No control over cravings - Please Help!!!!

kspringer68
kspringer68 Posts: 2
edited October 3 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello!

I've been a member for awhile. This is my first post to the forum.

I have a situation I've not known what to do about for awhile and now, finally, I'm reaching out for help or advice or...anything!!!

A little back story: I have always been slightly overweight my whole life. Nothing dangerous, just pleasantly plump. This was not something I was ever comfortable with but I could live with it day to day because I thought there was nothing I could do about. Then, last year, I moved to L.A. to pursue dreams of acting and film. I was cast in a weight loss commercial. It was an acting job and I was being PAID to do it! I had a lot of people holding me accountable to lose an extreme amount of weight in a short period. 40lbs in 4 1/2 months. Only because of these factors was I able to do it, as hard as it was, as many times as I felt like I was starving, tired all of the time from working out sooooooo much every single day at the gym. It was one of the most difficult things I've ever done, but I did it. Went on to do the commercial and life continued as normal afterwards.

Here's the deal. The eating portion of the "program" was simple. Lean meats, veggies, no sugar, good carbs, no fat, etc etc...I was very good for the entire 4 1/2 months of the program and never strayed. I hated the food. It was NOT easy. There was no pleasure whatsoever in my diet. It was merely a means to an end. Energy for a living body. That was it. End of story.

Now that the program is done, what I feared the most has come to pass and is still on going. I cannot control my cravings for all things bad for me. Now that there is no one holding me accountable, I cannot stop the hand to mouth, hand to mouth, hand to mouth. God forbid there is chocolate in the vicinity. If so, consider it gone and in my belly. I am gaining the weight back at a rapid pace. All of my hard work going to waste....and I still cannot stop myself. I have tried to talk to myself, console myself, threaten myself, bribe myself....it seems there is nothing I can do or say to convince myself to stop!!! All I want is to just get back to the healthy eating I was doing on the weight loss program. Lose the weight I've gained, and try again, hopefully with a little more success, to find an agreeable and more doable way to maintain a low weight.

I don't think there is an easy answer to this. I guess I am just looking for some feedback. Advice. And maybe to know that I am not alone out here.

Thank you in advance. I appreciate you reading and any thoughts.

Replies

  • Makethefatcry12
    Makethefatcry12 Posts: 133 Member
    Hello there!

    You are most definitely NOT alone! I have that issue as well. As soon as I have 1 piece of chocolate, I end up having 5,6,7,8..... Its bad! I have found it easier to keep all of that stuff out of the house as much as possible. It's very hard for me since my husband's mother always buys us chocolate and so I keep it out of sight for me.

    I replace the craving with fiber one oats and chocolate chewy bars and fudge brownies. The chewy bars are about 150 calories and the brownies are only 90 calories. Also, I got some yoplait yogurt and got the dessert kind. Boston cream pie, apple turnover, banana cream pie... And also my Shakeology. I drink the chocolate flavor with a Tbsp of Natural peanut butter. It's like having a chocolate peanut butter milkshake. They satisfy my sweet cravings pretty well.

    I hope this helps you.

    Meghan
  • nrvo
    nrvo Posts: 473 Member
    When you binge, are you craving a specific flavor or texture (salty, crunchy, chocolaty, etc), or are you just eating because the food is there? It helps me to not keep my trigger foods in the house - usually I go for either chocolaty or salty/crunchy. If I must have chocolate, I'll have a glass of skim milk with light hershey's syrup, or an individual cup of slow churned chocolate ice cream. Even though it's more expensive, I buy food in individual portions so that I'm not tempted to binge. If I need crunchy, I'll have some celery carrots, or Special K cracker chips.

    It also helps me to log whatever I want to eat into MFP before I eat it. Once I look at what I have left for the day, that definitely helps. And when you feel binge-y, get away from the food! Go on a walk, chew some gum, drink some water.
  • GouchisGirl
    GouchisGirl Posts: 321 Member
    Cravings are really hard to avoid. I find chewing gum helpful. There is already something in my mouth so it isn't as much of a temptation to pick up something else. The only other advice I can give (As hard as it is) keep the stuff you crave out of the house. If I crave something and I have to leave the house to get it, it is highly unlikely that I'm going to go all the way to the store. And the less time you sit, the less chance you'll have to crave or eat. I find myself doing stuff around the house that doesn't really even need to be done again just to keep myself occupied, plus it burns calories. ;) Good luck!
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    In my opinion, unless you're pregnant, there's no excuse for giving in to cravings and binge eating. You know better, you know what you're doing to your body, you need to be strong enough to tell yourself no. (And let me also say that I don't see pregnancy as a free for all, that's a time when healthy eating habits are most important. But, being in my third pregnancy I know there are a lot of other factors that go into cravings, and the only time I give in is when I've been thinking about a specific food for a few days. I don't just jump in the car and go to the store every time I want a piece of chocolate.)

