Tips to Help Control Eating

The constantly eating thing, for me, was out of boredom. So I solved it with gum. As long as I had something in my mouth, I was good.

And after I got my hunger under control...which I did with snacking on almonds...gum filled the gap for me.

Honestly, I'll go through a pack in a day or two. But it helps prevent me from constantly snacking on everything in sight...

The only tip that truly works for me is ... water.

I have this unhealthy need to keep putting something in my mouth (and NO, all you funny ladies out there, I don't mean like THAT), but I find that if that something is water (and I mean, literally, I'm sipping plain water all day long), I'm able to control my appetite much better and be healthier in general.

Not a perfect solution, but for me, it's the only thing I've found that works.

Allen Carr has a book which might help you on this. It invites you to retrain your brain, by acknowledging that eating is necessary, and eating can be good, but eating too much, or eating too much of the wrong thing leaves you feeling overful, lethargic, uncomfortable in the short term, and heavy and achy in the long term.

I highly recommend it.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

Maybe set up a time schedule or eating schedule and then the rest of the time is "cold turkey" time, no exception.???
Plan out what you will eat for brkfst, lunch, snack and dinner and then THAT'S IT. So if it's not during your eating time, then it's NOT even an option, don't even have to think about it or decide, the answer is no - no thank you!
I work from home (right down the hall from the kitchen) and this plan has been helpful for me. :)

The only time I've been able to control, really control, my food is when I'm so busy I forget or haven't the time to eat. When we moved from one home to another, we were under a very tight deadline. I was so busy and working so hard, I didn't have time to eat. When I did stop for a bite or two, I usually made a sandwich and ate half of it and put the other half aside for when I had time for another break.

I'm going to be very interested in the responses you get.

Thank you for asking. Good luck to you and yours.

I also struggle with this, and have my since I was a kid. In the past few years I have taken to keeping a pack of gum on top of my fridge. When I feel the urge to eat, I go grab a piece of gum instead. 9 times out of 10 that does the trick for me. I gets my mouth engaged, gives some sensory satisfaction, and distracts me from the urge to eat.

Work - If you sit where you can see the 'ready available food', put on a divider screen so that you can't see it. If it is in a kitchen where you don't look at it, bring snacks from home so you don't have to go in there.

A healthy routine is breakfast, mid morning snack (something lite like a banana, grapes, crackers), lunch, mid-afternoon snack (something lite like a small portion of popcorn) and a small to mid-sized dinner
Drinking water can help curb the cravings to eat. Be sure to drink a glass of water with each snack.

Snacking all day is not a bad thing, as long as what you are putting in is healthy.

Single servings - I love these! If you buy the 'family size' bag, there is no limit. If you buy the single serving or snack size bags of chips, cookies, snacks, etc. then you know exactly how much to eat. One package and you are done.

Keep a food journal. Write down EVERYTHING that you eat or drink for two weeks. This will help you see exactly what you ARE putting in to your body.

Dessert. Only eat a 'dessert' food 1 time a day, or even one time a week. I have a friend whose family only eats dessert like cookies or cake on Sat. night.

Portions. When you fix your plate, fix it, look at it, and put 1/4 to 1/2 of the portion you served yourself back. Then when you finish that, if you are still hungry, get yourself 1/4 of the portion that you normally would.

I am in the battle, too. I just want to encourage you. I started walking on an indoor track. I have made it a perminate change this time. I have started and stopped many times before, it's not how many times you fail, it restarting that last time. I have lost 10 lbs. my knees thank me everyday!
They have restrengthened so much I can be even more active. But at first, I came home from walking and sat down for the rest of the day! It's ok. It gets better. You gain more energy. It gets better.

I replaced what I ate before stopping eating. The habit is like a baby that wakes in the middle of the night for a bottle of milk long after it really needs it. If you replace that milk with water then most of the time it will quit pretty soon. It's just not rewarding. So my snack of cheese cubes and crackers became string cheese with a carb. Now it is just the 50 calorie weight watchers jalapeño string cheese and maybe some fruit. I give myself all the time I need to fail. At least 3 times, I will go back to the bad snack before making the change stick. Hey, who cares! I am making this change for life, I can fail a few times!

The stuff at the office needs to be weeded down to what's homemade, first. If I could buy it anywhere, what's the big deal? It has to be special. Make yourself a food snob!

Good luck!

