overcoming eating way too much

Biggest help for me was (and is) measuring my food and logging everything as I eat it on here. When I log as the day progresses it keeps me in check, on the days when I can't log as I eat ... I log at night and its usually a shock as to how much I ate that day. I am not nearly as good at estimating as I thought.

Hello. As I REbegin my weight loss journey (for the zillionth time) I'd like some advice from you. For those who started out eating way too much etc. What helped you to gain control? How long did it take to adjust to eating a decent amount rather than eating in surplus? Do the cravings ever go away? Just looking for some ideas to get restarted.

For me it was understanding what hunger really felt like and accepting that it was ok to feel hungry. I did a juice fast and only allowed myself juice 4 times a day for 5 days. It was difficult but by the 3rd or 4th day I realized that I wasn't going to keel over from hunger and that I felt better than I did when I was stuffing myself full. That was a year and a half ago and I still can't stand being full. I eat several times a day but in smaller amounts. I allow myself to feel hungry before I eat and only eat until satisfied. I've had a few times where I've eaten too much and I am just miserable until my stomach empties out.

A juice fast, or fast of any kind isn't for everyone. Mine was a spiritual fast as well as a physical one. I do think that it's important to understand what hungry feels like and that it's ok to be hungry.

Good luck to you!

1. skip breakfast
2. track your calories via myfitnesspal (try not to go over)

Two things that I am working on changing are eating too fast and eating while distracted. I allow myself to get too hungry and then I eat way more than I should, really fast, so I'm trying to slow down more and focus on the meal. I am trying to get away from eating while doing work or watching tv too. I think if I make more of an effort to appreciate the food, I'll have better control over my portions.

Also, I think there are some studies that have been done that relate the color and size of the plate you are using to your eating habits. It might be something to look into!

Learn your number.

Mine is about 600.

What's the number? It's the number of calories I need to eat for my body to feel like it's had enough to eat. It's different for everybody.

All my life I ate until I was physically full. That signal does not come for me fast enough. Inevitably I usually ate too much, and I felt stuffed later. Then the glucose/insulin roller coaster ride began and caused me to feel hungry just a few short hours later.

I started experimenting with how many calories I needed to eat to feel satisfied. Not necessarily full, but not hungry. The satisfaction wasn't immediate. I had to get up from the table still hungry, but then gauged my level of satiety 60-90 minutes later. I found that if I ate a meal that only had 400 calories that my hunger was not satisfied and I ended up eating more. At the 600=700 calorie mark I am satisfied an hour later.

If you follow the conventional wisdom of frequent smaller meals you'll likely never feel satisfied, resulting in binges and falling off the wagon. Eating in a style that lets you feel satisfied, at least once per day, will help keep you on track for the long term.

Also, as mentioned by others, try trimming down your level of simple carb/sugar consumption. As much as I love carbs, I admit it reduced cravings when I steered clear of them.

Log everything, look for patterns. Knowing what you are really doing will help you modify your behaviors. (If you skip lunch, are you ravenous at dinner leading to overeating? Too much food in one snack leaves you sluggish? Do you have a better/easier day with a small breakfast or a larger one or none? Do veggies satisfy you as a snack, or do you need something with protein and fat to satiate you?) While it holds true for everyone that creating a calorie deficit is the key to weight loss...HOW you create a deficit and stick to it will depend on your own experiences and preferences. For example, I'm not always hungry in the morning, and I love to eat at night, so I often have my first meal around noon, and then 2 snacks after dinner. (This only works if skipping breakfast doesn't make you crazy hungry)

People do talk about carbs a lot, and not everyone agrees on how many carbs is the right amount, but many carb-heavy foods ARE calorie dense, and often less satisfying than other things, therefor they aren't always the best use of calories for a lot of us. I don't do low carb, but i try (not always successfully!) to be selective about them. Sometimes I can't get my hand out of that bag of chips...but 500 calories later I'm still hungry.