    It sounds like you need some structure to your meals right now. Plan your meals with healthy foods (don't completely avoid fats, you need them) and build in some snacks and treats. I'm sure you don't plan on avoiding pizza and chocolate for the rest of your life so allow yourself to have them now and then. That should help stave off the cravings and binges.
  • MlleDee
    MlleDee Posts: 90 Member
    To control your cravings try this:

    Make yourself drink 2-4 glasses of water before you give in to your craving. So if you want chocolate, then eat it! But first drink the water. Then if you want more, you can have it too, but drink more water first. This way your staying hydrated, and you don't feel like your denying yourself.

    I find this to work very well for me. I don't think I've ever gone for more than a 3rd piece. Because at that point I am sick of drinking all that water.

    Hope this works for you!
  • gierej
    gierej Posts: 14 Member
    I know exactly how you feel. I have been a yo-yo dieter all my life. I can totally understand what you are going through about not being able to stop yourself. I have been on MFP for forty days. I have lost 9.5 lbs and I want to lose 11.5 more. AND I do not want to gain it back. I turned 50 this year and losing the weight is sooooo much harder! I am so sick and tired of being on this merry-go-round. I want to lose the weight and step off of it for good!! Maybe we can help each other. Just take it one day at a time. Do it for yourself and no one else. You deserve it and you can do it!!!!!
  • goodridges
    goodridges Posts: 22 Member
    What you need to do is ensure you are eating plenty of slow release energy foods in your diet, e.g. porridge, sweet potatoes- the GI diet is great for this- so you never feel hungry. If you must have chocolate reward yourself with one square of 85-90% cocoa dark chocolate, it satisfies the craving, but you couldn't easily eat a whole bar in one go. Rice cakes are also good for the sweet/salt cravings in various flavours, or a banana will fill without the "bad" sugars. Don't keep yourself on a low, low calorie diet, you will just crave the bad things and feel hungry all the time, eating sensibly and losing weight slowly is truly the only way to lose weight successfully and enjoyably. Hope this helps, Good Luck ;-}
  • 1smemae94
    1smemae94 Posts: 365 Member
    Hello,

    Whenever you feel like you're depriving yourself, the changes you made won't last. I think that you need to change the way you think. You're still stuck in the thinking that all fat is bad, and that treats= gain all weight back. But it isn't true. This i can say for certain. A few treats here and there will not cause you to gain all the weight back. Over eating them will though.

    Next time you have a craving take your mind off of it for 15 minutes. Get out of the kitchen, back away from the chocolate, and do something else. Lace up your sneakers and go for a walk, try out that new exercise video you've wanted to try. Go to the front yard and start raking leaves. You will get fresh air, get in some exercise and be distracted. Afterwards if you are still craving it, i would come on here and log in everything you are craving. See how many calories it is and ask yourself if you are willing to turn a moments satisfaction into weight gain and feelings of guilt. If no, then go do something else. Drink a bottle of water, play with your dog, paint a picture, blog, mess around on here. Are you still craving it? Yes? Then allow yourself 1 piece, one bite. Then put the rest of it away and tell yourself that you do NOT want anymore. (Because you want to look great in those jeans, keep up with your friends, run after the kid you watch every so often. )

    If you can't trust yourself with it in the house, ask someone, or do it yourself, yo come in your house and throw all the candy, junkfood, icecream, chocolate, out. Completely out. And then go without it for 2-3 weeks. Your taste buds will change and you might not crave it anymore. Find substitutes for junk food. Apple when you're craving sugar filled foods. Avacados when you want something fatty.

    Hope i helped, and feel free to add me if you want support.

