FRUSTRATION!!!

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Is it ok if i just ***** for a minute??

Im so frustrated with myself that I continue, over and over, to make the same mistakes.

I know that I have made alot of positive changes over the past year and a half. i actually exercise now and eat pretty darn well (compared to what i used to)

but ...i overeat at night. i care so much about what i eat during the day and then i night i get home and its a different mindset. im cooking healthy, with healthy ingredients but i eat too much of it!!!! and i don't know how to stop. the rest of the day i'm perfect, but at night, its like all bets are off. i don't know how to feel good otherwise, don't know what to do with myself otherwise. well, correction, i guess mentally, i know how to stop, i know what to do with myself, but actually doing it (for more than a day or so) seems impossible for me.

i still can look at parts of myself and be happy (mostly with the areas that my body naturally does not put on weight)
the parts where it does however, i feel just as bad about now as i did when i was at my heaviest.

even though i can see that those parts i hate are smaller now, their still bad and ugly and i just don't have faith that anything that i do will ever change that. and i have already done so much to have just a handful of progress.

and then you see other people where it just seems so easy to be fit and toned.
i just wish this whole thing was easier.

Replies

  • teerene
    teerene Posts: 16
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    I have same nite time over eating problem... It is frustrating .. Hope someone has an answer for us..
  • anij67
    anij67 Posts: 21
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    I know what you mean! I have the same problems. Night is the worst time for me too. I just seem to crave pastas and sweets more then too and it's soooo hard to not eat them. They are my comfort foods! I hate my body. I've gained so much weight that I don't think I will ever lose it and feel good about myself again. Somebody out there help us! It sounds like we need motivation major.
  • crking
    crking Posts: 175
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    soo with you on the over eating at night. Dinner is my favorite meal...I always end up smashing and of course can't forget the ice cream...you are not alone!
  • tiggertoo57
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    I have sort of the same issue. By the time I get home and start cooking I am so hungry...even if I eat all day. I will munch an entire meal worth of calories while cooking, and THEN eat dinner, not to mention topping it off with a betty crocker warm delights and big glass of milk. Hello luv handles.

    But I have slowed that down quite a bit. Take small steps. My first step is no eating after dinner. I cook healthy too and I know the rules. I cannot eat after dinner is done. Period. Next, I started making better choices if I HAD to snack. Finally I just started focusing on cooking and even doing an exercise video while I am waiting for the food to get done. Set little goals and reach them one by one. You'll get thru it...it's a mental game.
  • bhhicks
    bhhicks Posts: 2
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    This is my main problem too. I also do great during the day. I just do bad after I get off work in the afternoon. It's like if I don't eat something sweet, I am too tired to do anything else before bedtime. I know I should try to exercise instead, but I don't
  • corrine_manley
    corrine_manley Posts: 7 Member
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    I also have that same problem. I do great all day, then night comes and I just want to eat and eat. I've been doing this for only 3 weeks and have managed to stop myself for the most part. My husband doing this with me helps give me the strength I need.

    Also, popsicles!!! You can get sugar free popsicles that are only 15 calories and sugar free fudge pops that are only 40 calories. So throughout the night I will have one or two and it feels like I'm eating something which distracts me from feeling that over whelming hunger.
  • thisemmabites
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    As you can see, you aren't alone. :smile: This happens to the best of us, Here's what I've been doing lately. I'm treating my over eating and sweet addiction like I would if it were nicotine. I'm realizing that I'm going to have horrible cravings, frustrations, stresses, and fits... But I'm going to get through it. The cravings WILL lessen. The urges die, and if they don't just replace them with healthier things and know that it could have been so much worse. For example... I have a freezer FULL of ice cream. We had a birthday party for our son and got stuck with all the spoils! I had these cones and I was so mad I decided to eat SOMETHING. So I got the can of fat free reddi whip out and filled a few cones. Froze them and realized how they filled that I HAVE TO EAT SOMETHING, I WANT, I WANT, I WANT void. Little changes, do big things. You can overcome. Get out there and do it!
  • FabulousFifty
    FabulousFifty Posts: 1,575 Member
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    Same here! You are getting alot of moral support and I have read some very good suggestions. I love the idea of sugar free popsicles. Also, not cooking dinner until you have had your snack and done an exercise video...that is a good one. I just end up eating early...even if I have to eat by myself. If I am ravished by 5:00 then that is when I eat. Then I have a low cal snack later or sugar free hot cocoa.

