Always thinking about food
sophomorelove
Posts: 193 Member
Hi, my name is Nadia. I am 31 years old, and I am nearly desperate. I wonder if I'm alone in this, but whenever I am consistently tracking, the thoughts about food and my next meal are always at the back burner of my mind. All day long. And then in my dreams at night. I don't starve: I try to stay within 1200-1400 cal a day for a 1 lb/week loss. I think this obsession with food is what gets really old and makes me quit after a few months every time I attempt to get to a healthy weight. In particular, I crave sweets. I have been fighting this since I can remember myself. As a kid, I'd sneak out into the kitchen and eat sugar by the spoonful. I am not doing it out of boredom, as I'm very busy (a full-time job, full-time engineering school, and a 3 year old kid). The only way I discovered I could handle not eating is going to sleep. I can do it during school breaks, but I gain all the weight back during the following semester, when I only get 4-5 hours of sleep per night.
I don't even know why I am writing this. I am curious how others deal with similar problems.
I don't even know why I am writing this. I am curious how others deal with similar problems.
2
Replies
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I'm the same, my first thought in the morning is what can I eat today !3
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I have the same problem. The only thing that has sort of worked for me so far is to try and make meals that I really enjoy so I at least have something to look forward to2
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YES. I sometimes feel like I'm the only person I know obsessed with food. It doesn't matter if I'm in a dieting mindset or just my everyday "hungry" mindset... I'll either be thinking "Okay, I know lunch is in three hours, but should I get a sandwich from that place I really like? Or should I get a bagel with cream cheese?" or at work I'll be like "That meeting is done by 2:30 and they have a dessert tray catered; I wonder how much they'll have left over so I can sneak some." I, too, crave sweets like you do. The worst part, however, is that I am a notorious night snacker. I can diet successfully all day and when I get home to watch a TV show with the hubs, I get a desperate craving for nutella on bread, or pretzels, and ice cream and chips.
What I have to do to combat it is give myself a strict cutoff time at night and then I can't eat any more until morning. Then, in the mornings, I'll reward myself with a big healthy/yummy breakfast and try to make that the biggest meal of the day. It's hard, and annoying, but works for me, when I manage it.
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i think about food but i do it to plan my meals and to get ideas of what to eat. i have started making meals that are different and good.2
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It's a food addiction, I have the same problem. I don't eat literally granulated sugar, I just crave basically anything I know I shouldn't have. It's the same situation, I'm not bored, not hungry, just obsessing over it. My husband is trying to gain while I'm trying to lose so we have a lot of breads and sweets in the house so I'll think about it. "Man that French bread smelled so good.... Maybe just a bite... No I can't... Well I can, I'm an adult I can eat what I want" over and over and over until I go into the kitchen and stare at it in a debate then I eat 3 pieces instead of that bite. My problem too is that my husband tries to "help" and he calls me out when I have a treat, like an ice cream sandwich so I also have unhealthy things in secret. It's terribly embarrassing because I should have better control over myself shouldn't I? People that I've confessed my problem to have always told me "just stop" or "you know what you need to do to get healthy, just do it" but they don't understand how I obsess over things, like pb cups or snickers or bagels. It's an addiction and it's so hard to quit.4
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hillarygreg92 wrote: »It's a food addiction, I have the same problem. I don't eat literally granulated sugar, I just crave basically anything I know I shouldn't have. It's the same situation, I'm not bored, not hungry, just obsessing over it. My husband is trying to gain while I'm trying to lose so we have a lot of breads and sweets in the house so I'll think about it. "Man that French bread smelled so good.... Maybe just a bite... No I can't... Well I can, I'm an adult I can eat what I want" over and over and over until I go into the kitchen and stare at it in a debate then I eat 3 pieces instead of that bite. My problem too is that my husband tries to "help" and he calls me out when I have a treat, like an ice cream sandwich so I also have unhealthy things in secret. It's terribly embarrassing because I should have better control over myself shouldn't I? People that I've confessed my problem to have always told me "just stop" or "you know what you need to do to get healthy, just do it" but they don't understand how I obsess over things, like pb cups or snickers or bagels. It's an addiction and it's so hard to quit.
This everyday- all day!!1 -
I spend a food ridiculous amount of time food before going to sleep food planning in my head food what to eat food the next day. Usually centered food around what will I food have with peanut butter, food bananas, dark chocolate, toast, rice cakes, food porridge? I definitely food think I think food about food too much food as well.0
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The two things that seem to be working for me are:
#1 - Remove sugar and artificial sweeteners. First 2 weeks royally sucked but now I don't crave them That being said I have a square of %70 dark chocolate almost overnight. Provides the treat but doesn't seem to kick off the crazy NEED for sweets.
#2 - If I know I'm having a hard time making good choices I try to go ahead and plan out my whole day and enter it the night before. If I change it I just adjust my diary. It seems to really help if the good decisions are already made. It also stops the thinking about it as much for me.1 -
@ Katheraichu I totally agree with you. I feel like that is all I think and talk about with my partner and co-workers. 
