breaking the can't cope/ tired/eat cycle help

[frustratedmom]

I need ideas on where to start. Know you are a world of knowledge so please pass on the advice.

where to start
how to stick.

Anything.

Hi shellseeker,
It is really hard to break an eating habit. Like licking the batter bowl. (!!!) It felt blasphemous the first time I didn't do it. And eating french fries-I just don't; but it is ok if others do-that is them not me.

Try to get in touch with "are you hungry?" which should also be "or are you thirsty?".

I alot of times I think I mistake hunger for thirst and over eat because of that.

Try to get a feel for how many calories you consume in drinks-that may be the easiest way to cut back as there are many choices of calorie free drinks.

I love cheese too- that is really hard.

Swimming is excellent exercise-try to keep going. I find it to be very relaxing, too-I like swimming under water.

Hi Shellseeker.

It sounds to me like portion control is an issue. I know it is for me as well and probably for some of the others too.

No food is bad by itself, it is how much and how often we eat it. Eating a couple of hunks of chocolate is not bad, eating a 200g bar of chocolate in one sitting is bad (Or is that only me? ).

The correct portion sizes are much smaller than a lot of us think. For example, I saw in a magazine the other day that the correct portion size for carbs is a helping the size of a tennis ball. That isn't a lot of pasta or cereal or whatever.

A programme I mentioned a few weeks ago on this thread a woman thought she should be losing weight eating fruit salad for breakfast and was frustrated she didn't. However, when they compared the correct breakfast sized portion with what she was eating it was about 3 times as much!

We have guidelines rather than a diet, which I am conveniently forgetting so for my sake as much as yours

No snacking
No seconds
No sugar
Sleep
Sweat
Seven glasses of water (a cheat 'S' but we all need to drink more water).
We could add size to remember portion size.

Just looking back to the beginning of the thread we get Saturday and Sunday off - hooray! And I had just worked that out all by myself too - a full month after we started.

How is everybody doing anyway. Has anybody lost anything?

Maybe another 's' to add is 'sit down' as so much of my snacking is done standing in the kitchen making food for everyone else! I'm not sure I would sit down to eat cookie dough! (but then again...)

Hi Shellseeker. Unless you cook high fat foods for your family meals, there is no reason why you can't have what everyone else is eating. Just have a small portion with loads of veg/salad

I think I've being doing ok in the past week or so. My trousers/jeans did get a bit looser last week but then I had a weekend of gluttony. I've gone back to diet food again. I haven't really got much on this weekend so I'm hoping to stay strong and carry this on for a while.

I've managed to keep to 1200 cals today.

Three cheers, Velvet Cushions

I'm up 1/2 pound again-this plateau-never ending. I think it is where my body is happy, even though it could be happier. I am 3 pounds into "overweight" range, so I am close and have to steel myself against self-sabotage.

There is a strategy called "volumetrics" which is along the line of what Velvet Cushions' last post suggested. Keep the protein/fat/carb serving small and make up the "volume" of the meal with veggies. I don't exactly remember the proportions, but it may have been 1/4 plate protein/fat, 1/4 carb, and 1/2 veggie. I'll try to remember where I read that (perhaps it is on line?).

I think, while cooking, it suggested, for example, using less meat in a chili or spaghetti sauce and adding more beans/soy-tofu, and fresh veggies.

Wow, it has been a month! Time flies.

I remember something like that but some thing about a portion of veg being about the size of your hand - no idea where i heard that though ibelieve its to illustrate the different portions between dult and child. So adult plate adult hand, child plate child hand.

I am down to 1 cup of coffee per day and have had a whole 2 ltr bottle of coke in car unopened all day with only thinking about it once . have even been eating salads. My portions are a problem. and i did spoil it by eating chocolate this evening(Niecie its not just you!) Not sure brave enough to stand on scales

Sitting to eat, with no distraction (eg tv) and taking lots of small bites rather then a few big bites is supposed to make you feel fuller with less food - something to do with the way the brain measures food intake with regards to quantity chewed

Hmmm...does anyone else do the self-sabotage thing? i've been doing really well over the last couple of days, and felt like I was perhaps (gently) moving in the right direction 'cos I ate only at mealtimes, stopped when I was full, drank lots of water...so have just demolished a 5-pack of Sainsbury's oat & raisin cookies. Bother!
I don't usually buy things like that FOR THAT VERY REASON!!!!
Still, I suppose tomorrow's another day!

