Must not eat, must not eat, must not eat!!!

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

I'm not hungry, just bored and not really even bored. Tired, maybe?

I'm in such a terrible rut. I eat a ridiculous amount of crap and am trying to break the bad habits I've had for such a long time.

But, oh my goodness, it's hard!!

I have successfully put the babybel back in the fridge and the Pom bears back in the cupboard

[fidelma]

Well done keep going. I too need some support. I would like to lose half a stone but I'm finding it very hard.
Let's support each other.
Let's start now?

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

Great idea!!

Unfortunately, you'll likely be doing the most supporting...I have 5 st to lose !!!

Last night was pretty good once I got over the post-work cravings. I have certain times in the day when I automatically reach for food whether I'm hungry or not.

I taught myself how to crochet 6 months ago in the hope it would be a big enough distraction to stop me eating. So far, it hasn't worked how I'd hoped but I do have some fabulous crocheted items to show for it...just not the size 10 body I'd hoped for

[Jumblebee]

Hiccup I am completely the same, I eat when I'm bored, not when I'm hungry

An evening doesn't feel "fun" enough if I don't have a family size bar of galaxy/tub of Ben and jerry's/toast and peanut butter to munch on! I'm on day 4 of counting calories and have a generous daily allowance set to lose half a lb a week so I don't get disheartened and give in. But yesterday I binged at a party buffet and then had a kebab wrap for a late night dinner

I have a lot to lose and I'm trying to get into the mindset of "forgive that mistake and move on" and I've eaten fewer calories today to try and make up for yesterday but I'M HUNGRY! I've taken myself to bed so I can browse the weight loss forums for motivation

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

Hi jumblebee!

I'm counting calories too, using My Fitness Pal. However, I haven't logged anything for 2 days. I used it about 18 months ago and lost over a stone in about 6 weeks. I kept that off for ages but it has crept back on over the last couple of months.

Tonight has been better and I haven't had any overwhelming cravings for junk...although, I did have chocolate earlier on

Going to see if I can remember what I ate yesterday and today to log in MFP

[Jumblebee]

It's good that you kept the stone off for so long without tracking, I'm always surprised how many calories are in everyday things I eat! And you've done it before, you can do it again

I just had a healthy slimming world type fry up for breakfast, but the depressing thing is I know by 1 I will be starving! That's why I hate porridge or natural yogurt and fruit for breakfast. It fills me up just after I eat it but 2 hours later it's like I haven't eaten

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

Thanks :) Yes, I have to keep reminding myself that I can do it again.

Do you drink lots of water? I find if I keep topping up with water, I don't feel as hungry. Also, I sometimes list the food I plan to eat during the day so I know how many calories I have left, then I can include some snacks to try to avoid the dips which inevitably catch me off guard and make me reach for the unhealthy stuff!!

Just about to crack open a satsuma

[fidelma]

HALTT
Question to ask before we eat
Hungry?
Angry?
Lonely?
Tired?
Thirsty?
Someone once told me it took 3 weeks to break a habit. I'm trying to stop eating after dinner. I often want to reward myself at night. I've just been drinking tea in a lovely cup. That's my treat :(

[Anomaly]

Fidelma that's a great little mnemonic I'm going to use that.

Seriously the easiest way to avoid the crap is to not have it in the house. I've been really good for around 6 weeks now but there are no treats here. I do allow myself one mini chocolate bar a day with a lovely cup of tea but that's it. I've just stopped buying any treats so if someone needs a snack there's just fruit. Both my waistline and bank balance are looking lots better for it.

[Jumblebee]

Anomaly I have started doing that too, not going to the shop every night for sweets, crisps and ice cream! I dread to think the amount of money we have wasted

Yesterday was a really awful day, but I'm trying not to get into my bad pattern of "yesterday I blew it, so what's the point?!" Because that's the reason that since I stopped slimming world I've gained a stone back!

Hiccup I don't drink nearly enough water, which is part of the problem! Most of my water consumption is through tea or coffee (which doesn't even count!) But the other day after my supposedly filling breakfast, as usual I was starving an hour after I finished. So I packed a banana and ate that and had 2 glasses of water before I started work at 12, so small victory

Does anyone use myfitnesspal?

