How to overcome comfort eating?

robingmurphy
robingmurphy Posts: 349 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I can do a great job planning what I will eat and recording it ... my downfall is comfort eating. I have a bad habit of eating when I'm bored or feeling a little sluggish or need a pick-me-up. It's usually in the afternoon between 1pm and 4pm. And when I do, I don't care about whether I'm going over my calorie goal. I find myself telling myself "I guess today isn't the day... I'll try again tomorrow." As soon as I'm done, I realize what bullcrap that thinking is and wish I'd followed my plan. This will happen several times a week, and I end up eating back any deficit I've accrued. I'm finding this very difficult to get past because all it takes is going with my desire one time on one or two days to blow it for the week. Any tips?

Replies

  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
    Plan to fit some nice snack into your day, but also perhaps you could try waiting for 15 minutes. If you can wait it out then the desire tends to lessen and you can learn to break the habit. Works for me anyway (most of the time 😂).
  • AWitchyWoman
    AWitchyWoman Posts: 1 Member
    Have snack options around that you can have and fit into your goal. Also make sure you're drinking enough. Thirst can pretend to be hunger. Make sure your not skimpy with lunch. You might need to more evenly distribute your food through the day.
  • Cheesy567
    Cheesy567 Posts: 1,186 Member
    Are you getting enough protein and fat at lunch? And at breakfast, for that matter? Personally, when I’m dealing with cravings, I aim for 30+gm of protein per meal and 20+ per snack if I need a snack. (Check with your doc if you have kidney issues).

    Like the others said, plan for that snack, if shoring up breakfast and lunch isn’t enough. Make it something you love. Pre-log it first in the day, and plan the rest of your calories around it. Do a happy dance if you find you didn’t need it and can delete it, or only ate part and can cut back on the logging for it.

    You might have to adjust your daily calorie goal and speed of weight loss, but that’s happening already, right? Why not take control and do so with a conscious decision. You can work on your habits in a step-wise process as you wean yourself off the food-based comforts.
  • lillyy23
    lillyy23 Posts: 136 Member
    Try to focus on the plan. try to make a deadline date for your goal... chances are when you get to that date.. you wont wanna cheat anymore or satotage your diet. lol i do this alot too when im "maintaining" I get those groggy tired days and i just wanna watch movies and eat.. but try to keep your goal in mind. or try to exercise or something when you feel like that.. i dont know if this works but im actually gonna try it lol
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,672 Member
    rheddmobile wrote: »
    I’ve found that it’s difficult to boredom eat while working out. Get off your rear and do a thing, any thing. YouTube dance video. Kickboxing. Lift weights.

    As far as comfort eating, I agree with @AnnPT77 that the key is cultivating different sources of comfort. My go-to is painting my fingernails silly colors. It also helps to have some low calorie treats which you really enjoy. I put cacao powder in everything. Frozen berries.

    The other thing which helped me break away from comfort eating was fixing my life so I didn’t feel so much need for comfort. I had some ongoing issues with my husband and we had a talk and started working on them. Hated the way my kitchen was laid out so I redid it. Could not stand one of my clients so I made an effort to renegotiate terms and we ended up parting ways - much better that way, the income from that job wasn’t worth the aggravation which was three times the aggravation of a normal client. It’s hard to fix your problems and easy to curl up on the sofa with a tub of ice cream and ignore them, but one way, your life gets gradually better and the other it gets gradually worse.

    Wisdom, that, in a nutshell.
  • ReenieHJ
    ReenieHJ Posts: 9,724 Member
    Lots of great suggestions already! I do many of them. Another one I try is redo my mealtimes. Who says you have to eat 3 solid meals a day, or have them at certain times? I usually have breakfast around 9, even though I get up at 5. Then I can stretch lunchtime until 1-2, and for dinner I'll usually eat something lighter such as veggies/hummus and some fruit. My issue is nighttime eating so I found a way to include it in my calories by switching eating times and having a lighter meal. Plus if I find myself edging toward my calorie limit, I'll hop on the treadmill for another 1-2 mile walk to add on more calories to my allotment.
    Another thing I'll do is have a cup of coffee or SF hot chocolate to tide me over. It's satisfying and takes time to drink. And if there's an easy way to do it, keep the foods that are your downfalls, out of the house. Ann mentioned ice cream; yep a pint of Ben and Jerry's every Friday night became such a habit that once a week didn't satisfy me anymore. Best thing for me is just not buy it.

    While sticking to a plan can be such an easy thing to do, it can also be very challenging during those times when ya just gotta have something to nosh on.

    Good luck to you!!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    edited January 2022
    I eat half my daily calories by 11AM.

    That's also half my fat, protein, and carbs. I balance that out purposefully.

    Then the remaining calories are eaten three hours before bed.

    You may have your calories set too low.

    How much weight do you need to lose to be at a healthy BMI, and what did you set as your weekly weight loss goal? Too big a deficit (cut) and you'll struggle.

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  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Cheesy567 wrote: »
    Are you getting enough protein and fat at lunch? And at breakfast, for that matter? Personally, when I’m dealing with cravings, I aim for 30+gm of protein per meal and 20+ per snack if I need a snack. (Check with your doc if you have kidney issues).

    Like the others said, plan for that snack, if shoring up breakfast and lunch isn’t enough. Make it something you love. Pre-log it first in the day, and plan the rest of your calories around it. Do a happy dance if you find you didn’t need it and can delete it, or only ate part and can cut back on the logging for it.

    You might have to adjust your daily calorie goal and speed of weight loss, but that’s happening already, right? Why not take control and do so with a conscious decision. You can work on your habits in a step-wise process as you wean yourself off the food-based comforts.

    I eat due to boredom, feeling sluggish, or in need of comfort for several reasons:

    1. Inadequate protein (great suggestions above)
    2. Inadequate sleep (if this is you, we can have a whole discussion about sleep hygiene)
    3. Inadequate exercise (creating the habit of exercising during my lunch break did wonders)
    4. Unusually high stress (try addressing the first three first)

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