I have to get a grip on my eating

[Skyerules]

My working out is on point Mon- Thurs every morning before work, but my eating is out of control.  All the work I do in the morning is just lost when 2-3pm rolls around. Never mind the fact that my eating once I get home is off kilter. I can't eat w/out tiny hands wanting my food or atten, so I eat at 8pm when she goes to bed. By that time I'm hangry. The voice in my head that says, ya don't eat that, or portion that out gets smaller and quieter. All the work that I would have done that morning is just gone. I know what I have to do, but doing it just isn't happening. 

Addition - After actually typing this out, it came to me to try to change my lunch time.  My boss goes at 1pm so I'm going to try going at 2pm instead of 12. I think I can hang on as long as I have a snack in between of something healthy. I'm going to start tomorrow and see what happens.

[WendyB]

You need to just set your mind to it and follow through.

You can do it.!

[emili]

if work is your "quiet" time for eating, then do all your food layering there. have a midmorning snack, lunch and another snack right before you leave- but make it a good one. I don't know if you have ever seen or tried the bagel thins- but they are a life saver. the whole bagel is 110 calories. spread a really thin layer of PB or cream cheese, make a cup of tea and savor the heck out of it right before you leave. this will take the edge off and should keep you out of hangry zone longer. Good luck!

[KathyAnn]

I guess I envy people who can just put their mind to stop eating and go with it.  That hasn't really worked for me - food is just too much of a draw.  I make up my mind every day to stop overeating - and every day, well - you know.  I am back on balance for now.  Take some of the low-fat yogurt to work and have one midmorning.  Don't let yourself go so long between eating as that just makes it harder to eat sensibly.  When we are hungry, we tend to eat anything we can grab.  I found that the yogurt, or the thin bagels, or some cottage cheese to be very helpful at work.  I think the idea of just stopping for a few minutes and really enjoying something low calorie and a cup of tea help relaxes you and puts you in mind to be aware of what you are doing.  Keep working out in the morning but plan for some healthy food breaks during the day so that you don't get so hungry.  Good luck.

[Anniesusie]

I get this totally because I binge at night. Once I break the habit, I am usually good to go. This is what I have now...sugar free popsicle (s) and a cup of good earth tea ( it is sweet) with some cream, not half and half. This usually will do it for me. I also switch it up a bit with a cup of hot coconut/almond milk with stevia and vanilla. That will also satisfy me. If the cravings get too bad, I will take 1 t of peanut butter or almond butter. I am low carb. I also make sure I log everything. Sometimes the pain of logging will get my head to stop craving.

The other thing that I do is, if I find I am craving something? Like toast or pizza, I think it is just the flavor of the butter or the cheese and I try to mimic that with something else. I have literally just cooked a piece of cheese just because, that is the taste I am wanting. I don't have much, but it will do the trick.

[LordHeathen]

@Skyerules Hiya,

Wow, I know how you feel.

I have found Yummly to be a very interesting little app. It lists so many healthy and non-healthy food recipies that have really helped me to actually start planning my meals.

So far I have six meals a day, 3 of which are the main ones and the rest are snack meals.

I found my problem was not having something good prepared and ready to eat as soon as I found it, which is why in the past I have tended to hit crisps and processed foods mainly due to their speed.

I am studying psychology and you might benefit from reading more into mindfulness, particulary the cravings side of things as this could help you to see what you can do to help your situation.

Hope this helps.

[fatsamurai]

Carbs wreak havoc on our blood sugar and our tryglycerides.  My lower fat eating still included carbs and I am eliminating as many as I can but not all. The Atkins Diet will educate you on carbs. I am not recommending the diet itself but the information is very helpful to me. I have had to distance myself from some of the medical advice on low fat that has been out there for years and is just plain wrong. I haven't gotten smaller, I have gotten, like many others, bigger because carbs have been a big part of my diet while I was busy ditching fat. Unfortunately the food producers were adding trans fat and hidden sugar while the doctors blamed the fat we were eating. Before refined starches and sugar came along we were eating more fats, proteins, and healthy vegetables. That seems pretty smart to me because I have lived with the alternatives that are not working. Find what is right for you. The information is out there but you have to look for it.

[Anniesusie]

I can literally feel my blood sugar rise when I over carb. And for me one carb serving is it or I hang on to the pounds.

