Mindset, weight loss, binge

[Shakeitbaby]

Hi, I am looking for some advice with regard to over eating.

I am overweight with a long history of dieting with some success and a lot of failure. I can go long periods without eating, not really thinking much about food but if it pops into my head or I decide to eat something, I find my willpower vanishes. As an example, I had a bagel for breakfast and had a ridiculous sweet craving mid morning. I couldn't seem to shake it or ignore it, i wasnt hungry. I just wanted sugar and although I knew that the sensible thing was to have some fruit or occupy myself with something else instead I decided to have one or two wine gums and then I proceeded to eat the whole bag.

I'm the same with biscuits 2 biscuits turns into an entire pack. It's like rational thought and self control vanish and then I feel awful after. I've done all manner of diets in the past and find it easier to deprive and say I can't have something at all because if I have a little, it leads to a lot. The problem with those sorts of diets are they difficult to stick to.
I record my step count each day and do two exercise classes each week but the weight isn't budging.

Any advise on how to stop the cravings and the mindless over eating when I succumb?

Please be kind, I'm feeling a little delicate about this today and I've attacked myself enough about my failings. Any thoughts or advice are much appreciated. Thanks

You sound just like me OP. Can't reply properly now but I will post later.

I’m the same, OP. I find that fasting works well for me, particularly OMAD (one meal a day) but if I lose that routine, then I really lose it! I was losing weight and feeling very well through autumn, then December and Christmas have seen me binging again. I hate it, am working on not hating myself, and am determined to get back to my fasting habit.

It sounds like you have a very strong blood glucose response. Follow the Glucose Goddess or read the Glucose Revolution.

Basically, try and avoid that the first thing you eat is carbs. If you do, your blood sugar will spike high, causing insulin to be released which will take excess glucose to your fat calls and may then undershoot leaving your blood sugar low so giving sweet cravings.

Ideally eat veggies, protein/fat and then carbs last. This stops the glucose spiking so high. So try and have a little yoghurt before your bagel or eat the bagel with cheese rather than jam. If you have to have biscuits or sweets, have them after a meal, not on their own. Have a green salad before a pasta dish etc

It’s not a mindset issue or lack of willpower, it’s just a blood sugar response. Zoe would be great if you could afford it as it would help you understand how your body responds to which food.

I know how hard it is and have issues with binge eating too.

it sounds like you are struggling with blood sugar control and eating in a way that traps you in a cycle. If you replaced a bagel with a cheesy omelette for breakfast or ate a handful of mixed nuts or Greek yogurt as a snack I bet you’d find it easier to stabilise your blood sugar levels and not fall into that horrible dip that causes one to want to go crazy for sugary processed crap.

i bet if you started by kicking sugar and processed crap but otherwise eating whenever you are hungry, with a focus on protein (cheese, chicken, fish, nuts, avocado, hummus) and fibre (veg) as the bulk or adding these things to off set any carbs you eat > so peanut butter with toast etc you’d stop feeling the craving.

you may be interested in listening to the Tim Spector podcasts on the Zoe study - and if you can afford it, try the Zoe study yourself - although it will largely conclude the above ^

I see pp mentioning eating a "handful" of nuts. I know that is a good idea, and why, but if I have a packet of mixed nuts, I'll start with a handful, then eat the whole packet.

It's being able to stop eating that's the problem, and with me, it doesn't matter the food group. If it's edible, I'll eat it, and keep on eating it.

The only thing that works for me is a fasting regime and routine. My routine has been disrupted and I need to motivate myself to get back to it. The irony is that I know I do better and feel better when fasting, but there's something almost mindless about the binging - and when I'm finished, usually because there's nothing left to eat - I wonder why on earth I did it.

The Zoe way of eating would say that a whole pack of nuts is fine if that’s why you want; it has certain foods that are pretty much not going to affect your blood sugar and their philosophy/research is that calorie counting isn’t necessary as long as you’re focusing on blood sugar control

Saying all this, I’m the same with bingeing and find the only way I can lose weight is to take food off the table for a while so fasting /food supplement packs is the only thing that works, but it’s amazingly effective !! As soon as I am in keto, you stop being hungry and feel incredible and then the weight just falls off. You can lose a stone a month. The challenge is then just switching to a healthy lifestyle after so you can maintain it. But I find once you’re looking and feeling good then it’s easier to eat wel and exercise so it’s just a case of having the Will power to Stick to it for a couple months,

Keto is your very best friend.

Not having sweet foods kills the craving for them. You can skip meals easily so intermittent fasting is a doddle.

I am a carb addict and need to treat myself as such.

The Zoe method is great marketing, I will give it that. Unfortunately, a whole bag of nuts will make a huge difference to op given she has said she is overweight and wants to change that. Looking at blood sugar can’t change the fact that it is calories consumed as the only way to lose weight. Yes, things like protein will keep you fuller for longer and I understand that different foods help cut cravings etc, but anything recommending a whole bag of nuts as fine isn’t great and will never work for weight loss.

