Why, oh why, oh why can't I stop eating?

[ApolloandDaphne]

I am hungry all the time. 5'6" and 14s 5lb. Age 61. Tried everything. My diet is mostly healthy but obviously just too much.

I have a skinny runner of a DH who can eat everything and not gain an ounce. I do all the shopping and cooking as I am retired and he still works. I also drink too much wine and I know this isn't helping at all.

I start off each morning with good intentions. But in the afternoon I just hoover up everything I can lay my hands on.

I have done Zoe and know what is good for my body but many of these things are high calorie (avocados, nuts, hummus etc)

I am not really expecting anything from this post. I just wanted to write it down.

The only thing that stops my cravings is keto / v low carb.

Carbs are addictive and unsatiating for me - i.e. I can eat and eat them, they don't really fill me up, and I get very uncontrollable cravings for them

I think this is not atypical.

It took me 2 weeks of pretty horrible cold turkey to stop the cravings, then one day - I woke up and the cravings were gone.

I've done low carb in the past. It's not easy when I live with a carb monster! I maybe need to re look at what I can do. I need to do something.

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I have done Zoe and know what is good for my body but many of these things are high calorie (avocados, nuts, hummus etc)

But surely we know now that this doesn't matter, and that the high calories in nuts especially are not metabolised in the same way that high calories for biscuits are. If your problem is constant hunger cravings then you need to make sure that you eat foods that are sustaining.

I have been doing 5:2 and actually got to enjoy the feeling of hunger, the rumbling stomach just makes me really look forward to my evening meal. I also try to eat much more slowly and savour the food. I don't snack but if things are bad I find a cup of hot vegetable broth or miso can keep me going.

I do eat foods that are sustaining but they don't seem to sustain me long enough. I also get bored in the afternoon which doesn't help.

I forgot to add that for the past 18 months I have had a sore hip/leg which makes walking or any other exercise difficult. I've had many tests but no one can get to the bottom of the issue. It really makes me feel down. My DH is out running, his lithe, fit body working at peak capacity. I, on the other hand limp slowly dragging my fat body around. I saw a picture of me the other day and I look like humpty dumpty.

OP, I'd recommend signing up to Nutracheck and keeping a food diary on it for a week or two without restricting calories and record what you find satisfying and what was a trigger for your binging. Note what times of day you are hungry and what you were doing when you started bingeing. Notice if you are actually hungry or just feel like eating. Or perhaps you are actually thirsty- have a glass of water or squash to hand.

I would guess it is a mixture of boredom and emotions - feeling fed up at how you look, your injury and that you don't "deserve" to feel fitter or healthier.

I'd find a regular gentle restorative yoga or breathwork class and try and walk for ten minutes a day with an audiobook, music or podcast and gradually build up.

Try and eat three good meals a day with fat, protein, fibre and carbs and fill half your plate at lunch and dinner with vegetables.

Hi I am the same age and currently feeling the same - have tried and have had good success with low carbing and there are times when I am really good and eat well but there are just times when I eat like crazy.
Really warm here today and feeling the extra pounds.
I have no advice but just wanted to get it out there

I do find using my fitness pal has helped give me a more realistic idea of portion size - who knew that you could have too big a portion of healthy food

I hear you, it's hard, I love eating, it makes me happy.

However, I have lost 2.5st in the last year, for me it really is mind over matter, I know I need to just not eat silly things. I love being slimmer and not just thinking about how fat I am the whole time, but my goodness it's difficult!

It's very difficult

Only thing that stops me eating is chewing gum. I know it's a nasty habit but it works. Chew gum or have a glass of water.

Increase your protein and fibre intake. Both will keep you fuller for longer. And drink lots of water. See if that makes a difference.

Might you have endometriosis?

I had to reread this and check I didn’t write it. I am a little younger but most of your post applies to me too except that I am very lucky that I can be incredibly active and I train 4/5 hours per week but exercise has almost zero baring on my weight, I do it for its many other benefits. I actually rang to enquire about bariatric surgery this week because I am no closer to cracking it.

For me I’m a dopamine chaser, suspect I’ve ADD, I eat due to boredom and if I feel frustrated because I don’t tolerate either of those emotions well.

I lost very little weight during a weight loss boot camp I did in January around 2kg in 6 weeks and I’ve put it back on now. I realise now that if I stuck with it I’d have continued on that track so I’ve decided to go back to it. I consistently eat about 200-500 calories more than I need each week. That causes the slow creeping weight gain so that is the nut I need to crack. It will have to be forever too and I will always need to work on it. The second I stop working on it all hell breaks loss with my eating habits. You are not alone. I appreciate that doesn’t help you though.

I have no womb. I had a hysterectomy 14 years ago.

I have nutracheck/MyFitnessPal. I know how to do all these things. I eat very nutritious, filling meals. That's not my issue. My issue is that come the afternoon from around 3pm I want to stuff everything into my face. Once I've eaten my dinner I am satiated and need no more. The afternoon coincides with my very tired/sore time and I think I am also bored and lonely then. I cannot wait until DH retires as I will be less lonely and I eat much less when he is around.

Having written all this down I see it's more about my mood, pain and loneliness than my general food choices.

I hear you OP.

