Mindless eating..how to stop it?

Drink tons of water and coffee

Use your mind.

Distract yourself, I find walking, reading, painting my nails (can't eat after either because you can't do anything with wet nails, and also, nail polish remover tastes nasty and is all over your fingers.) cleaning, looking at gross pictures can make you lose your appetite, studying, and doing sit ups really quickly especially after drinking a glass of water can make you feel sick just thinking about food, and spinning around, you don't want a cookie when you're dizzy. Lol Just a few things I do.

Pre log your food and stick to it! Ask yourself why you're eating and/or stay out of the kitchen It's hard for a while but you can do it!

l1h2s3 wrote: »

X0X0NikkiX0X0 wrote: »

Distract yourself, I find walking, reading, painting my nails (can't eat after either because you can't do anything with wet nails, and also, nail polish remover tastes nasty and is all over your fingers.) cleaning, looking at gross pictures can make you lose your appetite, studying, and doing sit ups really quickly especially after drinking a glass of water can make you feel sick just thinking about food, and spinning around, you don't want a cookie when you're dizzy. Lol Just a few things I do.

good thanks....I will fill my ipod with music and start dancing may be!!

You could think about how much time you'd have to spend dancing to burn off whatever you were gonna snack on. 45min of dancing for 3 cookies?!! No thanks.

dont keep food like that in the house?

and i second the get a kitty post!

Perhaps start using your mind and get some mental discipline or common sense.
For goodness sake invest some time in understanding a looking at what you are trying to achieve, how and look at the things that set you off course.

Preplan and sometimes pre prepare your meals if you cant trust yourself. Maybe start shopping so you have on site all the ingredients you need.

Want it more than you want that snack. It's really that simple.

A good place to start is replacing the foods you mentioned with better alternatives. Snack mindlessly on those instead. The issue is not necessarily solved but at least you are now moving in the right direction.

On the weekends cook up a storm and have the food ready to just be heated up as soon as you get in. You can store excess in the freezer for the future. Cook lots of yummy vegetables dishes, beans and lentil dishes. Cook enough rice to last a couple of days. Keeping your fridge well stocked with healthy foods and nothing in the house that you usually binge on.

Beyond that, to stop the binging behaviours, it takes a concerted effort with focus and determination. I've written a long post about how i've learnt to minimise my binging behaviours in the food and nutrition forum. Look for the word sweet tooth in the title.

The main advantage i've had over you is that i don't have to go off to work every day. But i certainly have worked full time and know the drill and when i did it i used to find that having food cooked was the best way to deal with the end of day fatigue that prevents you from cooking. Also go to bed early. You may not be getting enough sleep. Its better to go to bed early and get up earlier so that when you are fresh in the mornings, you have more time to and energy to prepare healthy foods.

Adequate sleep is essential to staying healthy and slim if you are a binger type.

These days even though i always have plenty of time to cook, i know i don't always want to do it, so i stay prepared. I always have lots of vegetables in the fridge and a variety of other foods that make it easy to cook a healthy recipe on a whim. If you get stuck for ideas, get hold of some vegetable recipe books from your library or buy one to get started.

I also find lentil and chick pea soups very sustaining.

You said you have no control over what others bring in the house. First, try talking to everyone and explain what this journey means to you. They may not realize what is happening. If not, you can set aside a space for only you and stock it with better choices. For myself, I prepare servings size things like carrot sticks and other vegetables and fruits , put these in veggies ready to eat. This works well for just about any snack. Leave off the dressings and dips and really taste the food you eat. Plan, prepare, and think

Try having some healthy snacks ready for you when you get home - cut up some fruit, veggies in the fridge. Have some fruits handy such as apple, bananas, etc. on the kitchen counter in plain site. Hide or dispose of all sugary snacks. And if you still feel like having some sugar snack or chips, drink a glass of water first.

Like others have said, coffee helps suppress my appetite. Another suggestion is to change your routine around. Maybe start working out after work. At the gym, or jogging/running outside. Or try a cool new fitness class that you can go to after work, bring your gym bag with you. That way, you limit the amount of time you're actually at home with food available.

Another option is to find a hobby/routine that you can't eat during (like doing your nails, giving yourself a facial, etc). Not only will you take up more time you're not able to eat during, but you will feel pretty and not want to ruin your investment by going over your calories!!! It's win win!