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I know that we have the spammers on this board sharing "tips" that have been cut and pasted from various internet texts. I'm sharing some tips that have helped (and continue to help) with weight loss and management. Many of you are probably aware of these but I thought I'd share them anyway. Also, disclaimer: these may not work for everyone. I'm just going by my eating patterns.
I am prone to mindless eating and eating food that's presented even when not hungry. Every other day there seems to be a tray of food (or worse, a spread of food) from the day's meetings being left in the conference room for everyone to enjoy. This is probably my chief achille's heel because I have to enter the kitchen in order to get my lunch and get more water.
Simply walking away doesn't work for me, particularly if there's sweets involved. I'd leave but continue to obsess about the food. To counter this, I employ the "bite system". I take a spoon or a fork (using clean forks every time of course ) and literally take just a bite of the dessert, meat, rice, what have you. Just enough to get a taste, but not enough calories to be truly significant. And definitely less calories than if I ate the entire item. Yesterday, there were fajitas, some type of rice, and chocolate cake. I took one bite of the cake, one piece of the fajita beef, and one spoonful of the rice. Enough to satisfy my desire to taste the food minus the calories. I was then able to walk away with ease and return to the kitchen multiple times without taking any more food.
I find that mindless eating strikes when I am hungry and waiting for my dinner to heat up. I can easily inhale hundreds of calories while waiting for the meal. To counter this, I try to keep myself busy doing something else. Or I count about 100 calories worth of a snack and consume that. I never just open the bag and eat - it's not restricted and you can easily find yourself consuming more than you'd like. If I am in a healthy kick, I eat things like cherry tomatoes or those mini peppers.
Other have shared this as well, but it works. Instead of reaching for snacks even when you're not truly hungry, try sipping water or some other non or low calorie beverage. You get your daily water in plus you keep your mouth "busy" without eating.
For those who love sweets as I do, why not try using fruit and yogurt? A half cup of berries and a half cup of yogurt, maybe topped with some chopped nuts satisfies the "need for sweet" without being a calorie buster.
You are dealing with compulsion no different from any other compulsion
You hate the results but love the compulsion
Stop snacking
And tasting
Don’t try to control your appetite it’s controling you -not you it
High fiber diet only
Do not eat any desert ever
Think of your food only as fuel
Not an easy task for a chef
Find other interests besides oral gratification
Join over eaters anon
Signed a former fat boy
Last edited by Huckleberry3911948; 06-27-2018 at 10:55 AM..
Stronger than me..............the "just a bite" tactic just makes things worse for me.
That works for me if I am out somewhere. I attend a lot of business events that include desserts. I just take a bite of the cheesecake or whatever and don't eat the whole thing. It goes against my desire not to waste food, but it's likely going to get pitched anyway once it's out.
One day a couple of weeks ago at a luncheon, the dessert was just fresh mixed berries. That was great.
But I don't keep any desserts in the house because I fear I will eat them and not be able to stop if I am in the wrong mood.
You are dealing with compulsion no different from any other compulsion
You hate the results but love the compulsion
Stop snacking
And tasting
Don’t try to control your appetite it’s controling you -not you it
High fiber diet only
Do not eat any desert ever
Think of your food only as fuel
Not an easy task for a chef
Find other interests besides oral gratification
Join over eaters anon
Signed a former fat boy
Thanks, I'm a former fat girl.
I acknowledge my compulsions/vices but I believe in working WITH them. Food will never be "just fuel" for me. I'm being real here and honestly, I don't have the time in my life to go to meetings and stuff to try and work it out. Instead, as I said, I just try and work with my "demons". I'm not alone.
Stronger than me..............the "just a bite" tactic just makes things worse for me.
That's why I said that my techniques may not work for all people. I don't think I'm particularly strong or have incredible willpower, it's just that I've trained myself to be able to be satisfied with just a bite. It was either that or be overweight for me.
