Help I cant stop eating.

Jennifer_Jane

heartbreak_star wrote: »

...really? Weighing daily is something you should never do. How do you know it's the chocolate? It could be anything. 0.2kg? That's less than half a pound. Our bodies can fluctuate in weight by up to 2.2lbs daily. All you're doing is depressing yourself.

I found I lost weight and feel fuller by cutting out bread and pasta and switching to brown rice. I still eat potatoes but nowhere near so often, and make myself vegetable soups (sometimes with a bit of meat in).

HBS x

Well, everybody agrees with you, but I prefer it my way (weigh?). I like to weigh daily, I like to keep it monitored. I don't really have the hormonal changes any longer. My weight can spiral very, very fast, so this is my way. I haven't advocated it for others.

They say the same about shares, in fact I used to advise people not to look at their shares daily when I was a financial advisor, whilst doing it myself. It's my way, I didn't say the OP should be doing it. I don't depress myself. In fact I feel marginally upset if I don't weigh.

paulineb_2

I wouldnt say Ive always had the best relationship with food either, but I agree with what has been said earlier about food being linked to your emotions. If you lose 3 stones you will still be you, it wont make any issues you have magically disappear overnight.

I see so many people particularly women beating themselves up over an extra stones or an extra two stones, people who lose it, gain it, lose it, gain it. Im not a fan of slimming clubs. I saw a friend lose 3 stones with slimming world, but as soon as she left group, her weight crept up. And Im not saying they are to blame, but so many people spend their life yo yo ing up and down on the scales.

Im not skinny. Im the least slim person in my family, my mum finds it hard to put on weight. Im also a fitness instructor. About 6 years ago I broke my arm, I was in the best shape of my life, stopped doing classes, (as a participant wasnt teaching then) lost confidence, as soon as I stopped going to classes, weight went on, I was also dealing with a lot in my personal life, I would estimate that I easily put on 3 stones during that time and its still not all off.

But, I like to think that I have a better relationship with food now than I had in my 20s or 30s. I try and cook from scratch, I eat fruit and veg, I like the odd packet of crisps but havent had any for a few months now.

I do eat bread and potatoes and pasta now and then but I try and eat wholemeal versions. Same with rice. And I know the thought of brown rice isnt massively appetising, but you dont get that same slump that you do with white carbs.

I dont ban myself from eating anything, if I want a cake I'll have it, if I want a bar of chocolate I'll have it and I wont beat myself up about it.

I exercise as well and that makes me feel better, in so many ways.
And no one, ever has ever come to any classes I teach and ever said to me, you arent skinny. I'll never be skinny, I have a certain shape that even if I were a size 10 I would still look curvy.

Sometimes we use food or alcohol or drugs and Im talking about society in general, to replace things that are missing from our lives and then we get on a downward spiral and beat ourselves up about what weve done.

Id also say alcohol packs on a lot of pounds, yes, peoples weight can fluctuate by 2 or 3 pounds a day.

And sometimes people put weight on because they arent eating enough believe it or not. I know someone who is on a very restrictive diet and she isnt losing weight, no wonder, her body wants to hang onto every bit of fat it has.

My fitness pal is a great app, it lets you track your calories and also gives you calories for exercise and also works out what you should be eating to maintain our weights, because everyones calorie need is different.

I see so many people say, Im on a 1000 cal a day diet or a 1500 cal a day diet, but they've just randomly plucked that figure from thin air without actually knowing whether thats enough calories for them even on a diet.

thor

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

If I ate what I wanted I would weigh eighteen stone. This is why the OP is asking for advice - she can't stop eating. Some of us can still eat even when we are full or not hungry.

How about you don't restrict what you eat at all BUT force yourself to have one, two or more full size carrots(or similar vegetable) before each snack/meal? I guarantee that will end your hunger pangs. When people go on about being addicted to food they should add 'tasty'. I know eating nothing but vegetables is nearly impossible to maintain but if you have some first and then your bag of crisps or bowl of pasta, you will eat less. Also you will feel you are not denying yourself.
This will only work for those who acknowledge they are eating too much in the first place.

seven-day-weekend

[QUOTE=thor;61282421]How about you don't restrict what you eat at all BUT force yourself to have one, two or more full size carrots(or similar vegetable) before each snack/meal? I guarantee that will end your hunger pangs. When people go on about being addicted to food they should add 'tasty'. I know eating nothing but vegetables is nearly impossible to maintain but if you have some first and then your bag of crisps or bowl of pasta, you will eat less. Also you will feel you are not denying yourself.
This will only work for those who acknowledge they are eating too much in the first place.[/QUOTE]

I do do that sometimes. It doesn't stop me wanting a chocolate biscuit though. It's not to do with hunger, it's to do with taste. I can eat when I'm not hungry and filling myself up with carrots or other food doesn't stop that. That's why I need the discipline of WW or something similar because I can't allow myself to eat as much as I like because I will eat too much.

