Deflecting a Binge
 

Lots of us have signed up for the January challenge to see how long we can go without a binge. Let's share our ideas for how to deflect a binge. I don't know about you, but when I get it in my mind that I want something to eat, NOTHING is going to stop me. So, I have incorporated three tricks:

a) I've started making hummus at home -- found a wonderful recipe. When I want something salty, I allow myself 1/4 cup of hummus and 4 pretzels.
b) When I want something sweet, I allow myself to make the banana "ice cream." That's the one where you put a frozen banana into the food processor until it is the consistency of ice cream.
c) And, when I'm eating, I force myself to turn off the TV, put away the book, and concentrate on what I'm eating. It gets pretty boring pretty quickly as opposed to my old habit of mindlessly eating an entire bag of chips while watching TV.

What tricks have you all discovered?

My tricks are:

1. Eating enough throughout the day. This helps me when I look back on what I've eaten so that I can come to awareness and say "Well, you ate all this throughout the day, you must be boredom hungry and not physically hungry."

2. Drinking lots of water and tea.

3. Brushing my teeth after my after-dinner grapefruit so that I'm not tempted to eat anything else for the night.

Good question betsy2013!

I love the idea of brushing my teeth after my evening meal! I am so lazy that I know that if I brush them then instead of bed time that I will work harder to avoid having to do it again!

When I want to binge, I eat fruit to satisfy my cravings.
I whistle for my dog and go for a walk.
I play video games
Brushing teeth is always helpful :)

I drink a diet soda or two! The carbonation fills up my tummy, and it tastes like a decadent treat. I would say this has a 90% success rate for me.

Yesterday I looked through the Mini-Goals pictures -- WOW!!!! Talk about a picture is worth a thousand words! I really wanted some crackers yesterday. Instead I came in here and looked at the pictures and dreamed of when I could post some where it's obvious that I have lost weight. Gave me that push I needed.

I try to find something to do, like a yoga class or mall/grocery store trip. Even though I am often tempted to buy bad stuff- I also am up and moving around and the exercise decreases my appetite as well as burn off a little more calories