What made you FINALLY stop over eating?

[spad]

I am struggling to lose more than 5 stone.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

tia

My default is to overeat snacks. The only time i don't is when I'm a member of a club. (SW.) If I'm not i just think i may as well eat as no one will know. (Obviously not the right way to think but i do.)

You dont need to starve to lose weight, just see what u did in the past few weeks to gain that weight! I was eating junk food for lunch because it was cheap and didn't know how harmful they can be, know if you see the 3 week diet (anytimediet.com) you'll see there's more than doing work out. It's a combination of body and mind, making the habit is what brings the most results in your goal.

Realising that one bag of crisps, biscuit etc wasn't going to pile the weight back on overnight but if I went on to eat the multipack or the whole packet of biscuits then eventually I would. Eating normal portions of food that I enjoyed not stuffing as much as could in secret and thinking no one would notice.

It's an addiction as at least one other person has said above.

I am generally doing really well having lost almost 5.5st in 2 years, but every once in a while something seems to click in me and I binge eat. I don't enjoy it much, but I know now that no point in me stressing about i, I go with the flow, drop back from my SW group/pages, and let it run it's course.

Usually only a couple days, but this lst one was 2.5 weeks, I've no idea what triggers it, or what "un" triggers it. Am back on SW plan 100% this week and not even thinking about naughty food. It's like a switch got turned off in my brain.

I've lost 4 stone and kept it off for over a year. What worked for me was:

• Wanting to lose weight before TTC. I just thought, if I can't do it now, when I have all this free time, I'll never manage it once I have kids. It seemed like I could stop over eating now, or never.

• Moving somewhere with no local shop and then not keeping any snacks in the house. Once I'm home after a stressful day, I just don't have access to anything I could eat without cooking.

• Weighing myself every day. It is a useful motivation. I can also see that my weight fluctuates a lot due to hormones. So if my weight goes up by 2-3lb overnight I know its just water weight. If I was weighing myself once a week, that kind of increase would be really demotivating.

And more for losing weight than eating at a healthy/maintenance level: logging calories really works for me. I always eat too much if I don't log.

Binge eating is what the diet companies want - they get you back time and time and time again because you "fell off the wagon". Bullshit fucking diets, that screw over your mindset, your hormones, tell you to eat chemical ridden products (Muller Light for one).

Just eat real food. That's IT. Whole foods, clean foods, nature's food. Whatever you want to call it. Eat it until your heart and your head are content. No processed empty calories, no salty and transfatty junk.

www.Rebelfit.co.uk on Facebook (anti diet rants and truth about losing body fat and getting a bit fitter)
The Whole30 Plan www.whole30.com
Forks over Knives www.forksoverknives.com
Mark's Daily Apple www.marksdailyapple.com/#axzz42LZMp8Hb
Jessipes www.jessipes.co.uk

Just a few of my faves!

You've got to ask, if you have always followed diets that eventually you cannot continue with then something is ultimately wrong with the diet. So how about you don't diet, and you learn about real nutrition, eat to fuel your body, don't starve it which just causes terrible communications from brain to stomach because it is in panic mode. Or starve it, then binge, starve then binge...it's just no good. We need stability and nutrients.

weight loss surgery which enabled me to MOVE which led to a new found enthusiasm for weightlifting and voila! No more interest in being obsessive over food. Totally liberating

After 10 years of binge eating and yo yo dieting I've finally cracked it.. I think! I had two children with a small gap in between and just struggled physically to take care of them being so overweight. It was a case of lose it or? I don't know.
I also basically stopped thinking of dieting as such. Made a conscious lifestyle change. I stopped eating processed sugar stuff, biscuits, crisps etc and still ate a lot but of fruit, etc etc I focus on my kids and enjoying life, when I feel like a sugar binge these days I have a low cal hot choc and distract myself. It does work. Diets are rubbish, you got to think of the long haul. Forget weight loss, think get healthy and have a goal. For me, getting up the stairs carrying my baby without almost collapsing! Ha ha gosh sorry for the huge waffle. In summary, stop putting crap in, sort the emotions.

You can do it. 100%

Slimming world! Joined in June 2012 day after my bday and hit target the following March. Been at target for 3 years this month and still go as a member of the social team to keep me on track. just a way of life now and i loved learning new recipes and seeing the weight finally go. Honestly changed my life and my diet totally.

I joined SW but I didn't take to the classes - all that jolliness wasn't really for me so I'd just go along for the weigh in. I'd lose the odd pound and then put it back on.

But what finally did it was keeping a food diary - not on the scrappy sheets they give you at SW, I did it in email form and sent it to the organiser woman weekly. She mostly just said "drink more water" but it made me feel accountable.

Previously I'd stuck to the plan but as things like apples were free, I'd have 10 in a day all with lashings of 0% yoghurt, also free. Yet when I began sending my food diary to the organiser woman I wanted to not seem like a weirdo so I cut down on the sheer quantity of fruit and veg and yoghurt I was having to more normal amounts. It worked for me.

Looking at photos of myself.

HORRIBLE.

1. Going cold turkey on sugar

1. Starting an exercise program (dvd) that was no longer than 30 minutes.

Looking at photos did nothing until I looked at them in hindsight - I couldn't see it until I had a comparison (i put weight on in proportion all over, so front on look very similar. Side on is another matter).

following with interest.

