How do you change the way you think about food?

[juicychops]

I need to seriously stop eating sugary foods and carbs. How can i change the way i think about food so as to stop eating these foods for comfort?

paul mckenna I think ... he's got books out about retraining the way you think

Hypnosis is the only way to change the way you actually think about food..I've tried it and it worked, lost my weight without really thinking about it (if that makes sense). If there is someone near you or practises hypnotherapy they will be able to give you aversion techniques etc.

I read Paul McKenna's book a few days ago and it really helped me, my whole attitude to food has changed completely. It basically says if you stick to the following 4 rules you will lose weight.

1.Only eat when you are hungry
2.Eat whatever you want, not what you think you should be eating
3.Eat slowly and enjoy every mouthful
4.Stop eating as soon as you feel full

Since reading this book and applying these rules I have cleared my plate once even yesterday when we ate out. In the past when I have tried to diet I have always obsessed about food and spent loads of time thinking about what I am next going to have to eat, since reading Paul McKenna's book I have rarely thought about food unless I am hungry.

the other thing to consider is changing how you think about comfort rather than how you think about food...

I don't think you need hypnosis if you have strong will power - just remember that every crap thing you eat will take x amount of excercising to get rid of - things like that. It helps me keep perspective of what I eat.

I would be worried about hypnosis - does it take away the enjoyment of eating because I'd hate that - everyone needs a little treat every now and then.

You have to give food due focus. ie It's purpose is to sustain and fuel you. Nothing more or less. It is not there to give comfort so the previous poster is absolutely right. Weight loss/control hypnotherapy gives you tools to remove this connection from your subconscious

No, if anything you enjoy it more because it re-educates you to savour every single morsel you consume, rather than wolf it down without thinking.. it's not for everyone, but for people who don't have conscious strong will power, it's excellent.

I refocused completely today when after 10 agonising minutes on the exercise bike I had burned off enough calories for a rice cake. One single low-fat rice cake without any toppings.

Multiply that by 8 - so one hour and twenty minutes and you've got yourself a mars bar. The small one. It's just not worth it.

After I had DD I lost 4 stone with WW. I can honestly, really say that nothing tastes as good as putting on something in the size you want it to be. Especially when it's loose. I think I can still remember every changing room moment when I'd gone down another size (I went down 5 sizes).

I always kept that thought in my head. And if I did eat something it was never as great as I'd imagined it to be beforehand. Well, apart from wine of course

My attitude to food has changed now that I've lost over 2.5stone. I keep thinking about my target and how I am going to get there. If I want that biscuit for example, is that going to help. I will probably have fruit instead now. I eat so much more fruit and veg and less processed food. I am much more interested in creating healthy meal for myself and my family too, so hopefully they will also benefit. Initially, I had to get the sugary food out of the house, so I stopped buying the biscuits etc. Now I will allow the kids to have a small amount of sweets and I don't feel the inclination to indulge (most of the time!)
I've just started treating myself to new clothes - 3 sizes smaller! I've just bought new undies - down from 36C to 32DD! I feel so much better "inside", my self esteem has gone back up and I feel good about the way I look.
It's not always been easy, but I think you have to have an end goal and have a plan to realise that goal. Sorry for waffling on, it turned into a bit of an epic!

juicychop (good name!) the thing with refined carbs and sweet stuff is it is like an addiction - if you can stay off them for a week the craving goes adn you wonder what all the fuss was about and you have more energy too!

I was about to post what dimpledthighs has just said - a lot of it is just habit and addiction.
I still crave sugary foods sometimes, but my capacity for them has got lower, since I consciously cut down on what I was eating.
While you are weaning yourself off sugary foods, you could try swopping higher calorie ones like doughnuts, for lower calorie sweet stuff, like pink and white wafers, for example.

If you are just eating too much, then I found that being realistic about what I ate, helped. eg thin people usually dont eat much.

If you compulsively eat, then it is like any other addiction - every day that you dont do it, is a triumph.

Thanks everyone. I dont need to loose weight... yet but have a very big addiction to sugar and carbs and no matter how hard i try i just cant kick it. I go from big binges to crash diets to keep my wieght around the same, buts its starting to creep up now but i cant do anything about my eating habits. and my skin is terrible!!