I need to stop eating so much!

[R3ZN0R]

ok this is my problem: i can't resist food! everything just tastes so damn good i used to be extremely athletic when i was younger but when i left for college i became really lazy. i didn't get fat or anything but i felt so out of shape and with no energy. now i'm done college and i'm back home and i'm trying to get fitter and healthier again by eating right and doing a lot of exercise. i've been kickboxing now for over 3 months. i used to train twice a week and workout at home 2 days. now for the past 2 weeks i've been training 5 days a week and doing some other stuff too so i'm doing well with that BUT... i can't control my eating habbits and it's spoiling all the hard work i do :icon_sad: i've always been one to eat LOADS. a lot of times i have healthy eating streaks where i don't give in to temptations at all but they don't last very long and then i end up pigging out on all the foods i'd been depriving myself of. i don't eat dirty fast food or anything like or chips or pop and i eat a lot of fruit n veg. my problem is mainly that i eat too much, not that i eat junk. i find i eat a lot of cereal, bread, pasta, rice... stuff like that. and during the holidays a lot of chocolate and desserts... i don't know what to do! after i've eaten i feel guilty and i'm kicking myself for it and i tell myself i won't give in again but when i see something tasty or when i get a craving for something, my will just isn't strong enough. i need help! anyone have any advice?

 

[Dunwich]

Start off allowing yourself 3 cheat days where you get 1 meal of the things you like. your choice as to the days. If you have something to look forward to, it will be easier to hold off in the inbetween times. Once you feel good on that plan, you can back off a day then progress to 1 cheat meal weekly.

An alternative is to limit yourself to one cheat meal per day,then use the above progression by backing off a day after so long. If you are basically eating right most of time and feel guilty when you cheat, you may want to ask yourself why your eating like you do. Is it because your actually that hungry? Are you craving something specific like carbs, is it an emotional issue in that you notice you eat more after specific emotional periods like anger or saddness.

I am currently working on completely retooling my diet. I have been eating as clean as I possibly can, but find myself craving items that I know I can't have till my Sunday cheat day. It is basically a willpower thing. If you want it bad enough, then you will find a way to work through it. If it proves to tuff, then you need to reevaluate your goals and what your willing to put yourself through to achieve them. With the workout pace you are keeping, you should also have the fortitude to stick out a proper eating plan. Good luck man, I'm feel ya.

 

[Sinister]

A set of balls could help your problem immensely.

Who is in charge...you or the food?

(P.S. - this is mostly in-jest)

 

[R3ZN0R]

A set of balls could help your problem immensely.

Who is in charge...you or the food?

(P.S. - this is mostly in-jest)

if i had balls... that would be horrid.

 

[Sinister]

Are you female? If so, well, eh, if you're female and you hang around here you should be used to the testosterone levels.

Nah but what I meant is it's all about will-power. There's no angle that's going to save you without it. You'll ALWAYS give-in. You have to decide what you want to achieve, and how important that is to you. It then has to rank higher than gourging yourself on junk.

I come from a Family with a LONG History of eating disorders. And almost all of them before me who have passed have passed from health-complications closely linked to poor eating and exercise habits. Bunch of heart-attacks basically.

I know I don't want that for myself, or my tentative children, let alone what I want for my career. If that means not having a slice of cake, so be it.

 

[R3ZN0R]

Start off allowing yourself 3 cheat days where you get 1 meal of the things you like. your choice as to the days. If you have something to look forward to, it will be easier to hold off in the inbetween times. Once you feel good on that plan, you can back off a day then progress to 1 cheat meal weekly.

An alternative is to limit yourself to one cheat meal per day,then use the above progression by backing off a day after so long. If you are basically eating right most of time and feel guilty when you cheat, you may want to ask yourself why your eating like you do. Is it because your actually that hungry? Are you craving something specific like carbs, is it an emotional issue in that you notice you eat more after specific emotional periods like anger or saddness.

