Feelig out of control with recent mindless eating...

So, I have been at my goal weight for years. Well, within my range. I lost 43 lbs. 12 years ago and have kept it off. I have been struggling over the past year to stay within my vanity range (definitely within a healthy range, though). Because of my history, I always fear going backwards. Recently, I have started mindless eating again. I have two small children (5, 3) and ALWAYS feel like I am in the kitchen. I really try to cook a lot and make very healthy food for my family and it seems like someone is always hungry and I am ALWAYS making something (stay at home mom aside from a very part time job). I keep catching myself taking bites of crust here, spoonfuls of yogurt, bites of their plate, or just straight up eating from the jar when I am prepping food. I have been working hard to count calories, track everything and then I just blow it by eating without thinking while standing at the kitchen counter. I am not sure it would count as a binge per se as it is not large amounts, but I am very petite (5 feet tall) so I have NO room for error in trying to ditch my last 3 lbs (or even staying the same for that matter). I definitely do feel out of control at times though and that scares me.

I have just started putting things in individual servings to help and it does, but I still caught myself doing it again tonight after a great day as I was packing lunches for tomorrow.....

Just FYI, I have looked into mindless eating books, but am definitely not up for giving up calorie counting, etc.

Anybody else struggle with this? Words of advice? Anyone interested in staying accountable with me?

Thanks, in advance!
Heidi

Replies

  • lstnlondry
    lstnlondry Posts: 1,794 Member
    Ha! Im the queen. Infact I want to eat most after I've closed my diary.
  • nurse_shell74
    nurse_shell74 Posts: 41 Member
    I do the same thing all the time! I also find myself doing a lot of late night/early morning snacking. I'm also very petite so i know how those few extra pounds can be such a pain. Feel free to add me : )
  • Chelz2013
    Chelz2013 Posts: 176 Member
    First of all, I have a toddler, too, and I do the same thing.

    I once read someone's reply to a similar post that you could "consider" each bite as an additional 25 calories. I don't remember her words of wisdom, exactly, but that IDEA makes me think twice of taking that extra bite.

    Other than that, don't beat yourself up over it. You're obviously being more conscious about what you're doing, otherwise you wouldn't have posted the topic.

    Maybe try to drink some water when you're thinking of taking a bite.

    Or decide if you need to have a healthy snack (carrots or cucumbers & hummus, grapes, watermelon, apple slices, whatever works for you) around while you're cooking or fixing their lunches.
  • ktc1968
    ktc1968 Posts: 24 Member
    OMG! this was me yesterday except I live alone so I have no excuse. The only thing I can say I am lucky about is that I have no junk food in my house, so overindulging would be about a pounf of chicken and anything else I may have in the fridge. How do we make it stop? yes, I would love to have accountability, I'm in.
  • themanda04
    themanda04 Posts: 60 Member
    could you make allowances for your prep-snacking? take those calories into account into your daily total and log them as snacking?

    i'm thinking of an eating version of 'it's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission' sort of scenario...if it's too hard to stop the act, can you make it okay to consume that much over the course of your whole day/week?
  • I find myself mindless eating late at night after supper and I've logged all my food in and it looks so good. Then I just blow it and eat cookies, yogurt, chocolate when I'm not even hungry (and it doesn't get logged). I WANT to be able to log EVERYTHING and stop this mindless eating, but am really struggling. Help -- need some motivation and support!
  • pseudomuffin
    pseudomuffin Posts: 1,058 Member
    Someone on my friends' list told me once to train myself to ONLY eat at the table (mostly because I was complaining about my snacking habits at the computer) and sticking with that has helped me vastly curb the amount of mindless snacking I do.