Stop the self-sabotage!!

[CoffeeChocolateWine]

A couple of years ago, I overhauled my diet after putting on loads of weight during lockdowns and lost almost 3 stone. I reached my target weight, maybe even a bit below, and felt fantastic. This was mainly through cutting right down on carbs and sugar. I maintained it pretty well for a while but more recently it's been creeping back up again (almost a stone).

I'm finding it increasingly hard to maintain a 'healthy' mindset. Every day I seem to follow the same pattern of starting off really well with a good breakfast, a healthy lunch (usually a filling salad with protein and fats), I drink my water etc. Then 3pm comes and it's like a switch flips. Suddenly I'm craving sugar. I don't even know if they're real cravings or a 3pm association thing, and I reach for the biscuits. And once I broken the 'healthy choice' thing, I just think sod this and keep going. So I'll have cheese and crackers, eats the kids leftovers, usually have a healthy dinner but then have chocolate afterwards. Then by the end of the day, I feel bloated, stomach making unsettled noises, and just really cross with myself for the self-sabotage!

Does anyone else do this or used to do this and moved past it? I need some tips and distraction techniques to move past this time of day without falling into the sugar trap!

Peri menopause?

Be kind to yourself. Listen to your body and mind. Do you need extra comfort right now? Is your body lacking energy for another reason?

Ps also just don't have chocolate and biscuits in the house. I absolutely cannot stop myself if they're there but if they're not I either have nothing or choose something healthier/fewer calories

Agree with pp, I find it easiest not to buy the stuff in the first place. I still buy the stuff the kids like, but I’m not tempted by it, so for example they like a Bounty but I don’t like coconut, so even if I was craving chocolate, I wouldn’t reach for that. Stop buying biscuits as much as possible. Or again, if you have to, get ones you don’t like.

You could try having a hot drink - either coffee if you have sugar in it, and think it might help, or much healthier green tea, which is warm and will fill you up somewhat. Brushing teeth apparently helps, because you won’t want food after that.

Perimenopause - maybe actually as I'm 44 and had a couple of other symptoms.

I've always had an issue with emotional eating but I did feel like I had it more under control in the past couple of years. But recently, as soon as I feel down, stressed, overwhelmed, tired, I just slip back into my old ways.

Re. biscuits and chocolate, I do try and do this. It's not usually me who buys them. But when my DH is working from home, he will often buy biscuits and when I tried to switch my DS's lunchbox biscuits to something I would find easier to resist, he had a moan! My DDs love tea cakes so that's easy as I find them vile, but DS loves caramel wafers and so do I!! I've tried moving them to somewhere harder to reach and put healthier options in easy access places. That does work well if I'm in a good mindset but not so much when I'm not!

This may not work but.. Could you decide on something that you're going to allow yourself to have as part of your overall plan?

So you know that you're going to have a good breakfast, a healthy lunch, a 3pm treat (that you're allowing yourself to have and enjoy) and then a healthy dinner.

Maybe if it's part of your plan then you won't have the 'fuck it' moment and go off-plan the rest of the day, but instead enjoy what you've ate and carried on until the next healthy meal.

Thanks for the idea and I do know what you mean, by including it in my food plan, I won't have the feeling of failure and the knock-on effects.

I know what I'm like though and if I have the sugar, I crave more of it. I've learnt that once I'm in the right mindset, I find it easier to cut it out completely so my cravings subside, rather than allowing myself to have some but then having to fight the temptation to have more!

Funnily enough, I think just writing this down and posting has helped as I've had two good days and already feel in a better mindset to carry on. I think just putting it at the front of my 'awareness' has made me make better choices. But we'll see. I've also learnt that it doesn't take a lot to slip back and I'm under a lot of pressure at the moment which is peak emotional eating territory!

I agree with not having the biscuit in the house and also drinking green tea ( without the sugar). I learned that when you combine slightly bitter tea with sweets, you crave the sweets less and are less likely to overeat the sweets.

You're on the right track with awareness, here are some additional resources I found helpful:

www.spicesandgreens.com/blog/self-sabotaging-weight-loss/
www.developgoodhabits.com/healthy-habits/

Thanks for those links @cafemum99. Interesting reads and definitely strikes a chord with me.