Feel Like an Addict

Practicing moderation is tough, but I've found that its the only way I can stick with something! Telling myself "absolutely no chocolate ever" will lead me to think about chocolate every minute of every day, and then eat an entire kind bag of snack-sized kitkats. Seriously. But if I let myself have a little chocolate when I want it (a Kiss or two), and I log it, I don't feel the need to binge. It takes a while to get into that mind-set, but I have confidence that you'll get there!

I help myself by eating slow, drinking lots of water, and not starving myself. No way can I eat a reasonable sized dinner when I haven't eaten anything else all day.

Best of luck!

Oh my goodness... Your post is me to the "T". I will have a wonderful day and then I"ll eat one thing and it will screw my whole day up. It's so funny how our minds work. I will say to myself ok... Tomorrow is a new day and then it will take me another 3 days to get back on track. It has been such a yo~yo time for me right now. If you want friend me hopefully we could help each other out.

It seems like you and I have a lot in common today. I often feel extreme guilt and shame about eating. Sometimes I hide it, mostly I just wait until I'm naturally alone so I don't have to feel like I'm hiding it (less guilt if you only have to worry about one side of the coin, right?)

Moderation is hard, but forgiving yourself for not practising it is much harder. I think you and I should both agree to forgive ourselves for being imperfect, thank our bodies for the good they're doing, and promise to treat them like small children entrusted into our care: sometimes you can have a cookie, sometimes you can have the whole box, and I will love you anyway.

Never hurts to try right?

In my past I have been a huge yo-yo dieter ... lose twenty pounds ... gain it back ... lose twenty pounds gain it back.

I have finally hit a point where I am almost at my goal and managed to stay consistent for a year. But ... I will have a binge day or couple of days frequently. Because I dont understand it, I kept track of how I was feeling when I had those behaviours. What I noticed is that I do it when I limit myself too much for too long ... or have a ton of stress that is outside of my control!

Dont be too hard on yourself, you did it once, and can do it again! Feel free to add me!

Instagram @brosis85

I try to be "good" during the week and then on the weekend if I want to allow a small treat I do, or the other night I counted out TEN M and M's and it was just enough to crave the urge. Another thing that I like to do in plan my treat days like know something is coming up and then try really hard and then that day is a reward and not have to feel gulity.

There are some good thoughts and good attitudes here :-)

I have been struggling with the same thing. Some days I find myself struggling minute to minute, with the cravings and the urge to eat in excess. I was just questioning why is it such a struggle to just be healthy? Why is this habit so hard to break. How do I get myself into a habit of eating healthy and in moderation and exercising regularly. Some people seem to enjoy it. Why do I derive so much joy from overeating junk food? I have managed to loose in the past but it always creeps back on, even after several years a few times. Than it's harder than ever to get it off again. Some days I am strong and have no problems eating healthy and exercising, but some days it is a true minute by minute struggle! Some days I win the struggle some days I loose, but the battle continues.... FYI, I hate to loose, I will win this battle and so can you

Things that have worked for me:
Not only set a max calorie (ex: 2000) limit but also a minimum (ex: 1500) never go above or below.
Instead of one big glut fest at the end of the day have 5 or 6 scheduled meals (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and snack) throughout the day.
Strict rule if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it, so get a digital scale for your food.
Calories are a good general start but saturated fat and cholesterol come in second and third.
Small victories will beep you on track so don’t spend too much time thinking about the big goal.
I think about breaking my last best weigh in by 1/10th of a pound. That could happen tomorrow rather than 6 months from now.
Others as well but hope these help, good luck!

Guess you just need to fight it as hard as you can and still expect a glich here and there. I do believe it's getting a little easier. At least by recording what I eat, it's opening my eyes.

Emotional and compulsive eating is something I've struggled with my entire life. These past four years I've managed to get it under control, but you are right to label this an addiction. The pleasure centers in our brain are triggered in some of us just as much by sweet, salty and fatty foods as they would be by alcohol, nicotine, cocaine or heroin. Like dealing with those addictions there is no one-size-fits all solution.

What many people find they have to do, at least temporarily, is keep their trigger foods out of the house. If you don't buy it, you can't eat it, is the logic. I had to do that with ice cream and tortilla chips. I had to have a very candid and humbling conversation with all the members of our household and get them to understand that buying a carton of ice cream just to have it in the freezer was a bad thing for dad (me). Likewise stocking up the pantry with chips and cookies. I also had to alter my behavior in the office so that I wouldn't head to the vending machine two or three times a day. I no longer carry any coins or small bills on my person. If I get change at a store I will put all the coins into whatever donation container is available (they always seem to have these) or the tip jar. And dollar bills come out of my wallet every night and go into the savings jar (this has had other benefits).

Willpower is mostly a myth. If it was as simple as just making a different choice anyone could do it. You will probably have to alter the structure of your life in some way to make changing your relationship with food into a reality. I've been successful in retraining my mind by altering my behavior patterns so that I no longer see a single scoop of ice cream as sad. It's a nice treat that I have because I want ice cream though, not for any other reason at all. Having a treat is fine. Having a treat because you had a bad day, or because you want a reward for something good you did is a problem. Food is food. It's not a reward or a comfort.

That last bit though, that's a tough hurdle to get over.

-Tex

Just remember the old addict line: JUST FOR TODAY!

Just for today I don't need to eat chocolate!

Just for today I will walk 30 minutes!

Just for today I will make 3 healthier choices

Just for today I will beat my addiction to food!

Just for today I will be motivated!

:happy:

This, while simple, was quite lovely. Just for today.

Another benefit to cutting it completely is that you can see a difference in how you feel much faster than you will with moderation. For me, when I eat sweets now they seem overly sweet and just a tiny bit is plenty. Even fruit seems really sweet to me now. When you constantly exposure yourself to that stuff your tastebuds become desensitized to it and it takes more and more to satiate the craving. Once you are away from it for a while that doesn't happen. I always regret cheats though...not because of calories or carb count or i feel like a failure...but because of how i feel physically when i eat it. I've begun to associate that crappy feeling with sweets and that helps me stay away from them much easier now...and between my husband and my kids...i'm always around tempation.