Why is eating in moderation sooo hard?

B

blah7997

New member
i DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME...I WILL NOT LET MYSELF STOP EATING...THIS PAST TWO WEEKS HAVE BEEN TERRIBLE...THE MORE I SAY THAT I'M GOING TO EAT LESS, JOURNAL, LOG IN AND CHAT...THE HARDER IT GETS FOR ME TO STOP PUTTING THINGS IN MY BODY AT THE WRONG TIME....EMOTIONAL EATING IS A KILLER:banghead:
 
I've found eating low carb for a day or two minimizes my appetite. Once I start eating sweets and carbs, my appetite is fueled and I have trouble stopping. Maybe try that for a few days and see if it has that effect for you.
 
low carbs

Blancita said:
I've found eating low carb for a day or two minimizes my appetite. Once I start eating sweets and carbs, my appetite is fueled and I have trouble stopping. Maybe try that for a few days and see if it has that effect for you.
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low carbs like fruits and veggies?
 
I'm assuming you are emotionally attached to your food. My sister is an emotional eater, and she is overweight. She eats compulsively when she is stressed, depressed or not having a good day. Basically, she eats food to make herself feel better and the foods she chooses are bad carbs.

I never had that attachment to food, so it's difficult for me to totally understand it. Blancita's advice of going low carb for a few days is a good idea :) Try eating a little more protein and see how that goes. The higher the GI of the carb you're eating, the more you will want to eat because your blood glucose levels won't be happy and you'll probably be getting insulin spikes (that makes you hungry).

I will say that the only reason I eat food now is to fuel my body. When I was diagnosed with diabetes 25 years ago, I had to drastically change my eating habits. I was accustomed to being able to eat anything and everything I wanted whenever I wanted.

In 24 hours, that all changed. My mindset had to change, and since I am a control freak, I figured I had to take control over everything I put into my body or suffer the consequences.

If you are serious about losing weight, you don't want to eat the wrong foods and have to start all over again. Really try to have the willpower to say "no". I think that stepping up the protein and backing off of the high GI carbs will be really helpful to stave off the cravings.

Moreover, it's Xmas time, and this is a very difficult time for most people to stick to their diets. Crap food is everywhere!!! Nibblies, chips, dip, nachos ... you can't go to anybody's house and not see unhealthy finger food (unless you come to my house :D).

Be strong, you can do it!!!!
 
Your issue does seem emotional and MANY of us on the forum have a problem using food for comfort or boredom, me included (only for boredom though). But sometimes cutting back on the carbs can have an effect that allows you to gain some control over the food. This has been my experience if I really cant get control. By low carb I mean lots of meat, cheese, eggs and veggies only. If you ate that way for about 2 days I suspect you would feel a change in your appetite. Then maybe try keeping the carbs lowish from there to avoid the sugar cravings. The carbs like breads, cookies, candy, chips. I'm not doing a low carb diet or anything but I've just noticed certain foods fuel my appetite and others dont.
 
low carbs

Blancita said:
Your issue does seem emotional and MANY of us on the forum have a problem using food for comfort or boredom, me included (only for boredom though). But sometimes cutting back on the carbs can have an effect that allows you to gain some control over the food. This has been my experience if I really cant get control. By low carb I mean lots of meat, cheese, eggs and veggies only. If you ate that way for about 2 days I suspect you would feel a change in your appetite. Then maybe try keeping the carbs lowish from there to avoid the sugar cravings. The carbs like breads, cookies, candy, chips. I'm not doing a low carb diet or anything but I've just noticed certain foods fuel my appetite and others dont.
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Thanks...I think I'll start with some steamed cauliflower this morning...we'll see how it goes...
 
blah7997 said:
Thanks...I think I'll start with some steamed cauliflower this morning...we'll see how it goes...
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Maybe add some melted cheese to it as well. If it tastes too plan and nasty, you'll never keep it up! Plus it seems like the saturated fat is what sometimes zaps the appetite.
 
