to ask how you stop yourself from eating when you're not actually hungry?

[flutteryleaves]

There have been a couple of threads lately about what to eat if you are trying to lose weight or what you eat if you are slim which have been amazingly helpful for me as i've totally fallen off the wagon.

i'm not overweight, im 5 ft 9 and a size12 i really do have a problem with boredom eating or eating while watching tv or while driving to work/commuting etc and my weight is creeping up. being a apple with no bust, my limbs are staying nice but its all collecting on my stomach and flanks!

so, apart from not buying it in the first place (its not a deterrent, i just go to the shop or vending machine), what are you tips for what do you do to avoid/prevent mindless eating of a whole share size bag of minstrels, haribo, bag of donuts etc?

thank you!

If i fancy a snack i have it but i try not to overdo it and im usually drawn towards healthy food anyway

"Aquamarine1029

There ARE NO "magic" tricks or tips. This is all on you. I'm honestly no meaning to sound mean, but at the age of 45, I'm wise enough to know that bullshit excuses are just that. Excuses. Staying a healthy weight is WORK. But it is so worth it. Don't buy rubbish food, don't snack when watching tv, and don't lie to yourself about what you're eating. Be conscious of the calories you're putting into your body. Make caring about your health a priority because it's worth it."
Thank you. I'm seriously going to get that printed out.

Fizzy water but with a fruit tea bag makes it taste like ribena except no sugar. Give up sugar and wheat completely and the cravings just disappear (takes a few weeks to do and no, it wasn't easy at the start but now is my new 'normal').

I've just come back from a lovely all inclusive holiday where i tried to eat healthily but the sheer volume of food and choice meant I did put on a few so it's back to the normal no sugar, no wheat, no snacking and lots of water for me. Dull but I prefer a duller diet and fitting into things I suppose.

Marking my place, I cannot stop eating. I know there is an element of stress eating in it but even so, it's ridiculous!

I am gluten free generally and have given up sugar/coffee completely on numerous occasions for a minimum of a month at a time and I find it helps stops those cravings, but I still eat and eat I have a small glass of water at least every hour in the hopes of kerbing eating due to thirstiness, but no.

"apart from not buying it in the first place (its not a deterrent, i just go to the shop or vending machine),"
Sorry, I don't understand. What happens if you, oh I don't know, just decide not to go to the shop or vending machine?

yes to keeping busy
drinking water
brushing teeth after a meal.

Eat more veg. Helps stop the sugar craving. I put on a stone when I started commuting between jobs as I was snacking 8n the car. I just stopped eating in the car.

Don’t snack at the pictures. Don’t snack at work.

Eat more veg though, really helps do something to your gut and changes the cravings. I read the gut doctor Moseley book and that really helped.

I'm terrible for this. I can do so well all day, then fill my face in the evening. It's habit not hunger. I have to have snacks in the house for the rest of the family. I've tried keeping busy- reading, colouring books etc. It doesn't help, I can eat while doing those things!

If I go on the exercise bike in the evening, I don't snack. But it takes some real willpower to get on that bike after a long, tiring day.

Why do your family need snacks?
I just don't get the obsession with snacks everyone seems to have?
Younger children and teens who are hungry can have fruit or make themselves toast.
No need for any snack / crap in the house

The Robert Lustig book is really helpful -‘the bitter truth about sugar’.
Ask yourself when you fancy something to eat ‘Am I hungry?’ If you’re not then make the effort and don’t eat. It becomes habit quite quickly in my experience and it’s a valuable tool.
Good luck.

I struggle massively with my weight and always fluctuate. When I'm actually managing to do well, I drink lots of peppermint tea, have healthy snacks like low fat cream cheese on a wholegrain cracker or a piece of fruit, and doing exercise in the evening, even just 10 mins, makes me less inclined to undo my hard work with junk food.