I am currently working on completely retooling my diet. I have been eating as clean as I possibly can, but find myself craving items that I know I can't have till my Sunday cheat day. It is basically a willpower thing. If you want it bad enough, then you will find a way to work through it. If it proves to tuff, then you need to reevaluate your goals and what your willing to put yourself through to achieve them. With the workout pace you are keeping, you should also have the fortitude to stick out a proper eating plan. Good luck man, I'm feel ya.

well it's worth a try... and also, u bring up a good point when u say "are u actually that hungry?" and most of the time i am yes... i mean i'm not starving but i always seem to be craving food. even when i've just eaten loads and i'm full up i'll go back and and get something out of the fridge 15 mins later. i think it may have something to do with being bored. when i'm at work or training i'm fine. but now i'm not working anymore because i've finished my training at the hospital. i can't get a job till i write my exam later this month in order to get my license. so all i've been doing (apart from training and working out) is studying, watching films, posting on sherdog... and i eat while doing all of those things. especially while studying - i get distracted easily by thoughts of food.

 

[Art Vandelay]

well it's worth a try... and also, u bring up a good point when u say "are u actually that hungry?" and most of the time i am yes... i mean i'm not starving but i always seem to be craving food. even when i've just eaten loads and i'm full up i'll go back and and get something out of the fridge 15 mins later. i think it may have something to do with being bored. when i'm at work or training i'm fine. but now i'm not working anymore because i've finished my traning at the hospital. i can't get a job till i write my exam later this month in order to get my license. so all i've been doing (apart from training and working out) is studying, watching films, posting on sherdog... and i eat while doing all of those things. especially while studying - i get distracted easily by thoughts of food.

"eat too much, not that i eat junk. i find i eat a lot of cereal, bread, pasta, rice... stuff like that"

Those foods are probably the worst foods you can eat. Low in nutrients and satisfaction, high in crap, and easy to overeat with. Seriously, they are the soda of foods.

If you can handle overeating breakfast cereal without gaining fat, I am envious.

Edit: If you have the intelligence to pass your MCAT or whatever the Canadian equivalent medical school entrance exam is, I'd bet you have the intelligence to already know what's wrong with your diet. Knowledge and reality is quite a bitch, though.

Replace your cereal and rice and other garbage with better choices, like vegetables, nuts, oats, etc. If you're overeating, take it back a notch. If you're going to drop something from your diet to make a slight caloric deficit, pick the worst thing you eat.

Honestly, my best results have come from extreme training and eating whatever I had time for, but my closest results in times of less activity have come from strict eating.

Edit 2: In regards to the post below, the brain and body's reaction to different foods is on par with caffeine and other drugs in my opinion. Fruit Loops might as well be crack.

 

[Sinister]

well it's worth a try... and also, u bring up a good point when u say "are u actually that hungry?" and most of the time i am yes... i mean i'm not starving but i always seem to be craving food. even when i've just eaten loads and i'm full up i'll go back and and get something out of the fridge 15 mins later. i think it may have something to do with being bored. when i'm at work or training i'm fine. but now i'm not working anymore because i've finished my traning at the hospital. i can't get a job till i write my exam later this month in order to get my license. so all i've been doing (apart from training and working out) is studying, watching films, posting on sherdog... and i eat while doing all of those things. especially while studying - i get distracted easily by thoughts of food.

That's a sign of a deeper problem. It's not the food. The food is just a means of expression, a vice. You could substitute it with any vice and you'd have the same connotation as anyone else with a vice:

"I'm not a drug addict, I only do drugs when I'm bored."

"I'm not violent, I just go out and start fights when I'm bored."

It's interchangable.

I'd get to the root of the boredom problem. Boredom is something I can't really comprehend because I was always self-entertaining as a child (only child, so it was either that or become one of those dickhead people who think they rule the World as a result of being a spoiled only child). I can always find SOMETHING to do that interests me, even if it's modding Sherdog. When I was younger though, I used to do the same thing. I spent a lot of time alone and as a result, I'd eat to pass the time. That's how I ended up 180lbs at 12 years of age. But, as much as I didn't think so then, that's just a sign of self-destruction. I couldn't stand being alone, so I'd eat, which inherently was leading to Death. That may sound grandiose, but think of how odd it sounds for someone to say "well I just CAN'T give up what it certainly going to kill me eventually."

Also, junk food is HIGHLY addictive. I made mention earlier here about how addicted to sugar the brain gets. It's crazy. The brain would rather have sugar than any other tentative fuel source and the more it gets, the more it craves. So you have to be careful with it, and what sources the sugar in your diet comes from. Simple sugars or foods containing things like high fructose corn syrup, can be like OD'ing on heroin for your brain. And fascinatingly enough it take the brain 72 hours to completely detox from sugar dependancy, the exact same amount of time it takes to detox from most highly addictive drugs. Detoxing the brain of sugar dependancy was the whole initial premise of the Atkins diet. That's why the carb-depletion is so definitive in the beginning stages.

