I wonder the same thing - I ate the cake at work when I knew full well I had yogurt and apples in the fridge, it is like my mind shuts down to what I know I should do and I just revert. It is so frustrating...I probably should try to keep some more things here for when that sort of thing happens. The emotional component gets me every flipping time. At this point I was just happy to be able to stop it before it got really out of control.
Without a doubt you should be happy you were able to control it. Slow motion is better than no motion!
For me it was a matter of thinking about what I'm doing. "Duh Steve." Yea, I know, sounds too simplistic but it's harder than it seems. My life has had a lot of stress... some chronic which we've discussed before. As I said previously, emotional eating has definitely been part of my journey. What worked for me was simply asking myself a list of questions every time I felt the need. It's real hard to do this simply b/c emotional eating is a natural, habitual response stemming from your preprogrammed subconscious mind. That's a real hard thing to break.
But you have to consciously break it repeatedly if you're ever going to make any sort of dent.
I'm a list person when it comes to these sorts of things. So I'd pull out my list and read such things as:
"Would overcoming any sort of stress by way of food be worth not reaching my physique goals?"
"Will the stress really be vanished if I eat chocolate, or will it simply perpetuate stress down the road if I gorge on shit?"
"Think about, using very clear mental pictures, how important this is to you, you big goof." (yea, i'd really have that on my list)
"Are there any alternatives around I can use such as celery or carrots?"
"If all else fails, go punch the punching bag... you'll feel better when done. Remember?"
I kid you not, this was a list I'd carry in my wallet. And it definitely helped break that habitual pattern. There were other things too... but this was certainly a key player.
Another thing I am having a hard time incorporating is tracking my macros. It seems like I am making excuses, but I have such a hard time planning and I eat a lot of things on the fly. So I know that I don't get nearly the protein I should be and that while I am not eating junk per se, I am definately out of whack on what I am eating as far as balance goes. I wonder how much of an effect it is having on what I am trying to do here.
Hard to say how much of an impact it has.
If you're getting a disproportionate amount of carbs relative to protein, for instance, it could be negatively effecting your satiation.
But all in all, there are only 3 macros so it's hard to be really out of whack unless you're eating loaves of bread, lol. That's why it's a good idea to balance out your meals with a source of each macro. This way, even if you aren't keeping strict tabs, you know you can't be far off.
Pre-planning your meals, as I always say, goes a long ass way. Even if it's just a spreadsheet, you could jot out quick meals that you can even eat on the run and make sure you're always stocked with them.
