Tips to stop over eating?

linsey0689 wrote: »

I need some tips as far as food and over eating goes. I'm tried of losing and gaining the same 5-10 lbs over and over again. Unlike my others who can't eat sweats in the morning or any other similar saying regarding food. That's not me. I can eat a lot of sugary food and not feel sick. I rarely feel full, I don't think my brain even knows what full is to be honest.

Please share with me how you stopped over eating. What are you eating and how were you able to stop this terrible cycle I'm in?

Since this is a psychological problem I would take some psychological measures. It is a habitual thinking so you have to try and distract yourself (using your willpower) after you have had a normal sized portion of food (using your calorie goal you have to decide and measure what a normal portion is for you). Just start doing something immediately. Get off the table and start doing it. Theoretically (in practices like CBT for example) after some time (couple of weeks) your brain should recondition itself not to think of more food after you have had the normal sized portion. It is like addiction so at first you might feel like it is going to feel the same after meals forever and distraction would be very difficult for ever. However this is not true. This is the addiction talking. It will get better and eventually the desire to over eat will disappear.

Just a suggestion Good luck!

Green veggies really keep you feeling fuller longer. I'm was constantly snacking and never felt satisfied. Give it a shot let us know how it goes.

Agreed with @endlessfall16 . My pints were of icecream, especially chocolate, and if I didn't feel full, that meant I didn't eat enough. And here we are.
It was a gradual process, I started portioning my food, eliminating a lot of my trigger foods (there is rarely ice cream in my house, and if there are, it's in bar form, I know I'll sneak 'a little extra' ) but at the same time, I still have foods that will curb my cravings. As dark of chocolate as I can stand (about 65%, usually salted caramel), slowed down on drinking soda, stepped up drinking flavored tea (mint and cinnamon stick). If I want something, I consult my food diary to determine if I have enough calories for it. I've got to say, in the last few months my cravings have went way down, it just took time. Today when I wanted a soda, I wanted it for the caffeine (plain coffee, bleh) no the sugary taste.
I play a 'game' with myself that every time I think I'm hungry, and I know I'm not (no hunger signs), I take drink some water/tea/whatever. I try and drink a glass of water right before a meal to help out with that not-so-full feeling. And some people eat bulk - meaning they eat a lot of veggies and lean protein that's low on calories but fills you up. Most of all, it's up to me (and you for you) to just stop and think about it before I just mindlessly reach for food.

I force myself to log every bite. Facing the music and potentially facing those red MFP Food Diary numbers is enough to keep me honest!

I always take enough food to work that I can have my lunch and two snacks so I never feel like I'm going to be deprived. Just thinking I might be deprived makes me crave food:/ I tell myself if I'm hungry at 10 I can have my yogurt but if it passes 11 I wait for lunch. For some reason knowing I have snacks and won't go hungry I have eaten less most days. I do not go over my calories...I will do extra exercise before I will go over my calorie limit! It's a new habit...logging and not going over:) Good results have reinforced my new habits;)

Soon as you wake up chuge a bottle of water, constantly hydrate yourself drinking a gallon a day is best but the best you can do will benefit you. Stress, not sleeping well, and lack of a consistent gym routine plays a huge role in having cravings. Obviously this will not happen over night, but the more you stay hydrated, keep yourself on a routine and get rest you're body will begin to process speeding up your metabolism and begin deminishing the chemical imbalance that you have that makes you have those cravings. You should be eating 3meals a day and 3 snacks, your body feeds off the nutrients in a healthy diet and begins to decrease the bad foods and crave the healthy foods. It's definitely not easy in the beginning but for a fact if you have self discipline and self control you can do it. Or ask a friend to help give you that push to stay on track in the beginning until you have full control

I don't do intermittent fasting, really, but I've learned that I tend to over eat most often in the evenings. So I eat far less in the first half of the day and eat most of my calories in the evenings. Plus I drink water when I get munchies... or coffee.... or tea. And I chew gum.

I've found that doing something that occupies my mind really helps. I either read or color because I'm focusing on something else other then food. If I watch tv I usually end up wanting to eat bc thats typically where I eat my snacks.

kommodevaran wrote: »

I was able to replace my chaotic unhealthy eating with structured healthy eating, by planning my meals, portioning out and logging, and using "the hunger scale" to teach myself what "full" means. I can eat a lot more than that, but that doesn't mean I should. I don't keep typical trigger foods in the house. I need tasty foods, and food tastes good when I don't eat sweets and salty snacks regularly, but don't try to eat low fat and diet food either. Old fashioned, ordinary home cooked food works for me.

This is good advice, OP.

I had a reasonably structured diet already, so what I did was think through a day to understand where I was getting excessive calories and cut those out. Part of it was reducing calories at meals (no Indian takeout just because I worked late and was tired -- have foods on hand that I can cook quickly -- and realizing that food would taste just as good with less butter, oil, or cheese), and a good part was controlling mindless snacking at work. For that I decided I'd eat good, tasty, nutritious meals and not snack between. If I wanted to eat I could have raw vegetables, but mostly I'd remind myself that my next meal wasn't that far away and would be worth waiting for/anticipating.

Logging what you are eating now is helpful, and also having a plan. I think sometimes people think they can just decide to eat less but not have a plan for what their meals will involve and then end up eating more than they intended. It's kind of like thinking you can eat out of a bowl of tortilla chips (maybe with some salsa and guac) on the table and just eat a serving. Most of us will keep eating (if we like that kind of food, anyway) and if so that's more due to poor planning/strategy than will power.

To prepare for an upcoming trip to Asia, I started using chop sticks. Took me forever to finish my meals. Usually by the time I realized I wasn't hungry anymore, I would still have quite a bit of food left. You'll get better using them but overall, it will slow down your "rate of intake" vs a fork. At least that has been my experience.

I did something drastic. I forgot what it felt like to be hungry, because the last few years I just ate and ate, and never allowed myself to feel hunger. So one day before I started this, I didn't eat for a whole day, and only drank water so I can truly feel the hunger pings. So now I know what those true hunger pains are and will eat only when I feel that way. Or I jot down my feelings when I eat something like was I really hungry, did I eat out of being bored etc. It helped me.

Prelog your food to determine what your portions should look like, and then eat that... If you still have problems, then hit a dollarama, pick up some cheap tupperware and prelog AND prepare all of your meals for the day in advance, eat whatever you have planned and when your daily containers are empty, stop.