Shellseeker I have that issue too. This is why I am still overweight. I eat healthy meals and avoid unhealthy snacks during the day but sometimes something will come over me and I'll eat whole packets of biscuits, boxes of chocs (which someone will have given me and I'd have avoided for weeks with the thought of passing it on as a gift). Its just uncontrollable.
Well done for being mostly good. If you just pretend that the cookie episode didn't happen and carry on being good, I'm sure you'll be fine.

Dideinsteinsmum I hope you avoided that coke. You've been doing really well. Please don't start drinking 2ltrs every day again. I'm sure its positively dangerous.

Toomany that sounds about right about the protein/carb/veg ratio. I'm sure that would really work.

Anyway, I've been very good today and have stuck to around 1000 cals
I find it really easy in the heat as all i ever want to eat is salads.

I had a fruit salad for breakfast, a tuna salad for lunch, a yoghurt and didn't really feel hungry at dinner so had one ryvita with a bit of peanut butter and some weetabix.

this is an excellent thread, can I join? I've got 2 stone to lose and it's depressing!

can I ask if anyone has any strategies for stopping a binge before it starts? when you get that "sod it" feeling?

Admitting to my cookie binge on this thread actually gave me the courage to also 'fess up to DH, who was really supportive.
That 'sod it' feeling is soooo familiar, MrsGum. I was wondering whether to stick a photo of a beach babe on the fridge & the biscuit tin! Might help to focus the stomach!
I find sometimes I eat without really realising, and the not eating unless you're sitting down thing does help with that absent minded chomping! Needless to say, I was sitting down when I ate the cookies!!!

It does help knowing that there's support & understanding here, though!

it's like you go in some sort of zombie-like daze, isn't it?

Yes I understand that too. I'm really trying not to eat now. I am not hungry at all but I just have this desire to eat now. I could so easily go and binge now. My Ils bought over a box of swedish chocs and biscuits last week. They look yummy but I don't need them. I need to be slim, dammit!

I think the best way to beat that bingey sod it feeling is to fight it until you lose the habit. I have a friend who wouldn't dream of eating after 9. To her, its just not normal. Thats the mindset I want to get.

We need to be strict and committed.

yeah, VC, it's changing your neural pathway, isn't it?

how many times do you need do do something for it to be a habit? 10?

I just sometimes feel NOT snacking in th evening is ABSOLUTELY UNBEARABLE

go and clean your teeth, VC!!

I have put the kettle on and am about to have some herbal tea and will brush my teeth and then read in bed.
If I stay downstairs, I hear chocolate beckoning me for just a little taste......

Oh and just think, would you rather be burning calories at night or storing more fat?
That puts me off eating crap late in the evening if I remember to think it!
Like you said, sometimes I get in a zombie mode and forget everything else.
I need to keep reminding myself. Maybe I'll stick a picture or diet article on the fridge.

On my refrigerator, I have Red Death from the Phantom of the Opera pointing his sword saying "It is unhealthy to be so fat at your age." I don't know if it is the actual quote or not. But like you said Velvet-if I consider it, perhaps it helps make a better choice.

I think the protein serving size is 3oz-about the same size as a deck of cards.

OK, I'll confess-I just had a small piece of cheesecake with strawberries on top. My ds is trying to gain weight. He is 16 and his metabolism must be through the roof. His muscles are very well defined but he wants to bulk up...more calories. I said Hey! Oreos-no prob. So I bought the whole large cheesecake for him . DD1 has had a small piece already-she is trying to cut back too-not big yet but heading that way. Nip it in the bud time for her.

Cleaning teeth is a good diversion from mindless grazing. I think I read somewhere that the mint in the toothpaste has something to do with satisfying taste in the mouth. So maybe a simple breath mint might work too.

I just need to be a food snob. Is this or that food good enough for me?

A good website that gives good hints and tips is the Sparkpeople website. I am not a bonifide sparkperson (yet) but maybe I ought to be. They are about healthy lifestyle-nutrition and exercise.

Hello MrsGum - nice to see you. Not sure how successful we are all being but at least, for me, being on the thread keeps it in the forefront of my mind. It helps sometimes!