It sounds like emotional eating to me and i would advise removing all unhealthy food from your house right now and packing your refrigerator full of veggies and lean proteins.. Whenever you feel the need to binge eat at least you will only have healthy foods to choose from. Your also probably overeating because of what you eat... your brain sends hunger signals when its not getting enough nutrients..thats why you can eat an entire bag of potatoe chips and still be hungry an hour later. If you replaced that with a healthy nutritionally balanced meal of proteins, carbs and healthy fats you can ward of hunger for 3-4 hours..
 
good idea...

erose77 said:
It sounds like emotional eating to me and i would advise removing all unhealthy food from your house right now and packing your refrigerator full of veggies and lean proteins.. Whenever you feel the need to binge eat at least you will only have healthy foods to choose from. Your also probably overeating because of what you eat... your brain sends hunger signals when its not getting enough nutrients..thats why you can eat an entire bag of potatoe chips and still be hungry an hour later. If you replaced that with a healthy nutritionally balanced meal of proteins, carbs and healthy fats you can ward of hunger for 3-4 hours..
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what about fruit? Is peanut butter considered healthy if you eat some on apples?
 
Any time you put protein/fat/fibre with a carb it will lower the GI value of the carb because it slows down the absorption rate of the carb (glucose). So it does help, yes :)

You could also cut the apple up and add it to some 1% cottage cheese. That's my idea of candy -- cottage cheese with fruit :)

Right now, because pomegranates are in season, I'm eating cottage cheese with pomegranate seeds. It's absolute oral heaven ...
 
woops im sorry i didnt mention fruit... yes fruit is ok just dont over do it, because most fruit tend to have a generous amount of carbs and fructose which is basically sugar.. i love muscle is right though, if you do have a piece of fruit pair it with some fiber/protein. I limit myself to one piece maybe two pieces of fruit a day, and i make sure its early in the day so i can for sure burn it off. Fruit can be deceiving.. yes its "healthy" but if you eat too much it can do just as much damage as a candy bar.. the only difference is that you are getting nutrients from the fruit if you eat too much or not..its just the sugar that will get ya.
 
the seeds and the cottage cheese do sound interesting...i'll have to try it...thanks everyone for your input, lots of great info....
 
Blancita said:
Maybe add some melted cheese to it as well. If it tastes too plan and nasty, you'll never keep it up! Plus it seems like the saturated fat is what sometimes zaps the appetite.
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i like birds eye steamed cauliflower that you can microwave..it has a pretty nice flavor..i think they season it with garlic...my mouth's watering just thinking about it...and the cheese is a good idea too...yum!
 
blah7997 said:
Thanks...I think I'll start with some steamed cauliflower this morning...we'll see how it goes...
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Yum. Sometimes I steam cauliflower and brocolli, mash it a bit and stir in a bit of low fat cottage cheese for a treat. I think it's yummy.

But like the others have said, get rid of naughty food out of the house immediately. If you crave something sweet then make yourself walk to the shops, really good if it takes you 1/2 hr to walk there, then you won't feel so bad once you treat yourself, or maybe by the time you get to the shop you might opt for a piece of fruit or something.

Prepare healthy snacks in advance and let yourself indulge in them. What about a pot of yummy homemade vege soup to sip on in between meals?
 
Emotional eating does suck. In general, eating a bit more protein than the usual 10-15% and less than the 60-65% carbohydrates may help with feeling full and satisfied (which may or may not help the extreme emotion eating, but it will probably help at least a bit). It mentions eating at least 30% of each in this forum, which doesn't seem unreasonable. So long as you never go less than 15-20% carbohydrates, lowering them to increase protein is alright.

Fruits and vegetables are NEVER BAD!!! Do not be afraid to eat them. Technically, they are carbohydrates, but they are the best type of carbohydrates. When I talk about cutting the carbohydrates, I am telling you to reduce sugar, white grains, and other simple carbohydrates. Basically, no junk food. Junk food is full of carbohydrates (and fats, of course). Why is this sugar bad? It causes spikes in our blood sugar, which causes the release of insulin, which triggers a chain of reactions that ends up with the body spiking and crashing and storing fat more than it would otherwise (I forget the exact mechanism, but it just ends up being bad for everyone, not to mention people trying to lose weight).