Truth is, real life presents challenges for all of us. Some people are able to just walk away. That's their strength. I'm not one of those people. Yet I wanted to become (and remain) lean. So I figured out a way to play tricks with my mind. A lot of dieting is mental.
I used to always read things that said, "Don't eat when you're angry", and I thought WHO DOES THAT?
Then I realized one day that I was doing it. When I got annoyed or angry about something, I went into the kitchen and started looking for a snack.
Now I am much more aware and consciously tell myself to DEAL with whatever is pissing me off--and not try to eat it away.
I can be an "angry eater" as well. And a "stress eater". Food - particularly sugary dessert - is right on up there with my spouse when it comes to dealing with life's stressors. Thankfully I channel my energy into doing something else - like working out. Working out shifts my focus from eating poorly to eating better. If I absolutely need to eat, I make sure that it is in a small, controlled amount and never anything over the top. And I always track, as that holds me accountable.
That works for me if I am out somewhere. I attend a lot of business events that include desserts. I just take a bite of the cheesecake or whatever and don't eat the whole thing. It goes against my desire not to waste food, but it's likely going to get pitched anyway once it's out.
One day a couple of weeks ago at a luncheon, the dessert was just fresh mixed berries. That was great.
But I don't keep any desserts in the house because I fear I will eat them and not be able to stop if I am in the wrong mood.
This.
I have found that if I eat just a bite or two of something - AFTER drinking a big glass of water - I'm good to go!
I also don't keep desserts in the house, but I do keep single bites of things around - like a bite of chocolate or something gluten free. I have found that just a taste of something is fine.
I also keep more fruit on hand because often fruit quenches my desire for something sweet, which really doesn't hit me that often but when it does - sweet is what I want.
Thanks, I'm a former fat girl.
I acknowledge my compulsions/vices but I believe in working WITH them. Food will never be "just fuel" for me. I'm being real here and honestly, I don't have the time in my life to go to meetings and stuff to try and work it out. Instead, as I said, I just try and work with my "demons". I'm not alone.
Exactly!
I lost seventy pounds on purpose and another ten since transitioning into maintenance mode last year and I eat only foods I enjoy.
Food at its most basic level is fuel, but enjoying the taste of things and feeling sated after eating them is pleasing. By denying ourselves or demonizing certain food categories we set ourselves up for future failure. Because ultimately we'll regress to the mean at some point and resume eating foods we've always liked. And when that happens, if you haven't improved your relationship with said food, bad habits reemerge.
I eat ice cream, and pizza, and cookies and.....
I just take a fixed portion, measure it so that I'm aware of the calorie impact and adjust my day accordingly. I give myself 2,000 calories per day with a ten percent margin for error and that's it. I don't worry about carbs, or sugar, or fat; I just eat and track (though mostly I do that in my head nowadays and not formally).
I recently turned my wife onto tracking calories. She typically only eats two meals a day, a sensible breakfast and dinner. But she loves, loves, loves to snack and because of my success has decided to track calories. She drinks a Mountain Dew every day and almost always has cookies or a cakey-sort of dessert (loves Rice Krispy treats). She also was pleasantly surprised to discover that chocolate chips can fit nicely into a 1,500 per day calorie budget and often snacks on those. She started this two months ago, hasn't been perfect but has remained committed, and has lost six pounds. In no way does she feel like she's on a diet (because she's not), understands that when she has a bad day (usually 1-2 of those per week), she can adjust the next day to reclaim some of the ceded gains and move on.
Don't over complicate things or rely on strange techniques or regimens to lose weight, they're almost never sustainable.
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) and literally take just a bite of the dessert, meat, rice, what have you. Just enough to get a taste, but not enough calories to be truly significant. And definitely less calories than if I ate the entire item. Yesterday, there were fajitas, some type of rice, and chocolate cake. I took one bite of the cake, one piece of the fajita beef, and one spoonful of the rice. Enough to satisfy my desire to taste the food minus the calories. I was then able to walk away with ease and return to the kitchen multiple times without taking any more food. 
