Destructive behaviour/ food addiction - anyone else?
spyro88
Posts: 472 Member
I worked out with my personal trainer this morning, good session, burned a lot of calories. 2 hours later I went to McDonald's for lunch! I had a cheeseburger and medium fries so not the worst meal (about 700 calories) but it's like I can't help myself. Then once I have been to McDonalds I give up and eat rubbish later in the day too, like it triggers it!
Sometimes I think I have a food addiction and even if I put a lot of effort/ time into exercising, I can end up struggling to do the healthy eating to go along with it.
I try not to be too hard on myself for this but it can be upsetting and feels like I am failing when I do it. Does anyone else have experience with this? Why do you think you do it? Did anything help you to stop?
Sometimes I think I have a food addiction and even if I put a lot of effort/ time into exercising, I can end up struggling to do the healthy eating to go along with it.
I try not to be too hard on myself for this but it can be upsetting and feels like I am failing when I do it. Does anyone else have experience with this? Why do you think you do it? Did anything help you to stop?
2
Replies
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I think you need to think about WHY you decided to go to McDonald's and order a higher calorie lunch than you planned.
Did you think of the exercise as punishment that deserved a reward of food? Did you not having anything you wanted to eat at home and McDonald's was your fallback? Were you telling yourself you'd order something else once you were there and then changed your mind?
Once you figure out why you're doing the things that you do, you can begin to make plans to address those. Maybe you don't want to "eat healthy." That's fine too -- you can meet your nutritional needs and calorie goals and still sometimes have things like burgers and fries. It doesn't have to be an "all or nothing" thing. What would your life look like if you just planned to sometimes have lunch at McDonald's and it wasn't a failure?7 -
Like Jane said, can you think about why you decided to go to McD's? One thing that worked for me was journaling. If I was tempted to do something off my plan for the day, I'd journal about it first and ask why and how it would fit into my day. If it would, fine, sometimes I would do it.Then once I have been to McDonalds I give up and eat rubbish later in the day too, like it triggers it!
This is something that feels familiar to me, and which I think is a bigger problem than getting a 700 cal lunch at McD's. It's all or nothing thinking -- if I'm not perfect, everything is messed up anyway, at least for the day, so it doesn't matter and I might as well take advantage of it and eat whatever. Part of this is a thinking problem -- work through the ways in which you can be on plan (calorie wise) or close for the day or the week, there's no reason to write off the day. Another part makes me wonder if in your head, at least, you are trying to be overly restrictive -- why should an occasional McD's lunch be a reason to give up, or anything bad at all, if you like it?3 -
From a different perspective than a “food addiction”.....
I’m always hungrier than normal after a weight session, and if I’m going to binge, that’s probably the day I’m going to do it on, too.
I usually weight train around noon.
I try to eat heavy protein the day before, and for breakfast before a session. I also pop a small treat in my pocket (lately, a candy cane) to nibble on. I eat half on the walk to the gym and save the other half for the walk home. I make sure to eat a filling lunch afterwards- usually a massive salad with lots of chopped meat.
“Sandwiching” the session between satisfying meals seemed to help quite a bit.4 -
I worked out with my personal trainer this morning, good session, burned a lot of calories. 2 hours later I went to McDonald's for lunch! I had a cheeseburger and medium fries so not the worst meal (about 700 calories) but it's like I can't help myself. Then once I have been to McDonalds I give up and eat rubbish later in the day too, like it triggers it!
Sometimes I think I have a food addiction and even if I put a lot of effort/ time into exercising, I can end up struggling to do the healthy eating to go along with it.
I try not to be too hard on myself for this but it can be upsetting and feels like I am failing when I do it. Does anyone else have experience with this? Why do you think you do it? Did anything help you to stop?
Others' advice has been good. The "why" question is important . . . especially the "why give up the rest of the day, if the lunch itself was manageable?". A common analogy: If you went out to get in your car to go to work, and there was one flat tire, would you puncture the other 3 tires and go back to bed for the day? Of course not. Once you go off your plan for the day, food-wise, just get back on track. It'll be fine.
There's no need to characterize individual foods or meals as "unhealthy". Strive to get good overall nutrition, on average, on most days, within your calories. That's enough.
"Good overall nutrition" means hitting protein and fat goals as minimums, and getting plenty of varied/colorful fruits and veggies. You can still have cheeseburgers and fries, within that framework . . . maybe or maybe not as often as you once did, but certainly sometimes. It isn't "rubbish", it's food with nutrients in it, just more calorie-dense and not as nutrient-dense as some other possible choices. It can fit in, just by eating less calorie-dense, more nutrition-dense things in other meals or on other days to get to a reasonable overall way of eating.
