[blah7997]

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

[Blancita]

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.

[blah7997]

Originally Posted by Blancita

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 like fruits and veggies?

[I_love_muscle]

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 ).

Be strong, you can do it!!!!

[Blancita]

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.

[blah7997]

Originally Posted by Blancita

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.

Thanks...I think I'll start with some steamed cauliflower this morning...we'll see how it goes...

[Blancita]

Originally Posted by blah7997

Thanks...I think I'll start with some steamed cauliflower this morning...we'll see how it goes...

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.

[erose77]

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..

[blah7997]

Originally Posted by erose77

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..

what about fruit? Is peanut butter considered healthy if you eat some on apples?

[I_love_muscle]

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 ...

[erose77]

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.

[erose77]

ooh i'll have to try the pomegranate seeds with cottage cheese..yummy

[blah7997]

the seeds and the cottage cheese do sound interesting...i'll have to try it...thanks everyone for your input, lots of great info....

[blah7997]

Originally Posted by Blancita

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.

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!

[shae]

Originally Posted by blah7997

Thanks...I think I'll start with some steamed cauliflower this morning...we'll see how it goes...

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?