Self-Soothing Dieting Coping Mechanisms

davidylin
davidylin Posts: 228 Member
edited November 22 in Health and Weight Loss
So, there's a couple of odd behaviors I find that I do to help me stick to my calorie counts and I was wondering what everyone else's might be, if they have any at all. This is the weird stuff I do to make myself feel better about dieting:
  • I like to add a couple ounces of regular Coke into my Coke Zero.
  • I reuse my take-out soda cups to drink ice water.
  • I go to McDonald's or Subway or something else like it five times a week just to feel like a normal person, even though I'm ordering the healthier stuff when I get there.
  • I buy butter croissants, bakery goods, and bread that pretty frequently just goes into the trash just because I like to see them on my counter (I don't get it either and it is hella wasteful).

What do you do to soothe yourself while trying to lose weight?
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Replies

  • davidylin
    davidylin Posts: 228 Member
    HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »
    I buy good cheese and eat it one ounce at a time. Good cheese and cheap cheese are basically the same calorie wise but with the good cheese you are satisfied with less of it eaten slowly. My current obsession is San Simón Smoked Cow's Milk Cheese from www.tienda.com. On ounce of that microwave-scrambled in two eggs is to die for!
    I do find that one of my coping mechanisms is to eat higher quality food. If I'm eating less of it, it all seems to work out anyway.
  • hyIianprincess
    hyIianprincess Posts: 302 Member
    Cooking and baking for others! I also love watching cooking shows
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
    davidylin wrote: »
    So, there's a couple of odd behaviors I find that I do to help me stick to my calorie counts and I was wondering what everyone else's might be, if they have any at all. This is the weird stuff I do to make myself feel better about dieting:
    • I like to add a couple ounces of regular Coke into my Coke Zero.
    • I reuse my take-out soda cups to drink ice water.
    • I go to McDonald's or Subway or something else like it five times a week just to feel like a normal person, even though I'm ordering the healthier stuff when I get there.
    • I buy butter croissants, bakery goods, and bread that pretty frequently just goes into the trash just because I like to see them on my counter (I don't get it either and it is hella wasteful).

    What do you do to soothe yourself while trying to lose weight?

    Buy all the seasonal flavors of healthy stuff - like protein bars and popcorn LOL. Nothing makes me happier.
  • davidylin
    davidylin Posts: 228 Member
    peaceout_aly wrote: »
    davidylin wrote: »
    So, there's a couple of odd behaviors I find that I do to help me stick to my calorie counts and I was wondering what everyone else's might be, if they have any at all. This is the weird stuff I do to make myself feel better about dieting:
    • I like to add a couple ounces of regular Coke into my Coke Zero.
    • I reuse my take-out soda cups to drink ice water.
    • I go to McDonald's or Subway or something else like it five times a week just to feel like a normal person, even though I'm ordering the healthier stuff when I get there.
    • I buy butter croissants, bakery goods, and bread that pretty frequently just goes into the trash just because I like to see them on my counter (I don't get it either and it is hella wasteful).

    What do you do to soothe yourself while trying to lose weight?

    Buy all the seasonal flavors of healthy stuff - like protein bars and popcorn LOL. Nothing makes me happier.
    I shuddered when I thought about a pumpkin spice protein bar. To each their own :D
  • Katiebear_81
    Katiebear_81 Posts: 719 Member
    davidylin wrote: »
    peaceout_aly wrote: »
    davidylin wrote: »
    So, there's a couple of odd behaviors I find that I do to help me stick to my calorie counts and I was wondering what everyone else's might be, if they have any at all. This is the weird stuff I do to make myself feel better about dieting:
    • I like to add a couple ounces of regular Coke into my Coke Zero.
    • I reuse my take-out soda cups to drink ice water.
    • I go to McDonald's or Subway or something else like it five times a week just to feel like a normal person, even though I'm ordering the healthier stuff when I get there.
    • I buy butter croissants, bakery goods, and bread that pretty frequently just goes into the trash just because I like to see them on my counter (I don't get it either and it is hella wasteful).

    What do you do to soothe yourself while trying to lose weight?

    Buy all the seasonal flavors of healthy stuff - like protein bars and popcorn LOL. Nothing makes me happier.
    I shuddered when I thought about a pumpkin spice protein bar. To each their own :D

    I would try that! I was hoping to find a pumpkin pie quest bar, but have not seen one (don't know if they exist or not). I've been living on the apple pie bars... so I was hopeful. Ha ha.

