Self Sabotage

I do this to myself, too, and the only way I can prevent it is to avoid buying the kinds of foods I'll mindlessly snack on. This is incredibly hard, since my 3 year old practically lives on peanut butter sammies and peanut butter is one of my binge/snack foods. But we do buy a lot more fruit and veggies, so I can always grab an apple or some strawberries if I am truly hungry.

One thing that does help a lot is that my kitchen is on the top floor, and the den is on the bottom floor of my house, so if I want a late-night snack, I have to haul my butt upstairs to get it., and be super quiet so I don't wake the baby or the 3 year old. The walk up the stairs also gives me time to think about whether I *really* want that snack or if I am just eating for the heck of it.

Oh, and I also forgive myself for slip-ups. I ate 2 ice cream sandwiches one night over the 4th of July weekend. At first, I was mad at myself and kind of ashamed, but really, one day of eating too much isn't what made me fat to begin with. ALWAYS eating too much food is what did it.

I think it can be beneficial to figure out why you sometimes self-sabotage (and I mean if it really is you doing that, and not just your body really craving a certain food).

I know people who feel very self conscious and then they project the feelings that they have towards themselves onto other people which then makes them feel like their friends must not care about them, their girlfriend/boyfriend must not love them, because how could they when they're so fat and ugly? So they end up overeating and gaining weight because they'll just feel like, "what's the point? My friends think I'm fat so I might as well be fat." And other times people will just think that they don't deserve to be skinny.

When that kind of mentality is in your head, I think it can be beneficial to really work through those thoughts and emotions because otherwise you're most likely going to continue to self-sabotage.

That being said, until it's worked through, I agree with not allowing yourself to buy the things that you tend to binge with.

Justifying that snack or indulgence is something i think we all do.

Having the will power to say NO when I am hungry or when I really just WANT a treat or specific food is hard. I honestly do not have that will power and I am seeking it by using this MFP.

For example today I was in a seminar and they had AMAZING food. I logged into MFP and evaluated the amount of calories I was wanting to consume. Seeing that it was going to be like 800+ calories for a breakfast snack I made a wiser choice.

That helped this time! I am hoping when it is 9PM and I want some pita chips MFP will help again.

I do this sometimes too. It basically happens if I buy a large bag of chips or something, and have it sitting around the next day. I will occasionally grab some and not log. To avoid this, I allow myself desserts and snacks but I buy something every afternoon that will fit into my calories for the day, and only has a serving in it. Tonight I have a little back of rice chips or something for 140 calories. Helps that I live alone and can walk to all grocery stores though.