[Mydietworked]

Hiccup I've just lost 5 stone in fact as of this morning weekly weigh in it's actually 5 stone 2 1/2 pounds. I'm was a total chocoholic/biscuitaholic/cakeaholilic, add into this I'm bored rigid in my job and there's free crap food everywhere, I'm a total foodie, food is a massive part of family life, sitting at the table eating talking etc, I'm quite a good cook particularly cakes biscuits sweets and I have had zero will power. Its actually a joke amongst my friends who used to say things like "Im moving and need to clear out the larder why don't you come over?" or "I've made 200 jars of jam but we'll only ever eat two so I thought if you would you like the other 198!" but I've done it and if I can so can you. Don't despair it's definitely possible.

[Mydietworked]

Jumble drinking water definitely helps I drink 500 ml before a I eat and the another 500ml with my meal. The major problem is that I can't get off the loo, the one week I didn't drink this amount (I was doing a lot of driving) but still followed the rest of the diet to the letter I put on two pounds. People also frequently comment now on the fact that my face hasn't gone all thin and scrawny and that I look quite trim (I've done no special exercises) and do not have lots of loose skin despite loosing so much and I think it's because I drink so much water my skin is just more elastic, could be crap of course but that's what I think.

[Jumblebee]

Mydiet I definitely don't think you're talking crap! You hear so much about people confusing thirst for hunger, hence overeating! I think I'll try and incorporate the glass of water before and after meals, if only to up my intake of water!

I'm trying to be realistic with how many calories I'll eat everyday. I've set it to lose half a lb per week so I have a generous calorie allowance. I'm hoping this means I won't get downhearted and can still have treats if I want them.

I realised I asked if anyone was using myfitnesspal when hiccup already said she was! My username is Samelamelam if anyone wants a friend

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

Thanks for the new replies :)

Mydiet - wow!! Congratulations on your weight loss...that's amazing!! How did you do it?

I'm loosely following a low gi diet and tryingtolog logging everything on MFP.

Spent the weekend away with friends but managed not to completely blow the last couple of weeks' hard work. However, it took all of my willpower (and I don't have much) to leave the chocolate orange where it was last night.

I will also try using 'HALLT' before reaching for the snacks. Currently, I am reminding myself of why I want to lose weight each time I think about snacking when I shouldn't be and that seems to be quite effective.

Re not buying biscuits etc...I need to find alternatives that are suitable for a 12yr old's packed lunch and that a selection of fussy toddlers wouldn't turn their noses up at either

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

Also, I find once I'm regularly drinking 2 litres of water a day, the trips to the loo ease off a bit. Unfortunately, I haven't been very consistent so it's taking a while!!

[Mydietworked]

I'm not sure it matters which diet you use I followed a very prescribed diet! Literally every mouthful of every meal was dictated and you had to measure everything! It just worked for me because it suited my lifestyle rather surprisingly. There were no treats ever which for me is good as I had to learn to live without them, on a previous diet I was allowed one treat a day this was hopeless because I was just not weaning myself off them. Having not eaten any treats for months now for the first time in years I can go shopping and walk past bars of chocolates cakes biscuits without even being remotely tempted to by them. I can cook gorgeous cakes and biscuits for everyone else now and not eat them before I would have eaten 50%. In fact I was given a piece of cake at a birthday party (you know the sort of thing icing jam butter cream etc etc) the other week to be polite I tried to eat it but I just couldn't eat it; it was so sweet.
I think success or failure dieting might be all about where we are in our lives. My DH gave up smoking four years ago he's had quite a few attempts before but he said on all other occasions he hadn't really really wanted to do it, this time was different, it was affecting his health and he knew he had to stop. I felt the same about loosing weight on a previous attempts I wanted to loose weight but didn't have to loose weight it wasn't effecting me that much. This time was different like my DH my physical and mental well being were being effected I was heading for type 2 diabetes, I was getting out of breath when I walked the dogs and I was beginning to dislike myself because I felt that then real me and the clothes that the real me wears, that make me the person I am, was by stifled completely by 5 stone of pure fat, to hide being over weight I was buying clothes I wouldn't normally be seen dead in. It does help that this enormous weight gain is only fairly recently I am today the size I was when I was 40 (9 years ago) and I kept the clothes! The other thing that has surprised me is how many people don't like you to diet, most friends said I didn't need to loose weight which was clearly untrue, many when I was dieting would frequently offer my cakes biscuits ect even though they knew I didn't want them, some would even put a piece of cake on a plate and put the plate into your hand, people endlessly would say I think you've lost enough now, don't loose any more and you'll start to look scrawny even when I was still significantly over weight. I now sit exactly between the maximum and minimum weight for my height and I still don't look scrawny. Interestingly other friends who are a healthy weight never said don't loose any more or force cakes into my hand!
You've also got to like the person organisation you going to for help with weight lose. Last year I tried weight watchers, the women who ran it drove me up the wall and the timing was inconvenient. This time I paid to see a private consultant, she didn't tell me anything I couldn't have got from group classes or a website but I liked her and she bent over backwards to accommodate my odd working hours.
Success is the greatest incentive, I remember loosing the first stone, clothes we getting loose and being so excited, I dreamt of getting under 11 stone (4 stone off) and it seems to take for ever, and at times a I thought I would never make it, I'm now a lb under 10 stone I never ever thought Id make that weight but I'm over the moon and determined never to gain large amounts of weight again I physically feel so much better and I've got the clothes on that match my personality. The other positive in my favour is that I don't drink alcohol so many say a I want to loose weight but couldn't give up the wine.
I sorry I just don't know the answer to healthy snacks I cut all eating between meals out completely. Having studied slim people very close
Y and questioned them spit their rating habits and observed what they do I've discovered that most slim people on close rarely eat between meals.

