hi all
i started my diet a week ago but only found this site the other day. anyway i think my diet is starting to hit me.
iv been ok but all of a sudden im obsessed by food
its all i think of i am eating sensibly but i feel constantly hungry, though im sure its just because im thinking about food.
the annoying thing is i sped all my time thinking of food but when i go to have my meal no matter how healthy i feel guilty for eating it.
i know i have a will power problem, but am determind this time the weight is going.
i guess it just feels like this diet and constantly eating healthy is taking over my life.

does anyone else ever feel this way?

since it's new to you - i think thats a normal reaction -- it'll pass and youll it will become more instinctive rather than constant thought... least for me it did..

healthy eating per se wasn't my problem -portion control was - so at the beginning - I was totally obsessive.. now I still am but not to the same degree I was - I trust my instincts more and I'm stilll getting the same results.

well im glad to know its not just me that gets obsessed. at the moemnt my life evolves around the chicken curry im having for tea tonight. i promised the b/f for 1 meal a week i will eat any meal i want... within reason... just to make me feel better... tonight its curry been looking forward to it all week lol

Sometimes I feel like I have an empty stomach even when I know I had a snack not to long ago. Just a guess, but I wonder if it's the feeling of the stomach shrinking down to a normal size.

Anyways the way I like to keep myself on track is to have my fridge full of bottles of water and green veggies or salad ready to be eaten. That way I can munch on those instead of something with more calories. If I'm out and I start feeling hungry it can be tempting to get a burger or some pizza or a sub but I've found if I remind myself of number of calories in these foods and really think about that fact I'm trying to cut at least 500 a day...... doesn't look so appealing. If you still find you get craving try only taking an amount of cash you will be spending for the day or bring a bank card. I'm not willing to pay an extra bank fee so that I can use my card to buy junk, so I don't buy it. I wait till I get home and munch on healthys.


Anyhow best of luck to you.

thats exactly how i am. i eat but still feel hungry maybe it is the stomach shrinking as i just had that curry and i feel like im going to explode lol was very nice but im that used to my rabbit food and vegies now. the curry has made me really bloated.

must admit though i didnt know if that was true that your stomach shrinks. i suppose it makes sense but iv never really looked into the "what happens to your body" side of things, i guess i would rather me in denial about the damage this weight has done to me

i have the sam prob i try to eat realllyy good somethimes it works sometime s not i take it one day at a time anyway although i do eat healthy sometimes i always feel like im starving ALAWAYS! lol then after i eat really only when im dieting i feel like a pig or something i dunno i do know how you feel though i wish you all the best of luck with your weight loss though

Are you a busy person? Putting your mind on something else ought to help a bunch. Last night I had the munchies.... I took a ride to the store and got a diet soda. Came back home and made a bag of lite popcorn and split it with the hubby.
Sometimes I feel like I'm a drug addict cause of how I am about wanting a snack and knowing I can't have one, but thats all the more reason for me the control myself. Food doesn't control me, I control it.

Some ideas:
1.) Split your meals into halves and eat 6 times a day. When I first started my diet I knew I'd be eating every 2 hours from my first meal. So you won't really have that obsession because in the next two hours you will be eating again.
2.) if that doesn't work try painting your finger nails and be extra careful and meticulous about it. You'll get so focused on what you're doing you won't be thinking about food. Include them toes!
3.) get OUT of the house.

Dunno, these things help me. I hope they help you.

I used to get the very same feeling when I would start a diet. All I could think about all the time was what i could eat next. The only time I could ever loose weight was when i didn't diet.

I feel the same as you I just started dieting 3 days ago and I'm so much more hungry now. I don't think I actually need food because I eat a little every two hours or so and snack on produce.

Have you ever watched the show Big Medicine? The people on it so overweight that they can't/can barely move, and they feel very hungry at 3000 calories/day, because their bodies have become accustomed to getting much much more. I think if we wait it out, the hunger will die down, at least that's what the doctors on that show say.

its totally normal specially in the beginning...for me i use to dream about food.but if you feel really hungry have a big salade or fruits once your stomach is full it will diminish or totally go.
good luck...

I have been going through the same thing. Always thinking about the next meal. Thinking about new things I could eat that won't hurt my diet. I also feel really guilty after having seconds at dinner. But then I think I could be preventing snacking late at night. Stick with it.

For me its a craving issue. Like potato chips. Normally, when I wasn't watching what I eat, I wouldn't look twice at a bag of potato chips. Now that I'm having to eat healthy, I cringe inside every time I look at a bag on the counter, I want some so bad.

So yeah, I sort of feel the same. It's like, now that I'm conscious of what I'm eating, I want stuff that's bad for me even worse than when I could have it anytime I wanted.

It's not really a matter of being hungry all the time. Just a matter of wanting stuff that's really, really bad for you.

Like a piece of chocolate pie my dad cut up for dessert yesterday. I looked at the label (just for kicks) and literally gasped. 27 grams of fat a slice! ARGH!

And then I wanted it even more. Just had to suck it up and put it back in the fridge untouched.

It's a matter of will more than anything else.

I'm completely a junkie when I start dieting. I had a friend whose advice was to think you'll be able to have some later (as opposed to never). My issue was I didn't know when later was.

Getting out of the house and paying attention to other things is helpful. I'm a water hater but getting a bottle of water and putting grape Crystal Light stuff in it usually helps. Also, try to eat things with lots of fiber, protein, and water, since that stuff fills you up more than what you might normally be eating.

Spartacus, that helps me too! I just think to myself "I could eat that if I wanted to, but I don't!"

Icebunny, it also helps me to look at myself in the mirror when I am obsessing about food. I mean go in my room and take my clothes off and think about whether or not I've already eaten enough cake or pasta or whatever in my life.

Glad to meet you and good luck!

Compulsive Eaters have a hard time staying on diet and following rules and they feel guilty after eating ...

have you binged in the past?

that could be where your problem lyes. I am a Compulsive Eater and am getting control over it.

This morning I had two eggs scrambled with milk in them. And added pepper, green, red, and yellow. Thats what I ate for breakfast. And I didn't feel hungry right away, it took twenty minutes to feel full. BUT I waited and now I feel full. Just on that. And now I won't touch a meal until I am hungry again... I have had to learn some sort of control and its been hard, up until last night I was binging ...

so if you have binged in the past ... I can understand and the guilt association I can understand ...
it will go away..
best wishes hun
and keep us posted

always
natalie jo