You’re right and I actually did try Zoe and realised exactly this / I would say it’s excellent for maintaining a healthy weight long term but I didn’t lose any weight doing it (despite claims that I would) and this put me off and disillusioned me so then I ate even worse than usual and put even more weight on. So I have reverted to more extreme weight loss through calorie deficit and will return to something like Zoe later on.

I see pp mentioning eating a "handful" of nuts. I know that is a good idea, and why, but if I have a packet of mixed nuts, I'll start with a handful, then eat the whole packet.

Buy reusable tubs and bags and portion everything that comes into your house.

Meal plan factoring in snacks.

Freeze everything you can and take out the freezer each evening ready for the following day.

Sounds like me. Once I pop I can't stop.
Have done WW in the past but now mid forties it's getting harder.
Have about 2 stone to loose before going on holidays with judgy MIL.
Any help welcome.

Thank you so much for all of your replies and suggestions. I have skimmed through but will read properly later on.

I'm the same, the 'a little bit of what you fancy' or 'all things in moderation' approaches don't work with me. I have been a slave to my raging appetite for so long. A few years ago I felt my sugar lows were so extreme that I would almost collapse, I had to pull over the car a few times and once found myself lying on the kitchen floor. After bloods to verify nothing was wrong, I realised sugar had to go, so I emptied the house. Then the next day I had a craving so strong that i nearly pulled the house apart looking for anything to satisfy me, I found a squeezy bottle of golden syrup probably years old in the back of the baking cupboard and literally drank it from the bottle til it was gone. It made me sick but the relief was amazing. Thats when I realised I needed help with this. I went to a dietician and they put me on a plan, I have to admit I have fallen massively off the wagon but will get back again. The first thing that had to go was bread or cereal in the morning, it just seems to trigger something in me. Breakfast is egg or natural yoghurt or babybel, or all of the above, but carb free. I now have a carb at lunchtime but often go for bread and it still reacts with me so that's the next thing I need to tackle. I need to make a lunch from leftovers and avoid the usual sandwich or lunch foods, that's tricky for me.

Mentally I can go through phases where I rise above cravings and deep breathe or drink a herbal tea, but if i'm stressed or exhausted I just don't have the capacity for this and give in. Which is why I gave up my diet, the stress of the weekly weigh in stressed me so much that it became counter active, I would binge eat the night before a weigh in, sometimes stuffing my face in the car in the carpark outside my appointment. Yes, it makes no sense but that's when I really realised stress is the real enemy, my cravings and obesity are only the symptoms. I started to focus on reducing stress which is very difficult as like most people I don't go looking for it, its stuff beyond my control. I feel I'm coping a bit better and feel happier now and stopped gaining weight. I need to get back on track and will go back to the nutritionist with the low carb approach, i have all the tools I just need to implement it again. But this time I'm hoping to lose about a lb a month and maybe in 3 or 4 years I'll be a healthy weight. I hope in doing so I'll learn lifelong healthy habits. I know aiming for anything else will be too much pressure and for me pressure = stress = cravings = weight gain.

Solidarity. I have problems with bingeing too.

During 2023, I lost over 3 stones with fasting (16h daily fast), cutting down on wine, and exercise.

Once I had got into the routine and noticed weight loss, it was easier to stick to. The compulsion to eat six packets of crisps never goes away for me, but it can be managed. I did fall off the wagon rather often, but the overall monthly trend was weight loss.

I spent less money on food and nights out in 2023 which meant that I could save a bit towards decorating my house - which is happening next week. A nice byproduct of getting healthier! Can’t wait.

Shahroo Izadi's The Last Diet might be helpful. I really enjoyed her first book The Kindness Method for helping me change habits. She has a background in working with people with addictions and used the same techniques on herself to deal with her relationship with food.

I have struggled with binge eating my whole life. Particularly things like crisps, cheese, nuts. I could never stop at just one. Unrealistic calorie counting and time restricted eating have never really worked for me, because I'd snap after a few days. I started to eat as many whole foods as possible, veg and fruit only for snacks, no sugary drinks and it's helped reset my palate/cravings. Now if I eat snacks in the evening I feel awful the next day (almost like a junk food hangover), eating crisps I used to adore now taste really greasy and salty after a few bites. I also quit drinking as it didn't help me make good choices.

I've also dealt with some of the emotional reasons behind my eating and can see I was eating in response to stress or anger. I've had to completely change my mindset around food and not see it as a treat or something to console me. I've looked for other ways to reduce and respond to stress (yoga/stretches, meditation/breathing exercises, herbal tea, moments to myself, being outside in nature) and that's helped me break the cycle.

@Alalalalalongalalalalalonglonglilong that's really interesting what you say about bread. After reading Ultra Processed People I have almost stopped eating supermarket bread. I do still have a slice of a rye style bread for breakfast with an egg, but it has no added sugar (the bread in the UK is unbearably sweet I find). It's denser so I only eat one slice. Then for lunch I avoid bread (apart from weekly soup day at work with colleagues) and try to have leftovers/soup/homemade pancakes instead. I feel so much better and alert in the afternoon since making the change (and I live in the Netherlands where people eat cheese or sweet sandwiches for breakfast and again for lunch!). Also means I'm more likely to up my vegetable intake.