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

What an interesting post. Thank you.

I try not to bore on about calories etc because everyone has an opinion on what you're doing, positive and negative. My friend started using MFP at the same time as me. We're supposed to be supporting eachother but I'm not sure it's actually the best way forward.

Re snacks. I'm mostly having a piece of fruit as a snack if I'm feeling particularly hungry. It's the children I look after that insist on eating every hour and a half ...and 12yr old ds. Although, he's pretty good at going a bit longer between meals. Out of interest, did you feel hungry between meals or were the meals you were eating enough for you to not feel hungry inbetween? Interesting what you say about finding things too sweet. Sugar is my biggest downfall. I have cut out quite a lot in the last couple of weeks but think I'm going to go cold turkey.

Your post is very inspirational, thank you

Ds and I are going on a holiday of a lifetime next year. I am determined to make the very best of it for ds and I can't do that with all this excess weight. Well, I can but I don't want to!!

[Jumblebee]

Hiccup well done for leaving the chocolate orange in tact! Sugar is my biggest weakness as well even when I was over 17 stone I'm sure I didn't eat half as much sugar as I do now, which is worrying. It's become such a crutch to get through the day, even though I was constantly tired and fed up, I still ate crap and depend on my sugar fix.

Mydiet your story really is inspiring! I'm also interested in whether you felt hungry between meals without snacking? The last time I lost weight I still snacked on healthy things, but definitely noticed that it took a lot less food to fill me up!

I work in a cafe with tea and coffee free whenever I want it, free sandwiches/toasties/paninis and I'm starting to make the healthier choices. It's so hard having temptation all around, especially when there's free cakes and pastries at the end of the day!

[Mydietworked]

The meals for my diet are spread through the day this definitely helped but the even so times I felt the hungriest was around 5 PM there were occasions when I could have quite cheerfully BBQ the dog! In the summer if I as at home to distract myself rather than BBQ the dog Id take him for a walk, having drunk 1 of my 500ml portions of water that I was planning to drink with my meal, (I'm very adept at peeing in a bush now), this took my mind of feeling hungry and the feeling does pass in about 10 mins or Id do some gardening. When the evenings got darker earlier I started drinking the one cup of tea I allow myself every day (I can't really have milk but love tea so I drink only one cup a day with skimmed milk in it).
If I was at work where there's load of free biscuits/sweets/cakes etc I kept something back from lunch.
I now rarely eat later than 6 30pm, we used to eat after 8, so that's the alternative if I'm at work and bored is to eat my dinner.
I can honestly say that at the beginning of the year I would never have thought I had the will power to diet so strictly and loose even two stone let alone 5. Friends would have laughed if I said I was going to go on a diet.
Now I have interest in eating between meals.
I have a friend she 10 years old than me, and has always been thin I've observed her eating habits; we spend the day shopping together, we meet in the morning in a coffee shop she has a black coffee, I would have a sandwich, caramel latte, a large one, and one of those large marshmallow cakes, I've already eaten breakfast, (I only discovered that a I can't drink milk after going on the diet I originate from North Africa and my DS can't drink milk so it shouldn't be a surprise really) then we have lunch she has a salad or soup maybe a slice of bread, mineral water, I have bread, soup, a main meal and yet another cake all washed down with fizzy elderflower and another latte. Towards the end of the day about 4 30 ish we go to a Waitrose to do some food shopping as we walk round I buy another sandwich, a couple of bars of chocolate, more fizzy elderflower and a packet of those panda liquorice sticks they're "low in calories" so ok I tell myself she buys a bottle of mineral water we both then go home and have a meal. I couldn't see I was eating for times what she was until I stopped doing it. When I asked her how she kept thin she said she tries not to eat more than 1500 calories a day if she eats more one day she eats less the next. Thin people are thin simply because the eat less. We just have to learn to do the same but it's bloody hard but definitely possible.

