Can't stop eating

Ugh, I've been the same way lately! I have a couple suggestions:

1) Invest in a slow cooker! You don't really have to know how to cook to throw some things in a pot and set the timer. There are tons and tons of great recipes on the internet (and Pinterest!)

2) They aren't great for you, but I've found that frozen meals can do in a pinch when I'm really craving fast food. They should be used sparingly because of all the sodium, but can help you with portion control too.

3. Eat in this order.

Vegetables or fruit first. Water to drink with it.
Main meal. Juice to drink with it.
Make sure you count the calories, measure how much juice you are drinking, then you will be fine. This will fill you up! I promise. It helped me a lot today, and I feel great already. Happier, for instance. ^.-

i was going to say this. simply inserting a salad or veggies at the beginning of meals helped me tremendously. I didn't change what else i ate (at first). just added a large salad. and then i didn't eat as much of anything else, but i wasn't limiting myself either.

i think that's a solid place to start.

I have the exact same problem and although I fail to follow my own advice frequently, at least I have, over time, been able to identify the cause and solution.

When I plan out my day either in the morning, or the night before, and I enter everything I can eat within my allotted calories, I stick to it better. I do better when I know what I can eat and how much.

Things get hard when I fail to plan and end up hungry with nothing prepared or portioned out. If I let it go until I'm hungry, I don't want to start cooking, I want to start eating. So I say "screw it" and go out and grab something. Usually fast food because, well, it's fast. Which also means it's bad for me.

Rarely do I want to run out and get a salad. But.... if the salad was already made and sitting in my fridge, then it's fast AND easy. I just have to make it when I'm NOT hungry. Which gets back to the planning part.

I plan better when I'm not hungry, so I try to do it the day before. I plan tomorrow's food today, so I never end up being stuck.

That said, while I know what situations lead to picking junk, and I know how to solve it... I haven't found a solution to being lazy yet. Cooking takes effort and has to be done before I'm hungry, so if I don't make it that far after work, I end up picking up junk on the way home. So the planning has to be strategic (meaning, planning my afternoon snack to be very filling, i.e. fiber, and late enough to last until I get home AND cook supper).

Lastly, I know you're getting a lot of advice about eating on a college income. But unfortunately you're going to have to choose between cheap, easy, yummy & healthy. I shoot for at least three, settle for two. Fact is, convenience foods (prepackaged salads, per-portioned snacks) are expensive. Portioning your own foods is time-consuming. Raw veggies on the go aren't usually very yummy unless you are accustomed to eating that way (fat food to celery sticks sucks!), and while fruits are easy, cheap and yummy, they are often calorie dense. So even though they are healthy, you can't realistically just eat fruit all day.

Losing weight on a budget is a balancing act. I wish that balancing act burned calories! lol

Take it easy on yourself. You didn't gain it overnight, you won't lose it overnight. The best advice I read here was to sub out stuff a little at a time. Start easy, pick something you can change right now that won't stress you out. Stress leads to bad choices and overeating (ask me how I know!). For me, it was whole grains. I couldn't give up bread, no matter how many people preached to me about carbs and gluten. I couldn't do it. It stressed me out. So I switched to whole wheat. I also switched my coffee creamer to fat free half-n-half. I didn't give it up, I just subbed it.

Baby steps.

You'll get there. You just have to find what works for you. Try mine. Try planning ahead. Try fixing food a day before. See if that's it. If not, move on to the next idea. Prioritize and plan.

There is no magic pill. No magic solution. No magic food or supplement. Healthy diet and exercise have been the only answers since the dawn of time. The diet industry makes BILLIONS off our desire to find the easy way out, but if any of them worked, no one would be fat anymore. So do NOT believe that crap. The only thing you will lose is time and money.

Good luck!

Does your college have therapists available for students? Often, they'll provide therapy at a low cost for students.

Stop waiting for tomorrow.

I was always bad about the same thing…I would wake up late…not have time to grab a healthy breakfast so I would grab donuts and chocolate milk. So I would do the same thing with lunch because the day was already shot…and so on and so on.

Here is something someone wrote once on a forum and I have tried to embrace it…if you were distracted driving into work this am and blew thru a stop sign (and no one got hurt) you wouldn’t ignore all traffic signals for the rest of the day would you?

Think of every time you are hungry as an opportunity to do something better for yourself and sometimes that something better might just be ice cream.

MFP has been great for me this time (over 2 months and counting) because the overwhelming attitude is eat what works for you within your parameters. Yes, there are foods I honestly have no control over (Reece cups for instance) but I am trying to be realistic about what I can eat and how much I am eating. I have started days off with Ho-Ho’s and chocolate milk and still ended them under my calorie count.