Defining this as "a food addiction" is a tempting way to imply that there's something here outside your control. There's not. These are your choices. You're in control. Most of us have foods we find very tasty and tempting. Sometimes, to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight, we need to reduce portion size or how frequently we eat those foods, if they're calorie dense. You can do that.
Consider some of the suggestions for adding snacks around your workouts, see if that helps. I found I did better if I had snacks before or after certain workouts, too. Are you eating extra calories on your exercise days, or sticking with a calorie goal that was calculated based on lower activity? Maybe you're even under-eating.
Besides that, consider the role of fatigue: When we feel fatigued, appetite kicks in to restore energy. Intense exercise sessions are fatiguing. How is your sleep quality and quantity? Can that, or other sources of fatigue (such as stress), be better managed?
You can work your way through the factors that are at play here. It's not a melodrama about good and evil, sin and expiation. Rather, it's a problem solving kind of scenario, like a science fair experiment about eating and appetite.
Best wishes!3 -
I eat McDonald's usually once a week. Number 9 which is 2 cheeseburgers, medium fries and diet Coke. The rest of the day I eat sensibly to fit in my micronutrients.I worked out with my personal trainer this morning, good session, burned a lot of calories. 2 hours later I went to McDonald's for lunch! I had a cheeseburger and medium fries so not the worst meal (about 700 calories) but it's like I can't help myself. Then once I have been to McDonalds I give up and eat rubbish later in the day too, like it triggers it!
Sometimes I think I have a food addiction and even if I put a lot of effort/ time into exercising, I can end up struggling to do the healthy eating to go along with it.
I try not to be too hard on myself for this but it can be upsetting and feels like I am failing when I do it. Does anyone else have experience with this? Why do you think you do it? Did anything help you to stop?
Eating fast food isn't a failure. The failure comes is when you OVERCONSUME fast food all the time and put on weight.
Your body can't tell if you're eating an organic grass fed steak or a patty from McDonald's. It breaks them both down the same way and absorbs it.
Don't demonize food because of all the messaging you hear from health mags, etc. There are lots of lean people that eat McDonald's and do fine. You just need to learn how to fit it in with your calorie intake.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
7 -
Stealing this Ann.I worked out with my personal trainer this morning, good session, burned a lot of calories. 2 hours later I went to McDonald's for lunch! I had a cheeseburger and medium fries so not the worst meal (about 700 calories) but it's like I can't help myself. Then once I have been to McDonalds I give up and eat rubbish later in the day too, like it triggers it!
Sometimes I think I have a food addiction and even if I put a lot of effort/ time into exercising, I can end up struggling to do the healthy eating to go along with it.
I try not to be too hard on myself for this but it can be upsetting and feels like I am failing when I do it. Does anyone else have experience with this? Why do you think you do it? Did anything help you to stop?
Others' advice has been good. The "why" question is important . . . especially the "why give up the rest of the day, if the lunch itself was manageable?". A common analogy: If you went out to get in your car to go to work, and there was one flat tire, would you puncture the other 3 tires and go back to bed for the day? Of course not. Once you go off your plan for the day, food-wise, just get back on track. It'll be fine.
There's no need to characterize individual foods or meals as "unhealthy". Strive to get good overall nutrition, on average, on most days, within your calories. That's enough.
"Good overall nutrition" means hitting protein and fat goals as minimums, and getting plenty of varied/colorful fruits and veggies. You can still have cheeseburgers and fries, within that framework . . . maybe or maybe not as often as you once did, but certainly sometimes. It isn't "rubbish", it's food with nutrients in it, just more calorie-dense and not as nutrient-dense as some other possible choices. It can fit in, just by eating less calorie-dense, more nutrition-dense things in other meals or on other days to get to a reasonable overall way of eating.
Defining this as "a food addiction" is a tempting way to imply that there's something here outside your control. There's not. These are your choices. You're in control. Most of us have foods we find very tasty and tempting. Sometimes, to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight, we need to reduce portion size or how frequently we eat those foods, if they're calorie dense. You can do that.
Consider some of the suggestions for adding snacks around your workouts, see if that helps. I found I did better if I had snacks before or after certain workouts, too. Are you eating extra calories on your exercise days, or sticking with a calorie goal that was calculated based on lower activity? Maybe you're even under-eating.
