Fat- getting fatter and still can't stop eating

[weechubby]

I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm defective. Literally broken. I have stood on the scales and I'm 4 stone too heavy. I've known this for ages but I can't stop eating unhealthy food. I'm literally at a loss as to what to do but I need to get my fat finger out of my ass!

If you can afford it Wegovy is fantastic.
It's been life changing for me as a person who has been overweight since adolescence.
There's much better supply now and hopefully costs are coming down.
Best money I've ever spent.

That's what I like about flexible dieting. I lost 40kg (I gained 30 on medication a few years back) while enjoying take away and not depriving myself. Rigid eating programs don't work for all. Life is for living.

I was like you back in the day… Still think a lot about what I could eat next. The key to it for me was a few weeks of weight watchers and having to get weighed in class every week. Two weeks of feeling physically unsettled and tense weaning myself off refined sugar. The hardest part.
When you’re feeling at rock bottom though it’s the only way. Have a look at how loosing weight will impact positivity on your health for motivation and inspiration.
Learning that filling up on healthy food and hydration and seeing yourself shrink can actually be enjoyable and rewarding too when you find what you like. Realising that physical cravings for the wrong food will go and you’ll feel better mentally, feeling that you’ve taken back control. As soon as you’re in control of things you’ll feel calmer.
I think you need to find something to strengthen your self esteem and sense of self.
What activities do you enjoy? Could you get out a few nights a week to something that’s your passion, eg choir, dance, gym class etc?
I’ve realised that sitting down to relax is not always helpful to me when I’m feeling tired and stressed and can lead to eating more. Run, dance, sing etc. It helps you breathe away the stress, takes you away from negative thoughts (ann the fridge!) and puts you in a happier place.

I second the Gusto suggestion. I currently work 3 jobs so around 50 hours, a week, have 3 children, and can still make these.
They do a selection of under 650 meals and they are fab.
Ive gone from 14 stone 13lb in Jan to 11 stone 8 as of this week.

I have stopped working out for the last 4 weeks and still loosing 1 to 2 lb a week.
For lunch i have Soup and i don't eat before 12 noon or after 8pm.

It is definitely achievable but you have to change your mind set also. I will be lax for a week over xmas, i will be eating what i want but then back to it in Jan.

I think people worry too much about what to do when eating out, at special occasions, on holiday, etc. Unless you do these things very often, it’s fine to be indulgent. For me, knowing I’m going to have a burger and chips plus a pudding when I go out makes me feel like I’m still getting treats, and the next day I can really feel the negative effects on my body and be glad I’m going back to eating more healthily. Just make sure it’s not more than a couple of times a month and it’s not a problem - and for me a really important part of what keeps healthy eating sustainable. I don’t want to never be able to indulge!

Hi - similar to @arlequin I had considered Mindful Chef dishes and splitting them over two days. Best of luck OP!

I've lost a stone and kept it off - I have another 2 to go.

I'm walking more. And I've really stopped snacking, or if I do it's fruit. It's not 100% but it's about 80% of the time.

I'm not buying crap, I'm eating way more veg and fish, I'm making sure I have a protein type breakfast - a poached egg, or Greek yoghurt. Soup (home made or chunky store bought) and a banana for lunch. Something with lots of veg for tea.

I know straight after work or sitting on the sofa are my trigger points - so I've stopped snacking then. I'll get up and do something else.

It's been pretty easy to be honest.

I've also joined a gym and am doing weights 2 to 3 times a week...but while that's helping with toning it's been the food that has made the difference really.

It's possible. Even in winter....

Salad dressings with exquisite oil, wine or raspberry vinegar

You shop at Waitrose don't you 😁

If you can afford it, Wegovy will change your life. I was the same as you and I literally cried with joy when the urge to eat disappeared and the weight started to melt away.