Finally!!! Someone is speaking my language. 
There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about food when, where, and what. The addiction is real. My partner thinks I have a problem. lol, I simply just laugh and say it's called food porn. I am such a "yo-yo" dieter. I would lose like 5 pounds and then think it is okay to cheat and gain 1 pound back. Then I say oh it was only 1 pound and then go back to my diet and two days later I gain all 5 pounds back. WTF 
The bottom line is this, I simply just love the way food taste and how it is being prepared. I even spend at least 1-3 hours a day watching youtube videos at work on how to make a special dish or follow people who traveled all over the world trying different cuisines. Although I am not a "Sugar/Sweets" person. I am team SALT. I swear I have tried every bag of chips that are out there. Such a naughty pleasure of mine. 
For the most part, I can say that staying active has helped me enjoy the extra snack (s) that I have been dying to have all day. Another key thing is having a plan. If you plan out your meals for the day it will give you something to look forward to and instead you think about that meal all day, which could be something much healthier. It is hard in the beginning but it gets better over time.1 -
BlackHorze wrote: » @ Katheraichu I totally agree with you. I feel like that is all I think and talk about with my partner and co-workers. Finally!!! Someone is speaking my language. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about food when, where, and what. The addiction is real. My partner thinks I have a problem. lol, I simply just laugh and say it's called food porn. I am such a "yo-yo" dieter. I would lose like 5 pounds and then think it is okay to cheat and gain 1 pound back. Then I say oh it was only 1 pound and then go back to my diet and two days later I gain all 5 pounds back. WTF The bottom line is this, I simply just love the way food taste and how it is being prepared. I even spend at least 1-3 hours a day watching youtube videos at work on how to make a special dish or follow people who traveled all over the world trying different cuisines. Although I am not a "Sugar/Sweets" person. I am team SALT. I swear I have tried every bag of chips that are out there. Such a naughty pleasure of mine.
For the most part, I can say that staying active has helped me enjoy the extra snack (s) that I have been dying to have all day. Another key thing is having a plan. If you plan out your meals for the day it will give you something to look forward to and instead you think about that meal all day, which could be something much healthier. It is hard in the beginning but it gets better over time.
I'm a salty foods fan too. At night, my favorite things are crunchy pretzels, chips, pickles and popcorn. Sodium. Love it until the next morning when it makes me bloated and super thirsty!
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I'm in the same boat. I lost a lot of weight a few years ago. However, I've put some of it back on and I'm trying to get back on track. I've started dieting again and all I think about right now is food. Breads/Carbs are what I crave. I think about them all day and can't wait for my next meal. When I get home from work I hover around the pantry constantly debating on if it's worth it to eat something or not.1
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kateraichu wrote: »YES. I sometimes feel like I'm the only person I know obsessed with food. It doesn't matter if I'm in a dieting mindset or just my everyday "hungry" mindset... I'll either be thinking "Okay, I know lunch is in three hours, but should I get a sandwich from that place I really like? Or should I get a bagel with cream cheese?" or at work I'll be like "That meeting is done by 2:30 and they have a dessert tray catered; I wonder how much they'll have left over so I can sneak some." I, too, crave sweets like you do. The worst part, however, is that I am a notorious night snacker. I can diet successfully all day and when I get home to watch a TV show with the hubs, I get a desperate craving for nutella on bread, or pretzels, and ice cream and chips.
What I have to do to combat it is give myself a strict cutoff time at night and then I can't eat any more until morning. Then, in the mornings, I'll reward myself with a big healthy/yummy breakfast and try to make that the biggest meal of the day. It's hard, and annoying, but works for me, when I manage it.
THIS IS ME! Wow I am going to try that!0 -
I've been there. What really struck me hard one day was a quote from West Wing's character Leo who said, "I don't want one drink, I want ten drinks. I don't understand people who only have one drink. I don't understand people who leave half a glass of wine on the table. I don't get people who say they've had enough. How can you have enough of feeling like this? How can you not want to feel like this longer? "
Those words punched me right in the gut and made me realize I was addicted to food. A foodaholic, if you will. It took a lot of time and patience and some really tough introspection to realize I was swallowing emotions, not food. I was swallowing depression, not food. I was swallowing joy, not food.
I come from a family that ate. "Hey everybody! Aunt such-n-such is coming to town! Let's eat!" "Hey, your grandpa's coming over, let's eat!" "Hey, such-n-such got a promotion! Let's eat!" "Oh man, so-n-so passed away...let's eat."
If I felt down, my mom's solution, "You want some chips/ice cream/generic snack goes here?"
If I was upset, "Here, have some food, calm down and let's talk."
If I was happy, "Hey, have something to eat and tell me all about it!"