[MumOf2Amber]

Have any of you thought about the Juiceplus plan? It's not a fad diet - it's a lifestyle change. I'm getting great results on it and I'm actually finding it very easy! I've tried Cambridge diet, weight watchers etc in the past and I either couldn't stick to it, or I lost weight but then put it back on as soon as I stopped, but I think juiceplus is great & best of all I can cook a main meal from a juiceplus recipe and its suitable for the kids to eat too :)

[obrigada]

Ladies can I join ye? I have been unwell for last 3 months but have now been diagnosed with Graves Disease (overactive thyroid). In the 3 months I lost 2 stone, have been on medication for overactive thyroid for the last month and have put on 3lb. I have just gotten used to weighing 11st (am now 11st 3lb) and really don't want to put back on the weight I lost.

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

Mydiet - that's interesting. I sometimes notice how little others eat but haven't ever really thought that the same should apply to me
Do you still follow your diet or are you able to maintain it by yourself?

Mumof2amber - I have a 'friend' who is massively into juiceplus and I have seen others get sucked into the big sales pitch and it's not for me. I don't want to spend so much money every month on something that I'd like to learn to do myself, ie lose weight, then maintain it by eating healthily.

Obrigada - welcome!! Wow! 2 stone in 3 months is brilliant!! Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Are you following any particular diet or just cutting down in general?

I've been pretty good over the last couple of days and have moved down to the next 'stone' bracket today so that's made me smile

[obrigada]

Thanks for the welcome Hiccup, not following any particular diet, am just trying to cut down on what I eat, and introducing more veg to my diet.

[Jumblebee]

Hi obri what a fantastic achievement! Are you wanting to lose more or maintain?

I feel the same about juiceplus and similar diets. I'm not saying they don't work because obviously there are people who have done fantastically following them, but I already know I can do it by myself and get into a good frame of mind. It's something I want to maintain for the rest of my life plus I'm too skint to pay for diet stuff!

I was talking to a colleague at work yesterday who had lost 4 stone over the past 18 months. She said something that seemed obvious but I hadn't thought about it like that before. Basically I was asking her how she stays strong when there's temptation to snack all the time and she said:

"Think about what you've already eaten today, list it out. And then you've got your packed lunch ready and you know what you're having for dinner. So you don't NEED any snacks, because you've already got the fuel you need for the day".

Basically just think "do I really NEED this?" (I should have remembered this when I finished off DD's fried egg on toast, but I was good and counted it on MFP!)

Well done on the new loss hiccup! My weigh in day is tomorrow, I shall update with hopefully good news! I'm also starting to take a picture every week with the weight written on it so I can compare and see if I can spot a difference. It also helps when I feel like giving up because I can look at the pictures and think "this is why I'm doing this!"

[obrigada]

Hi Jumblebee, I want to maintain my weight, I like being 11st . Weighed last night and am back to 11st, so going to continue to watch what I eat.

[Jumblebee]

That's fantastic obri well done!

I had my week 1 weigh in (which is really a 10 day weigh in but that's by the by!) and I was 15st 10lbs I actually did a happy dance jumping off the scales!

The weekend was bad because there was lots of sweets at the cinema (WHY is it practically a law that I have to scoff loads of crap in a cinema?!) followed by a McDonald's and then, you know, because I'm eating healthily and all, I had a Chinese takeaway on Sunday!!! So after 5 days I had had 2 blowouts :-/ but I'm glad I did get back on it and didn't give up, although I've been stricter with my calories the rest of the week to try and make up for the weekend!

I'll probably eat a little more this week, so I don't feel deprived. My daily calorie allowance is 2200, set to lose 0.5lbs per week. I feel like if I set a really small calorie allowance I just feel defeated before I even begin. At least trying to do it slowly I can have the odd indulgence every now and again.

Speaking of indulgences, Shape chocolate and hazelnut yogurt is AMAZING! Found them in B&M bargains, 99p for 4 and really yummy