WTF is wrong with me???

Behxo

I have two suggestions beyond trying to figure out the emotional/boredom part of it. First, keep healthier sweets at your fingertips. I really like pink lady apples so I HAVE to keep them very close at hand. I know everyone says to keep healthy snacks but it didn't start working for me until I figured out those things that I really WANT to eat and kept those things close. Second, I eat what I want. What I mean by that is when someone in the office brings something I just can't resist, I don't. BUT I play a game with myself. Before I allow myself one crumb, I log it and I figure out how much exercise I need to "buy" it. I don't go so far as to make myself do the exercise first but if I needed to, I would. I can buy a piece of cake if I spend X amount of time walking or on the cross trainer. I also have to figure out how I'm going to fit that exercise in THAT day. If I'm going to eat this cake today, I have to pay for it today. No "credit cards" purchases.

Wykyd that is awesome advice! definitely would help keep me on track

AMANDAJOY1104

All of this advice has been helpful. I'm appreciative that no one has been mean! Keep the advice and encouragement coming!

deksgrl

Obvious question, but are you starving because you are trying to adhere to a 1,200 calorie diet?

youareorange

I'm like that too. If I have a whole bag of chips or a box of cookies then I will continuously eat them. I have learned to not buy those items and if I do have them, definitely portion it out. Allow yourself to have a bit at a time - it sounds like you already recognize that.

Also keep healthy snacks nearby helps. It might sound over the top but it keeps me on track - have an idea of what you're going to eat throughout the day and plan ahead of time. I actually use a lunch bag regularly and keep my foods in there. I might look odd, but it helps in the end! And it saves money.

otrtrack

I have only been on MyFitnessPal for a couple of weeks - just getting started... but when I am feeling like I'm going to eat something I shouldn't, I tell myself "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels!" I can't remember where I saw that the first time, but it helps to keep me headed down the right path and keep my focus on the prize! I WILL get back in my clothes - comfortably! Hang in there - you can do this!!!

AMANDAJOY1104

I have another question, I'm going to post it in a new thread "How to ration calories" Please advise!

Dragonwolf

How do I stop the cravings? When I am actually hungry I want something dense that will fill my stomach. Not an apple... When I wake up in the morning I'm hungry and I crave carbs!!

One thing that might be worth trying is to cut out the high-carb stuff for a while. On the "extreme" end would be something like the Whole 30 Challenge - for 30 days, you cut out grains and dairy, and eat only meat, fish, nuts, vegetables, and fruit (you know, real foods).

Whether you go that far or not is up to you (I personally found it easier to kill the cravings by cutting out the triggery stuff entirely, but YMMV), but the idea is to cut out those triggery things for a while so that you adjust how your body uses the fuel that's given to it. By cutting down the high-carb stuff (especially the sugary, simple, "fast" carbs), you level out the blood sugar spikes that generally cause the carb cravings. Level out those spikes, and you eventually lose the "need"/desire to go buy that donut.

Also, changing how you eat and cutting out certain foods, at least for a while, can help rebalance the gut flora. Candida is a genus of flora categorized as yeast that live in our bodies. When we eat too much sugar or simple carbs, especially when coupled with exposure to anti-microbial agents (namely, antibiotics), we run the risk of their population growing too large. When this happens, we can get all sorts of symptoms, many of which would never clue us in to the possibility of Candida overgrowth ( http://www.candidamd.com/candida/symptoms.html ). One of the most telltale symptoms, though, is certain cravings - specifically for sugary foods such as bread, chocolate, and sweet fruits, or fermented foods, including alcohol and cheeses. Cutting these things out for a while should help rebalance the level of Candida and help stop the cravings for them (though severe cases may need medical treatment).

If you're craving something dense, then eat something dense! Make bacon and eggs for breakfast! Have some steel cut oats or something. Eat real food.

I used to love those Fiber One brownies, but like you, it was a struggle for me to only eat one a day. If you look at the ingredients, they're really not all that great for you, anyway. Let's stop kidding ourselves, it's a brownie. It might have a little extra fiber, but it's still not that great for you.

Also like how you sound, I can't "fill up" on vegetables. I'll get sick long before I feel "full" if I eat only vegetables. So make sure you're getting a good amount of protein and good fats. Start cooking with olive and/or coconut oil. Learn to like avocados or nuts for snacking. These things will give you good fats, which will keep you full longer, provide long-lasting energy, and can even help kill the cravings for carbs. Good quality protein will help fill you up at meals, as well (it's amazing what a little chicken or steak on a salad can do for the fullness feeling).

wykyd

Thanks! I love games and puzzles so any time I have challenges like this, I turn it into a game. That's how I keep my cals too. It is a game to see how close I can get to my calorie goal. Maybe it just keeps my mind busy! lol