I found (for me a lifelong overater) that SW positively encourages overeating. It was like a golden ticket to overeat for me with all this talk of free food etc - not a success.

I was never taught about portion sizing - in fact all we were taught was if it tastes good eat more :(

So while I am pretty relaxed about food with my DC we do talk about portion sizes, and only having small amounts of sweet or fatty foods for example.

It does seem to me that the road to overeating is paved with "if it feels/tastes good eat it" thinking, along with an unawareness of portion sizes, or an inability to accept/know that if you don't follow the portion size guidelines you WILL be fat (well most people will - there are exceptions).

I still struggle

Getting a personal trainer (an expensive option and not possible for all, I do appreciate this)

She has given me a fitness and diet programme and we weigh regularly

I made healthier versions of 'bad' food using clean eating blogs like deliciouslyella.com so a 'chocolate' treat isn't stuffed full of sugar.

I suddenly realised I've been on a diet for years, so that clearly doesn't work. I thought back to before I put on weight - and realised that trying to eat healthily for so long has left me eating too much, whilst still wanting 'the thing'. So I've stopped dieting. I wait til I'm hungry and think what I'd like. I now have biscuits, crisps, chocolate etc in the house - I'm free to eat them if I want them. So if all I'm hungry for is a 2 finger kitkat, for example, that's all I have. It's crazy but the weight is dropping off This is after admitting that I can't have had a healthy relationship with food for decades, so maybe it wouldn't work for everyone. I've tried slimming world etc but definitely overeat on those plans.

Watching with interest. I lost 2 stone in 2014 but have piled it all back on. I ran 10 miles yesterday so exercise is'nt a problem but i cannot get a grip on my eating. I am like a possessed monster at times!

Tracking what you eat. Just keeping track of everything (not forgetting that little biscuit or chips off he kids plate...) will make you think twice before deciding if you need it! Have a target to work to of what is a realistic amount to eat. Don't cut out stuff like chocolate you can't live without, but ration it as a treat. Plan what you are going to eat in advance. It's when I don't plan what I'm eating for lunch or dinner I end up snacking.

I do Weightwatchers and lost 1 1/2 stone since Jan. I get hungry sometimes, but if i'm eating all my points I know that anything over that isn't necessary and I should just have an apple. It's really made me realise when I am over eating.

I have used MyFitness Pal as a free option for food tracking too and lost 1/2 stone that way. Personally I prefer weightwatchers as it lets you have most fruit and veg for 'free' so I can always have a piece of fruit or carrot sticks to nibble on if I have the munchies.

And there's nothing wrong with taking a day/ weekend off occasionally for a wedding, birthday, holiday etc but make sure you get back on it the next day.

I'm finding nothing works for me at the moment, I just sabotage myself and I need to figure out how to override it. It's not like I don't have reasons to do it, there's that many weddings and birthdays coming up...

Cutting out all alcohol almost a year ago helped spring me back into fitness which I used to do religiously 15 or so years ago. I didn't drink lots, went through phases, but even one large glass would make me feel overtired. So the next day I'd be too knackered to do anything and so on. So I thought sod this and gave it up. Don't miss it at all, amazingly.

Now I'm a right smug git. I do tons of weights and HIITs at home and have also cut out dairy. Never was much of a bread eater either so that helps I guess.

I am trying to cut out unhealthy snacks and alcohol, but also take more time to make delicious (well, I try ) food. So for lunch I have some plain rice, stir fried veg and a herb omelette. Nice food I can look forward to, which isn't unhealthy. But grabbing some crisps and a dip is so much quicker!

Thank you spad, what a great thread, and just what I've been thinking this week. I've not got there yet, but there's some ideas on here that I'm going to look into. My problem is I feel overwhelmed in many areas of life, and eat junk to 'cope', but this means I overeat when I'm happy too, and really, I am like Andy Pipkin in that I sneak off and find junk and then slot back into my healthy eating the rest of the time. Crazy is how it makes me feel. Got to keep trying though (even if that means not trying, iyswim).

What Runnerontheroad said.

I think it would be really helpful too if you could find out WHY you overeat. Is it boredom? Depression? Anxiety maybe? Removing the cause would go a long way to improving your eating habits.

I find I'm tempted by shopping at the corner shop (so much unhealthy food), petrol station impulse buys and having lots of visitor food in the house at Christmas which i then eat myself!

I've just taken some food scales to work, in the hope that I can get a grip on portion sizes. I am writing down calories. I have 4.5st to lose. Last time I came on MN's weight loss boards I was a stone lighter than now, lost over a stone then put it back on. I comfort eat and having had my mum nearly die (4 times in past year, and counting) I decided that I needed a prop. Now she's stable again and I have to get myself back under control. Thanks for the thread!

I'm the same as you honeyfizz. I love exercise but just cannot sort out my eating. I keep gaining and losing the same stone and a half. Last thing I tried that helped me lose weight (albeit I gained it back) was a nutritional plan to help with the exercise. Lots of unprocessed foods, nothing faddy. It worked until it didn't and now I can't seem to get back on track.