My names vintage and I’m a food addict and im lazy

[Vintagewannabe]

I started slimming world at the start of January. I had the best intentions of losing 5 stone. I’ve lost 3lbs and put 1 back on. I am very aware of calories and portion sizes and know what I should be eating and how much.

I get up in the mornings and the first thing on my mind is food. I tell myself it’s a faff eating fruit and yoghurt or porridge and 2 slices of thick white toast is much quicker. I hate sweetener so sugar my tea. Then I spend any time I’m at home scouring cupboards, the fridge even the freezer for food. Sometimes without thinking sometimes crying whilst eating it. When at work I eat healthy unless one of the young girls are going to macdonnalds then my lunch stays in my bag. It’s not a happy meal :(

I make evening meal convincing myself I will be hungry if I eat less. Sometimes I talk myself into a takeaway even though nobody else wants one. No matter how big my meal is I’m never full and could carry on eating until bedtime. I often sit watching tv or reading feeling panic if I’m not eating anything.

I hate feeling sweaty or breathless so I don’t do any physical activity or go to the gym.

I feel I have a real bloody problem! I know I’m overweight. I know the risks. I hate being obese. Why do I do these things?

It sounds to me as though you're addicted to sugar and carbs and these foods just make you hungrier. If you low carb your appetite virtually disappears as you have broken the addiction. The low carb threads on here are fab - give it a go - it's life changing.

Are you actually always hungry or are you bored, anxious etc? I definitely associate eating with trying to control emotions which obviously never fucking works but I still do it. I hate most exercise too. I hate being sweaty, I am really uncoordinated so bad at it and I find it embarrassing and I also get really really nervous starting group classes. I do love walking but to do a lot is a challenge with young kids and a full time job. People always say there's something for everyone so I keep pushing myself to try new things but it's always a case of "when I am a bit fitter, I will do x, y, z".

I don't need training on how to eat. I need help with how I think! Maybe you do too?

It sounds a bit like you need another fixation in your life. Something to break the habits and do something different.

Overnight oats ready for breakfast.

How about a walk at lunchtime and take your lunch with you. Or meet s friend. To avoid the McDonald’s eaters. So it’s ‘no thanks, I’ve got my lunch it’s in my bag, see you later’

Prepare tea the night before. Home cooked. Get others in the house involved.

You know your trigger points. Do something different.

I’ve started a gym class straight after work as I know a trigger point is coming home and mindlessly grZing before tea.

I drag dh for a walk after tea to stop me snacking,

It’s a switch in the heD to think, more veg, home cooked food and move more.

In the kindest way, you have to want to do it and it doesn't sound like you do.

I'm not sure what the solution is - maybe exploring the reasons you feel like this about food?

Or mind over matter - 72 hours and you'll feel better. Feeling hungry is ok. We forget it's ok to feel hungry.

I would say you need to see someone about your feelings about eating. My gp surgery runs a programme in conjunction with the local hospital that gives the patient access to a dietician, psychologist and a reduced price gym membership

Try looking through photos of yourself and decide if you’ll be happy to still look like that in summer. Do you have a holiday coming up any time this year you could use as a goal to get healthy for?
Don’t talk yourself out of exercising by saying you don’t like to be sweaty, start simply by walking more. Walk around the block, to a park or to a shop and back. Just get yourself moving, rather than sitting at a desk or on a sofa all day.

Try cutting down the sugar in tea at first, little by little, and try and have less teas in a day, to cut the sugar even more.

I find the easiest way is to just not buy the junk in the first place. If there’s a chocolate bar in the cupboard, I’m not one of those people that can just eat one square, I’ll eat the whole massive bar. If there’s crisps, I’ll have 3 packets. Since I’ve stopped buying them, I don’t go hunting for them, I then have to think properly about how to stop myself feeling hungry. So I’ll have a banana and a green tea, which fills my stomach up. Then I’m not thinking about crisps. Preparing fruit can be a faff sometimes, but there’s no excuse not to have an apple or banana. Fill your fruit bowl every week.

Ultimately you need to want to stop eating the junk. I’ve been slowly putting weight on every year and want to look and feel better by the time I go on my summer hols.

You sound like a carb addict and the only solution is to go cold turkey. I am also a carb addict and I did Keto (high fat, carbs under 20g) as after two weeks of initial pain the sugar cravings go completely. I can still lose on under 50g a day now but I find I average around 30g. No sugar no cereals no potatoes no fruit (at the start) no juice no sweeteners no honey or agave... and lots of fat. If you don’t cheat, the cravings will diminish significantly after two weeks. Check out the low carb bootcamp threads

Oh I can totally sympathise and that was definitely me a few years ago. Unfortunately there's no magic fix and only you can make the changes you know you need to make for your mental and physical well-being. Having been through similar I would suggest some/all of the following:

1. Mentally set day (soon ie next day or so!) that will be the first day of the New you.
2. Write a detailed daily meal plan including snacks so you don't have to think about what you will be eating or worse have nothing to hand then go shopping and get everything you need. Lots and lots of lovely and varied fresh fruit and veg, whole grains, plenty of protein (eggs, fish, chicken etc) and whatever else you think you might need or want but without all the junk.
3. Spend some time meal prepping - have breakfast ready, evening meals batch cooked and plenty of easy lunch options.
4. Get an early night then when you wake up repeat to yourself (in your head if you have a DH who will think you're ) this is it, this is it, I can do it or whatever you need to 'hear' - it sounds really poncy but honestly that inner voice is very strong and the first few days of a new regime is HARD and if it helps then why not.
5. If you have a blip (McDonald's for lunch for example) then don't panic, one meal isn't worth worrying about but draw a line and get it right for the next meal.

This was how I did it but others prefer a more gradual approach - maybe swop to a better breakfast in the first week, snack in the 2nd, up your water intake in the 3rd week etc. Whatever you do will be a positive step

Sugar is massively addictive. Trouble is. The whole supermarket is set up to make u buy it. There is so much sugar in what u can buy you just don’t realise how much you consume.
Also. I truly believe that unless your really ready to lose weight and that’s a really truly hard thing to do it is just a way to set yourself to fail. No wonder your miserable.

As soon as you start denying yourself food you instantly want it. And the. You start on the whole cycle all over again. Start small. Chang one thing. When you have a handle on that. Change another. And so on. Give yourself a break. Be kind to yourself