I shall continue to attend WW even after I have lost the weight (many people do) because I need that support to lose and maintain a weight loss.

That's my way. You have to find what works for you and pooh-poohing WW or Slimming World is not acceptable because they work for some people. (not saying you have done that btw, but some people have).

margaretclare

I agree that we all have to find what works for us. My stepdaughter has lost a lot of weight - another person's weight - using SW. I couldn't get my head around it.

I'm different from you in that I can't eat if I'm not hungry. If I'm having a meal, when I'm full I stop. If there's food still on my plate then it can stay there. I don't often go out for meals with other people now so I don't get the 'oh, go on, just a bit more, I made it specially for you'. DH is very supportive and he knows this.

Person_one

oopsadaisydoddle wrote: »

I have posted a longer reply in my thread but first of all I would say ditch WW.

I think you are proof that it just doesn't work. Yes, it might short term but think about how many people you actually know that have gone to a diet club and kept the weight off successfully?!! I think they estimate it at a 5% success rate, long term. Don't get me wrong, there are a small minority who it works for but no matter which way you look at any of the 'diets' out there, they're all restrictive in some way.


Good luck and keep in touch!x

I think there's a bit of selection bias going on though.

People who join WW are people who struggle and have got too heavy in the first place, so they're always going to be more likely to do the same again at some point in their lives than people who never have a weight problem!

WW is just an eating plan, not a therapy and not a cure for deep seated issues around food. Lots of people find it hugely helpful, but as with everything else in life its not the right choice for everybody.

Olivia_Burgess

If you have a iPhone or android phone My Fitness Pal is a great ap. It allows you to put the food you eat into it and it calorie counts so you are more aware of what you're eating. It also allows you to put exercise in. Even if it's a walk around the block, it tells you how many calories you have burned. I think the ap is free, but if not it's less than a £1.

margaretclare

Person_one wrote: »

I think there's a bit of selection bias going on though.

People who join WW are people who struggle and have got too heavy in the first place, so they're always going to be more likely to do the same again at some point in their lives than people who never have a weight problem!

WW is just an eating plan, not a therapy and not a cure for deep seated issues around food. Lots of people find it hugely helpful, but as with everything else in life its not the right choice for everybody.

I agree with this. Perhaps the best way would be to take a two-pronged approach. An eating plan may help, because a lot of people just don't seem to know what to eat to keep themselves healthy - we are bombarded with advertising material from all sides but it may not all be 'good for us' or 'healthy' as it's made out to be.

However, if there are also underlying issues of self-esteem, self-worth etc these should be tackled as well, otherwise you're simply setting yourself up for failure, and confirming to yourself that 'oh I'm a failure, I can't, I'll never...' etc etc and round you go in the vicious circle again, and reach for the crisps or chocolate because that makes you happy in the short-term, then the guilt, it just goes on for ever. The trick must be to break into that vicious circle and for that, you may need some serious help, the kind of help that a leader in a slimming group is unlikely to be qualified to give.

daska

It's all to easy to shift the blame for guzzling huge quantities of high carb foods onto being weak willed and having emotional problems. The truth is that for many people it's demonstrably a physical problem. Doesn't actually take long to prove it to yourself. Think back to non-food related events. Have you successfully given up smoking? Studied for a qualification that you weren't genuinely interested in? Stood up to a bully? If so then you're hardly weak-willed, so why assume that you are.

Test it. If you are permanently hungry then try eating low-carb to see if it controls those cravings.

A lot of people complain that eating low-carb is difficult or that they can't 'stick it'. But for some of us it's a revelation, it's the first time we haven't felt permanently hungry. It actually makes life easier. (And for some of us it also brings benefits of massive improvements in our health).

I'll be the first to admit I'm struggling at the moment because DS2's dad is living here temporarily. It's incredibly stressful, all our routines are upset. And I did lapse yesterday when I discovered he obviously had no intention of moving out for a few weeks yet because his being here means my finances are in disarray! But the reality is that 18 months ago it wouldn't have stopped at what was in the house (a packet of trifle sponges that's been sitting in the cupboard for 6 months), I'd have been out shopping for cakes, crisps and crunchy nut cereal almost before the packet was empty. Whereas today I've had an enormous egg and a plateful of spinach for breakfast and am quite content

heartbreak_star

Spam isn't very diet-friendly...reported!

HBS x