Two years ago I decided to cut down to 2 meals a day (lunch/dinner, but eat what I like),cut out the snacking most of the time (have the occasional ice cream or slice of cake - normally after a long walk) and do at least 10k steps a day. I lost 2 stone and it was effortless, not like dieting where you are constantly assessing calorie content etc. Took my eating and exercise back to basics which has worked for me. I still have a stone to go but it will come off gradually like the other 2 stones. If I eat more one day, I automatically cut back the next. Feels like a more natural way of eating, food and treats are not something I think about now.

Before I was not doing any exercise and stuffing my face with cakes and chocolate biscuits. But I no longer crave sweet treats. The last time I had chocolate was an after dinner mint at Christmas. And I had a mini Twix 6 months before that! It is just habit. My habit is not to eat it now.

I feel so much better. Food has been regulated to being fuel in the main. (I still drink wine though, so I am not completely saintly.) And I did a 4 mile walk at 7 am today and didn’t particularly enjoy it (sometimes I do) but I see it as part and parcel of being healthy.

Yeah, snacks for the family is not something I really understand either. They shouldn't be eating junk food any more than you should. My other half finds it hard not to binge eat junk food as well, so he appreciates not having it in the house. For our kiddo, if he is hungry his snacks are fruit, raisins, cheese, peanut butter sandwich, whatever 'normal' food is around (i.e., left overs or what we'd be giving him for meals anyway) you get the idea. No reason why he should be eating crisps, biscuits, or chocolate on a regular basis either. I think it's just a matter of getting used to the idea that these kinds of food are treats to be eaten very rarely, rather than normal regular food and that goes for everyone in the family, not just you.

Cut down on carbs. Eat lots of veg. Don't eat outside of mealtimes.
If I am stressed I will demolish the contents of the biscuit tin. I tell myself i'll just have one. Now I know better.

although tbh, it also helps the motivation that we are really broke at the moment. To the point that buying any processed food feels too expensive... A bag of chocolates = the same price as a meal for the whole family, the way I'm cooking at the moment. So that is a major incentive not to buy any junk food in the first place.

Not a strategy I would wish on anyone else!!

Ella... Sorry to hear your financial lly struggling but on positive note it is actually amazingly easy to eat a very healthy diet cheaply. And instead of expensive crap food you could look at the odd bit of really good quality meat as a treat or reward.
No junk, snacks, rubbish for a few weeks = a nice steak? Or roast chicken for example (I am presuming your not vegetarian).

Yes we eat very healthily on not much money, but it's not a bother because we are lucky enough to have time to cook and to live near supermarkets that sell affordable vegetables, spices, and staples. Mostly vegetarian because its cheaper -- although tbh, I'm getting more and more creeped out by what I learn about the way meat is produced. So when we do eat meat at Christmas or on special occasions, we save up to get really good quality. Lots of herbs and spices make veggies very tasty! And the BBC recipes page has great cheap and healthy food suggestions. The happy side result is that not buying junk food keeps the food bills down enormously!

Take the first half of the delicious treat, whatever it is, and throw it away. Stub cigarettes out on it if need be (admittedly I have not had to resort to this since my 20s and no longer smoke). Eat remaining half.

Imagine it slooshing around in your tummy - focus on the constituent ingredients - largely oils and cheap sugars - yeuch. Read the excellent 'Gut, the body's most underrated organ' - a best seller written about 2 years ago (I may have the title slightly wrong!)

Could you chew gum instead, or eat a mint or something.

thanks for these ideas and for your experiences.

i will be trying to manage cravings and distract myself!

I've felt hungry all night. I put it off for over an hour.
On reassessing my macros for the day I've realised my protein is shockingly low, which is why I was craving junk; I wasn't full and hadn't ate the right foods.

I hate a blueberry quark yogurt thing, deliciously sweet and high in protein, and I'm done.

Yes it's snacking but it has met the needs of my body. Sometimes being more aware of what genuine cravings are for can help satisfy those urges.

Going for a nap

Don't tell Yourself that you can't have something as that'll just make you want it more; tell yourself instead that you'll have it in a bit, for example, when you've finished your colouring/chapter/film/hoovering/whatever. A lot of the time you'll find that later on never comes.

I've just read the book 'Eating Less' and it helps you see it in a different way. I got mine off ebay cheaply.