Regarding cravings...when we're used to overeating, our bodies hunger cues get really screwed up. This does get easier, though it's impossible to tell you how long it will take you. I do think it's important to pay attention to how you feel, without letting it control you. One thing that's important to learn is that it's ok to feel hungry, you won't die or pass out from skipping that extra portion or saying no to the extra snack. A rumbling belly doesn't mean you need to put food in it. Of course, this requires you to learn what your body DOES need so you can eat appropriately while ignoring those hunger cues...you don't wanna just not eat. People go about this differently. For ME, at first, this meant eating at regular, planned intervals throughout the day. (Planning and logging the day ahead of time can really help with this) I knew that waiting a few hours between meals/snacks wouldn't kill me no matter how much I wanted to eat. I stopped letting my hunger cues dictate meal times and portion sizes and made informed choices instead. Once it becomes easier to have control over those things, you can start tweaking the system. (Please note: if you are diabetic or have low blood sugar, then meal timing becomes important to keep things level, talk to your doctor if that's the case!)

Your body craves when it is deficient in nutrients. When you choose to feed cravings with nutrient poor food choices, you don't satisfy your body so it keeps searching...and you keep eating. Usually more nutrient poor choices...which means you keep eating...and overeating happens!

Make good choices - don't eat low carb, but choose nutrient dense choices that'll satisfy your body's needs. Include plenty of protein and good fats with every meal. These will satisfy you for much longer than carbs, and if you really listen to your body you'll likely find you aren't especially hungry between meals. Don't eat out of habit, or boredom....plan your meals, have them all prepared with times to eat and stick to it!

I find that sometimes when I think I am hungry, I am actually thirsty so I try to drink more water. I also stock up on fruits/veges as snacks so I am not tempted by chips etc.

My wife and I weighed and logged everything we ate, and we still do while we are on maintenance. We also spent free time walking the neighborhood, and on weekends walking in parks etc. We would walk 4 miles every night and 5 miles on Saturday and Sunday. Walking helped pass the time between meals, when you are walking, you are not at home in front of the TV snacking and having a beer.

1. skip breakfast
2. track your calories via myfitnesspal (try not to go over)

I don't like the idea of skipping breakfast. Some people figure it works to reduce your calorie intake but for some of us, it has the exact opposit effect. I used to just have coffee and then go about my day and felt ok but by mid afternoon I was so ravenous that I was out of control. Once I got used to eating breakfast, I no longer had those insane afternoon binges. Others will swear it doesn't matter either way so try both and do what works best for you.

Make sure you have a proper calorie goal - if you feel like you're not getting enough calories with a 2 pounds per week goal, change to 1.5 or 1 pound per week. Sure it'll take a bit longer to lose but who cares, you're still improving yourself, it doesn't matter if that takes a year or 5 years.

Plan, prepare and pack. Every weekend I plan out my meals for the week before I go grocery shopping. That includes ALL meals, snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then I spend some time preparing breakfast and snack dishes for the week and portioning them out so I can just throw them in my lunch box. Every morning I pack my breakfast, lunch and snacks for the day. The more I have on hand, the less I'll be tempted to grab whatever is handy. This also allows me to pre-log most, if not all, of my day first thing in the morning. Knowing I only have a little wiggle room helps me stay away from temptations that don't fit in my daily calorie goal.

Log as accurate and consistently as you can and use the journal feature as well. This is such a valuable tool for making small changes to your diet. Pay attention to how certain foods make you feel. For instance, I've discovered that I'm borederline hypoglycemic through tracking. If I were to have something like cereal, milk and banana for breakfast, I feel satisfied and good initially but about 2 hours later, I'm super hungry and shaky because my sugar levels have spiked and dropped in that time. I've learned to eat a better balance of complex carbs, healthy fats and plenty of protein to keep full longer and keep my energy level up.

Make small changes, don't try to rush into this with a super low calorie goal, especially if you're used to eating more. You might feel ok at first but it's likely to catch up to you and could lead to you giving up again. Remember, this is a lifestyle change, not a quick fix. Take your time and learn as you go.

Best of luck!