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So to start off, I was paleo-ish (I still ate beans, rice and potatoes) for two years back in college and loved it. I felt great, had tons of energy, lifted a lot of weights, enjoyed sprinting, rowed on a crew team, and was in amazing physical condition. I was around 190 pounds and had pretty low body fat. I'm 25 now and I want to get back to there but food has taken over my life.
After college, I took a job that required a lot of travel. I'd be posted up in hotels for months at a time and a lot of them did not have kitchens. I had a gas grill and I used it sometimes but overall it was way too much work. If I wasn't on the first floor of the hotel, I'd have to get in the elevator and lug all of my cooking supplies out to the parking lot every day, and on top of that, the cleanup was very difficult. I had one fridge that kept freezing my veggies no matter what setting I put it on. Needless to say, paleo didn't last long. I fell off the wagon and I fell hard. My favorite foods are pizza, mac&cheese and ice cream. I love eating dairy and wheat. I've had times where I have gone out at 8pm on a Saturday night just to grab some ice cream and a block of cheese...even when I have a full selection of healthy food in my fridge. I feel like I'm an addict. I pretty much am. I've been telling myself that I'm going to stop tomorrow for about the past year but I just keep tumbling down the hill. I haven't been working out because I feel like crap. I'm now approaching 230lbs so I'm 40 pounds overweight!
It's really sad because I know exactly what I need to do and I just can't for some reason.
I thought about getting in contact with a cognitive behavioral therapist but I'm a little apprehensive about it. I think they'd discourage me from going on any elimination diets which I believe is exactly what I need.
I've tried moderation plenty of times. I'll tough it out for 4 or 5 days and try to introduce cheese slowly back into my diet and it just all falls apart. Once I take one bite, I'm hooked and I want more, after that I start eating pizza, ice cream, mac & cheese, fast food ect and I'm back right where I started.
I'm going to take the "addiction" perspective here. It sounds like you are addicted to your not so great choices. According to some, the definition of addiction is "doing the same thing over and over again against your own better judgment."
You say you know what you need to do and can't. My mother always said, "can't means 'care not.'" You are making a choice to overindulge. The choice to not do it is NOT an easy one, don't get me wrong. But it is all a choice.
You are overweight because you are eating more than your body needs. You must find a delicate balance, and do include cheese, unless you absolutely have decided that you can't handle it at all, because you then overeat it. Many of us are addicted to sugar and can't imagine life without it. But if we try and focus on what we truly want, we can figure out a way.
Back to your words: "I take one bite, and I'm hooked and want more." Key word there is WANT. Just yesterday, I had some chocolate dipped in peanut butter. I wanted MORE. But I also WANT to lose weight. So I made the CHOICE to not eat any more. Much of this weight loss thing is in your mind. Anyone who wants to lose must decide what they want and realize you can't have it all.
'Eating disorder' is getting tossed around way too much to describe overeating. Anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders. Over eating crap food is not.
The greatest misconception of all is that people think somehow dieting, or eating less and more healthy foods is somehow going to be easy. Its NOT!
It takes a huge commitment. The willingness to sacrifice, make changes, stick to it, and not make excuses.
But it can be done and for the people who make the commitment it pays of in a healthier, better looking body, that will add years to your life and raise your self esteem. So the real decision people need to make is are they ready to do what it takes? Or are they going to keep making excuses?
'Eating disorder' is getting tossed around way too much to describe overeating. Anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders. Over eating crap food is not.
The greatest misconception of all is that people think somehow dieting, or eating less and more healthy foods is somehow going to be easy. Its NOT!
It takes a huge commitment. The willingness to sacrifice, make changes, stick to it, and not make excuses.
But it can be done and for the people who make the commitment it pays of in a healthier, better looking body, that will add years to your life and raise your self esteem. So the real decision people need to make is are they ready to do what it takes? Or are they going to keep making excuses?
It follows a similar kind of compulsive, addictive behavior that's beyond someone just being stupid about nutrition and lazy about following through.
I do believe binge eating is a disorder as well. But I would be willing to bet 90% of people who claim they have an eating disorder do not in fact have a disorder. Its just another excuse.
We have become a nation of excuse makers. If the diagnosis is plausible then it must be it!
Doesn't sound like an eating disorder to me, more like a lack of willpower. What you mentioned is the typical battle between the head and gut that most people struggle with. If controlling those urges were easy - obesity wouldn't be a problem. The truth of the matter is you have to want it, more than you want that extra bite, slice, cookie, glass of wine - 80% of the time.
OP, all these feel good sayings don't do much for helping you with action.
You literally take this one meal at a time.
When you deny yourself of something, (this is a general "you"), that seems to be the only thing that you want. If you have something that especially triggers that, don't say that you can't have it, just say you won't have it right now.
Some out there will tell you to eat only to fuel, but I disagree with that. If food were just for fuel, we wouldn't have all of these restaurants and family gatherings all situated around food. Eating is a social activity, and the sooner that we acknowledge that, the sooner we can get on with how to engage in that social activity while still eating better food. For some people, that social activity can be fulfilled just by watching people eat on a television show...that's how deep that runs. Heck, the Koreans are buzzing about videos watching other people eat. Yes, really. That's all the person does - they eat a meal on video, and people flock to it. It's crazy, but it really is that much of a social activity. A lot of people want to deny it, but it's reality.
You said yourself, it's a lifestyle. It's easy to sit here and say, "Well then do it because you want this more than that", but when you're the one sitting there with a cheese pizza staring you in the face, that line of reasoning goes right out the window. So, again, you have to take this one meal at a time.
I would tell myself, "I'm not saying I can never have Chinese food again, I'm simply saying I will not have it tonight", back when I did the low carb thing some years ago. "I'm not saying I can't have a bowl of ice cream ever again, I'm saying I will not have one right now." "I'm not saying that pizza is forever off of my list, I'm saying I will not eat pizza today."
The stuff that is put in to food is addicting. Several studies have been done that prove that the stuff that is put in to food is addicting. If you try to conquer this all at once, despite what some claim on here, you do have a chance at failure. While Just A Guy said "diet", he wasn't wrong when he said that too many people have an "all or nothing" mindset. If you feel that you are getting addicted, or now are addicted to certain foods, you probably are, and you take it one step at a time.
I long ago changed my words from, "I can't have this" to "I won't have this", always telling myself that I never said I could not have it ever again, I'm just choosing not to have it right this second.
I long ago changed my words from, "I can't have this" to "I won't have this", always telling myself that I never said I could not have it ever again, I'm just choosing not to have it right this second.
I stumbled across a Billy Idol interview on youtube a couple weeks back. He was talking about his drug problems and when asked if he was sober he said something along the lines of "no" and then followed it up with "I can, I can do whatever I want, but I just don't. If I tell myself that I'm never doing something ever again, I'm going to immediately go and do that thing."
It's a great way to take on bad habits and addictions.
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