I have been following WW since January and doing well. I attend the meetings weekly which I believe is what has made the difference this time. However, this week I can't seem to get my head in the game. I have been on an eating frenzy for 3 days. I'm not particularly hungry, but I feel myself wanting and then eating junk. It's like I'm fighting with my 3 yr old child. I want it, I don't care, I have it, then I'm p-ed at myself because it didn't satisfy me and made me feel icky from the non-nutrition I'm not used to having.
Suggestions for winning the inner-child, mind game that I seem ****-bent on playing? It's weird, it's like I'm not really in control, although common sense tells me I should be, I am.
I'd love to hear the responses to this as well... That was my downfall a couple of years ago (on WW ironically).
The only thing I could relate it to was that we were going through a lot of changes in our lives (I was downsized in my job, we decided to move cross-country, etc.), and eating was the only thing I could control at the time. I didn't want to be on a "plan" anymore (which controlled me).
Looking back now, it was just an excuse, but that is what I equated it to back then.
My advice when you fall is to get up again, dust yourself off and try again.
I have major eating issues. I would follow my plan perfectly and then one day it would all fall apart. I'd binge, binge, binge. To get over it, I'd just keep trying every day. It got tiring after a few days of not being able to get back to a healthy eating pattern but I'd still wake up every morning with the intent. Eventually though, it would work. I haven't had an episode like that in quite a few months but when I do, I just know I have to at least try to get back to my desired eating plan.
The other thing you may try to figure out for yourself is whether or not there is a reason you keep falling off? Is there a trigger? Is there something you feel that is missing? Maybe try changing up your eating plan a bit to see if that kicks you out? Are you eating the same thing every day and your mind is just tired of it? Do you need to try something new?
Boy can I relate! I went through the same thing last week. I would do something that lets you see how far you've come. You've lost 32 pounds! That is AWESOME! Try on some clothes that used to be too tight and are not now. Do soemthing to reflect on your progress and how you don't want to undo all of your hard work. It is such a mental thing so take yourself out of the moment. I have to get really really ugly to my inner voice because it is very persistent!
In my personal experience, bingy, out of control, restless eating was caused by not eating enough (almost all of the time). When you are "onplan" are you getting enough calories a day? When I dieted eating 1000-1200 calories a day, I always broke down and binged. When I dieted eating 1400-1600 I had the occasional slip up, but none of the terrible out of control binging that made me feel so bad about myself.
Of course, your experience could be completely different!
I would recommend creating a really good, healthy, tasty eating plan for 1 entire week - every meal - breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. Lots of variety, healthy foods you definitely like. Find some good healthy recipes online. Make a shopping list, go get everything. If there is anything you can do proactively, do it (cut up fruit, bag up vegetables for snacks, make a big pot of soup/chili/pasta sauce). Have everything you need for healthy eating at your fingertips and NO JUNK.
Make some healthy goals that you can follow - aim for 5 servings of vegetables a day, try to get enough sleep, drink all your water, try 1 new healthy recipe.
Eat the food on your plan for an entire week. At the end of the week, reward yourself (pedicure, new sandals, movie, iTunes blitz of fun workout songs). Repeat for the next week.
I agree somewhat with not eating enough. Make sure you are getting all the nutrient and calories that your body needs.
But I also believe some of it may be mind stuff. I recently stumbled on a book by Dr Gould called Shrink Yourself. Basically he talks about the emotional state of why we can't lose weight. We have learned to hide feelings, or comfort ourselves with food. He tells you to examine the past few days, see if there was something that made you feel a strong emotion. I know this is my problem a lot of the time. Last night I was proud of myself because I wanted to grab the junk so bad. Later to realize that it was because of some of the things my hubby was doing. But I held strong. I haven't read the book yet, I want to see if I can find it locally before I order it. But just realize that not all cravings are hunger. Sometimes they can be emotional....just a thought!
That was my downfall on WW too. I kept eating near or a couple of points below the plan and then would end up pigging out and binging. Then I felt icky, so I 'comforted' myself with food. Since it had no real nutrition it didn't make my body strop craving real food, so I kept eating.