Make sure you eat a snack between meals and one before bed. I have actually LOST weight doing this. Your body needs food every few hours. I also was a snacker after the kids went to bed so I started to crochet while I watched tv and that has really helped. Good luck!

follow some rules and be strict about them:
Don't eat between meals
Don't eat after dinner
don't drink your calories
rarely eat deep fried foods and if you do only eat a small portion
eat only half the food on your plate at restaurants (or split)
Have dessert a couple of times a week, not daily
If you must snack, choose fruits and vegetable

If the foods you really enjoy are bad foods, then you will need to be more drastic. Like committing to a healthy diet for a month to try and adjust your taste buds. And yes, you can learn to like healthy food. Maybe an 8 week vegan fast to help you appreciate simper foods. Best of luck.

When I grew up I was in an abusive home. They told me all my adult life I only got spankings that I deserved. I swore I would be a different type of parent.

So when my daughter was born I didn't discipline her at all. I let her do whatever because any time I got frustrated with how she was acting I remembered what it was like growing up and getting the hell beat out of me with belts, switches, and any utensil that my mom was cooking with.

So by swearing I was going to do opposite of what my parents did to me I hurt my daughter and myself. Now I do give swats to my grand kids that I am raising and have given swats to a few good friends kids with their approval but that is for serious offenses.

One thing I always point out to people here on mamapedia is that if you deny your kids (or yourself) stuff then they are going to want it all the time when they are an adult.

I didn't get much candy as a child so when I grew up and was a full time college student I ate a candy bar 3 times per day and stayed busy. I never stopped to cook or eat a full meal. I was so skinny that I thought life was good.

So depriving people of something isn't the way to go nor is stuffing them with something all the time too.

So I suggest that you check out some cookbooks at your local library that has recipes with foods that your family likes to eat, that you can incorporate into your menu. SO that YOU can have a healthier diet but also have indulgence foods once in a while. You can have a slender piece of cake, a spender piece of pie, etc....you don't have to eat cake for 3 meals per day.

Your mom has decided she's an adult and has the ability to choose her lifestyle. It is CERTAINLY NOT something I would eat for 3 meals nowadays. I know better for my own body.

I think that you have "some" good ideas but truthfully it sounds like you're on the edge of a serious eating disorder like Anorexia or Bulimia since you sound like you think that food in general is harming you.

It might help to visit with a good friend about this, one that will tell you if you are fat or if you're just slightly plump or a normal body weight that is acceptable. I think that a friend would care enough about you to tell you if they think your food choices are good, okay, or really strict. Sometimes it's that over correction, restriction, that makes it all too hard.

One thing that I do now, instead of eating 3 candy bars per day for meals, is to freeze some candy like Jr. Mints. When I want something sweet I grab a small handful (5-8) and eat them 1-2 at a time. They are super chewy so they last a long time and I get the impression I ate a LOT more of them.

Keep normal sugared gum on hand. Chewing indicates to the stomach that food is coming to it empties and that signals the digestive system to do it's job. That gets your system going. I chew gum when I have an urge to eat and eat and eat. It keeps my mouth busy, tastes good, is sweet, and it doesn't hurt anything.

When my sister quite smoking she gained about 30 pounds. She's just under 5' tall and her normal weight is just over 100 pounds. So when she weighed in at 130+ she couldn't stand to be in her own skin. So she started sucking on hard candy, spearmint/peppermints, all sorts of hard candy in different flavors. She could have a piece of candy in her mouth all day and never go over 100 calories. If you don't chew it then you'll have that flavor for a long time.

Make sure you are eating 3 healthy well balanced meals for breakfast, lunch
and dinner.
Be sure they are portion controlled so your plate is not overfilled.
Then have 2 snacks in between meals. Those snacks are healthy like an
apple w/peanut butter or a sm yogurt w/fruit.
Be sure to be active. Walk whenever you can. Exercise (cardio & weights).
If you don't belong to a gym, rent or buy an exercise video to burn calories &
keep your hearth healthy to keep it in good working condition.
Sometimes when I think I am hungry, I drink some water. Sometimes it's
just thirst. Or I eat a few raw almonds to stave off the hunger pangs as
it's not real hunger for a big meal.
Be sure you are really eating balanced meals (high % of protein, low fat).
Low carb is best too as the sugars in the carbs can break down & be stored as fat if not burned (I think that's how I remember it working).
Something I try to do is always have a salad w/lunch & dinner. Low fat
dressing.
The great thing at a restaurant is to have the salad first as it fills you up so
you only eat half your meal. Take the rest home to have the next day.
Split meals w/someone at a restaurant so you are only eating 1/2 the portion
I eat lots of veggies & fruits.
Staying trim has grown more difficult as I age & after kids but I'm trying to
get back to a healthy lifestyle.
Edit: don't do shakes. You want to have a healthy, well balanced life & attitude towards food. You can eat healthy, delicious food w/o overdoing the bad stuff. Also, for your work issue, take a healthy lunch & snacks w/you. While the bad-for-you stuff is out, tell yourself you are eating good things to be healthy & to live a long life for yourself &your kids.

