I can't keep myself from overeating! HELP!

truly_crazy_me
truly_crazy_me Posts: 10
in Food and Nutrition
Over the years my weight has skyrocketed and resulted in a type two diabetes diagnosis. Now that I'm trying to do something about it I can't seem to stop eating. It's like I just lose all control and binge on anything and everything. I've tried every single method I can think of and I just can't stop. Does any one else have any other ideas?

Thank you so much for any help you can give!

~Rach

Replies

  • mygrl4meee
    mygrl4meee Posts: 943 Member
    Welcome to myfitnesspal. How many calories a day are you set up with? Don't try to go to low as that will be a challenge and isn't likely going to stick. Make small changes and small goals and go from there. Good luck,
  • Belladonna261
    Belladonna261 Posts: 12
    1) Sort out your environment. Binge eating is hard to tackle, but if the food is not there in your pantry and fridge you can't eat it. Clear out your environment, no only does this mean sorting out your pantry and fridge, clear out your work environment too - only healthy treats, tell people around you in your environment what you are trying to achieve so they understand and don't tempt you with anything. Tell your family and friends.

    2) Distraction. A large part of my binge eating came from boredom and frusturation. get out of the house, go for a walk around the block till it passes. Join a club, keep busy!

    3) Don't 'diet' and starve yourself to you lose control and binge, eat well, high fibre, snack (healthy snacks!!!).

    Good luck, if you remember and believe you are worth it thats half the battle won!
  • skuehn48
    skuehn48 Posts: 3,045 Member
    bump to reply later.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    1) Sort out your environment. Binge eating is hard to tackle, but if the food is not there in your pantry and fridge you can't eat it. Clear out your environment, no only does this mean sorting out your pantry and fridge, clear out your work environment too - only healthy treats, tell people around you in your environment what you are trying to achieve so they understand and don't tempt you with anything. Tell your family and friends.

    2) Distraction. A large part of my binge eating came from boredom and frusturation. get out of the house, go for a walk around the block till it passes. Join a club, keep busy!

    3) Don't 'diet' and starve yourself to you lose control and binge, eat well, high fibre, snack (healthy snacks!!!).

    Good luck, if you remember and believe you are worth it thats half the battle won!

    All of this. Plus find your triggers. If you are like me (I hope you aren't for your sake!) certain seemingly innocent foods can cause major hunger and cravings after you eat them. In which case you either have to eat the foods and put up with the cravings or eliminate them.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    Double edge sword with diabete is it makes you hungry all the time. Your cells are constantly looking for glucose and telling you brain to eat eat! It's not fair.

    I'm a notorious overeater. What has worked for me is to measure everything. And I cant eat more than what I measured out. Then after you last meal of the day you make sure you shut the kitchen down.

    Fill up on veggies before hand make that half your meal. You'll feel like a deer at first, but it'll make your tummy full. Drinks lots of water, I dont care if you flavor it, just make sure you are getting volume into your stomach.

    If you finish your meal and still feel hungry. Ask yourself, OK I still feel hungry could I be happy eating the first part of my meal the vegetables? If the answer is No you want the entree, starch, or whatever then you arent hungry its just old tricky binge fooling you.

    I'm using chopsticks now, chew 20-30 times, and after ever 2-3 bites I take a drink of water. This is helping me get fuller faster by slowing down.

    I also agree with the above poster try to avoid the triggers. If you start salivating like pavlov's dog for it and can barely wait to sink your teeth into this if crack for you and will probably set off a cycle.

    If you want to eat even though you arent hungry first get away from food including food porn on tv or the computer. No recipe sites. Start drinking your water. Find something to distract yourself with perfect time for a mani/pedi or go to bed. If that doesnt work offer yourself vegetables. You'll know you are hungry if you want to eat the veggies. If you eat those have your water and are still hungry try a piece of fruit.

    First thing first, if you are ever going to get healthier and get your diabetes under control is to portion control and log. Keep up the hard work you can succeed.
  • truly_crazy_me
    truly_crazy_me Posts: 10
    The nutritionist I see for the diabetes diagnosis said about 2000 but to lose weight to drop it a few hundred calories, so I normally eat around 1700.
  • silencethelamb
    silencethelamb Posts: 28 Member
    Double edge sword with diabete is it makes you hungry all the time. Your cells are constantly looking for glucose and telling you brain to eat eat! It's not fair.

    I'm a notorious overeater. What has worked for me is to measure everything. And I cant eat more than what I measured out. Then after you last meal of the day you make sure you shut the kitchen down.

    Fill up on veggies before hand make that half your meal. You'll feel like a deer at first, but it'll make your tummy full. Drinks lots of water, I dont care if you flavor it, just make sure you are getting volume into your stomach.

    If you finish your meal and still feel hungry. Ask yourself, OK I still feel hungry could I be happy eating the first part of my meal the vegetables? If the answer is No you want the entree, starch, or whatever then you arent hungry its just old tricky binge fooling you.

    I'm using chopsticks now, chew 20-30 times, and after ever 2-3 bites I take a drink of water. This is helping me get fuller faster by slowing down.

    I also agree with the above poster try to avoid the triggers. If you start salivating like pavlov's dog for it and can barely wait to sink your teeth into this if crack for you and will probably set off a cycle.