The only eating when sitting down rule doesn't really work for me - I always eat sitting down. That is the problem - mindless grazing in the evening with my lardy arse parked on the sofa.

Had the best part of a packet of liquorice alsorts tonight - are they good enough for me? Of course - they are not just any old liquorice alsorts, they are M&S liquorice alsorts. That means they don't have any calories doesn't it?!

Seriously, I fall on the first hurdle by buying the stuff in the first place. How do you stop yourself from even buying it?

Apart from the alsorts, I have been OK in the last couple of days. Quite a bit of exercise despite the weather. Spent this morning wrestling with brambles in the garden. V hard work, especially when you are trying to stop getting scratched to pieces.

Niecie. Oh, I love liquorice. I'll treat myself to some alsorts for Christmas. A reward to look forward to.

TMSB resolves July 1 will be a brand new start...had 2nd piece of cheesecake with dh .

Yard work, too; I am pruning 12 year growth on the trees and trying to clear the line for a possible fence.

Welcome, MrsGum. Stopping a binge before it starts? I think it is a brain tendancy, maybe we need to distract ourselves with something else-hobby? book? go outside-one lap around the house? kitchen: closed? feeding time isn't for a while yet (dc play zoo tycoon)?

We are adults. We get to choose. Tomorrow, 1 July, my reformation begins again. I need to stop being cute about it and buckle down and be serious-consistently and conscientiously.

Have you had any offers on your house Velvet Cushions?

Wow what a long thread.

Celebrate with me - Wi Fit now says I'm in the "ideal" range! OK it's not my ideal and my body fat monitor suggests I have further to go but I have finally lost a little bit of weight.

My problems with feeling tired all the time turned out to be due to gluten. After excluding it from my diet I had the energy to exercise. It's been a long slow slog as my metabolism was very slow after years of restricted eating. Its still slow so I try to exercise before each meal.

Dairy helps prevent your body absorb fat so excluding all dairy isn't a great idea. Sticking to skimmed milk and low fat cheese is better.

oh yes, 1st July today - what a good day to start and be positive

I also don't know how to rid myself of the "all or nothing" mentality

ie. on friday am going out, how will I stop myself pigging on crisps.wine tc - I want to drink but not binge on the rest of it!

Toomany we had one offer but it fell through. We've taken it off the market for a while. I need to clear out the box room and put a bed in it. At the moment its got a desk and bookshelves. People have no imagination and don't realise that it could be used as a childs bedroom.

MrsGum Are you going out to eat? Before you go out, eat 2 portions of fruit. Hopefully you won't be starving then and over eat. If you're drinking, have spritzers or find out any low call drinks. Its actually quite dangerous to drink too much in this heat so make sure you alternate with water/soft drink. That will also limit the cals. Give yourself an allowance like 1 bag of crisps. Then hopefully, you won't feel deprived and over compensate.

I don't know what to have for lunch. I was meant to go food shopping this morning but ds2 has been having a long nap. Now I have to go after I give the kids lunch. I don't know what to give them either! Off to rummage around in the kitchen.

Congratulations, Tatt. And thanks for the tip about dairy. We use 1% milk as dh can't quite make the leap to skim milk. I should buy some and see if he notices.

I've done a little with wii fit, but with (here we go: excuses) 2 teenagers and a toddler I don't ge much me (mii ) time.

Mii time (smile) is before they all get up - although with a toddler that might be more difficult, teenagers love their beds.

Tips that work for me!

1. Do you watch TV for more than 30 mins a day? If so, you can't claim you "don't have time" to exercise! After dinner, force yourself to go for a walk - particularly now the evenings are light.

1. Don't walk down the biscuit/cake/crisp aisle in the supermarket. If it's not in the house, it's not on the hips

1. Olive oil is 100 calories a tablespoon so measure it out rather than guessing.

1. See food as (very tasty!) fuel for your body ie. do you need to 'top up the tank' and have more fuel after say 8pm if you're doing nothing more than sitting in front of the telly then going to bed?

1. Rather than thinking 'I can't have X' think about what you do need eg. calcium (yoghurt and cheese, but also in surprising things like dried figs, baked beans in smaller amounts) and FIBRE.