Besides that, consider the role of fatigue: When we feel fatigued, appetite kicks in to restore energy. Intense exercise sessions are fatiguing. How is your sleep quality and quantity? Can that, or other sources of fatigue (such as stress), be better managed?
You can work your way through the factors that are at play here. It's not a melodrama about good and evil, sin and expiation. Rather, it's a problem solving kind of scenario, like a science fair experiment about eating and appetite.
Best wishes!
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
5 -
I don't know if it's food addiction or not, but it does almost sound like self-sabotage. I did this all the time until I just didn't anymore. I also was quite good at the exercising part, and not so good at the food part (and still sometimes struggle a bit in this regard).
I, too, had a lot of that all-or-none perfectionistic thinking when it came to weight loss. What would happen is I would do "good," then overeat or eat something "unhealthy." This provoked anxiety, and what did I do when anxious...binge. Then I'd give up and say "I"ll just start over again tomorrow." Or, if it was close to or on the weekend "I'll just start over on Monday." I think part of the reason I did this was because I really believed losing weight was "too hard" for me...that I wouldn't be able to do it and keep it off, and maybe it would just be easier if I didn't even try. However, I also didn't like the way I looked, either, so it was a catch-22.
Along with all the other advice, I really think planning out, or at least semi-planning out meals can be helpful, even if it is a trip to McDonald's. Then, you can account for it in the rest of the day and maybe alleviate some of the guilt you feel for going there in the first place. Like others said, too, there's nothing wrong with going to McDonald's every once in awhile (or even every day if you don't eat too much). I think looking at foods as "good" or "bad" can mess us up, too. I mean, yes, from a nutrition standpoint there are certain kinds of types of foods we should be eating more than others, but they're all just food. I think when I shifted my focus to how the better-for-me foods make me feel (energy wise, how they "sit" in my stomach and digest) vs. whether or not they'd help me lose weight, it really alleviated some of that anxiety for me, too.
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Wow thanks everyone, some really insightful comments there.
I do need to look at the behaviour more closely. I've been doing this for years and have done various things to try and work through it but obviously haven't yet succeeded on getting a grip on it!
I know that occasional high-calorie foods can be fit into a plan, and will sometimes fit in other treats like chocolate, cakes etc and think nothing of it, they don't cause me to go off the rails. But there is something about this particular McD's food that I just don't seem to be able to see it that way.
Tbh it might need to be something I do need to work towards cutting out completely because I've been trying to juggle it for so long. Trying to find a way to include it always seems to bounce back to losing self control.
Anyway lots to reflect on and thank you for your responses5 -
I worked out with my personal trainer this morning, good session, burned a lot of calories. 2 hours later I went to McDonald's for lunch! I had a cheeseburger and medium fries so not the worst meal (about 700 calories) but it's like I can't help myself. Then once I have been to McDonalds I give up and eat rubbish later in the day too, like it triggers it!
Sometimes I think I have a food addiction and even if I put a lot of effort/ time into exercising, I can end up struggling to do the healthy eating to go along with it.
I try not to be too hard on myself for this but it can be upsetting and feels like I am failing when I do it. Does anyone else have experience with this? Why do you think you do it? Did anything help you to stop?
Others' advice has been good. The "why" question is important . . . especially the "why give up the rest of the day, if the lunch itself was manageable?". A common analogy: If you went out to get in your car to go to work, and there was one flat tire, would you puncture the other 3 tires and go back to bed for the day? Of course not. Once you go off your plan for the day, food-wise, just get back on track. It'll be fine.
There's no need to characterize individual foods or meals as "unhealthy". Strive to get good overall nutrition, on average, on most days, within your calories. That's enough.
"Good overall nutrition" means hitting protein and fat goals as minimums, and getting plenty of varied/colorful fruits and veggies. You can still have cheeseburgers and fries, within that framework . . . maybe or maybe not as often as you once did, but certainly sometimes. It isn't "rubbish", it's food with nutrients in it, just more calorie-dense and not as nutrient-dense as some other possible choices. It can fit in, just by eating less calorie-dense, more nutrition-dense things in other meals or on other days to get to a reasonable overall way of eating.
Defining this as "a food addiction" is a tempting way to imply that there's something here outside your control. There's not. These are your choices. You're in control. Most of us have foods we find very tasty and tempting. Sometimes, to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight, we need to reduce portion size or how frequently we eat those foods, if they're calorie dense. You can do that.
