Hi! I'm new to FitnessPal

Hi I am also new to the site (just about a week) I have to admit that I didnt want to do it and dreaded logging in my food, but yesterday was my first day logging in everything and I found out that I didnt eat enough! I am shocked and looking forward to using this site. A freind of mine that I do spin class with suggested it and so far so good!

I don't know if this advice will be of any use but it's yours for what it's worth! I'm the same with cravings—it's never really a case of being so hungry that I eat a lot. It's always that I like the taste and the sensation and I just keep going. And going. And going! The sensible bit of my brain shuts off for the duration of the binge and then just switches back on as soon as I swallow the last bite.

I've recently cut back a lot on alcohol, and completely given up smoking. In the past, I've always made a massive drama out of throwing away my last pack of cigarettes and it being some sort of ceremonial thing. Weirdly enough, the thing that really helped this time was having cigarettes in the house. I haven't had a cigarette for six weeks, even though we have a pack in the drawer. I've even rolled one for my girlfriend so I get used to the idea of touching them without obsessing about them. You need to have the conviction that you want to give up (and you need to be ready for it), but after that, confronting the craving is the best thing to do.

It's the same with alcohol. If the house is dry, my first thought is "shall I go out and buy a six-pack?", and if I do, I tend drink it all! If there's so much in the house that I'll never get through it, it forces me to stop and consider how much I *want* to drink, not how much I *can* drink.

I'm reluctant to suggest it, but maybe think about this: Buy a truckload of sweets, sit down in front of them, and realise that we only crave what we can't have. If you have all the sweets you could possibly want right there in front of you, it will allow you to put yourself in charge of the craving, rather than the other way around. If you're anything like me, when you know the sweets are going to run out soon, you just keep eating until they're gone. In a weird way it makes me feel in charge. However, if you know that there are more sweets than you can eat in a day, it will force *you* to make the decision of how many to eat, not the amount that are left.

Sorry for the long post, and sorry if that doesn't make sense. Bottom line—I still have an open packet of cigarettes (and lots of brownies!) in my house and I this is the longest I've ever quit in ten years!!

Good luck, whichever way you do it!