    Sam
  • Tammylyn117
    Tammylyn117 Posts: 44
    I think many of us who have battled with weight deal with these same issues. I try not to have any of my "trigger foods" in the house. I also try not to deprive myself. For instance, if I want ice cream, I walk myself to the ice cream shop about 1 mile from my house. Then I order a single scoop of whatever I want, and enjoy the heck out of it before I walk home. I know I should avoid it all together, but we all need a treat sometimes. If I were to drive to the store and buy a 1/2 gallon of ice cream, I'd just sit there in my chair at home and eat it, then get more, and maybe even more. I have no self control if it's right there and easy for me to get. I also have some go to foods that sometimes work to stave off some of my cravings. If I want something to snack on while watching TV, I will have some plain air popped popcorn, or to stave off my choclate cravings I will have either sugar free chocolate pudding, or a fiber one brownie. Just a couple of suggestions. Don't beat yourself up, just knowing you have a problem is half the battle.
  • Adrenaline_Queen
    Adrenaline_Queen Posts: 626 Member
    Wow lots of different answers...

    Ok, I was on a no carb, no dairy, no wheat, no pulses, no tea, no coffee, no pasta, no carrots, no chocolate, no potatoes, no rice no processed for diet for 18 months, then at TKD (Tae Kwon Do) camp I was told I needed carbs, before this point I was fine, I kept up with lads half my age, but I listened to them, not my body, so I slowly started to eat carbs again. The weird feeling in my stomach came back, the feeling my body is buzzing all over came back... But after a while you dont feel it.. My body became accustomed to it... Weird but true xx

    I did not do it for filming (even thought my daughters have been in films and on TV) I done it to let my body have a rest a total detox, http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/

    This diet was for friends of mine who had bad asthma and skin problems, they are nearly 100% better now, ok they dont get to eat what they want, but they are happy eating what they do, as their skin does not bleed when the move and such... Anyway... I have seen this diet work........... When I went to bed I slept, I never had any PMT, I always felt amazing, I never got anoyed. But sadly I fell off the wagon so to speak.. I was just doing it to be free of my cravings and it worked whilst I was on the crazy diet. Yes I did get to eat a lot, and when you have such a small range of foods to eat, you learn to make amazing salads and soups LOL :flowerforyou:

    And wow did I hit the carbs bad... I have read on here there is no excuse for binge eating or cravings! Maybe not, but I honestly dont know when I am eating them, after I see the packet in my hand, or lick my fingers after a large cake. Yes I need more control, I have been dealing with this for years, the only time I was over it was when I ate no processed food or crappy carbs... If that makes sense.. When you have a problem with drink there is the AA or drugs there is always someone to help you, but as I am only a couple of stone over weight (my ideal weight, not the governments that would be about 3.5 or 42.5 lb).

    But when you have a problem with food, you just get told to get over it!! Hell yeah of course I will, no problem!! I smoked, I stopped 8 years this January 17th, I dont drink ( just on special occasions) but I am not able to stop eating!!! I need to eat, people have said but only eat certain foods, I smile at them, dont they think I have tried that!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I have on many occasion woken up with stomach cramps in the morning, nearly in tears as it hurts so bad, but again your body becomes accustomed to it. I try not to eat to many sugars as they dont agree with me.

    Sorry that was long winded.. But I dont know very many other people who would understand all that...

    So what I do is this, try and go just one day, eating well, or until a time in the day, then when I wake up the next day I hug myself xx Sounds silly, but it works for me!!!

    Also I try and eat over 3 hour periods, if I am training, then as soon as I finish and have showered I am eating to recover quicker.

    Good luck, I know how I feel and if it is anything like that....... Hugs xxxxxxxxxxxx

    I used to baby sit when I was younger, once a lady said to me, help yourself to anything.. So I did, I ate and ate, she told my mum after she could not belive how much I had eaten, but I could not remember, just dunking a bicci in a cup of tea... wow I do have issues.:noway: . Off now............ LOL :bigsmile:

    WOW rant over.............. Night xxxxxxxxxxxxxx Glad I got that out my system, did not know it was there... xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • ladysixstring
    ladysixstring Posts: 15
    A diet should be at least 30% fat because fat provides the building blocks of cell membranes and it responsible for a lot of the operations of the human body. Fat is also satiating, and if you eat it you will feel full longer and you will actually eat less calories and have less cravings because you are more satisfied with a meal.
  • ladysixstring
    ladysixstring Posts: 15
    A diet should be at least 30% fat because fat provides the building blocks of cell membranes and it responsible for a lot of the operations of the human body. Fat is also satiating, and if you eat it you will feel full longer and you will actually eat less calories and have less cravings because you are more satisfied with a meal.
  • kspringer68
    kspringer68 Posts: 2
    Wow! Just walked in the door from work. Thank you ALL for your wonderful ideas, thoughts, advice, etc...wasn't expecting so much support. The biggest relief for me is seeing and reading from everyone that I'm not the only one struggling with this. Thank you for that. I need to take in and mull over everything for a few days and see if I can't find something that helps me in my struggle.

