I can quit smoking, but I can't quit overeating ?

What I’ve found to be a great way to stop overeating is to ensure each meal has a good balance of proteins (meats, beans, egg whites, peanut butter), Fiber (apples, blueberries, pears, grains) and dairy (one slice of cheese - try to stay away from cow's milk as it is too high in milk sugar). Also, by reducing calorie intake to 1400 per day and not eating foods that contain more than 5 grams of sugar per serving, you will assuredly lose pounds every week.
Unfortunately, rigorous exercise will not impact weight loss as much as changing the way you eat will. If you achieve a balance of the above you won't feel so hungry throughout the day.
Other tips:
- Stop eating when you feel full - even though the food just tastes so darn good, remember that this won't be the last time you eat it.
- Within your Fitness Pal log, record how you feel when you overeat – e.g., bloated, constipated, sick – and link to the food(s) that made you feel that way.
- Drink 100oz of water a day (roughly 1 gallon of water) – the water bottle that doesn’t leave my side is the 24oz double insulated plastic bottle from Starbucks – and you get a 10% discount at Starbucks when you use it with your order! Any water bottle with ounce indicators are the best for helping you keep track of how much you're drinking. Add lemon as needed - and fill it up again as soon as you finish!
- Log, log, log your food intake everyday - and stick to 1400 calories/day
- No more than 5grams of sugar per serving-- even if item is labeled as a low calorie food, check the sugar count. My favorite popsicles are only 40 calories, but contain 10 grams of sugar! Gave them up and opted for the 100 calorie Healthy Choice Fudge Bar instead…although 60 more calories, it only has 4 grams of sugar, satisfies my sweet tooth and is fairly filling.
- Like alcohol? Me too! I absolutely love a glass of wine in the evening, with meals, with friends, by myself (see a trend here??) needless to say, it’s adding 130 precious calories to my daily intake …100 of those calories I can save for a low-cal dessert (see above!). What I’ve done to replace my wine cravings is switching to Club soda with lime – this is so refreshing and quenches my craving and thirst when water just won’t cut it… I still use a wine glass!
- No more than 200mg of caffeine (two cups of coffee) per day – caffeine is dehydrating and if you add milk , you’re adding needless sugar and calories…I still have my one cup a day, switched to black and now using Stevia for a little sweetener. Try giving ‘black’ coffee a try – if you’re a wine lover like me, you’ll really enjoy being able to taste the different flavors of the coffee beans – something I didn’t notice or appreciate as much when drinking with milk. If you can’t get away from using milk/cream, switch to almond or coconut milk – hardly any calories, sugars, and tastes the same and is so much better for you.
- On goal setting – what worked for me is setting an overall goal e.g., lose 10 pounds. Though, now I have found it useful to think about my accomplishments at the end of the day – smaller daily goal such as: did I exercise, did I achieve my daily calorie goal, did I say ‘no’ to a larger serving, did I check the nutrition labels on the items I bought at the grocery store – and put the bad stuff back etc. Just thinking about everything I did throughout the day to achieve my overall goal gives me great satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. And of course, if I went over my calorie goals for that day, I look back at my weekly progress and remind myself that I have succeeded and can continue to succeed by getting back on track the next day (let’s face a little cake once a week is not going to kill you).
Recommended reading: Jackie Warner - "This is Why Your Fat" - read this, it definitely changed my perspective on food, health and exercise. I also recommend subscribing to Women’s Fitness RX magazine – great articles, exercises, nutrition facts.