Food sucks

I'd say make a schedule. Map out what you plan to eat and at what time. After a couple of weeks re-evaluate and loosen up if you're on track.

A little discipline. You were in the military so this should be second nature.

makinlifehappen wrote: »

I want to lose weight but have come to the realization that I like food, I eat at the wrong times often, and when I do eat at the wrong time I eat the worst food I could.
How does one keep from eating at the wrong time?

No offense, but food doesn't suck your attitude/actions regarding food sucks.

Timing of eating and "worst foods" don't prevent you from losing weight, eating too much food and/or not moving enough causes you to not lose weight.

Don't place blame on inanimate objects that you have control over.

This is the overriding thought. I'm sure others will have some appropriate tactics.

Best of luck.

snowflake954 wrote: »

I'd say make a schedule. Map out what you plan to eat and at what time. After a couple of weeks re-evaluate and loosen up if you're on track.

A little discipline. You were in the military so this should be second nature.

This reminded me of Boot Camp, where I dropped @ 25 pounds in 6 weeks. Amazing what the combination of:

1. Only being able to eat 3 times per day
2. Only having 30 minutes to eat
3. Having to drink two glasses of water with that meal
4. Terrible food
5. Lots of exercise

did for weight loss!

OP - I eat too much when I allow myself to get too hungry, so I work hard to make sure I don't let that happen. I eat pretty much on a schedule, I know what I'm going to have ahead of time, and allow enough time to make that happen.

(See how I take responsibility and control there?)

makinlifehappen wrote: »

BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »

I’m not sure I understand the concept of the ‘wrong time’ in this context.

What do you mean by that? Why is it the wrong time, wrong in what way?

Eat when you’re hungry, don’t if you’re not - your body does not care what the clock says 🤷‍♀️

Dawn phenomenon. In my experience it matters a lot what time I eat.

Sure, if you have blood sugar control issues, it can be important to time eating, for blood sugar control.

But we do see people here thinking they can't eat in the evening because they find they typically weigh more the next morning when they do. Their data is correct, but the cause misinterpreted: The difference is primarily water retention and digestive contents, not body fat changes. If I eat a boatload of high-fiber veggies late in my day (or more carbs/sodium than usual, even), the scale will be up in the morning. It's meaningless.

It's weight trend over time - weeks, at least - that matters, not single weigh-ins, which routinely jump around within a day and over a day or few for most of us, for reasons unrelated to body fat.

I'm not arguing with you here, just explaining why you'd be questioned on the "wrong time" thing. We see people tie themselves in emotional knots about water/digestive contents fluctuations, get frustrated, believe calorie counting is useless because of it, give up. It's unfortunate.

Best wishes!

You kind of know what you have to do. You lost 25 lbs at boot camp. If you want to lose weight, you're gonna have to get back in a boot camp mentality, at least somewhat. Many of the people here, and certainly me, have issues with food. The "why" question has come up a billion times, but basically, food tastes great and we're programmed to want it. We want it to be more complicated than that, and maybe for some people it is, but I don't have deep emotional issues or associations of comfort with food. I just love food. Especially junky, high calorie food. I don't have an existential dilemma burning a hole in my psyche; I just inhabit a world where oreo cookies are available in 6 different places within walking distance. Sometimes it's best to keep things simple. Food tastes good, you want it, and you will need to exert self-discipline to not eat so much of it.

Some people just eat the right amount and can eat when they're hungry and stop when they're full, but they are generally not on a calorie-counting site. For the rest of us it comes down to self-discipline. Calorie counting. Getting on a scale. Measuring everything. Things of that nature.

An eating schedule can be a powerful arrow in your diet quiver. I struggled my whole life with obesity and finally got on a plan that worked for me, about 2 yrs ago and lost 90 pounds and have basically kept it off. My diet is calorie based, but also schedule based. I eat between noon and 7 pm, and a 100 calorie snack between meals. So they're pretty substantial meals, since I put every almost all my calories into them. This kind of "intermittent fasting" approach doesn't work for everyone, but the idea of a schedule is a good one, because it provides you with structure. It sounds like what you need is structure. So get a scale, learn how to count calories precisely, put yourself on an eating schedule if it helps you and discard it if it doesn't, and take control of the situation. You've done it before, you can do it again.

I pre-plan all my meals and snacks, and plan enough small snacks that there’s seldom more than 2 hours between a decent sized snack, a chai latte (37cal), or an iced coffee (15cal).

I refer to it as my “slow drip” of calories throughout my day. I’d go bonkers without a regularly schedule snack.

I do keep chips in the house, but have to keep them out of the main pantry. If I saw them all the time, I’d demolish them. But they’re in a separate drawer that I mentally have mentally earmarked as the “lunch drawer”. I don’t go in that drawer unless I’m making lunch. (It contains loaf bread, wraps for tortillas, and chips. )

Other dangerous sweets go in the freezer, usually under a lot of other frozen foods. It takes effort and time to dig for and thaw them, and that usually makes me stop and think twice.

I love fruits but seldom want to binge on them. Having some fruit around to take the edge off might be helpful.

And as always, have a drink of water. Sometimes perceived “hunger” is really dehydration cues.