Consider some of the suggestions for adding snacks around your workouts, see if that helps. I found I did better if I had snacks before or after certain workouts, too. Are you eating extra calories on your exercise days, or sticking with a calorie goal that was calculated based on lower activity? Maybe you're even under-eating.
Besides that, consider the role of fatigue: When we feel fatigued, appetite kicks in to restore energy. Intense exercise sessions are fatiguing. How is your sleep quality and quantity? Can that, or other sources of fatigue (such as stress), be better managed?
You can work your way through the factors that are at play here. It's not a melodrama about good and evil, sin and expiation. Rather, it's a problem solving kind of scenario, like a science fair experiment about eating and appetite.
Best wishes!
I love that post. I have tried to convince myself that I have a food addiction sometimes, but I know it is not true. I lost 200lbs five years ago. Just in past year I have gained about 50 lbs. I know there is no excuse and it is all under my control. The struggle is real though. I really appreciate your post.2 -
I worked out with my personal trainer this morning, good session, burned a lot of calories. 2 hours later I went to McDonald's for lunch! I had a cheeseburger and medium fries so not the worst meal (about 700 calories) but it's like I can't help myself. Then once I have been to McDonalds I give up and eat rubbish later in the day too, like it triggers it!
Sometimes I think I have a food addiction and even if I put a lot of effort/ time into exercising, I can end up struggling to do the healthy eating to go along with it.
I try not to be too hard on myself for this but it can be upsetting and feels like I am failing when I do it. Does anyone else have experience with this? Why do you think you do it? Did anything help you to stop?
Maybe you'd benefit by having something small and portable like a protein bar immediately before or after?
I work to never let myself get too hungry. When I used to go to the gym at night I'd have half a dinner before and half ready to go immediately afterwards. These days I've been clearing trails in the woods and am very thirsty and somewhat hungry when I get back and leave an orange out on the counter so it's right there when I get in. This and tea tides me over until dinner.2 -
There is a difference between thinking about a problem and acting on a solution. The old adage: "I can't fix my brain with my brain" turns out to be true. It is also true that no person can fix your brain with their words.
What you can do is to act "as if" you are a sane person and the results of that acting will change the way you think. If you accept that you have the urge to load up on high calories food and that your thinking will not change that, you can then go about acting "as if" you are a healthy eating person.3 -
Easier said than done, right?
It’s easy to give advices and become the super PT, but when it come to doing, things become harder.
My POV on this, be realistic,
I mean just keep on moving and working out even if u went to Mac after a workout session, just keep on ur workout and don’t get depressed when u get some junk food or let that overwhelm u from getting back to ur workout.
Eventually and after not so long,
U’ll start to notice if this routine is making u getting fatter, steady or, sometimes me be losing fat.
Just keep moving and adapt.0 -
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Speakeasy76 wrote: »I don't know if it's food addiction or not, but it does almost sound like self-sabotage. I did this all the time until I just didn't anymore. I also was quite good at the exercising part, and not so good at the food part (and still sometimes struggle a bit in this regard).
I, too, had a lot of that all-or-none perfectionistic thinking when it came to weight loss. What would happen is I would do "good," then overeat or eat something "unhealthy." This provoked anxiety, and what did I do when anxious...binge. Then I'd give up and say "I"ll just start over again tomorrow." Or, if it was close to or on the weekend "I'll just start over on Monday." I think part of the reason I did this was because I really believed losing weight was "too hard" for me...that I wouldn't be able to do it and keep it off, and maybe it would just be easier if I didn't even try. However, I also didn't like the way I looked, either, so it was a catch-22.
Along with all the other advice, I really think planning out, or at least semi-planning out meals can be helpful, even if it is a trip to McDonald's. Then, you can account for it in the rest of the day and maybe alleviate some of the guilt you feel for going there in the first place. Like others said, too, there's nothing wrong with going to McDonald's every once in awhile (or even every day if you don't eat too much). I think looking at foods as "good" or "bad" can mess us up, too. I mean, yes, from a nutrition standpoint there are certain kinds of types of foods we should be eating more than others, but they're all just food. I think when I shifted my focus to how the better-for-me foods make me feel (energy wise, how they "sit" in my stomach and digest) vs. whether or not they'd help me lose weight, it really alleviated some of that anxiety for me, too.