Hi, my name is Carrie and I'm an emotional eater. No, really. I usually don't have an issue with food - until something upsets or frustrates me, then it's all out war on whatever I can find. (Sometimes I'll binge on the healthy stuff, even - ugh.)

Cheetos are my Kryptonite. Can't have them in the house, can't be around them, can't even look at them. I would agree that you should stay away from whatever YOUR "Kryptonite" is - if it's a few things, so be it.

Cooking? Eh, you don't "have to" learn, but it's helpful. I love to cook, personally, and I love trying new recipes - especially those that might have once been "off" the list. But seeing that you're in school, space may be an issue. Still, it's worth looking into. The crock-pot ideas are worth investigating, especially since you say you don't have a lot of money, and crockpot cooking is not only easy and healthy, but can be really inexpensive if you buy the right things. I have a pulled pork recipe that costs nothing more than the pork shoulder, a few onions, and a bottle of barbecue sauce (and they make good low-sugar ones out there, too). Making a pot of that feeds me and my husband for almost a week!

You have more control than you think. You just need to harness and use it. You're sure in the right place to start - I've gotten more ideas from here for recipes and nutrition than any other site I've visited.

BTW: please, do consider the fact that diabetes is a concern. I am T2 diabetic, and I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. Luckily, I'm under tight control, but I know many who aren't and who struggle with it every... single... day. You don't want that.
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Good luck!

Food addiction is a very real thing, and is more widespread than people realize. Learning to cook won't solve your problem if you still have this addiction. The worst thing about food addiction is that you can't eliminate it from your life completely. Can you imagine being a recovering alchoholic who has to take a shot 3 times per day?

I am not a therapist, or a nutritionist, or an expert in any way. I am, however, a person who has successfully changed the way I relate to food. I used to wake up thinking about what food I will eat that day from breakfast to dinner, and I indulged myself constantly. I planned social activities around food to the point where I didn't want to hang out with my friends if they picked a restaurant I didn't like. I am a single mom who does not receive any support from the other parent, and yet I was spending hundreds of dollars each month eating out. Its not a great place to be in life, and changing is NOT easy.

My advice is to take baby steps. You are not going to be able to give up your bad habits overnight, and expecting to do so will only put you into a cycle of negativity that will work against you. Take it one step at a time! You may choose to do it differently, but when I changed my lifestyle I set a goal every week. This week I will eat one healthy meal per day. Next week I will eat fruits and vegetables as a morning snack. Next week I can only eat out once per day. Etc.. You may choose different goals, but the gist of it is to just make small changes over time that will add up! Eventually food will stop taking on the importance that it used to have. Now I eat to keep myself healthy, to fuel my body, instead of feeling like I HAVE to eat my favorite things. I still treat myself occasionally, but that is an informed choice I make.

The most important thing is to try to stay positive, and to keep your goal in mind. I visualize my life the way I want it, and then every healthy choice I make feels important, and I stay motivated. Each time I eat a light yogurt for a snack instead of a bagel and cream cheese I feel good about myself, I feel like I'm making one more step towards my goal, I feel rewarded. And if I screw up? Well guess what, I'm human and I made a mistake. Big deal. I move on and do better tomorrow. Beating yourself up is only going to make you fail. Just keep going, and don't give up!

Food addiction can be as difficult to deal with as any other depending on how you are thinking about your situation. Good for you for reaching out for advice. While I have a food addiction with ice cream, I have figured out out to fit it into my day with all of the healthy things I need to have. Your first step is to take responsibility for your eating choices by being better prepared. You don't have to be a great cook to eat better. Throw some salt, pepper, thyme, garlic and onion powder, and olive oil chicken, pork, or beef and throw it in the oven (or BBQ if you have one). Buy some ready made salad buy some dressing (like a low calorie balsamic vinaigrette) and you have lunch or supper. Have an apple or peach for dessert. As someone mentioned buy what is seasonal as it is cheaper. Even frozen blueberries in vanilla yogurt can substitute for a sweet treat. It is all about choices. Make sure you are honestly logging your foods here in MFP. The trick is to be prepared --don't not have healthy stuff available. Google menu plans and create one that works for you and your lifestyle. Know what you are going to eat well in advance of day. I would check at your school for resources that may be able to help you (e.g. nutrition, registered dietitian, and counselling). I was also recommended a book that I will be checking out (Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything). You can do this, you just have to make the mindful, conscious decision to do so.

Google your college name + therapy. Most colleges offer free or reduced-cost therapy for their students. If you can afford to eat out at restaurants every day, you can afford reduced-cost therapy. Overeaters Anonymous is also completely free.

Wow Carrie - good job on the weight loss. How long did it take you?