mscoco10

You have to find something else to do. Plan your meals ahead of time. Buy healthy snack and stick to them. Take some self control and tell yourself NO! Not all the time but you gotta start somewhere.

dbirty

Force yourself to go without it for a few days and eat healthily then try your favourite fast food as a treat. It won't be as nice as you remember it was and you will be all the happier to go without it.

fusion777

I picture the piece of pizza on my butt or the bag of chips as a big bag on the front of my stomach. Gross thoughts but it works for me. I feel like when I eat junk food it literally shows on my body right away. Who wants to look at that? NOT ME!

llaskoske

Don't have tea. Or, only have tea with meals. Drink water all other times. I once had huge chocolate bar in the cupboard but was trying not to eat it. I told myself if I ate 2 grapefruits I could have that bar. I just couldn't work myself up to eat 2 whole grapefruits, so I didn't touch the chocolate either.

KenosFeoh

Yes you can. It's really that simple. If you don't like the results of something - stop it.

I do understand that it takes a lot of self-discipline and concentration to change bad habits. I had to stop grazing my way through the long afternoons around here. How did I stop? By stopping. I made a schedule for my meals, and now I ask myself "is it meal time? No? Then get the F out of the kitchen!"

Then I get out of there and find something else to do.

sdbart

Have a tall glass and a timer in the bathroom. Every time you get a craving go to the bathroom. Fill the tall glass with water and drink the whole thing. Set the timer for 15min. For those 15 min keep your mind on something else; read a book, knit or crochet, walk in circles, just do not go into the kitchen. After you hear the timer go off the craving should have passed. If it hasn't then your body needs something healthy like a fruit or veggie to make it feel better. Good Luck

mum212

you have to tell youself no and stick to no and have that treat on a certain day of the week so you can still lose those lbs or im my case if i binge i work out and burn all of those added calories and more to make myself feel better about it, most people have a binge day and mine is a friday 2 days b4 i weigh so i know i have to burn what i just ate to see results on the scales x

AllonsYtotheTardis

Chips are my weak point. So I don't keep them in the house. Do I still have them once in a while? Heck yeah! But not having them in the house means I have to make a conscious decision to go out and buy them. Which usually makes me put some thought into just how badly I want them, and whether or not I've planned for them.

LiftAllThePizzas

It's because you are making decisions while considering only what's going to happen in the next 30 seconds. People who make decisions while considering the longer term future will be less impulsive.

I wouldn't recommend doing things like trying to gross yourself out with food, or program yourself to associate horrible things with foods, or feeling guilt or shame about yourself because of what you eat. That just goes from one type of unhealthy relationship with food to yet another type of unhealthy relationship with food and possibly a destructive relationship with your own self. The hell with that. Do you really want to go through life feeling that way about food, or yourself?

Learn to balance what you want right this second with what you want in the longer term, and how to find the place where you can indeed enjoy yourself here and there, as well as benefit in the long term. You won't learn that skill overnight, so don't try to perfectionist/guilt/flog yourself into it. Just keep getting a little better at it than you were before, and understand that sometimes you will take steps backwards but as long as the big picture has you moving forward, you're on track.

spamantha57

I didn't have much of a problem with "junk" food, but I always wanted to eat & I'm the kind of person that could just keep eating & eating until I eat the whole bag of chips or block of cheese or something.

A couple things that helped me a lot were:
1) Don't buy junk at the grocery store. If it's not there you can't eat it!
2) Spreading my calories out throughout the day. I did an experiment where I had my phone alarm go off every couple of hours with a calorie amount (say, 250 cals) & then I could eat up to that. It actually worked really well & I was about to control my portions more.

lambchoplewis

Wow - that was great advise - thanks.

SoViLicious

Don't buy it?

Pastelll

Thanks everyone for the great advice... I will definately be more motivated tomorrow. And hopefully lose some weight before I go on holiday. Also, it is my mum who keeps buying them because I have a little brother, so it's really tempting.

Hearts_2015

I always binge eat after I have my tea... maybe I'm not eating enough calories but I'm not sure

Don't have tea. Or, only have tea with meals. Drink water all other times. I once had huge chocolate bar in the cupboard but was trying not to eat it. I told myself if I ate 2 grapefruits I could have that bar. I just couldn't work myself up to eat 2 whole grapefruits, so I didn't touch the chocolate either.

Tea = her meal

"Tea can refer to any of several different meals or mealtimes, depending on a country's customs and its history of drinking tea."

mapnerd2005

Before you eat it, log it into your diary. Ask yourself if a portion (and weigh/measure out the portion, don't just eye-ball it) is worth the calories out of your day.

WendyTerry420

I picture the piece of pizza on my butt or the bag of chips as a big bag on the front of my stomach. Gross thoughts but it works for me. I feel like when I eat junk food it literally shows on my body right away. Who wants to look at that? NOT ME!

Why did you bring up pizza? The OP is talking about junk food!

TheDarlingOne

"...just can't stop eating it...and don't know how to stop..."

Wonder if it's because you've got your mind thinking that it's this big no no - can't touch it anymore ever again if I'm going to lose weight and be healthy - kind of naughty temptation thing?

Sort of like - you always want what you "can't have"....

Maybe if you refocus your thoughts to say - sure I can have this no problem. let me just throw it into my cals for the day and it's all good!....maybe your brain will start to think of the item as more of an 'anytime' instead of a naughty, forbidden, 'no time' thing - and not crave it as much lol.

Like if chips are your thing - get the single serving chip bags - i go to walmart, and i get 6 mini baggies of cheetos for only $4 i think - and it is only 150cals.

If cookies/cakes are your thing - maybe try....THE MOST AWESOME THING i found at walmart - oreo prepacked in smaller serving amounts. I believe it's only 4 cookies, or maybe 3 - but you pull it out of the box several packs come in and there ya go! It was relatively cheap too - like maybe $5 or so.

Then if you say dang that tasted good - go brush your teeth. And wait for the next meal?

Trilby16

Many years ago I went to OA meetings and a few tips stuck with me. One lady said that when she found herself bingeing on bad stuff in her house, she could pull herself together long enough to dump it in the trash but she would also have to "Ivory Snow" it or else she was likely to take it back out of the trash and eat it. For me, throwing bad stuff in the trash is enough, but if you feel you might still be tempted, Ivory Snow it (or use whatever's handy).

supergirljen

I picture the piece of pizza on my butt or the bag of chips as a big bag on the front of my stomach. Gross thoughts but it works for me. I feel like when I eat junk food it literally shows on my body right away. Who wants to look at that? NOT ME!

Why did you bring up pizza? The OP is talking about junk food!

I just ate half a Domino's chicken and mushroom pan pizza..after logging it I realized it IS junk food! Ooopps.

WendyTerry420

I picture the piece of pizza on my butt or the bag of chips as a big bag on the front of my stomach. Gross thoughts but it works for me. I feel like when I eat junk food it literally shows on my body right away. Who wants to look at that? NOT ME!

Why did you bring up pizza? The OP is talking about junk food!

I just ate half a Domino's chicken and mushroom pan pizza..after logging it I realized it IS junk food! Ooopps.

We were talking about pizza, not that crap Domino's sells! :laugh:

Chaneyb83

Start small. Sugar free jolly ranchers, life savers, werthers and get rid of the big stuff