Help needed to hold me accountable :-)

[SunsetRunner]

Hey all,

My name is Kenzie, i am (f) 27 years old. My desperate need for help is not the usual sort of need. I am not overweight but i do binge. I have a disastrous sweet tooth, more specially a peanut butter addiction. I know my woes are not nearly as great as some people, but i still find myself stuck.

I exercise regularly, weight 59.4kg, and i am 170cm tall. (down from 62kg 3 weeks ago)

I had recently maybe about 2 weeks ago set the goal of finally achieving a six pack. I have been quite successful and working towards it, until i brought home peanut butter. Now i do always debate bringing home peanut butter but for some reason i still do with is quite silly.

I just need some people to hold me accountable. If i make my addiction public its easier for me to stop and get my act together.

I do take supplements including, L-carnetine, Mono creatine, and Green tea extract along with my protein shakes. This stuff will usually cause me not to gain weight from my binging but it still is not totally right to fall back on supplements.

My binging needs to be curbed and being open in the public about it is the first step to accountability.

Cheers 🙂

[Bhuvana]

@SunsetRunner: Welcome! Congrats! Join us for monthly challenge for goal steps. Here is the link for that post. Definitely it would hold accountability. 🙂

Bhuvana

[Dominique]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

I have a disastrous sweet tooth, more specially a peanut butter addiction.

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I too love peanut butter, though I don’t consider it sweet (there should be very little sugar if it’s quality stuff with nothing added). It’s actually a very healthy food for active people, since it’s high on protein, has good fats and plenty of carbs to fuel your activity. However, it’s high on calories, so you must restrict the amount you’re eating. My solution for that (same with most other high-calorie foods) is to put it on a small plate and measure the quantity with a kitchen scale. This is a 25 gram portion (145 calories):

I close the jar, eat that and that’s it. If I start putting a spoon in the jar and putting it directly in my mouth, before I know it I’ll have eaten 100 grams (579 calories).

You need to decide what’s more important to you: your longer-term goal of getting a six-pack or the immediate reward of eating a pleasurable food.

[Esya]

This might not work, I never tried it, but maybe put a sticky note with your goal on the peanut butter jar? That way you could still have a little without binging. I had a tub of ice cream this week and I only ate a portion per day as my goal was on my mind whenever I took some.

[PercussaResurgo]

I'm a sucker for peanut butter myself..*quietly walks away*

[AuroraKat]

Welcome!

Binging can be a difficult to control, and I most certainly sympathize. Aside from seeking help from a qualified professional, you can try some of the following:

- Does binging happen with other types of nut butters? Perhaps try almond or cashew butters and see if you can control your intake better.

- Buy very small containers. If you do binge, it won't be a lot. Some stores sell pre-portioned tubes of peanut butter for school/work lunches. It's usually a portion of one or two servings. 

- @Dominique offered an excellent suggestion of weighing out a reasonable portion and putting away the container. I do this myself with foods that are easy to overeat. 

- When you feel that your eating is getting out of control, remind yourself that you are the one in control, not the food. It often helps to say these words out loud. Something like - "I am in control of how much I eat. I am not being controlled by peanut butter. I choose to stop eating now." - and then put down the spoon/fork. Oftentimes, this simple act is enough to stop uncontrolled eating.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

[Syty]

My son does something that may help.  But it does require that you discipline yourself in another area.  He has set rules for himself.  Only works if you follow your own rules.  So in your case for instance he would make a rule that he has to do 25 pushups to get x amount of peanut butter.  Now 25 pushups isn't going to work off your peanut butter calories, but he catches himself simply not wanting to do the pushups more than he wanted the peanut butter, hence one less serving of peanut butter.  Sometimes he does the pushups and that puts his mind somewhere else and he doesn't even get his reward of peanut butter when he is done.   Teenagers....

Make sense?  Now you just have to listen to yourself and not skip the pushups.