So yesterday, I created a new rule for myself: No eating after dinner. If anything, I can have 1 cup of frozen grapes and that's it (I eat my dinner kind of early). It was great yesterday in that it took the desire to binge out. All I had to worry about was just to make sure I don't eat and follow that one simple rule which made me feel so much more in control for some odd reason. It absolutely makes no sense now that I'm typing it, but it helped me get through the evening without a binge and I'm hoping I can repeat this again tonight. I'm the kind of person that's usually fine all day and then I feel the urge to binge almost every night...the urge varies in intensity depending on the day and what's going on.

Do you have any rules that help you not overdo it?

i like this rule that you made for yourself... the problem for me is that i usually eat the most at night... i dont eat a lot during the day because im not hungry... i used to skip breakfast and lunch all the time... now i eat a little better but i think if i tried this even eating dinner around 6 id still be hungry around 9 or 10.... and seeing as i have a 5 month old son who still wakes during the night... that usually makes me realize im hungry again.

But im gonna try this tomorrow.... no more eating after dinner (if i need something i will make it some grapes as you said or maybe some celery i love celery) and im going to throw in this for myself.... only water to drink after dinner as well.

Thanks and good luck with your goals!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup. No more visits to the vending machine between lunch and dinner. It's like when my dollar bill gets sucked into the machine my fingers just magically choose something sweet as opposed to the sugar free gum I intended on getting in the first place to ward off the cravings. So my rule is to buy a piece of fruit while I am getting my lunch so I have it ready and waiting for me come 3:30.

And it's 3:30'ish now and I'm reading these forums to keep me grounded! I forgot to buy my fruit today.

ShanIAm, hang in there!

I try not to have more than one rule going at any given time, simply because I eventually break it out of defiance. Right now, my only rule is that I log every bite into my nutritional program, whether on my plan or not. Since my program tracks other things besides food, I make myself get on that scale daily and I take a walk. These three simple thing keep me in balance with myself, helping me see consequences of my choices. I find it is more important to be consistent on a daily basis than it is to follow rules that end up gettin tossed aside the moment I want something that isn't on my plan.

I always bring fruit as my mid-morning snack and baby carrots and/or grape tomatoes w/hummus as my mid-afternoon snack. Without them, I'd probably run to the vending machine too!

I have specific eating times - no eating before that time or it messes up my whole day.

No sugar in the day time- no candy, pastries. It triggers me to eat all day. I can eat a little in the evening and it will signal me to stop eating for the day for some odd reason.

If I eat a high fiber breakfast I'm good for the day. If I skip breakfast or try to do something less healthy I'm eating non stop the rest of the day.

I have a rule about no eating after 6pm. This sometimes moves to 8pm as we lived pretty far away from our place of work in past years and the commute back was a long one, but now it is back to being 6pm.

I also tend to implement a rule about hunger.. am I hungry enough to eat an apple (insert any fruit/vegetable here)? No? Then I don't need to eat. I like the taste of apples so if I can't visualize myself eating an apple and being content with that, I am quite obviously not hungry and just craving whatever crap I "want" (whatever junk I think would satisfy me) rather than what I need.

Eat the vegetables first. If I eat the veggies after I've had my main course I don't want to eat them. but if I eat them first I actually like the taste and enjoy them. Weird, isn't it?

I am making only eating out 1 to 2 times a week a rule and I think I am going to make eat veggies first a rule too

Rules: 1. Keep calories between 1200-1500
2. Account for all foods in the log
3. I can eat anything I want
4. Portion control
5. If I am hungry, I go for water first, then fruit snack
6. It is ok to say no to foods, it is ok for your stomach to rumble
7. Ask myself, are those high calories worth it?
8. Get away from foods you cannot control yourself with

Ok...that's enough...I probably have more.