I can't stop self-sabotaging. What are your tips for avoiding unhealthy foods?

H

heygirlhey

New member
I just destroyed a day of healthy eating and over an hour of exercise (tough for me; I 'm a beginner) by finishing a full size box of cereal. I feel like I always mess up like this. I eat when I'm bored or stressed, and I really need to find a more weight loss friendly way of dealing with this stuff. What do you guys do when you just feel like eating?
 
I know how you feel, self-sabotage is 90% of the time unintentional. You just really need to focus, the reason we eat when we are bored/stressed is because its something to do, it makes us feel better TEMPORARILY, and we eat what tastes good!

The main thing I find to be easiest, is to look at it as a habit. You have nothing to do...so your body instinctively migrates to the fridge or pantry in search of "taste but entertainment", you grab what you like, and you scarf it down. The trick is to REALIZE when you are migrating, and stop dead in your tracks, and seriously think about if you are hungry or not. Its ok to "nosh" on something (just make sure it has some nutritional value), and have a glass of water with it, wait about 10 minutes to see if you are still hungry. That SHOULD curb your hunger for maybe an hour or 2.

Another way is to keep your mind occupied with other things! Take on a hobby you always wanted to try, start blogging your weight loss, go for a walk, go for a bike ride, anything to keep your mind occupied.

I would do some research on small snacks that are good for you, and curb your appetite until your next meal. See what will work for you, because what works for 1 person may not work for the next. Personally I stock up on light n' fit yogurts, those 90 cal chewy bars, and pita bread with humus as snacks to have throughout the day, because those work for me, and they all have nutritional value. So do a little research and find out what works for ya! Good luck!

Hope this helps!
 
what was the rest of your "healthy eating"? Give us a list of what and how much you are eating. Do you know how many calories you should be eating?


Matt
 
Uh oh; quotation marks! Well, I think I'm eating healthy. Apples and nutrigrain bars as snacks, way more water than I normally would drink, serving size (i think?) cereal- btw, is honey bunches of oats healthy or not? No more tuna salad sandwiches, because I just found out those were unhealthy, but I replaced that with baked potatoes or ham sandwiches with tomato, lettuce, and mustard. Salad with croutons and a little dressing (unfortunately, it's ranch.) Actually, if anyone has an ideas on healthy eating in a h.s. cafeteria, that would be awesome. I think I'm supposed to be eating 2000 cals to maintain my weight, so I try- or anyway, have tried since this Monday- to eat around 1500.
 
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Is there any way to bring your lunch to school?

Its really hard, and almost impossible to figure out how many calories you're eating. People tend to underestimate how much a portion size or how many calories there are, especially if you don't see it being cooked.

If you bring your lunch to school, you can weigh your food, it'll probably be healthier, and you can bring extra snacks for the afternoon.

I struggle with the same thing, but for different reasons, and I think for me, it's my body telling me that I'm not eating really balanced. If I eat too much protein, I'm craving fresh foods and carbs. If I'm eating too many carbs, I crave protein, etc.

If you have the time to figure it out, you can journal how you feel when you eat something. Go ahead, eat it -- but then write about what triggered you to eat it, what feelings you had, and how much you ate. It might make you aware of the triggers so you can work on them.
 
Why do you think tuna salad sandwiches are unhealthy? If you use low-fat mayo, or just a "skiff" of the real thing, tuna sandwiches are AWESOME! Be a friend to your growing brain (as a teen and all) and be sure to eat fish! :seeya:

Best wishes on your journey,
ABBA
 
Most people sabotage their goals, especially in the beginning, by going off their game plan. The true key to long term changes is incremental, small changes in your diet over time. Substitute this for that, remove this one day, add this.

Do this over the course of weeks and months while exercising and you're more likely to succeed. If you switch your diet AND exercise immediately, your body doesn't know how to react and you're more likely to fall back into your old ways.

Small changes over time make a big difference, especially if you're looking for long term results.
 
I know exactly how you feel because I used to be a teen self-sabotaging at home ALL the time. it is an unconscious process and many times you don't realize until the food is in your mouth.
there are many things you could do- these are some of what I did:

if you are still living at home ask if junk food can be removed, or at least bought and eaten at the moment- but no big boxes of cookies or chips around will make the process of not self sabotaging easier.

when you have a specific craving, wait on it. it takes around 20-30 minutes and the craving goes away. drink a glass of water or a have a fruit instead.

when you get bored at home and especially in front of the TV take some time and go for a walk. getting bored and over eating go hand to hand. not only you will feel better, the exercise doesn't hurt either!

when you go outside try not having too much money around. sounds silly but every time I had the money to buy junk. I would buy junk. try bringing your own cooked meals and snacks and avoid eating out as much as you can.

if having the food in your hands is inevitable and you are about to have a whole bag of cookies (self experience talking here!) ask yourself if you really need the food you are about to it. if you are still craving grab a piece and focus on the taste. do you still want another one? to me remembering how certain food tastes is enough as I realize I don't need to eat it again.

hope this helps, xoxo!
 
^^^Usedtobefatman...
Um, I assume by stats you mean weight, etc? I'm 5'7.5", 178 (hopefully less by now; I'm going to just weigh myself on Mondays), with 27% body fat... not really sure what that means, but that's what the trainer guy told me. I aim to be 140 pounds, because that's a pretty good weight for an African American female of my height and frame. I might try for less later, but I think that would be comfortable for me. A big goal for me is to be at least a normal size by the time I leave for college this fall.
By the way, thanks for the tips, everyone; the money idea really hits home for me.
 
Stove-popped popcorn usually saves me when I feel that I absolutely must eat in large quantities. Note that I didn't say microwaved. Stoooooove poooooopppped. Especially organic. That way you can decide what goes into it and what doesn't. And popcorn itself is a fairly healthy snack, low in calories/fat and high in fiber. It's the toppings like butter and cheese and caramel that make it unhealthy.

However, popcorn isn't very filling, so you still might find yourself eating ridiculous amounts of it unintentionally, and in that case green vegetables are more than fine to eat in large quantities. If you were to fill that entire cereal box with green vegetables with very light seasoning I doubt the lot would be over 250 calories.
 
honestly, i'm the same as you.
my advice that really got me on track fast was planning my meals and snacks for a whole week.
i sat down i wrote "monday-friday" at the top and put breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. and i counted all the calories and made sure i stayed at 1500 or under.
i'm a compulsive eater and will eat everything in sight.
but planning out my food helped SOOOOOOO much.
i also picked things i like. cause if i didnt like what i was eating, i wouldnt stay with it.

the first 2 days were hard following an eating sheet but it's been so easy ever since then. and i'm more satisfied with everything i eat now. and i'm not looking for little munchies when i'm bored.
 
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