Just as fruits, vegetables, and whole/"brown" grains make up good carbohydrates, there are also good fats! These fats are from fish and plant sources (unsaturated fats). Fats from meat, diary, and other animal sources shouldn't be higher than 10% of your diet.

Now, I have personally found that diary (milk, cottage cheese) help me to feel full. However, I always eat the low fat and non-fat versions because it keeps it from filling up the 10% that can come from animal/dairy sources and reduces the calories. The rest of your fat (up to 25-30% total fat), should come from these fish and plant sources. Included in this are nuts, seeds, beans, and other legumes. So, peanuts (and peanut butter that doesn't have lots of added sugar and preservatives), are good for you, so long as you keep track of the calories.
 
Hello Blah,
I am a emotional eater 2 and i know exactly how you feel, this is my first week and boy! have i seen a side to me that needs carefully examination, like you i can eat everything in site. I see that the secret to my hunger attack today was lack of something i tired hard to find all the right foods to warn off my hunger and although i ate lots of healthy things it did eventually stop, so the next few weeks will see me finding instant hunger relievers, let me know what works for you. I still need to get into it and get my pan of soup on the stove in case of a hunger attack, i think that may be the secret to, best of luck. x :cheers2:
 
I am so glad I found this thread! yay.
I have been using food as a cure for boredom and to get a sense of comfort in times of stress for many years now. The key for me is realizing I am not "defective" somehow-treating it as a disease, almost, that I must manage on a daily basis in hopes that it will get easier with time. So don't be hard on yourself.
The advice above is really good-combining a little good fat, a fiber, and a protein together make for a happier tummy. Sweets set me off big time-one cookie, and it's over. So now I don't even keep them.
good luck to you all on your journey.

ps-an idea for "fake" ice cream if you're having a hard time with giving up certain foods-for a treat only!:

freeze a banana-pour on a wee bit of sugar free (honestly, I use the real thing) Hershey's syrup. top with cool whip
also, you can freeze the cool whip and make some mock ice cream!
Natural-not really. But a good standby in an emergency:waving:
 
sorry, been mia...

bodymatters said:
Hello Blah,
I am a emotional eater 2 and i know exactly how you feel, this is my first week and boy! have i seen a side to me that needs carefully examination, like you i can eat everything in site. I see that the secret to my hunger attack today was lack of something i tired hard to find all the right foods to warn off my hunger and although i ate lots of healthy things it did eventually stop, so the next few weeks will see me finding instant hunger relievers, let me know what works for you. I still need to get into it and get my pan of soup on the stove in case of a hunger attack, i think that may be the secret to, best of luck. x :cheers2:
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hey, hope that you are doing fine..I know that it's taken me a while to come back the site, i've been busy and have loss focus some how...i have had some emotional upheavals lately....how have you been?
 
Brenda's Ready said:
I am so glad I found this thread! yay.
I have been using food as a cure for boredom and to get a sense of comfort in times of stress for many years now. The key for me is realizing I am not "defective" somehow-treating it as a disease, almost, that I must manage on a daily basis in hopes that it will get easier with time. So don't be hard on yourself.
The advice above is really good-combining a little good fat, a fiber, and a protein together make for a happier tummy. Sweets set me off big time-one cookie, and it's over. So now I don't even keep them.
good luck to you all on your journey.

ps-an idea for "fake" ice cream if you're having a hard time with giving up certain foods-for a treat only!:

freeze a banana-pour on a wee bit of sugar free (honestly, I use the real thing) Hershey's syrup. top with cool whip
also, you can freeze the cool whip and make some mock ice cream!
Natural-not really. But a good standby in an emergency:waving:
Click to expand...

thanks,your recipe sounds yummy...sorry it took me so long to respond...i fell in a whole and somehow put on 10 pounds....:banghead:
 
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