Sounds so familiar - can't seem to stop sabotaging myself with the all-or-nothing thinking and eating junk even when I'm not actually hungry. I'm really good at exercising but if I'm tired or feeling overwhelmed, all the food plans go out the window. I've gotten past this phase before but am stuck in it again. It's very frustrating and I can't seem to find the willpower to overcome it right now. Have trouble trusting my ability to reached my goal even though I've done it before. Just gotta keep reminding myself that if I've done it before, I can do it again!1 -
I'm really good at exercising but if I'm tired or feeling overwhelmed, all the food plans go out the window. I've gotten past this phase before but am stuck in it again. It's very frustrating and I can't seem to find the willpower to overcome it right now.
Can you try to work on the underlying causes (being tired/feeling overwhelmed) and do other things to make willpower less needed? Have a plan and cook ahead or, if it helps, have some easy to prepare stuff on hand. Are you tired for identifiable reasons (I have been eating more poorly than usual lately and having a tendency to snack and looked back at my diary and saw that in addition to ramping up the exercise some and struggling with some anxiety and problems sleeping, I also had been eating too little vs my plan for the lack week or so -- no wonder!). Sleep especially for me makes a huge difference and just knowing that's why you are struggling even before you fix the sleep issue can help. Stuff like meditation (even just sitting and focusing on breathing) can sometimes help with feeling overwhelmed.
For me getting really analytical and rather than thinking it's not working or beating myself up focusing on why I am doing what I'm doing, what's making me have trouble complying with the day's plan can be helpful. I tend to start journaling more in these times for that reason.1 -
Speakeasy76 wrote: »I don't know if it's food addiction or not, but it does almost sound like self-sabotage. I did this all the time until I just didn't anymore. I also was quite good at the exercising part, and not so good at the food part (and still sometimes struggle a bit in this regard).
I, too, had a lot of that all-or-none perfectionistic thinking when it came to weight loss. What would happen is I would do "good," then overeat or eat something "unhealthy." This provoked anxiety, and what did I do when anxious...binge. Then I'd give up and say "I"ll just start over again tomorrow." Or, if it was close to or on the weekend "I'll just start over on Monday." I think part of the reason I did this was because I really believed losing weight was "too hard" for me...that I wouldn't be able to do it and keep it off, and maybe it would just be easier if I didn't even try. However, I also didn't like the way I looked, either, so it was a catch-22.
Along with all the other advice, I really think planning out, or at least semi-planning out meals can be helpful, even if it is a trip to McDonald's. Then, you can account for it in the rest of the day and maybe alleviate some of the guilt you feel for going there in the first place. Like others said, too, there's nothing wrong with going to McDonald's every once in awhile (or even every day if you don't eat too much). I think looking at foods as "good" or "bad" can mess us up, too. I mean, yes, from a nutrition standpoint there are certain kinds of types of foods we should be eating more than others, but they're all just food. I think when I shifted my focus to how the better-for-me foods make me feel (energy wise, how they "sit" in my stomach and digest) vs. whether or not they'd help me lose weight, it really alleviated some of that anxiety for me, too.
Sounds so familiar - can't seem to stop sabotaging myself with the all-or-nothing thinking and eating junk even when I'm not actually hungry. I'm really good at exercising but if I'm tired or feeling overwhelmed, all the food plans go out the window. I've gotten past this phase before but am stuck in it again. It's very frustrating and I can't seem to find the willpower to overcome it right now. Have trouble trusting my ability to reached my goal even though I've done it before. Just gotta keep reminding myself that if I've done it before, I can do it again!
This is maybe a little too woo woo, or out there, but:
Self definition is really important, IMO. Can you open up your self definition a little, even when the going is rough? Create a little more cognitive space for your capacity to change?
"can't seem to stop sabotaging myself . . ." vs. "working on reducing all-or-nothing thinking, and finding ways to keep junk food manageable"?
"if I'm tired or feeling overwhelmed, all the food plans go out the window" vs. "still figuring out fallback plans for when I'm tired or overwhelmed" (or piggybacking on Lemur's comments, "identifying and reducing the reasons I'm feeling tired or overwhelmed, to better help me stick with food and exercise plans")?
You've said it: You've done it before, so you know you can do it. This is all good stuff you're working on, moving toward, figuring out, experimenting to find best methods, learning to do, practicing when possible . . . not negative stuff you "can't find the willpower to overcome" or "can't seem to stop".
Can you anchor yourself in your future positive habits, rather than the ones you've found less productive, and are leaving behind?2
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