 

[R3ZN0R]

well thanks for all the advice guys. and about all the cereal and bread n stuff i eat i know that's really bad for me (at least i don't eat cereal full of sugar! mostly just plain cheerios and this organic stuff but the odd time i'll sneek a bowl of nesquick or that cranberry almond crunch stuff). and the thing is, i'm living at my parent's house so i just eat wtv they have here (which is not the best stuff to be eating) because i can't always be bothered to go out and do groceries myself. first because i have no money and second because the house is already full up with food - i'd have to throw all their shit out and make room for veggies n stuff but they hate it when i throw stuff out. and also, we have BIG meals here. and my mum has always told me never to waste food and that has stuck with me all these years. i always always finish everything on my plate even if i'm full. and if there's some food left-over, i usually think "fuck it, let's finish it off." and about the whole sugar thing, i'm not really a big fan of sweet stuff. in fact, when i'm cooking i either completely cut out sugar from the recipe or reduce it. i have to admit i do love chocolate but i will never go and buy any on my own. i only have it on special occasions or when it's given to me. and you guys are right, what it comes down to is willpower. it's just so hard when you're bored... i need company lol.

*edit* as for the comment about med school, i'm not studying to be a doctor, i'm a medical radiation technologist... so my knowledge about dieting is not that great to be honest. that's why i'm posting here :icon_sad:

 

[Sinister]

You have to be your Company.

If you can't be your company, then it's duly unfair for you to ask anyone else to be. Thus, the company becomes your vice.

 

[R3ZN0R]

You have to be your Company.

If you can't be your company, then it's duly unfair for you to ask anyone else to be. Thus, the company becomes your vice.

i guess you're right... and u know, i think just talking about this is helping me.

 

[Sinister]

Here's a little detail a lot of people never realize when approaching therapy:

A therapist has ONE main goal. To befriend you. Nothing more. They give you an objective ear, and do their best to present solutions you haven't considered (the good ones anyway). It kind of sucks that someone is essentially paid to be your friend, but in the end that's what's going on when it works. A lot of people go into it with the attitude of "FIX ME!!! I DARE YOU!!" to their respective therapist, which means there's not even any sense in trying.

The bottom-line?

Talking things out with someone can work wonders, as long as the person isn't just kissing your ass and feeding you nonsense.

 

[R3ZN0R]

Here's a little detail a lot of people never realize when approaching therapy:

A therapist has ONE main goal. To befriend you. Nothing more. They give you an objective ear, and do their best to present solutions you haven't considered (the good ones anyway). It kind of sucks that someone is essentially paid to be your friend, but in the end that's what's going on when it works. A lot of people go into it with the attitude of "FIX ME!!! I DARE YOU!!" to their respective therapist, which means there's not even any sense in trying.

The bottom-line?

Talking things out with someone can work wonders, as long as the person isn't just kissing your ass and feeding you nonsense.

makes perfect sense to me. are u a therapist by chance? u seem like a very wise and knowledgeable person.

 

[Forsaken]

KK is all knowing.

 

[Sinister]

makes perfect sense to me. are u a therapist by chance? u seem like a very wise and knowledgeable person.

Psychology is just a hobby of mine (my understudy in school), but I can hang in discussions with psychologists or psychiatrists via speaking the lingo.

I couldn't do it for a living though, I'd end up yelling at and hitting people.

 

[bacon]

KK is all knowing.

He gets all this shit from Wikipedia..

 

[Sinister]

He gets all this shit from Wikipedia..

HA HA HA! You're thinking of Rjkd12. Physiologist my ass...

 

[bacon]

When you gonna let RJ come out and play? That gimp suit has got to be pretty "ripe" by now.

 

[Sinister]

When you gonna let RJ come out and play? That gimp suit has got to be pretty "ripe" by now.

I ain't fer sure yet...

 

[R3ZN0R]

Psychology is just a hobby of mine (my understudy in school), but I can hang in discussions with psychologists or psychiatrists via speaking the lingo.

I couldn't do it for a living though, I'd end up yelling at and hitting people.

ah i see... well for what it's worth, you're pretty cool for a mod