Contrary to what skinny people might say - you do have to eat if you want to lose.
Well for me I am eating enough and it IS highly nutritious foods, but nevertheless, there ARE times that though I am not HUNGRY - I am still munched so to speak and am looking for something to eat. Everytime I think I'm on a roll and have completely conquered it (the wanting to eat though not hungry) - boom it comes back to get me.
It gets me all panic-y in fact. I don't like it. But luckily it only lasts a couple of days - a couple of very HARD days that is.
I get through it somehow. I drink lots of water or this is when I'll bust out the diet soda. I chew gum. I try to exercise a bit more. Straighten up the house. ANYthing to get my mind off the food. And then there are times when I break down and - eat. But I make it very small nibbles of veggies or some dry cereal or a couple of grapes.
If you're finding yourself out of control a bit you've got to have a little mental talk with yourself. Try journaling. Try the 15 minute rule, ya know you wait 15 minutes NO MATTER WHAT before you allow yourself to eat and then really analyze why you want to eat - and why you SHOULDN'T. I also am a big, big planner. I eat every 2 1/2 hours or so. So, I tell myself that in X amount of time that I WILL get to eat again - without screwing anything up.
I try not to go off plan, but if I do, I give myself ten minutes. A friend who lost a lot of weight told me this one and it works for me. Ten minutes of eating whatever it is I think I need. Chips, crab rangoon at the Chinese place, m&m's at the ball game - whatever. Of course, you can't take ten minutes an hour or even ten minutes a day, but I probably do it about once a week. Maybe twice. And it's an amazingly freeing thing to know that if you just can't think of anything but food, you can give yourself a ten minute break from the whole world of "plan". I've never had a hard time stopping when the ten minutes are up, either.
It's really kind of funny - DH and our girls can see it coming. "Mom just ate three sunchips. Watch her. Is it going to be a ten minute break or is she done???" Sometimes three sunchips is enough. Sometimes I take a ten minute break. :-)
OMG, Traci I could never do that. But obviously it's working for you beautifully.
Just giving myself actual permission to eat mindessly for 10 mins would wreak havoc on my weightloss shorterm for one and certainly long term. My whole darn brain would always be wanting those 10 minutes. Nuh uh, not for me.
Though it's really great to see so many successful people be so successful doing so many different things. Did that make any sense? I feel like there were a lot of "S's" in that sentence.
I think it works for me because I'm stubborn. If I tell myself, "you can't eat all you want of anything, ever" I rebel against authority. If I give myself an out, the rest of my brain goes along with the plan willingly most of the time. I truly have not struggled with this weight loss. I guess I'm lucky that my mind and my body and my husband were all in the same place at the same time. And you know - I'll bet I never eat more than 500 calories in my ten minute break once a week. 500 calories really isn't much in the grand scheme of my week, so I never notice it on the scale or anything. Of course, I have no problem keeping it to once or twice a week, so that's the key.
Oh, when I read about the lack of support some people get from their husband or the nasty remarks it just kills me. My husband has lost about 90 pounds in the last nine months and he is my best support. He's also better at exercise than I am, but helps me. I'm better at eating than he is, so I help him. Makes all the difference in the world. Don't know how anyone can do it without some help.
I do eat slower than I used to. I used to put food in my mouth before I swallowed what was already in there. BAD HABIT that I had to break. And you know, once it's broke, you just don't do it anymore.
10 minute break... I would plan for that 10 minute break and have all the binge foods available...
Robin did give some good tips for those extra munchie days... I get those usually around TOM where I just want to eat, eat, eat. I try to distract myself. I eat more veggies and lean protein, I drink chicken broth, I do anything to avoid eating more than I should.
I recently went on a trip to visit my family and I went mostly off plan. I knew I was going to but I didn't know how badly I was going to go off plan I came back, the next day and went right back on my plan. I was scared that once I came back, it'd be hard to get back on plan but it wasn't.
eating frenzy
. I could do MAJOR damage in 10 minutes. Hey, I could do major damage in 5.