I'm currently eating my way through my dissertation (v mature student). I bought a skipping rope last week and have been ensuring the rope passes under my feet 100 times a day (often 10 sets of 10 skips). Not seeing any difference to my weight but I do feel I am doing something to balance the excess calories I am shovelling in at the moment

I am 52 and am feeling the same @ApolloandDaphne I had a hysterectomy in January this year and my mood has been all over the place. I have zero motivation to do anything apart from snack and drink wine or gin. I am speaking to a gp next week about it as I am hoping it's a hrt tweak in my case, the afternoon snacking is just awful. I have put on 5 kgs in the past few months and feel so uncomfortable.
I know I can lose weight but haven't done it in a healthy way. I had really bad anxiety about 7 years ago where I couldn't swallow any food, and then when I could, I could only eat small amounts, so I just got used to being hungry. Seems I can't do that now, the get used to being a bit hungry, I never want to experience not being able to eat properly again.
Anyway, I'm saving your post to see if there are some suggestions on how to get past this. I hope you find a way through this too.

As well as the nutrition stuff, which of course is important, I also recommend lowish carb and just 3 meals to stabilise blood sugars. A good fast usually resets me if I've been off track. However what jumps out at me is your boredom leading to snacking etc. Can you plan a walk in the afternoon, meet a friend or call someone as a new routine? For me tiredness and boredom trigger the gorging and it's not hunger at all but psychological habit. It's a rotten way to feel right now so really set up a plan with plenty of protein and healthy fats, nothing extreme but three healthy lovely plates of food and loads of water! How is your water intake? Apart from the scales, v quickly you will feel better, sleep better and what I call my carb face (tired and slightly bloated) disappears. Wishing you all the best. One day at a time.

@ApolloandDaphne I'm 55 and feel exactly the same, without the super fit and active partner! I know what foods to eat, portion control, keeping a log etc etc but its still the boredom and emotional eating that scuppers me every time. The only way I can keep the slightest bit of control is not to have 'dangerous' foods in the house - which is much easier when living alone - and only buy them in the full knowledge that I will eat them within a day and not try to kid myself the 'treats' will last a week or more, Not buying them at all is the only way I ever train myself until I fall off the wagon and the whole sorry cycle starts again.

Yes and don't let your brain trick you with 'just one'or 'just today' Honestly I leave my bankcard at home a lot to avoid pulling on when tired or bored or fed up.

I'm 55 and had just let myself go over the last 10 years but mostly the last 5.

I managed the whole mindless snacking thing (mostly) by:

stopping drinking random wine - it makes me hungrier for crap the next day. So I'll have wine if I'm out with a friend or eating a nice meal. Not just because it's sunny and I've finished work. Or it's raining and I've finished work.

Eating 3 proper meals a day,
Breakfast poached eggs on sourdough toast with avocado and tomatoes or full fat yoghurt with seeds and fruit.

Lunch - soup with beans or lentils or dal. Usually no bread or white rice.

Evening meal - veg, protein, carb. Grilled chicken, jacket potato, salads or veg. Last night was salmon stirfry with seeds and noodles.

If I snack I have a banana or apple.

I weight a stone and a half less than I did last year and dropped a dress size - but I've only been properly concentrating on this since Christmas.

I've also joined a gym and do more walking - but it's definitely cutting out the crap, like a starter of a packet of crisps while I make tea, or biscuits at work, or a chocolate bar because I'm bored....that has made the difference. I'm fitter from the gym and walking - but that's not the weight loss.

Need to lose another stone and a half as I've just been put on BP tablets...ho hum.

also pretty much stopped buying any crap for the house, Lots more veg and just normal food in the shopping basket.

I'll still pick up a cake for very skinny DH, or he picks one up for himself...but that's fine.

Would it be easier to change your environment? If the urge to eat hits at 3pm, make sure you are away from food at that time. Physically and mentally busy- even if it's just sitting on a bench in the park, away from shops and the food at home.

I have to use all manner of strategies to trick myself away from eating - i know I have a problem, I overeat regardless of how full or satisfied I am. In my case it's not an issue of hunger, cravings, carbs, processed food or lack of fibre or protein. So distraction is a useful technique.

I used to exercise at the time where I would normally eat mindlessly - but like you i have physical issues that limit what I can do so I have had to come up with other ideas. Otherwise I would happily eat all day.

Sorry just read your update about your health, that must be crap.

Trying to target something to do in the afternoon, also is there anything the GP can do about the pain and the afternoon?

Can you swim/join a gym just to regularly go and sit in the sauna? Garden? Meet a friend. Do some online studying? Volunteer somewhere at a time of the day when you are less tired.

I've made it sound like I do nothing. I have several things i do on a voluntary basis and a hobby group that's lots of fun and offer opportunities for socialising. I see my DM weekly and I have book group monthly. I'm a part time student but my studies have ended for this semester. I did join a gym but swimming was hard and sore. I've given that up now. I enjoy reading, doing jigsaws and tending to plants in my green house. However there is still a lot of time where I am just on my own.

That exactly how I eat. It's just the afternoon hoovering of snacks that is a problem. The snacks are not crisps and biscuits etc. It might be hummus and veg, some nuts, some cheese on a cracker but it's all of those not just one.

This is me. Only I’m 10 years younger . BMI 35.
i have just started fasting and low carbing and have hope for the first time in a while as I do feel less hungry . For me I’m better knowing I can’t eat !