    I drink a lot of club soda. I really like pop/soda, but the diet stuff upsets my stomach. This lets me have that fuzzy feel without calories. Sometimes I'll put an ounce of orange juice in it when I'm feeling really wild.

    Pre-logging all my meals (except dinner) a week at a time helps me feel in control, which helps me not feel hungry. I know what my next meal is. I know when it's coming. I don't feel panicked about whether or not it will be good or satiating, I already know all these things.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    davidylin wrote: »
    maggibailey wrote: »
    Watch cooking and baking shows, and do a lot more baking. I have no idea how that helps except maybe the whole “you eat with your eyes first” thing.
    I've been watching the Great British Baking show and it has me hooked. Every season I pick a wife and am always disappointed when they don't ultimately win :(

    This is hilarious!

    I don't know that I have any quirks. I'll sometimes buy things like pre-cooked cocktail sausages and grab a couple if I fancy a snack. I'm more likely to get up and harass the cats if I'm trying to distract myself.
  • amyjoan1
    amyjoan1 Posts: 47 Member
    I find that drinking tea helps me as well instead of eating something I shouldn't be. But absolutely no fast food for me I will ask my friends n family what they ate nnwhat desserts they had n enjoy thinking bout
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,309 Member
    davidylin wrote: »
    HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »
    I buy good cheese and eat it one ounce at a time. Good cheese and cheap cheese are basically the same calorie wise but with the good cheese you are satisfied with less of it eaten slowly. My current obsession is San Simón Smoked Cow's Milk Cheese from www.tienda.com. On ounce of that microwave-scrambled in two eggs is to die for!
    I do find that one of my coping mechanisms is to eat higher quality food. If I'm eating less of it, it all seems to work out anyway.

    Yeah, that one, on the food front. Also, trying new and sometimes exotic things that are nutritious and reputed to be tasty (exotic varies by locale, but for me the new things have included mamey sapote, guavas, red amaranth leaves, . . . .).

    Also: Shifting as often as possible to non-food self-soothing: Stretching, things that smell nice, fresh flowers for the house, a break in the sauna at my Y, self-massage or relaxation tecniques, fresh air, new tools or supplies for my hobbies, etc.
  • davidylin
    davidylin Posts: 228 Member
    krist3ng wrote: »
    I get a big box of fudgesicles from the grocery store. If I ever want a snack, I can easily have 1 or 2 fudgesicles (2=80 calories) and by that point I feel pretty good. That and string cheese. It covers salty and sweet cravings. I guess I need my food to be individually wrapped.
    Haha, portion control is so much easier when your food is pre-portioned.
  • davidylin
    davidylin Posts: 228 Member
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    It's a bit of a guilty pleasure: I spend way too much time planning my extremely simple and humble meals, which makes all of them delicious and something I look forward to.
    Actually, I think I might give this a try. Part of what makes restaurant meals so exciting for me is that it's rarely a spur-of-the-moment thing. I always want it for hours before I actually go. I think that if I spent more time thinking about what I was going to eat that it would be more satisfying. Thanks for the tip!
  • davidylin
    davidylin Posts: 228 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Also: Shifting as often as possible to non-food self-soothing: Stretching, things that smell nice, fresh flowers for the house, a break in the sauna at my Y, self-massage or relaxation tecniques, fresh air, new tools or supplies for my hobbies, etc.
    This is probably the most true, but, for me, it'll never happen. Live to eat. Eat to live. I have in the past successfully replaced food with bedroom activities, but that's a special chemistry that I don't have anywhere near as much control over as what I eat.
  • aeloine
    aeloine Posts: 2,163 Member
    I eat ALL. DAY. LONG.

    It's always low calorie stuff like carrots and string cheese, but my snacks are easily double the calories of any meal.

    I chew a LOT of gum.

    I've also realized that individually wrapped "guilt" foods like chocolate don't stop me. Now, if I want chocolate, I have to go to the store, pick out the one thing I want, and buy it one serving at a time. I just got back from Walgreens with a small kitkat. The other day I bought ONE Ghirardeli square at the gas station.
  • beaglady
    beaglady Posts: 1,362 Member
    Katiebear_81 wrote: »

    I would try that! I was hoping to find a pumpkin pie quest bar, but have not seen one (don't know if they exist or not.

