Hmmm ... why do I do it???

I totally understand, when there are people here, I can keep my calories under no problem, but when the kids are at school all I can think about is the food, the cake, the ice cream, every sweet in the house is calling my name. Sometimes I give in, but sometimes, I have found, if I make some hot tea, something like white chocolate tea, or a berry tea, and use stevia, it curbs my craving for sweets, and I haven't ruined my day. Don't let one bad day get you down, there is always tomorrow. Good luck.

Honestly it sounds to me that you are eating because you are bored. I tend to do the same thing, so I can completely relate. For me it took sometime to get through it. I still do this from time to time but not as much as I used to. What works for me is logging my food right after I put it in my mouth. The constant reminder of having to look up the calories helps me think twice before I put it in my mouth. I don't know if this would work in your situation, but my hubby and I purposely do not keep the naughty foods in the house. This also helps eliminate the temptation. Once I am able to get over this hurdle and retrain my taste buds, we will slowly bring back in the foods he enjoys. (IE chips, ice cream)

Hang in there. Try not to beat yourself up over it. But definitely use this as a learning experience. Tell yourself tomorrow "I am not going to have a day like yesterday". I know you can do this!

Don't beat yourself up, it's in the past - plan for the future.

Next time... try one of these options.

Hard Candy, 30 calorie NIPS or sugar free Werthers are great to keep in the house.

Put in an excercise video and sweat it out

GO TO BED... no mater how early it is, you cna't eat while asleep and when you wake up you have a whole new day/calories to consume.

God Bless and keep your chin up.

Susan :happy:

Have you ever had Special K's Chocolate cereal? It sounds like you really like chocolate (Who doesn't?) The Special K cereal has real pieces of chocolate and it makes the milk somewhat chocolaty. it's a very good thing to snack on at night. You should also pay attention to what your body wants. If you are craving chocolate you may be lacking magnesium and you can get that from nuts and legumes as well as fruit. Sometimes we eat Chocolate because it triggers the pleasure receptors in our brain. Try something else that makes you happy. Pop in your favorite comedy and laugh your butt off, listen to your favorite music and dance! Also drinking water helps, and you may be lonely, try to call your mom or girl friend or someone to talk to. You can't stuff your face if you're talking!!

It happens. There is a trigger in our life that we respond to by eating. Mine is stress. We have to learn more about the causes so we can ombat them. What about being alone makes you feel you need to eat? Once we figure out more about our feelings in a given situation we can anticipate them and control the. Easy to write - hard to do!! Don't let it ruin your efforts, just pick up this very minute and recommit to healthy. You can do this!

try not to beat yourself up about it we all have days like that just put it behind you tommorow after all is another day x

Yep, we have all been there. FIrst, don't be angry at yourself and beat yourself up. For me, I have learned not to keep crap at home and certainly not to keep it in sight. Second, I find if I exercise at night (when I'm alone), it curbs my appetite and I am a lot less likely to eat. I hop on the treadmill, do a video, or walk/run outside. Lastly, on days when I am just going bonkers, I actually put the trash can and a chair in front of the entrance to the kitchen so I have to move them to get in. It is a very visible and conscious thing that makes me realize what I am about to do. LOL. Sounds silly but it works.

Ask yourself if you are changing your eating habits to shed pounds and get healthy for YOURSELF, or are you doing it because someone else wants you to like your hubby or family. On that note, did you make a big announcement to your family that you are going to get slim and fit again in a moment of high enthusiasm but since then have totally lost that spark and your head really isn't into this progam much at all any more? Are you hiding your eating so they won't know?

The reason I have you ask yourself these questions is that it seems you are becoming a closet eater.(Disclaimer: I don't know you and these thoughts are based on your one post that I have read.) You let your family see when you are doing great, thus showing them you are serious about making your goals. They can be proud of you and you arent "letting them down". Even if you fess up to them about your alone time binging, do you try to justify it? Do you put all these extra calories in your food diary? Or do you give up and say I blew it today, I'm not tracking anymore today and will restart in the morning?

If any of the above is true, you have to make some changes here.

1. Tell your heart and your head that you are doing this for yourself. Anyone else that benefits from you getting fit and healthy, well that is a bonus!

2. Track every morsal that goes into your mouth. I mean EVERYTHING! If you take a bite of your husbands cheesecake because he wants you to "just try it", track it on your food tracker.

3. Track your fitness minutes and calories burned. Make sure your calories in is always less than calories burned. (Include your BMR calories which you can figure out using the calculator here).

4. Journal daily about how you are feeling, what are your frustrations, what made you so happy that day, did you meet your goals or not meet your goals and why didn't you.

5. Be totally honest with yourself. There is no such thing as cheating in getting healthy EXCEPT not telling yourself the truth. It is not cheating if you eat a slice of chocolate cake as long as you track those calories. It is not cheating to skip your exercise for the day as long as you journal why you did not do it.

6. Realize that if you gained a pound or two or even three and you honestly know you have been faithfully logging your calories, met your daily range and not gone over, also met your fitness goals, it does not mean that you have screwed up. It just means that you may have grown muscle which is heavier, or you are retaining water or something beyond your control. Think of it as the scale is trying to mess you up and discourage you. Don't believe what it is saying, just keep on meeting your goals for exercise and food intake. Make sure you are getting that half gallon of water in everyday so your body doesn't hoard water in your body.

I say all this because this is MY working model and it hasn't let me down yet. I use another website for all my tracking so you wont find it here but I am faithful to myself in tracking my food and exercise. It is working!

Kimberly

I agree with most of what has been said. Don't beat yourself up, but I can't help but wonder about why so many of us do this when we are alone.
I believe in figuring out why I do things and then finding solutions. Is it because I am always so busy taking care of everybody else that I don't know how to be alone and it scares me? So I run to comfort? If that is the case then I need to find out how to be alone and what to do with myself. I guess the first step would be to make a list of things I would like to do that I could only do by myself, then maybe a list of things I need to do by myself. That way when I am by myself I don't have to think about it I just choose one. I could also start a routine that when I am by myself I immediately pull out the tea pot and have a special cup of tea as I look at my list - in other words make it an event that I enjoy so that I don't fear it.

The other thought that comes to mind is do I fear being alone because I don't like myself? If that is the case then I need to find out why? Maybe find someone I can talk to about it? or at the very least start making a running list of things that are good about me.

I guess I am basically saying that to continue on my journey to be healthy I don't need to just change this habit but I need to find out why I do this and change that too. That way this habit will never rear it's ugly face again.

Don't have that crap in the house. Period. No one in your family needs to eat it. problem solved.

Minimommy1, I overate alone for the simple--and awful-- reason that I was too ashamed to do it in front of my family. I hate making that confession but if I don't recognize my triggers and own up to them, I will avoid finding real, workable solutions. You are so right about not buying junk food. Though--another awful confession-- I have actually gotten in the car and driven to the 7/11 specifically to buy junk food. The good news is that I haven't done that for several years. That's progress. Keeping busy definitely helps me too whether it is the computer, crafts or exercise. Good luck to all of us.

Don't have much to add after all of the good advice here, but just - hang in there! Been there and done that - was ready to just a bit ago but grabbed a glass of water and decided to log on here for a bit of motivation!