I’ve got into a mess over diet and eating- help please!!!

[Sparklydiplodocus]

I’ve got into a really bad pattern. For a few days I’ll eat really well, lots of fruit and veg in the fridge, salad as a big part of my meal etc.
Then a few days later I’ll walk into a supermarket, see all the chocolate and cheese and think who am I kidding, I can’t never eat this stuff! And start eating rich cheesy pasta dishes, crisps and chocolate bars again. On and on we go. I feel guilt after every ‘bad’ food and feel FOMO if I eat good foods.
I’m 10 stone 4 which is at least a stone over my comfortable weight.
Help!!!!

Do your supermarket shopping online with a meal plan and a list. Buy only the things on your list. No visual temptation and nothing in the cupboard to steer you off the path! Also recommend NOOM for getting to the bottom of the psychology behind your eating.

Eat whatever you like. Stop the guilt. Change the volume of what you eat instead to 1/4 of what your eyes want

I recommend reading up about anti diet and intuitive eating.

In short, if you ban foods you want them more.

I think your biggest problem is you have an all or nothing approach. When you ban things completely you make them more desirable. Could you write yourself a meal plan which incorporates the treats but spread over the week and balanced out with healthier dishes. For example if you want macaroni cheese one night, plan a day with a lighter breakfast and lunch.

You can eat cheese and chocolate are normal foods to include in a balanced diet. By demonising them you create a good and bad food dichotomy, there is no good and bad. Yes some foods are more nutritious and some are higher in calories, but food is just food. Try to start eating food to Nourish your body and soul, not to punish it. You are beginning to develop a dysfunctional cycle of eating which is binging on these bad foods and then purging your diet of them completely. The answer is intuitive eating, and it is so liberating. The freedom to have creamy pastas with lots of yummy veg, and chocolate covered fruit for dessert, and feel nothing but love for your body as you nourish it by eating what feels and tastes good to you.

Thing is I feel quite podgy. How do you know what is intuitive eating and what is eating whatever you like and gaining weight??

@Sparklydiplodocus what exercise do you do? Whilst you can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet (cliché alert), a good exercise regime can tighten things up a bit and help with the podgy feeling. On my experience it can also help with “dieting” in the sense that it is generally motivating to be a bit healthier

The cycle of avoidance then craving is well known, but I don't personally think just going at it and keeping eating processed stuff is the answer.

We don't advise people to do this with smoking, we just usually encourage them to go either cold turkey or use patches, etc.

I ended my affair with processed food by accident. We got into watching some videos online last year about the industry and associated illnesses, especially how since the introduction of hydrogenated oils into foods (they replaced butter) has created more issues than we can care to let on. How such substances, along with processed sugars can reprogram our bodies to behave abnormally.

So whilst not interested in dieting or losing weight, we lost a fuck ton as a consequence of being 'put off' that stuff after seeing it in a new light.

I think education is the key - instead of perceiving processed foods as delicious and naughty, it might be better if we saw them for what they were, ie, mostly poison. It could sound pompous, but it really put us off. We got inot buying from scratch, which even turned out cheaper, escept for my thing with pine nuts (!!). It is much more expensive to switch to good quality meant though. Recipes found online are easy and cost effective, and it is amazing how many of the homemade things taste even better than the stuff doused in palm oil, sugar and shit.

My post sounds so sanctimonious but it is hard to talk online due to there being no tone or facial expressions, so please know that was not intended!
I think you just have to come to see it as poison, like you would a cigarette, or else it is a lifetime of craving.

oh ffs keyboard.
Good quality meat.

@Thegreencup

I recommend reading up about anti diet and intuitive eating.

In short, if you ban foods you want them more.

Totally agree. Doing this, plus giving up restriction, has changed my life (no exaggeration).

Gotta add, we do eat chocolate and some processed stuff, but it made up less eager to involve it in everyday meals.

I totally allow myself chocolate and cheese if I feel like it! But I will try and keep the portions of these smaller than I would in the past. Or slightly healthier variations. If I blow out then I eat lighter the next day. I'm hungrier when ovulating and on my period so I don't worry too much over these times, I just try not to put weight on...other times I try to make healthy choices.

Follow the 80/20 rule - healthy / nutritious / low cal 80% of the time, whatever you like 20%.

There are 21 mealtimes in a week, have 16-17 "good" meals and 4-5 "bad" ones. Or even just one "cheat meal" a week. I know some people hate the idea but we can't just switch to "good" forever, and a bit of rubbish is better than nothing but rubbish...