Once I realized that, I was able to get myself back on track. Yes, there are times that I think about food a lot. Yes, there are times that it is my go-to solution for my troubles and I have to stop myself from going there or suffer the consequences.
Yes, it's hard.
I was raised to become an addict. It didn't come naturally to me and I'll bet it didn't come naturally to you either. You have to fix what was broken in the past and see food for what it is - fuel for life. Nothing more, nothing less.
That's how you start to heal.3 -
Hi, we are very similar. I'm 30 and I have a kid, trying to get my master's in engineering, ALWAYS thinking about food or what my next food will be. I think it has really helped me to give myself unlimited fruits and veggies as snacks (not including nuts / oils/ avocados)
Another thing that happened was that I became lactose intolerant last year. This has really put a dent in my sweet tooth and I'm simply unable to eat a lot of the sweets I used to eat. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Quitting dairy really helped me quit the sweets I used to love, and the replacement almond ice creams, dark chocolates, and nondairy treats have less calories.1 -
Hispanicprincess wrote: »kateraichu wrote: »YES. I sometimes feel like I'm the only person I know obsessed with food. It doesn't matter if I'm in a dieting mindset or just my everyday "hungry" mindset... I'll either be thinking "Okay, I know lunch is in three hours, but should I get a sandwich from that place I really like? Or should I get a bagel with cream cheese?" or at work I'll be like "That meeting is done by 2:30 and they have a dessert tray catered; I wonder how much they'll have left over so I can sneak some." I, too, crave sweets like you do. The worst part, however, is that I am a notorious night snacker. I can diet successfully all day and when I get home to watch a TV show with the hubs, I get a desperate craving for nutella on bread, or pretzels, and ice cream and chips.
What I have to do to combat it is give myself a strict cutoff time at night and then I can't eat any more until morning. Then, in the mornings, I'll reward myself with a big healthy/yummy breakfast and try to make that the biggest meal of the day. It's hard, and annoying, but works for me, when I manage it.
THIS IS ME! Wow I am going to try that!
I sometimes read a tip on how people will "leave a prepared, healthy snack" in the fridge for late night snacking, so they'll eat baby carrots or something while watching tv—nope. Nope nope. This does not work for me. That just breaks the seal and then I go for the chips. I have to do a strict cutoff for myself, water or tea only til morning. IT SUCKS AND IS SO HARD. But it's the only way it works.
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Thanks, everyone. I was bracing myself in anticipation of "get over it" comments, but instead I found I was not alone in this. I can totally relate to all the messages here. Comfort eating is my thing.0
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I am the exact same way. You are definitely not alone.1
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Same here with the nighttime snacking! I crave sweets, and it's not so bad when I'm busy at work, but after dinner I am thinking about dessert. It doesn't work to substitute with fruit or veggies because it's not hunger it's craving. If I'm alone with sweets, I will eat them all. And then feel horrible...1
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I've been there. What really struck me hard one day was a quote from West Wing's character Leo who said, "I don't want one drink, I want ten drinks. I don't understand people who only have one drink. I don't understand people who leave half a glass of wine on the table. I don't get people who say they've had enough. How can you have enough of feeling like this? How can you not want to feel like this longer? "
Those words punched me right in the gut and made me realize I was addicted to food. A foodaholic, if you will. It took a lot of time and patience and some really tough introspection to realize I was swallowing emotions, not food. I was swallowing depression, not food. I was swallowing joy, not food.
I come from a family that ate. "Hey everybody! Aunt such-n-such is coming to town! Let's eat!" "Hey, your grandpa's coming over, let's eat!" "Hey, such-n-such got a promotion! Let's eat!" "Oh man, so-n-so passed away...let's eat."
If I felt down, my mom's solution, "You want some chips/ice cream/generic snack goes here?"
If I was upset, "Here, have some food, calm down and let's talk."
If I was happy, "Hey, have something to eat and tell me all about it!"
Once I realized that, I was able to get myself back on track. Yes, there are times that I think about food a lot. Yes, there are times that it is my go-to solution for my troubles and I have to stop myself from going there or suffer the consequences.
Yes, it's hard.
I was raised to become an addict. It didn't come naturally to me and I'll bet it didn't come naturally to you either. You have to fix what was broken in the past and see food for what it is - fuel for life. Nothing more, nothing less.
That's how you start to heal.
this is me to a 'T'. i can completely relate to the quote from the TV show too...like you, about food not alcohol. wow.1 -
What helps for me is setting out a meal plan for the day in the morning and setting up my diary for the day in the morning. Once I have that plan in place, I can focus my thoughts elsewhere. If you don't have to think about what you are eating all day, I find that usually helps. Sometimes even that doesn't work but I try. If I have a persistent thought about eating a certain food, I will enter it in my diary and seeing the addition of the calories will usually snap me out of the thought (but not always). If I can live with it, I leave it but more often than not, I delete the food again because I don't like the thought of the additional calories. I hope this helps.1
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