I have two suggestions beyond trying to figure out the emotional/boredom part of it. First, keep healthier sweets at your fingertips. I really like pink lady apples so I HAVE to keep them very close at hand. I know everyone says to keep healthy snacks but it didn't start working for me until I figured out those things that I really WANT to eat and kept those things close. Second, I eat what I want. What I mean by that is when someone in the office brings something I just can't resist, I don't. BUT I play a game with myself. Before I allow myself one crumb, I log it and I figure out how much exercise I need to "buy" it. I don't go so far as to make myself do the exercise first but if I needed to, I would. I can buy a piece of cake if I spend X amount of time walking or on the cross trainer. I also have to figure out how I'm going to fit that exercise in THAT day. If I'm going to eat this cake today, I have to pay for it today. No "credit cards" purchases.

Wykyd that is awesome advice! definitely would help keep me on track

america_c

I am by no means an expert but I'm in the same boat as you. What has helped me ALOT is to make eating junk food an inconvenience. For example, when I go grocery shopping, I don't buy junk food but if we do get some (my husband or son) I have my husband put it away so I won't have a tally in my mind that cookies are in what ever shelf in the pantry. Someone brought a gallon of ice cream to my house, it was sent straight the second freezer in the basement, it's been there for 2 weeks now.

I would suggest to pump gas at a gasoline station with no convenience store. If you're going to have snacks at work, either take what you plan on eating every day or stash them somewhere where they are not visible to you at every moment.

Good luck to you!

cindylu35

You need to learn to associate those bad foods with what they are made of and how they will affect you after you eat them.

Donuts = fat, carbs, sugar
Chips = fat, carbs
Cake/Brownies = fat, carbs, sugar
Chocolate = sugar. fat

These items are your enemy and you should treat them as "nicely" as they've treated you!!

2 things help me snack better:

1) I envision SMEARING that donut on my butt!! Yep, why eat it? That's where it's going! Might as well save some time! lol This usually stops me from purchasing these items.
2) I don't bring the whole box/bag/container of whatever I'm eating WITH me. If you want a 100 calorie snack that day, only BRING 100 calories worth with you!

I understand an occasional binge...really I do! lol Try to not beat yourself up about them if they're a rare occasion.

endoftheside

Your breakfast foods seem to be high carb, and you are craving high carb/high fat stuff, so to me the way to break this is to cut down on carbs and increase protein. It stinks at first, but if you find your sweet spot with carbs they won't have power over you any more (for me it is around 150g or less). It is a really wonderful thing to break that carb craziness (speaking as a former carbaholic). Making a commitment to pre-log your food also can put the brakes on impulse buys and eating.

Dragonwolf

Donuts = fat, carbs, sugar
Chips = fat, carbs
Cake/Brownies = fat, carbs, sugar
Chocolate = sugar. fat

A note on this - it's not technically the sugar or the fat that causes the cravings, but the combination of the sugar AND the fat. It's why these things are like crack. That blend of sugar and fat that manufacturers have honed to prompt the most reaction in us, making us want more and more. Great for business, not so much for the belt.

prettigirl01

i can relate to this 100%. for me food makes me feel good when i eat and im never satisfied with eating just one of something. sometimes its so good ill eat it all even if im full just because it tastes that good. like you, im unhappy with my weight and u would think that would stop me from eating so much but it doesnt. sometimes i dont want the healthy snack option, sometimes i dont want a salad. i want to pig out on chipotle and chocolate chip cookies all day. these things make me feel good but if i want to change the way i look i have to stop this behavior. people who dont have this addiction wont understand. its going to take time and u can do it and when u reach your goal u will never turn back

boatsie77

Using food as a drug to temporarily ease or help forget pain or fill an emptiness in our lives must be addressed to successfully remove weight AND maintain a healthy weight for life. Anyone can remove weight through diet and exercise--but they only remove the 'symptoms' not the 'cause.'

"Our work is not to change what you do, but to witness what you do with enough awareness, enough curiosity, enough tenderness that the lies and old decisions upon which the compulsion is based become apparent and fall away. When you no longer believe that eating will save your life when you feel exhausted or overwhelmed or lonely, you will stop. When you believe in yourself more than you believe in food, you will stop using food as if it were your only chance at not falling apart. When the shape of your body no longer matches the shape of your beliefs, the weight disappears. (p. 80-81)”
― Geneen Roth, Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything

RunHardBeStrong

I found I was prone to binging when I didn't eat enough (both total calories and throughout the day). Make sure you're getting enough at breakfast to keep you sustained until your next planned meal/snack. Also, if you have a drastic calorie deficit you might be more prone to binging. Personally I ate "healthy" and it was about 1000-1100 calories a day, and then I'd binge on the weekends. Huge binges, and there was no weight loss. I then did some research, started eating 1500 calories, the binges subsided, and weight started to come off. I'm now eating 1800, still losing, and I haven't had a binge in a long time.