    Last year someone brought a box of these to share in the break room at work. Imagine pumpkin spice flavored wet sand. No one liked them.
  • JoLightensUp
    JoLightensUp Posts: 140 Member
    I browse through my recipe books and magazines a lot more. My family probably like it when I'm losing weight because their meals are more interesting, but they've got to put up with the occasional failed experiment! The successful recipes get photocopied and added to my "Tried and True" folder. :)
  • jelleigh
    jelleigh Posts: 743 Member
    I have some meals that are super yummy (potacos!) but healthy and I eat them frequently. .

    I watch cooking shows.

    I search for X program before and after pics a lot. Seeing people's success keeps me motivated .

    I drink soda water instead of straight water. It feels more ... Special. Lol. Plus it helps keep me full longer.

    Recently started IF. Typically i have a bad night time snacking habit but now my eating window ends at like 6:30. I tell myself I can have any snack I want in that window. Chips, chocolate, whatever. Im always too full for it but when it's night time I don't feel bad not eating it because I could have had it earlier if I wanted.

    I try to have meals where I can incorporate small "indulgences". I know no food is "bad", but certain foods add up fast and I don't have a lot of self control so I try to avoid them. So if I can have a meal with a bit of cheese, or eat my tuna on crackers, etc, then I feel like I'm both being balanced AND beating the system (by satisfying a craving without ruining my deficit. Silly really cause those foods fit within my deficit but ita a mental thing)
  • nickssweetheart
    nickssweetheart Posts: 874 Member
    I plan really carefully and give a lot of thought to what I'm going to eat to make sure that it's balanced, pleasurable, and affordable.

    I try to recreate things I've had in restaurants that were delicious and make them at home where I can calculate the calories exactly. I've made Thai Panang Tofu Curry and Pineapple Fried Rice, Ethiopian Tikil Gomen and Yekik Alicha, Chinese Vegetable Lo Mein, etc.

    I cut up my fruit when I eat it. It sounds silly but it allows me to really enjoy every bite and it also looks like a lot more food when I slice up and core a pear instead of eating it whole.

    I use fat. I'm on an 1800 calorie a day plan, so I can afford to use a couple of teaspoons of oil when I saute, or have a few slices of avocado, or eat hummus on a wrap.
  • Stationagentjules
    Stationagentjules Posts: 57 Member
    I rearrange my pantry...often, and organize the refrigerator. I find it weirdly soothing to stack and sort the canned goods etc.

    Also, I've been drinking much more coffee since I've been eating less.
  • CaladriaNapea
    CaladriaNapea Posts: 140 Member
    I second (or third?) the tea drinking habit. I am in grad school . . . Previously, I used to snack non-stop while studying. That quickly had to go, so water and tea are my constant companions.

    Also for me, I meticulously plan out my meals. I have also worked on mindfully enjoying my food. Having a variety of foods at my meals works really well for me as well. I tend to eat the same exact things every week night, but having a variety of foods on the plate helps me even though I eat the same variety Monday through Friday.

    That and I am pretty dang possessive of my calories. If hubby so much as eyes my plate he is liable to lose a finger. ;)
  • davidylin
    davidylin Posts: 228 Member
    So, I spent half of yesterday plotting out the simple meal I was going to eat for dinner. It didn't have quite the punch as satisfying a specific craving, but it did boost my mood to eat it. I'll probably be more of a mindful eater despite my annoyance at having to put the effort into cooking and cleaning up!
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
    I vape and also walk past Subway when the bread is baking. Never go in just walk by and smell the amazing bread. :#
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    davidylin wrote: »
    So, I spent half of yesterday plotting out the simple meal I was going to eat for dinner. It didn't have quite the punch as satisfying a specific craving, but it did boost my mood to eat it. I'll probably be more of a mindful eater despite my annoyance at having to put the effort into cooking and cleaning up!

    Good on ya'! I did read an article ages ago -- not scientific but NYT article about a study -- indicating people involved in aspects of food prep (planning, shopping, cooking, food handling) felt significantly higher satisfaction with less food consumed compared to people uninvolved in the process.

    It rings true to me. The process and the effort really contribute to my enjoyment of the whole meal experience.
  • megbrewerr
    megbrewerr Posts: 25 Member
    my friend had this idea in college that after a big meal, if you drink a cup of tea or a bottle of water it "washes it away" and makes you feel better. ultimately you feel more full, but it gives this weird idea that you are healthy (green tea) or hydrated from the water. I know it makes no sense and definitely doesn't do this, but I still can't help it! :)
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