It's so hard...

There really is no specific remedy to this problem. Some people try to replace thoughts of food with something else like a hobby to keep their mind busy. A lot of it is self control though. You know how bad you want to lose weight, and you know what it takes to get there.

I just quit smoking after 8 years, and I've found that distracion helps. Also coffee, I mean i guess it depends on you cal goal but not smoking makes me want to eat all. The. Time. And so if I'm super cravy (food or cigarettes) I just coffee.

The thoughts of food never leave, would actually be dangerous if it did, as then you would constantly forget to eat and end up being just as bad other way.

For me, and it differs for everyone, I had to hit that point in life where I had a goal that couldnt be left any longer.

I hit 40, and thought, thats it les, you either do this now and put your future plans into action, or your doomed to stay as you are, and that just aint an option.

My 1st obstacle was binging on cheat days.
So I made sure all my meals planned the night before, so when I go to the freezer I know what i'm having, how much, and roughly when.

Then came the online grocery shops, knowing how normally i do them at night when i tend to be more hungry, knowing if I put something in it be too late to go back and take it out for next day.

I now do them straight after i've had my main meal when i'm full and content, so when I look at my normal treats, i'm not that fussed about them. So i'm more sensible with my decision making.

So my advice would be, get pen and paper, and start to make a list of all the things that normally trip yourself up, the excuses you make, etc etc, then go through them one by one and change the scenario.

You'll find over time because you know what your liable to do you in advance, you can stop yourself putting yaself in the position to fail.

Hope that makes sense

Best of luck

I have night time binge control issues. Most people struggle for periods of time periodically with certain things. Right now I've lost my motivation to exercise but I'm able to maintain a healthy diet so I'm still losing weight. Find a balance that works for you. If you are physically starving and you can't wait until your next meal, eat. Don't torture yourself. If at the end of the day you go over your calorie limit by a 100 or so to keep your sanity it's better than sticking to your diet all day just to ruin all your hard work at night by bingeing because you are so hungry. Distraction helps too. I come on here and read form posts or write in my blog about what I'm struggling with. It helped tremendously when I first started this journey. Good luck! FR sent.

Make sure your diet is balanced enough to cover hunger and then nutrition. Then you will need variety afterwards. If you arent hungry then the torture of wanting to eat becomes less. Maybe your weight loss target is too severe? Have snack food ready. As said above you need to find something that works for you assuming its sensible and takes in some of the important principles. Drink your allotment of water as well.

If I'm hardcore craving something, I have a cup of tea. Because my wife and I have this huge collection of looseleaf teas, I can pretty much find anything to solve that craving. Want chocolate? Mint chocolate tea. Want salty salty goodness? I have salted caramel tea. Want pizza? I . . . don't have pizza flavoured tea. Yet. But I do have some that taste like bacon, and that helps.

For starters it depends on why you're thinking about food.

I found it helped to give myself a routine - so I did know when I was getting my next meal. Breakfast after I've dressed, lunch at 12:30, a snack at 3:30pm, dinner just before 6pm. That way I don't have to think about it too much. Also, as people have said planning ahead is good! I get these low calories snacks from graze.com so in the afternoon I just pick one or two of those (I get two if I've exercised that day, or plan to!). My breakfast is usually a shake I grab on my way out the door etc. Get into some solid routines and decide how you're allotting you calories - I always save 600 for dinner and I always have 50/60 left for a biscuit just before bedtime.

In terms of foods that are filling, I love Shirataki noodles (sold as 'Skinny Pasta' etc)!! For snacks, microwave popcorn is great - you get a big bag for not very many calories - or a handful (weighed and pre-bagged) of pistachio nuts which you have to crack open one by one. Vegetables are also really low calorie, so I often get a ready-meal that's say 400 calories and add veg to it - that way I get a huge plateful. I'm one of the few people on here who love ready-meals, they might not be the healthiest, but they keep me honest as far as calories are concerned! Oatmeal is also really filling, it sticks to your sides!

Lastly, when I started out a month ago someone told me to really look at my plate before I started eating and during - so my sub-conscious could catch up to the fact that I was eating plenty - and strangely enough this really helped me. Also, drinking a cup of water 10 minutes before I started my meal helped too! If you don't drink enough water (8+ cups a day) your body can tell you you're hungry when you're not - the same is true re vitamins (I now take a supplement and I think it helps). My final defence against hunger pangs is exercise. If I feel hungry I can usually put off eating for another hour - to reach one of my allotted eating times - by going on a walk, or riding my bike etc.

Good luck! xx