    You might want to check out Book Club, under Motiviation and Support. We are reading Women, Food and God by Geneen Rpth. She is addressing many of the issues I have had with mindless eating. You can jump in at any time. You can get the book at Target and Barnes and Noble. Also, it is available online. Anyway, it may not be for you, but it has helped me get this under control.

    All the best,
    Fab:heart:
  • riannenrings
    riannenrings Posts: 142 Member
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    thanks so much to you all for your support and suggestions. it really does help to know that i am not alone and that other people struggle with the same thing.

    I'm coming up on my 100th day of not smoking. so i know if i can do that, there has got to be a way to figure this thing out too!

    :) thanks so much ladies
  • hso1
    hso1 Posts: 2
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    congratulations on the no smoking milestone!

    when i get home from work, always try to have a low calorie sweet snack...usually fruit, like a peach or applesauce. that usually cures the sweet tooth long enough to get me past making dinner. eating earlier in the evening, if possible, is always a good choice, too. then if you can hold off eating for the rest of the night your body burns those dinner calories all through the night. eliminating the night snacking, especially on the weekends, really helped me feel better and make some progress.

    good luck!
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    Two possible things could be happening:

    If you're actually hungry

    1) You're not eating enough and need to increase your base calories.

    2) You're not eating things that are high-fiber or high-protein and not staying full longer. You need to replace things like 100 calorie packs, high-sugar/high-carb foods that are not NATURAL (fruits don't count) with things like nuts, seeds, healthy fats, to keep you full.

    3) You are not eating enough through the day, leaving a lot of calories at night... leaving yourself starving to the point of overeating.

    If it's not hunger, then you just need to figure out what triggers your wanting to overeat. Don't keep junk food in your house. That's the only way to do it until you build up your willpower.
  • ittybittybadonkadonk
    ittybittybadonkadonk Posts: 11,634 Member
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    what works for me is cleaning up after dinner turning off the lights and having a 1 gallon of water next to me when going to watch tv ... and NOT going back in the kitchen .... hope you figure it out and congrats on your 100days of not smoking
  • mkrapf82
    mkrapf82 Posts: 6 Member
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    This used to be (and I guess, to some extent, still is) a big problem for me. I tend to cook big meals for my boyfriend and I for dinner because we take the leftovers as lunches for the rest of the week. However, cooking extra for dinner means that there is more food to be eaten. It's healthy food, but as you pointed out, even too much healthy food is a problem.

    The way that we've been trying to fix this problem is by cooking enough servings to have leftovers, and then when the food is done cooking, we immediately break the food into portions. We put the leftover portions immediately into tupperware containers and put them into the fridge. That way, we don't overeat at dinner.

    Oh, and by the way, congratulations on quitting smoking! I quit almost three years ago, and I know that it's really hard, especially when you also want to lose weight. 100 days is awesome!
  • jacolyncoker
    jacolyncoker Posts: 86 Member
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    I can kind of relate.
    I'm younger so I still live with my parents. The only meal we eat together is dinner, and I'll spend the rest of the day before that eating very well and counting every calorie, but when it gets to dinner I did not make it and I underestimate the calorie value :P Its a pain.

    What you should do is EAT SLOWLY. That way you stop when you are really full, so you don't overeat.
  • noneya2010
    noneya2010 Posts: 446 Member
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    I am a night eater too. Sometimes without even thinking or realizing what i'm doing, I'm patrolling the kitchen looking for just something to eat. I have some sugar-free pudding cups and fruit cups for those moments when I am determined to just eat something and buy those Wyler Italian Ice popsicles (finding them at CVS). They are 25 cals per pop!

    Another way I try to combat is after dinner and cleaning up and trying to stay out of the kitchen, I brush my teeth and rinse with listerine or some other strong mouthwash. That will pretty much kill any urge to eat!
  • riannenrings
    riannenrings Posts: 142 Member
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    everyone has such great suggestions.
    Thanks everyone!!
    i am going to try them all!