In a restaurant, always get a doggie bag.

At home, buy smaller plates.

Put things into portions. Don't eat out of the bag. Pour a reasonable amount into a bowl.

If you think you are hungry, do something else first. Like drink a glass of water. Healthy for you and makes you full.

Keep appropriate snacks at your desk so that you can eat a handful of nuts instead of a doughnut.

Get moving. Calories in need to be burned off somehow and often exercise is its own reward.

See a nutrionist. Learn how to read lables, and make better choices.

Keep fresh fruit and veggies , popcorn, granola at your desk. This will help you make a better choice. My dads friend does the apple test. .if you are hungry enough to eat an apple, then you are hungy. If not, then you think you are hungry when you are not.

Rome was not built in a day.. start with the nutrionist and go from there. Start walking, or bike riding for extra excercise. Get small goals.

Weight watchers is awesome, after you see the nutionist. This will ensure that you are balancing your food right. Small goals.

Good luck

Drink water throughout the day- it will keep you feeling full and hydrated. Very often what we experience as "hunger" or "cravings" are signals that we are dehydrated. Flavored seltzers are good too if you don't like the "plain taste" of water.

Exercise throughout the day. Several 20 minute walks will add up over the course of a week. It will also keep you feeling better and less bored! When I find myself with a little bit of down time, I will go for a walk around the neighborhood near my office.

Fill up on lean proteins and dark vegetables. Fruits are good in moderation, but they are loaded with sugars! Chicken, fish, egg whites, yogurt... will all fill you up without adding extra fat and calories.

Eat regularly. Breakfast - light snack- lunch- snack- dinner.

Don't keep "junk" in your house. We really keep very little "junk food" in our house. We don't crave it, but if it's in the house... we'll eat it! You will find tons of sliced cheese (2%), sliced fruits, sliced veggies and graham crackers in my house b/c they are relatively healthy and my kids will happily have a yogurt as a snack!

Please so to a blog titled:
www.lovemorefeedless.com

Tere are many suggestions on this site/blog to help you and the associated Cookbook has many answers throughout the pages to help you out and overcome these types of habits!

That is a promise!

Make exercise a non-negotiable part of your day. Keep gum and sugar free hard candy handy. I have found it's not the food you're actually after, it's the need for the oral satisfaction of the food. Continue to make good choice in the food department. Snack on grapes and carrots so that it's a bunch of food over the course of time. I can make them last longer than say a banana or apple. The weight will come off slowly and when you feel better you can be more aggressive in your exercise. Good luck.

Drinking water all day long helps you feel full.
Also I don't keep anything around that I find hard to control, like potato chips and ice cream!

Eat well balanced meals, drink lots of water. Have cut up fruits and veggies ready to eat in the fridge. Always have a snack stashed in your purse or car so you don't end up grabbing something unhealthy. I like Lara bars or packs of nuts I get at trader's joe. Right now we always have cut up watermelon in the fridge and we're eating it like crazy. I eat a filling breakfast every morning or else it's like I am trying to catch up all day cause I am hungry. Almost every morning I have oatmeal(real oatmeal, not quick cook or in the packages) with one packet of sugar in the raw and cinnamon. That'll hold me over for hours. I also brush my teeth after dinner so I am not tempted to snack on sweets at night after the kiddos are in bed and I am watching t.v. I find with snacks or treats around I don't even try a bite cause that will just make me want more instead of satisfying a craving.

Don't limit yourself to how often you can eat- starving yourself only decreases your metabolism. Eat whenever you are hungry, but surrounded yourself with healthy options. Take healthy food to work with you. If you really struggle with being able to resist something, don't buy it.
Drink lots and lots of water!

It's a matter of will power. Are you stronger than the urge or is the urge stronger than you?

I find that I am so used to saying "no thank you" when offered food, that sometimes I skip eating something I really wanted.

Maybe it's an oral fixation - have you tried chewing gum?