All of this! I too am at 1800 cals and losing, binges have pretty much ceased. When I find myself about to binge these days, I have found it's on days that I'm totally exhausted so I either go to bed, if feasable or go for a walk to get away from the food and wake myself up.

lcvaughn520

I agree with everyone who says you're probably just hungry - which makes it hard NOT to eat too much at some point. Also (and this is in NO way scientific, just personal experience), I think our bodies get used to eating so much fat, sugar, salt, etc. and it learns to crave those things. Today, for example, I wasn't really in the mood for one particular thing for lunch, but I felt like I just wanted to go chow down on something fatty and greasy.

I ended up making a really good choice by reminding myself how I would feel after eating something like that. I would regret it, both mentally and PHYSICALLY. Next time you eat something, really take a minute to focus on how your body feels after you eat it. The more and more used that you get to eating nutritious food, the more you'll realize that your body may not like doughnuts as much as your brain does!

Crochetluvr

Another reason I like living in NJ....we dont have to get out of our cars to pump or pay for gas.

kahagen76

Like many of the replies, I can definitely relate. I've been logging on MFP since February and I diligently look at all my allowances (Cal., Carb., Fat, Protein, Sodium and SUGAR). Sugar is by far my worst enemy and I do not think I've been able to remain under the sugar goal since I joined MFP. What I'm learning, though, is I don't have to get my sugar from sweets/processed foods and that I'm getting the majority of my sugars from fresh fruits and in the foods I eat. Additionally, I found that processed foods do not satisfy me, and, like in your case, if they are there, I will eat them until there isn't any left and I have a trash can full of empty celophane wrappers with pink or yellow goo smeared in them and think that maybe if I lick them clean I will be satisfied (no, I've never actually done it) but even with the 100 cal packs, when you eat the whole box, it all of a sudden turns from a low-cal snack to something majorly harmful to my body. THEN I log my disaster on here and I am not only disgusted with my behavior (which is not emotionally driven) but I'm also frustrated that I now am left with virtually no calories for the rest of the day, and not to mention I now probably feel like **** and will feel like that until it moves through my system and then I realize that it just wasn't satisfying enough to make it worth it. And THERE is my motivation! I have literally felt ****ty for years and since I've been eating healthy and little to no processed foods I finally (FINALLY) feel balanced, even though my weighloss has been slow but gradual...

Another thing I did that seriously helped me was take a pictures all the foods I am eating, and ALSO taking pictures of the junk foods that I actively told myself not to eat and later that day when I find myself thinking about the s'mores made with pink peeps sitting in the office kitchen, I can look at the picture and I somehow find that oddly satisfying because I can tell myself that I did good by resisting it. Sure, I may look a bit strange taking pictures of the donuts, but I'll take the funny looks I get from others over the belly pains anyday.

Here's a fun blog that probably most of us can relate to:

http://deadspin.com/5545674/the-public-humiliation-diet-a-how+to

rieann84

This sounds like me. I bought a box of dreamy clusters or something. Supposed to be 'diet' dessert/treat, but actually was like 110+ calories a packet. I went through the whole thing like an hour after bringing them home. Never bought THOSE again. Some things I just can't keep from, I guess.

I LOVE chocolate. There are a few things I buy.. Good quality, DARK chocolate bars. I don't binge on these because they are often rich, and usually somewhat expensive. The cheap-o in me won't let me go at it.

When I can find it, it's called "Simply Lite" chocolate bar. It is carb free, sugar free, whatever else free. It tastes pretty good. On the back it says "over consumption of this product can cause diarrhea" Enough to make me NOT binge on that one.

Also, Hershey's simple pleasures. You can have 6 for 180 calories. Not too bad. They are good, but still have that fake-y diet taste a little bit. For some reason I never binge on these either. The white creme ones basically taste like vanilla frosting inside. So sweet it hurts my teeth actually.

So those are just some things that I personally am able to control myself over.



My best advice for you, is to just make that decision to say NO to the donut/the whole box/etc. Keep fighting. It becomes a domino effect. Say no to the donut in the morning and you'll find yourself making other good choices. And then sooner or later, you won't even care for a fiber one brownie. (Those things are totally unsatisfying, by the way.. it's hard for me to eat just one also)

Good luck

suelegal

HA S NOTING TO D O WITH BEING UNHAPPY IN LIFE
IT HAS TO DO WITH IT TASTES GOOD AND ITS THERE

hat would be the answer for you. apparently though OP doesn't know or she wouldn't have asked.

OP, there have been some great suggestions. Make a list of possible triggers for you. The next time you push junk in your face, think about what you're feeling right then, and write it down. It won't come to you the first time, it will take patience to uncover what' going on inside that makes you want to eat.

Good luck! Message me if you want to talk.