I am so sick of thinking about food and my weight all the time.

[Bettydownthehall]

I have been dieting since May and have lost 18lb. I set my self small targets to be thinner by Reading (festival). I started on sw and intiay liked that as I could mostly eat what I wanted but I ended up not losing weight about a few weeks. Then I went back on to mfp.

However, when I fall off the wagon, I go mad and have a whole weekend eating anything I see. For this reason I put weight on and then lost it again overnight a week doing extreme dieting.

I am now on another extreme diet to get to under 11st by next week. I will do it but I am so sick of it being on my mind all the time. All the time since May really. That's partially why I binge because when I am full is the only time I don't think about it all the time.

I would like to lose another stone as I still look big, but want to do where I am not thinking about it all the time.

I can't see what diet I could do. If I low carbed I would be obsessing over cake and biscuits (I definitely would as they are on offer at work all the time and I associate treating myself and rewarding myself with cake).

I am getting to the point where I think I might prefare to be over weight rather than thinking about this all the time.

(Or it might be that I'm due on my period and everything is 100% worse)

That sounds tough, have you considered counselling to look at why you fixate on food so much?

My only suggestion is trying 5:2, then you'd only have to think about it 2 days per week. Any mileage in that?

Hiya I'm not an expert at all so excuse me if my advice is misplaced.
It sounds like you need to forget about specific diets which are then abandoned but to change your whole relationship to food.

A regular healthly balanced diet with some treats thrown in occasionally is the best way to stay slim long term. Regular excersise as well.

Do you cook? What does your average meal look like? A balance of carbs protein and veg is good on your plate is good.

I'm the same OP. I feel like I think about losing weight all the time.

Ive put on half a stone in the last few months and it's such hat work losing it. I cant low carb properly because of health reasons (can't eat too much fat) and the only way I seem to lose weight successfully is eating 1000 calories a day, which quite frankly is miserable.

I no longer know what to eat to be quite honest.

I am the same as you but I think my problem is that I haven't a clue how to cook so eat the same boring food that is quite carb heavy.

I find exercising helps keep me on track.

Conquering boredom and bad habits is part of it too.

Tell me about it. I’m a very recent diabetic (and also overweight) and it feels like there’s sod all I can eat. I hate hate hate vegetables, though love fruit, and I’m on holiday and am sick to death of everyone having lovely things and not only can I not have them, I don’t really know what I can have. I know it’s my own fault but I’m sick of it and it’s only been a month or so.

You've lost 18lb since May which is pretty good going. Extreme dieting just doesn't work - you might drop a load of water weight initially but as soon as you go back to eating 'normally' it will pile back on.

If you are doing mfp then you can choose to eat biscuits/cake as long as they fit into your daily allowance, so the rest of your meals need to have big portions of veg or salad to fill you up.

Drink loads of water every time you want to eat a cake - then if you are still hungry 10 minutes later and you don't mind eating less later in the day, have the cake! Just the one though.

I do think counselling may help if you feel you are actually addicted to unhealthy foods. You do have control over what you eat, telling yourself that you don't want help in the long run.

Thank you for the replies. I cook a lot and make healthy food for my children. When I am not dieting I then just eat treats in the evening or treat myself to lunch (can you see a theme 😃)

That's how I put on weight again. Any attempt to not eat exactly what I want makes me start thinking about dieting again and gearing myself up for another diet. I can't do the occasional treat thing because unless I meansure it then I becomes daily.

It's so ridiculous I sound like a teenager.

Do you have time to make your own treats?
For example baking a cake to have with a cup of tea in the afternoon.
Eating at set times as well helps. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack/treat & dinner.
Nothing else in between.

"You've been treating your body for decades; give it a fucking break."

Have you tried telling yourself the cake will be there tomorrow? The craving is usually gone by then
I'm similar and fasting is the only way I can diet. I eat for a 10hr period in the day but count my calories, then fast for 14hrs overnight. It's much easier for me to say "kitchen closed" than wonder what I can eat and pick at stuff etc etc. Makes me much calmer and I don't think about food

I typed up quite a long reply, Betty, suggesting a few things that might help, then thought 'sod it' I'll tell it like it is .

I've lost and gained the same 2 stone over and over again for the past 17 years.

Slimming World works; calorie counting works; low carbing works (the best).

But what nobody told me is that I had to be on a diet in some form continuously, or it all goes back on. Hence the need to be vigilant and food-obsessed all the time.

I've been looking for the Holy Grail for nearly 20 years and must have read every diet book there is. They are all the same, whichever way they cut it, the message is eat less and move more. Look at every diet, it's about deprivation and hard work.

And the saddest thing is that we are all very good at dieting, but we are all being set up to fail.

I was hoping to give you some encouragement, and that sounds all doom and gloom, but keep on reading ....

As you can tell, I've been thinking about this a lot , and I have found an answer that works for me.

The Easy Peasy Head Space Plan (TM) will deliver freedom from the diet trap. There is no joining fee, no special meal replacements or menu plans to buy. You don't even need to subscribe to my website or buy my book (if either existed lol)!

Simply think about healthy food, I promise you, that will only take seconds (how can you drool over an aubergine?) and then cut out the booze and stop buying and eating crap. It works!

Tell yourself you are caring for the only body you will ever have and stop making excuses.

Eat protein, fat, fruit, veg, nuts and seeds (stuff like that) in an unprocessed form (without added sugar and salt, additives and the like). There are plenty of books and websites to trawl through.

But the most important thing is to realise you are not depriving yourself of cakes, wine, chocolate etc, but freeing yourself from the headspace they take up.

It sounds corny, but it's working for me. Why would I drink a bottle of wine, a multipack of crisps or a whole chocolate cake in one sitting when the alternative (and lack of guilt) is so much better?

You will still think about food, after all most of us shop for food, eat, meal plan and go out to eat and drink on a regular basis, but I don't fill my shopping trolley with 'treats' anymore, just real food.

Sermon over!

I recently read a book called 'how to have your cake and keep your skinny jeans' which had some very useful ideas about how to ditch dieting and change your mindset. It tackles the issue of emotional eating. Might be worth a look?

Maybe I do need to change my mindset rather than find a new diet.

I was also reading a couple of other threads where people say they only weigh monthly so they don't obsess. Maybe I could try that

I would reccomend the book The Goddess Revolution by Mel Wells, makes you think about your mindset and prioritising being healthy over the number on the scales

Absolutely second PP's comment about The Goddess Revolution - the problem with food is often a lot deeper than just the food - you need to find out WHY you fixate on food so much.

Yep! Me too OP. I keep saying the only way is to get into the right mind set. I haven't found how to get there yet.

Sadly, if you're trying to lose weight I think to some degree you have to fixate on '-avoiding-- food.

I'm the same. It's so bloody tedious. Sometimes I wake up and think "Sod It" but even if I overeat I manage to pull myself back on the wagon because the rewards of losing - and maintaing- weight are so much better than the brief pleasure of consuming too much food!

I eat everything, but I also calorie count obsessively. I always have foodstuffs to hand that I know I can eat and enjoy without too much damage. It's not a great diet and could be much healthier but at least I know I can stick to it indefinitely.

I always have a stock of:

low calorie Greek yoghurt.(60 cals).
Kallo Rice Cakes.(61 cals).
Fish Fingers (50 cals each).
Kingsmill No Crusts bread (55 cals a slice).
Marmite - I bloody adore it!
Cottage Cheese.
Eggs.

I rarely eat crisps now. Or sweets. Or alcohol.

Well done on the weight loss. You've done brilliantly.