Closet Eater

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Sweettart
Sweettart Posts: 1,331 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This past month I have realized that I am closet eater and dont know how to stop it.

When I go to the grocery store or any store actually that sells food I will buy it, eat it in the car and hide the wrapper. Even when im at home I will sneak food.

Is there anyone else like me? If so and you have fixed your problem how did you do it?

Replies

  • bek_1982
    bek_1982 Posts: 9
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    im a closet eater as well..thats the thing that hinders my weightloss and keeps me down. id like to know the answer to that one also
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
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    I used to do that and I stopped myself by saying that whatever I ate in private and hide the evidence of people would see on my body.
  • verptwerp
    verptwerp Posts: 3,659 Member
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    My mom did that when I was growing up ...... she was only hurting herself ...... ended up extremely overweight with multiple medical problems ....... I didn't want to be like that !

    Good luck :drinker:
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    Trust me, you are not alone. I know mine started back when I was a kid and my mom would go on a random fitness kick and the whole family would need to go on a diet (she was about 250 at 5'2"). She'd have food in the house, but I wouldn't be able to eat it (my dad and brother were relatively skinny and missed out on all of this). So, I started sneaking food because I was ashamed of what I was eating. It's kind of stuck. I'm never proud of my binges, and it's always hard to own up to them. I live by myself now, and I know my trigger foods. I tend to not buy them. (Hell, I used to be ashamed to buy things like a box of cookies or a bag of chips because the person at the register will see.)

    I'm not really sure how to get past it. I hide less food, but mostly because I live alone. The biggest progress for me is not buying it. However, that lead to problems when I visited my parents house who keep tons of tasty (and horrible) crap in their house. I have pseudo-will power I guess. It's a step in the right direction, but I'm hoping to not live alone forever. At some point I'm going to need to figure out how to see a box of cookies and say, no. Or say yes, but only to one. I don't really know how to get there either. Sorry.
  • cm1458
    cm1458 Posts: 742 Member
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    I used to do this. I still do it sometimes. I dont allow myself to be alone...except when i have to. that usually stops it.
  • EA1604
    EA1604 Posts: 61 Member
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    I do this...I will wait till no one is around and then grab cookies, ice cream, cake or whatever other forbidden food is around and then eat it upstairs in my room and destroy all evidence. My habit is mostly driven by others comments. If my family were to see me eating the cookie they would be like "you don't NEED to eat that" or the more coy "Hey I was going to eat that give it to me" as they snatch it out of my hand. It is embarassing.
  • yourenotmine
    yourenotmine Posts: 645 Member
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    It's very hard. I remember bringing home big fast food dinners when I knew no one would be home. I live alone now, so there's not nearly so much hiding, but I notice that at work, I will try to put a piece of candy in my mouth and toss the wrapper while no one is looking.

    It's one of the many things I'm working on v e r y s l o w l y.

    Oh well. All improvement is a work in progress, I guess. Geneen Roth (advocate of conscious eating) says to eat in full view of others, and to eat mindfully. Guess that's a place to start. If the car is your main hiding place, try making the car an eating free zone. It's safer to drive without eating anyway (and fewer crumbs in your seat, lol).
  • deadstarsunburn
    deadstarsunburn Posts: 1,337 Member
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    I've gotten to be more of a closet eater since I moved in with my fiance.....it feels horrible and is SO hard to stop!
    I sort of feel like if no one sees me eating it, than I never really ate it...
  • colgosling
    colgosling Posts: 104 Member
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    I am the same and only realised it when I first started on MFP. The first step to stopping it is recognising it in the first place - good luck :)
  • marthathebear
    marthathebear Posts: 498
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    I used to be a closet eater. I would buy two boxes of whatever cookies my family liked and I would eat one all by myself and still share the other with them. For some reason I thought it wouldn't show up if no one knew I ate it. Sadly I ended up at 204 pounds. I had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. My doctor said if I wanted to not have a heart attack or stroke I should loose weight and exercise immediately. I did. Three years later I am 5' 7", 141 pounds, excellent blood pressure, excellent cholesterol, and love to exercise. I track everything and I like this size better than the taste of anything I can think of to eat.
  • lururu
    lururu Posts: 123 Member
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    Does logging on MFP not help?
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,287 Member
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    sounds like you attach shame to this food. Maybe behavior modification. Make yourself eat it out in the open. It might be uncomfortable at first..take baby steps. Then once you can eat it out in the open..quit buying it. conquer this basic problem..then worry about the weight loss.
  • Erykah3584
    Erykah3584 Posts: 324 Member
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    Im so guilty of this but I only hide it from my husband. We're both all about living a healthy lifestyle. We exercise together and eat well when at home. I don't keep junk food in the house and he wouldnt eat it even if I did. I am guilty of going to the store, buying a candy bar, and eating it in the car. Or when he is at work and its just me and the kids, we will go to Mcdonalds. Sometimes the kids rat me out though! lol I am terribly bad when I go and visit my mom at her house. She always has junk food and I kind of feel like its an escape from healthy eating when I go there. This really needs to stop. :grumble:
  • leantool
    leantool Posts: 365 Member
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    log your closet eaten food.........let the calories add up in front of your eyes in blue and white, complete food diary every step of the way and see how much you will weigh 5 wks hence....
  • KaleidoscopeEyes1056
    KaleidoscopeEyes1056 Posts: 2,996 Member
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    Log it. Force yourself to see how many calories you're putting into your mouth when nobody else is around. When you're about to do it again, think about the number that you've logged, and ask yourself if it's worth it. I used to do the same thing, and I sometimes still do, and this is what helped me. Once you know the damage you're doing, it's easier to talk yourself out of doing it again.

    Also, don't think you can stop it all at once. It's a bad habit, and it will probably take time to get over.
  • juliedozier
    juliedozier Posts: 184 Member
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    Ditto! It makes me feel crazy and out of control, yet I can't get a grip on it. I don't log it because that would mean I have to be accountable for it. Logging it would be the best answer ... I should start there. Mine is at night when everyone goes to bed. I read a women who trianed herself to "turn off" her eating by having a hot tea each night after dinner. That was her signal that eating was done for the day. It's a miserable habit.
  • Kendall_Lauren
    Kendall_Lauren Posts: 20 Member
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    I was a closet eater for a long long time. I went to OA (Overeaters Anonymous) for a year regularly and committed to the program. Going for a year helped me learn a lot about myself and the way I was eating and what was behind my behaviors emotionally. It's made a huge difference for me and I don't sneak and hide food any longer.
  • AussieTrainer
    AussieTrainer Posts: 171
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    Yes I have in the past and sometimes still do. You are perfectly normal but this is a pretty bad habit because it only makes the feelings worse in the end. Do you feel guilt, anxiety, or shame? Do other people make comments about what you eat?

    Eating with other people around is more enjoyable, in my opinion. But making my special meals and counting and weighing and all that really gets in the way. Maybe try to figure out why you do this and some strategies to prevent it. For example, you eat in the car (I've done this too) but next time you go shopping do NOT buy anything that can be eaten right out of the box. Buy veggies that have to be cooked, frozen foods, ingredients, etc.

    2nd, make sure you are getting enough calories overall, with a balance of carb/protein/fats. being hungry does strange things to your mind.
  • LuvHinesWard86
    LuvHinesWard86 Posts: 104 Member
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    I do this. I've gained 15 plus pounds in the last year or so. My husband works nights and once he's left for work and my son is asleep, I eat...whatever I can get my hands on. This is my favorite time of the night cause I can relax and watch Young & Restless and Dr. Phil. I wish I knew how to stop.

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