No Willpower Anymore

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lavender101
lavender101 Posts: 27 Member
in Motivation and Support
Okay, I've lost any willpower I used to have around sweet foods. (think chocolate, sweet-covered popcorn, trail mix, etc.) To the point that I eat them at night (I wouldn't call it a binge necessarily) constantly after dinner, and the next morning the idea of breakfast sounds so gross to me because of how full I still am. (I don't get hungry until about noon the next day) I'm trying to lose about 10 pounds, but I'm really plateauing for this reason. I do quite well at eating healthy during the day, but at night I can't help snacking on sweets. I'm currently living at home with my parents, and my mother is big into buying sweets and snacks to have sitting out on our island counter in decorative jars. I don't want to ask her to stop buying snacks, because one) she likes using them for decoration, two) others in the house eat them, but I really need to stop snacking on them. I know that if I could, those 10 pounds would fall off simply because I exercise so much. Help??

Replies

  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    So your question is help on self control?
  • thepandapost
    thepandapost Posts: 117 Member
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    This isn't about willpower but putting your priorities in order. You want to lose 10 LBS but the nightly sweet fest is holding you back. What is your priority? Allowing your sweet tooth to take control or reaching your goal? I have candy in my house ALL THE TIME but me achieving x,y,z means more to me. I simply either leave the candy for that day or work it into the day in a portion that still allows me to hit my goals.
  • HisStrengthCounselor
    HisStrengthCounselor Posts: 191 Member
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    The cardinal rule is not have your danger foods in your house, it's like a crack addict or alcoholic keeping the drugs/alcohol in their house with the plan to 'use moderately'. It's impossible. You have to accept where your weakness are and stop rationalizing why you cotinue to keep those foods around. There is nothing wrong with your willpower, it's your thought process that needs to change. We all have certain foods that we cannot control or limit the amount we eat. We may be able to eat just a little at first, but eventually, just like any addiction, we will go overboard into full blown gorge fest and cotinue to eat what ever is we know we shouldn't. Please don't misunderstand, being healthy is a life goal, that does not mean, I will never have another piece of cake or ice cream sundae. But I do know that inorder to stay healthy, I have to eat those type of things sparingly and most definitely not have them in my fridge or cabinet if they are my weakness. My weakness is potato chips, I know that I can't eat them in moderation, I will eat the whole bag, no matter how I try to talk to myself, rely on 'willpower', I find myself saying, "oh just one more", which leads to another and another, until I am the point of no return. Emotions do not change our behavior. Our thought process changes our behavior. So relying on 'willpower' is not going to lead to sustained success. You can change, you can beat this, start believing in yourself. You can do it.:flowerforyou:
  • knitapeace
    knitapeace Posts: 1,013 Member
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    Prelog your day, including whichever sweet treat you want to have that night. When snacktime comes, measure it out of the decorative jar (weigh it!) into another container and eat what you've measured out. There's no rule that you can't enjoy foods you like as long as you plan them into your day and don't nibble at them every time you walk past. Plan, succeed, repeat.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    You're 18.

    Do you REALLY need to lose ten pounds?

    How tall are you? How much do you weigh?
  • SlimMe37
    SlimMe37 Posts: 133 Member
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    Is it possible to stay out of the kitchen after dinner? Perhaps have a healthy snack at hand before dinner, keep it in your room or the lounge or somewhere other than the kitchen. Also maybe make a drink before dinner to keep in a bottle. As you're living with other people, you aren't in control what comes into the house. But there are ways to help yourself. I have sweets in my house, but I also have a hubby and kids who love them. Sometimes I can have too many snacks but they still fit into my calories for the day and I don't have them all in one go. So I'm learning too ????
  • kefryar
    kefryar Posts: 77 Member
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    After dinner I have to immediately get out from in front of the tv. I do yoga, get a shower, wash my face, brush my teeth-anything to get away from the thought of snacking.
    I've been in therapy for bulimia and a therapist once told me that if you can wait 15 minutes, the urge will pass. This is SO true.
    When the urge to snack hits, paint your nails, bleach your teeth, clean your room, read a book. The urge passes really quickly when you occupy yourself with something else.
  • Aero1dynamic
    Aero1dynamic Posts: 702 Member
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    Prelog your day, including whichever sweet treat you want to have that night. When snacktime comes, measure it out of the decorative jar (weigh it!) into another container and eat what you've measured out. There's no rule that you can't enjoy foods you like as long as you plan them into your day and don't nibble at them every time you walk past. Plan, succeed, repeat.



    ^^This. I had the same problem and once I began PLANNING for my snack-fest, I got what I wanted with ZERO guilt and the knowledge that I hadn't derailed every effort I'd been making. You can have your snacks and lose weight, too!
  • kath5591
    kath5591 Posts: 4 Member
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    The cardinal rule is not have your danger foods in your house, it's like a crack addict or alcoholic keeping the drugs/alcohol in their house with the plan to 'use moderately'. It's impossible. You have to accept where your weakness are and stop rationalizing why you cotinue to keep those foods around. There is nothing wrong with your willpower, it's your thought process that needs to change.

    I agree wholeheartedly with the last part of what you say, but no one is EVER going to be able to keep away from sweets and/or other stuff they crave. I recommend reading Martha Beck "The 4 Day Win" .. she proposes exactly the opposite: keep all the "bad" things to eat in your house and eat them whenever you need to. She also gives practical lessons in attaining your important point ... how to change your thought processes. (Plus the book is hilarious. It makes me laugh out loud).
  • awolf2011
    awolf2011 Posts: 265 Member
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    It's easy to say to get rid of all the foods that you don't want to eat, but let's be realistic. You live with your parents, it's their house, and frankly if your mom wants to buy that sort of food who are you to tell her that she can't? So, problem is with your willpower and being able to tell yourself and you do not need those foods. After dinner you should get out of the kitchen, go outside, or the gym and get some exercise. Not to say that you can have a little of these foods, but I also agree that you should plan ahead and measure out those snacks. For me if I can have a little of what I crave, it takes care of the whole craving. I cannot give up EVERYTHING that I love, I just eat it in moderation and know that I need to work hard to get it.
  • socalkay
    socalkay Posts: 746 Member
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    "The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want now." ~ Zig Ziglar


    What do you want most?
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
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    The hardest thing about losing weight is changing the mindset and habits of eating. Even the terms we use during weight loss, like 'giving up' certain foods, or diet, or reduced calories, all sound and reinforce the negative, self-defeating thoughts that come around. Really, this change we are trying to make is how we see our eating. The changes we make are more about eating better foods and realistic portions. We have to accept and reinforce that when we make those choices. And those candies and sweet that we crave don't have to disappear completely. We just have to be more realistic about how much we have.

    That said, I tried doing the whole substitution thing for snacks. I was told to make sure I had healthy snacks around when the cravings for candy or soda popped up, and that DID work at one level. But then I found if I kept a lot of a healthy snack around I just ate A LOT of that healthy snack, which killed me in calories. So I went to only having around what I knew I was going to eat that day. It helped avoid temptation. And I found it easier and easier to stick to and enjoy what I was eating as I reinforced my good choices and moderation with positive internal talk.

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