How to stop eating once you start.

Easy. Bring a big bottle of water with you. Alternate a couple bites with a big gulp of water. You'll feel full fast or kinda destroy your appetite.

Sharpgirl123 wrote: »

I live in a house hold where food is always out.

Then it's going to be a bit harder for you, but you can do it. Give yourself a couple of weeks of firmly saying "no" to overeating and you will find it gets easier with time and practice.

Edit: I actually find I do better with intermittent fasting in this regard. When you have rigid rules to eat very little on one day (or to eat almost nothing for a portion of the day) I'm less likely to break the rules because I can tell myself that tomorrow I get to eat at maintenance and larger portions of the food I like (or concentrated calories in the evening if you are doing 16:8). This is a band aid not a solution though. You do need to work on your self control. If you are able to resist at least once or twice a week you will already be doing better, so you can work up from there!

I so understand. If foods there, I'm going to eat it. I have had to clear out my house and not have it around. It's hard for you if the other people in your house keep food available. If you find an tips, please share, to help me and others who have no control when food is around. Good luck!!

Sharpgirl123 wrote: »

I live with my parents and my father always buys junk.

I went through the same with my parents. I actually had to ask them to put it away so it didn't tempt me. I always knew where it was, but knowing that it wasn't for me made it a lot easier to avoid.

Some people find it easy to stop/have small portions, I struggle with that like you do, but it gets easier to manage.
Unfortunately, the only person who can stop you, is you. We all have ups and downs, good days and bad days, but the key is to not let the bad stuff get you down. Keep going and remember what is going to make you happier in the long run.
Good luck

1. Everyone has 'trigger foods". These are foods that are difficult to stop eating. Mine- and it sounds like yours- are REFINED CARBOHYDRATES. If that's the case- look at it like a DRUG. You can't do "just a little" heroine. I eat ZERO refined carbs. Once I got past the "withdrawal period" of a week or so, I have *never missed them". I can eat TONS & TONS of filling, healthy actual FOOD instead.

2. I regularly eat over 600 cals- of GOOD, HEALTHY food- for breakfast. You do NOT have to starve yourself- and as they say, "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". You can lose weight on a LOT MORE FOOD than you think. Very low calorie is not a good idea- and if you're always hungry, you may want to consider EATING MORE!! (but still at a SMALL calorie deficit). That's something you can keep up for the LONG HAUL. I've lost 31+ lbs since January- eat **constantly** and LOVE the food I eat. I have never felt a hunger pang or felt deprived- and thus have no desire whatsoever to "cheat". I'm eating over 1500 cals a day now, and still losing about a little less than a lb a week, which is just fine w/me.

The issue is what the added carbs do to you. For me, when I eat inappropriate carbs, it just makes me feel hungrier. I tried really hard for a long time to control how much of those sorts of foods I could eat, but I wasn't able to control my appetite. Eventually I stopped eating them altogether. It was hard. Very hard. I couldn't taper off. I had to go cold turkey. I did this cold turkey thing lots of times, and failed over and over again. I finally figured out that I needed to replace those carb calories with something else that wasn't going to make me feel hungry all the time or hungry for more. And that was healthy fats.

Now, I set my level of protein I need per day and make sure to eat between 20-30gm of protein at each meal. I make sure to have at least 2 to 3 servings of non-starchy vegetables at each meal. And I eat fats like avocado, raw almonds, walnuts, or pecans (no more than a handful), full fat yogurt, fatty cheeses, olive oil, uncured bacon, and cream and butter made from the milk of grass-fed cows. I also use the rendered fat from the bacon, and from chicken that I roast. My protein sources are fattier as well, like salmon, chicken thighs, the fatty bacon, lamb chops, and grass-fed ground beef that is not lean or extra lean.

At first, I had to eat A LOT of fat to deal with hunger. I didn't worry about the calories at all. I ate healthy fats until I was satisfied. I didn't gain any weight from eating the healthy fats. I found that over time, I slowly didn't need as much fat, and my calories started to drop.

Another thing that helped me was to take l-glutamine powder about 15 minutes before each meal. It helps my body to better use the protein and cuts my carb cravings.

I have that issue with party buffets and lunches at conferences etc. Proud of myself yesterday - I just played up couple of little sandwiches, fruit and one little bhaji and took my plate and cup of tea to a table where I "networked" too hard to go up for more.

I also went to one of those buffet pub meals at Brewers Fayre last night (not my choice!) and rather than have burgers with baps or hotdogs in rolls I filled my plate with a chicken breast, more meat, corn on the cob, salad etc. I felt full, ate a lot of calories but not as many as if I'd gone mad.

It is hard but it doesn't have to mean you can have a muffin just don't eat all of the muffins.

Plate up, move away from the buffet and don't go back.

Or fill your boots and don't have any other meals. If that's the pay off I'd rather have a smaller buffet.

The one method I have for dealing with this issue is logging every single bite. I am committed to logging as accurately as possible and not leaving a single bite, lick, or taste off my log. This helps me be more mindful when faced with temptation, because I don't want to log a muffin, then a pastry, then some Nutella, then half a cookie...I really understand what a struggle it is day after day when you are surrounded by food...another trick I use is to drink a protein shake before I go out for a meal so by the time I get to the restaurant I am not famished. I don't know if this will help you or not, these are my tricks.

Machka9 wrote: »

Sharpgirl123 wrote: »

I live with my parents and my father always buys junk.

It is his food, not yours. Leave his food alone.


Even if he offers it and/or it is actually available for you to take, I find it helpful to think of food I haven't purchased myself as someone else's food. I wouldn't dream of going into the fridge at work and helping myself to someone's sandwich, and so in the same way, if someone brings food to work to share, I just think of it as their food, not mine.

That works for me also regarding family members.. I treat food at the supermarket like that. Lol. I will see an end cap and tell myself, " That is someone else's food not yours." They are mind games. But they do work.

It takes time to form the habit of making better choices. If I had been you I would have chose one piece of bread and the rest would have been protein/fibre. Its all about learning to say no to too much of a certain thing. It does become very natural eventually to do this and not even think much about it.

I'm the same! Don't let it put you off!! You just need to get used to less calories apparently it takes about 4-6 weeks for a small change in your routine to become a habit so just try and reward yourself once a week! That's what I've been doing, though I still have my slip ups! It's normal!

Loads of good advice already given. Here are a few more tips that I've found useful.
1. Get the other guests on your side:
I tell the guests at the buffet that I'm on a strict diet? I find I usually get most people's help and support, even if they are strangers.
2. Just say no:
It's easy to eat very badly at buffets. Even food that might seem wholesome if you'd prepared it at home may well be stacked with cheap catering ingredients and bad fats. Sometimes I avoid the buffet by taking my own simple foods and go outside to eat it. I often find others there as well.
3. Eat beforehand:
With a breakfast buffet, I tend to eat something healthy before I go out. At the buffet I just take tea or coffee. Both are surprisingly high in useful minerals.
4. Partition the table:
I divide the table into yes an no foods. Most buffets have something healthy. I position myself near the healthier option, then if the conversation flags I'll find myself reaching out for a square of melon and not the bacon croissants.
6. You don't have to sparkle 24/7:
In a social situation I sometimes find I'm lost for words, or worse feel alone in a room full of people. I just make my excuses and leave the room, go to the lounge/garden/ladies and chill out for a while. I go back once I've got a new burst of enthusiasm to network.
Good luck,
Keep that willpower steely!
Wendy