I accept that I have a big appetite. So i eat, but minimal/rarely bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, cakes, sweets. All the things I'd love to eat constantly, but I can't due to being mindful of health and weight. I rarely eat meat and when I do, its chicken only. I can have a load of chicken and veg or salad on my plate and feel full, no need for the carby extras. Its about what you eat. Carbs addiction is a bugger and junk food tastes good. It's what you need to get over. A friend did it with hypnotherapy. Mine is sheer will but I will fall off the wagon at Christmas as per, then get back on it come January. One key thing is to keep exercising. Dumbbells at home, follow instructors clips on YouTube. Do short routines, not long. Doing this got me fit almost without noticing, I only realised when a belt I'd always struggled with, suddenly fit. You can do it OP, exercising somehow makes you more of a mindful eater I've found.

This is interesting because it sounds like a problem that is quite circumstantial. You are busy, exhausted and eat convenience food. CF is designed to make you crave more and more of it. They have scientists researching the perfect hit of sugar, fat, salt, crispiness, chewyness etc to make you come back again and again.

You need to break the cycle with some very simple meal planning.

Try traybakes and batch cooking.

Traybakes can take 10 mins or less to prep and 25-30 mins to cook.

E.g. Chicken pieces tossed in a tablespoon of herbs or mild spices mixed to a thickish paste with water rather than oil if you are wanting weight loss. Add a bag of baby potatoes and some chunky veg - if you are short of time, frozen mediterranean veg - thick sliced peppers and courgettes are fine. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven until the chicken is golden brown and crisp and the veg cooked through.

Once a week do this with herbs and peppers etc, mediterranean style. Another time, do it with sweet potato wedges and jerk seasoning. Another time, add some chopped leeks, chestnut mushrooms, chunks of butternut squash and a throw a glass of wine or cider over the lot to make a more bubbly casserole type thing. All very healthy but easy to do, especially if you buy prepped veg.

Batch cooking: If you like MacDonald's then you must like minced beef. Make a massive batch of tomato base: onions, carrots, celery, garlic, all finely minced, tinned chopped tomatoes, diced mixed peppers and courgettes. Divide it into 3 or 4 depending on how much you made (at least one tin of toms per family-sized portion) Brown off some mince. Then add it to 2 of the portions. To one you add herbs - and that's a spag bol base, to another you add chilli/chipotle and kidney beans - that's a chilli to have with rice or fahitas, a third portion is left as plain tomato to be a healthy veg pasta sauce.

It'll take an hour, but then you'll have three week night meals ready to take out of the freezer in the morning and warm up at night in the time it takes to cook rice or pasta. If you use rice pouches or fresh pasta - that's 5 mins!

Other people might be able to help with slow cooker recipes but I find these need a fair bit of prep in the morning - not ideal with small children to organise.

My story is exactly the same as yours!

I think about my weight about 100 times a day until I get a craving then I don't give a shit.

My current goal is to stop gaining which I have achieved!! So I am trying to feel proud of myself for maintaining. Some day ill get the mental energy to lose again but I'm just not there.

I also find if I massively reward myself with non-food treats, my appetite drops. Hard day? Buy a magazine, pick up a thriller or upbeat novel from the library, do a puzzle book, small item of make up, listen to a playlist of favourite upbeat songs, watch a comedy stand up routine or feel good movie, have a salt bath with drops of essential oil, try a face pack, have a home mani or pedi etc. Do this sort of thing more often, so you associate de-stressing not with junk food or comfort eating but with other ways of self care.

I'm also trying to do micro workouts. 20 squats morning and night, 20 high kicks or sit ups while the kettle boils, 20 jumping jacks if I feel chilly. It's nowhere near enough but it's better than nothing and it seems to wake my muscles up.

@noooooooo I really wonder why we do this. Why is this such a common story? I lost a stack of weight - not through dieting just through exercise a few years ago. I LOVED it. Bouncing around, full of energy, aches and pains gone, depression gone. Then my work pattern shifted so I couldn't go to those classes as easily and the classes I could go to ended up being cancelled. Within a year I was back at my heaviest weight again and still am. Why is it so hard for some of us to eat well? I look at my friends and they are all slim, normal sized women. the two tiny ones had eating disorders and I don't want their attitude to food either, But the healthy BMI ones are the ones I want to be like.