    Again, thank you all!!
  • tkacomet
    tkacomet Posts: 73 Member
    you are not alone, this is my biggest hurtle. I finally broke down and made an appointment with a therapist, as I suspected I was showing addictive behavior and I was afraid of Binge Eating Disorder. It looks like I'm not all the way down the rabbit hole for BED, but definitely acting like a junky. So, I go to weekly counseling. and it's helping. a lot.

    the first suggestion she had for me - identify the time of day or situation that you're most likely to indulge (for me it's when I'm tired) and find a way to break into the pattern you've created. I've started taking short walks (5 minutes, even) before I allow myself to indulge. it's helping a lot. But what has helped the most is just identifying that what is pushing me isn't some personal failure of will, but just that I'm exhausted and therefore too weak to control my sugar cravings. I'm not at battle here, I don't have to prove my strength against some impossible odds. I just need sleep.

    it's made things so much easier.

    good luck.
  • Eleanorjanethinner
    Eleanorjanethinner Posts: 563 Member
    You poor thing! Sounds like you've really done a number on your body with that extreme diet! (I hope you got well paid/ famous for your efforts!)

    I don't know the solution, but I do suggest you treat yourself with compassion as I'm sure there are very good physical and psychological reasons you're struggling right now. You had so much will power for four months, it can't just be a failure of willpower. Sounds like you've been starved and it's flicked some switches in your head.

    If you can manage it, I'd suggest some professional help, preferably from someone with experience in this unusual situation.
  • DesertSunsetRain
    DesertSunsetRain Posts: 194
    I had the same problem when I lost weight a few years ago. I did really amazingly well for a year, but I was restricting a lot of foods that I wasn't allowed to eat. Then one day I allowed myself one piece of chocolate and it was ALL over from there. I gained back double what I had lost. I was on a train going to binge town and there were no brakes. It took me awhile to stop binging as much as I was. I was still eating too much but it wasn't as bad as before. Now that I am losing weight again I am being much more open with what I allow myself to eat. I am allowing myself a little bit of this and that once a week or so in order to keep my cravings in check. If I know that I am allowed to have it and it's not forbidden the desire to eat it lessens by a lot. So even on my treat days I can stop at one cookie, where as before I'd have 10. It's even getting to the point where I am not caring as much to stuff face with all those cookies because I realize that it's not healthy for me. But I still sometimes just feel like a chocolate bar, so I eat one.

    If you are looking to get back on track I would suggest setting up a healthy meal plan again but allowing yourself treats. Maybe buy a single candy bar from the store on a day you're feeling like chocolate. Or whatever you want to do really. In my experience, restricting your favorite foods only leads to binges down the line. It works for some people, but if it's a struggle for you I think you should allow some treat days every now and then. They can help a lot.
  • copykatnjesus
    copykatnjesus Posts: 82 Member
    You said this is ur first post and no one is holding you accountable. I don't know if
    ur recording ur foods every day either. I find recording several times a day keeps
    my head in the game. After I record breakfast and or lunch I see how many calories
    I have left so I definitely try to plan out my calories. It just keeps my accountable
    to myself. Then get some friends on MFP that you can be accountable to also.

    I've always been a huge eater, all the time, huge portions, junk food, candy, etc, etc, etc.
    And so far so good. I know you can do it. You can make me a friend if you want to
    start a list of people to be accountable to. Good luck!
  • nsblue
    nsblue Posts: 331 Member
    to me, by the sounds of it you may be a bit of an emotional eater.... that the cravings come from the head not actual hunger. food you enjoy seem to evoke those feelings you crave and want. I got this from when you compained of the food you ate during the weight loss job.
    Changing ones behaviours and mindset is hard work but attainable. Make new foods your emotional loves.... it can be done....if you want it.
    So is it that you want to keep those pounds off? weight loss IMO is about lifestyle change... and that includes what we eat, how much we eat and exerise.
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