    If you want to eat even though you arent hungry first get away from food including food porn on tv or the computer. No recipe sites. Start drinking your water. Find something to distract yourself with perfect time for a mani/pedi or go to bed. If that doesnt work offer yourself vegetables. You'll know you are hungry if you want to eat the veggies. If you eat those have your water and are still hungry try a piece of fruit.

    First thing first, if you are ever going to get healthier and get your diabetes under control is to portion control and log. Keep up the hard work you can succeed.

    ^ Great advice! Good luck :)
  • evemarie1103
    evemarie1103 Posts: 22
    I agree with BellaDonna too. Get those triggers out of your house! Clean out your cupboards, fridge. If the temptation isn't there, it makes it alot easier. Fill your fridge with fresh fruits, vegetables, etc. When you have nothing else to choose from besides healthy things - you will eat them. Binging on healthy items is OK. Once you start eating them, you will crave the healthy foods and when you eat the bad choices, it will make you feel like crap/sick. That's what happens to me and so far I'm down over 50 lbs!!
  • SweetestHoney
    SweetestHoney Posts: 95 Member
    What had helped me from eating so much is saying to myself why I'm eating. Ex:

    I am bored.(number one reason for me)
    I feel like I should be snacking during this show.
    I am so sad today.

    After saying it to myself for awhile it helped me make better choices. So when I say, "I am sad." I go online(or on my phone) and find something to make me laugh and smile. Or vent. It's easier for me to grab a bag of oreos but that only creates another problem for me and doesn't solve the original one.

    P.S. I find that I am still bored after the bag of oreos anyways.
  • THExNEKOxCHAN
    THExNEKOxCHAN Posts: 134 Member
    Are there psychological issues that might be triggering you? Do you eat when you're troubled or upset or bored? I used to. In fact, it got so bad, that I suddenly came to with my fingers in a pickle jar and said "Oh my god, what am I doing?"

    After that, binging was much less of a problem, once I realized what was triggering it, and that I could do something about it.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    My highest weight was 240. Here's one thing I've figured out for myself. I try to recognize the difference between a "craving" and the urge to "binge." If I'm craving something sweet or salty or chocolate or whatever, then no big deal, and I try to meet that craving with something small. Under 200 calories, let's say.

    However, if I'm regularly eating below my BMR for days in a row, then sometimes, even now, those snacks turn into a full 2000 calorie binge. I find that if I'm NEVER starving, then my snacking to satisfy a craving has MUCH less of a chance to turn into a full binge.

    So I try to make sure I have a normal breakfast, normal lunch, normal dinner, THEN a craving at night rarely turns into a 9 p.m. binge. But if I've only eaten 800 calories that day, THEN a small craving for a piece of chocolate means I'll eat all the chocolate, then all the chips, then all the cheese, then all the ice cream...

    Basically my tactic is I'm never hungry, if I can help it.
  • skuehn48
    skuehn48 Posts: 3,045 Member
    This was given to me by my health coach:

    Five Ds for dealing with cravings

    Delay - Delay the urge, it usually goes away withing the first five minutes.

    Deep breathing - Inhale through your nose, exhale through your mouth. This calms you and actually does good stuff in your brain and body.

    Drink Water - Decreases hunger, flushes toxins, and increases dopamine levels. this is the "feel good" hormone in the brain.

    Do Something - Take your mind off of your craving.

    Divine Intervention - When you are DOWN to nothing, God is UP to something!

    Good luck!
  • jessica83013
    jessica83013 Posts: 3
    One thing I do is I try to plan out approximately what I am going to eat for the day ahead of time including snacks and meals (always leaving a couple hundred calories just in case). One thing my mom does is when she leaves for the day she brings an apple, some granola, or something else healthy and if she gets hungry she asks herself if she is hungry enough to eat the apple. If she decides she does not want it, then it must just be a craving! I carry Kashi bars on me or a small bag of portioned out cherrios and do the same kind of thing. You can do it! :):):):):)
  • veronicanizama
    veronicanizama Posts: 7 Member
    My best friend in my weight loss was smaller plates! My husband and I only eat off dessert plates at home! Make sure to focus on proteins instead of carbs like pasta, rice and bread. If you have any left overs from dinner, DO NOT get up for seconds. You should immediately put them Tupperware as leftover for tomorrow's lunch or pop them in the freezer for a future dinner BEFORE you even begin eating.

    When you go out to eat make smart choices and think about what you really want to eat. For example I LOVE cheeseburgers. When I go out to eat, I'll ask them for a bunless burger or a turkey burger, because honestly what I'm really craving is the meat. Instead of fries, I'll ask for a side salad, or veggies. When I really want something bad, I'll ask the waiter or waitress for a doggy back when they bring out my food. I immediately cut my food into 2 portions and put one half to the side for tomorrow and eat my other half.

    Trust me, just making small changes like this have made a world of a difference. I used to eat full large size pizza in a sitting, eat double quater pounders with large fries, 2 things off the dollar menu and a large coke. As of now I can physically eat only 1-2 slices of pizza and I'm stuffed. As far as McDonald's goes, I haven't touched the stuff in a year and 5 months. If I have 1/2 can a soda a month, that's a lot for me.

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