[BohemianFit]

I made this same mistake for years - trying to willpower my way through every day. Your willpower is obviously strongest in the morning. None of the day's challenges have had a chance to chip away at that willpower. It was only until I realized I needed a plan that I was able to shed the guilt-monkey that was every bite I took. I knew I needed food but felt like every bite was something to feel bad about. My suggestion is to get a plan, not rely on willpower. For me, I do weight watchers (and yes, this is my 5th time on the plan) and now when I'm hungry, I make good choices, count my point, and move on my merry way. You know what's healthy but if you make it an emotional issue, you will continue to feel out of control.

[fatsamurai]

Annie and Bohemian Fit, I have tried many diets. I am now reading everything I can get my hands on about cholesterol, carbs, and dieting in general. I agree its not willpower.  It's also not beating yourself up. One of my fav books is the Abs Diet. This diet has a once a week, eat what the heck you want. That basically says it can't be all deprivation all the time. I am walking now at least 2 days inside shooting for 3, plus cutting, not eliminating carbs, but boy do I ever read package labels and look for low carb and the serving sizes. You have to do snacks also to even out the blood sugar and hunger pangs. Keeping it up is the answer even if you mess up. Many people cannot sustain a particular diet for months at a time, so I am putting my own stamp on eating anew with some good diet advice. I find out how I did when I go for my next cholesterol blood check. Then hit or miss, keep doing it. Looking for consistency and the long haul. Best to you both.

fatsamurai

[Mukluk4]

I have the same problem.  I am very picky and was able to eat crappy well into my 20's and not gain weight as I was active.  Weight Loss is a math problem.  Outs must be greater than Ins.  

So my unique solution was to:

1. Increase the exercise in both effort and duration over time.  I went from near couch potato to Rec Basketball twice a week, increased to 3 times a week, added evening walks with a high energy dog (40 minutes give or take) on the off days and off season, then included a 20 minute lunch walk, increased rec basketball to 4-5 times a week, included weigh lifting 3-4 times a week.

Keep in mind this was done over a period of about 3 years with every few months pushing myself to do a little more.  I did not change my diet and dropped 40 pounds over this time period.  

Keep in mind, I have a job that's 45+ hours, with  2 hours of commuting each day, wife, 7 and 1 year old boys, mortgage, car payment, etc.  If I can find the time, then anyone can, it's about motivation.

2.  Next, I changed not what I ate, but the amounts I ate.  Substitute the medium fries for the large fries.  Regular soda for diet, regular candy bars, etc.  This combined with above allowed another 10-15 pound drop.  The kids love McDonald's and going out to dinner, etc.  You can't each rabbit food forever.

3.  I'm now in phase 3 of this process (starting in January).  Which is substituting healthy alternatives to the unhealthy.  Apples instead of candy bars.  Protien shake instead of cereal.  No more eating out at lunch.  etc.  I'm down 8 pounds in a bit over a month.

My point is that you can't be successful trying to take on all of these challenges at once.  You need to pick your battles and ensure those battles are moving you in the right direction and then slowly build on those successes.

[Shortsbysummer]

I have the same trouble with night eating. I'm a teacher and my daytime eating pattern is erratic. I started to force myself to eat breakfast even if I'm not hungry, I'm never hungry at breakfast, in fact it takes skipping several meals before I feel physically hungry...but even then it's more like an empty nausea than hungry. I start work around 7:30, prepping for an hour before my students start. The kids get a morning recess for 10 min but I either have supervision outside, have to setup for next lessons or have discipline/administrative issues to deal with. When my students eat their snack after recess I'm running around opening their yogurts, granola bars, cleaning their spills, etc. Germs, ew. I have to eat standing up, which sets a bad example when my students must remain seated. So I don't. The kids have a 40 min break for lunch/recess but during that time teachers have 20-min of supervision, or myself I run music clubs over my entire lunch "break". Eating a salad takes too long. I have a stash of protein bars but I have to eat them outside or in my car because the school is nut-free and every kind I like has or may contain nuts. Going to switch it bottled GNC shakes I think. Dinner when I get home is a panic, especially if I linger at work until 5, rushing to get my teens to their evening things. I do the gym while they are at their activities. When I'm good and do the gym, I don't usually night eat. The second I skip a workout it triggers a cycle of poor eating, night binging, Netflix, and poor sleeping which leads to more of the same. 9-11pm is my witching hour. I worry that eating more in the day won't fix it but will make it worse. I hate eating, it takes so much energy to plan, cook, clean up. If I didn't have kids I would eat the same things every day so I wouldn't have to think about it.