[Berg]

I have this same problem, and I am feeling pretty discouraged about it lately. I do so well during the day, but then eat so much at night. And I don't sleep very well, so then sometimes I eat in the middle of the night.

[Andy142]

I recommitted to drinking water.

[garry]

I often break the rules，so it may be longer for me to become a habit.Congrats on giving up smoking! It's a good start

[CarlaVeg]

Originally Posted by snowwhite17

I have recently been reading Never Binge Again and I've found it helpful to gain control. The writing and concepts aren't for everyone, it's a bit.....abrasive? But, it has been working for me.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MENTIONING THIS! I am reading the book and this is what I needed!!!

[miniDoodles]

Hi
I began losing weight by setting out bowls of Healthy 'sliced foods' to snack/graze on day & night: apples, carrots, broccoli, berries, etc. Protein to toss in, setting on top of a green salad I make the evening before; I have absolutely No excuses to eat Stupid snacks anymore, I have a plate conveniently in 2 rooms. My energy & muscles have improved to.

I printed out a calorie/fat chart saying what exercise activity & how long it would take a active person to do to burn up the food. I'm +50 yrs & I don't exercise daily, I'm happy to get 3 miles daily on my Fitbit & lift handweights & on the weekends to use my kayak & go stand-up paddle boarding.

I substitute healthy ingredients & use a recipe for pre-packaged boxed store foods & use half the salt, etc. I cook & bake very similar just Healthier.
​​​​​​
W.Watchers has a very good points system, I bought their shopping food points guide book with a eating-out point guide included when I attended a free meeting to see their plan. I don't have the time or $ to weekly weigh-in, so I didn't join. But the points book is a good guide when buying food ingredients & packaged foods & eating out.

I hope that something I do is helpful to someone here. I'm happier with my body & my life since I began these food changes

[LadyBinger]

I'm the same way...one of my pitfalls is that I love to bake. I'll bake cookies twice a week and eat 2 cookies worth of dough then eat seven cookies in one day...I'm a cookie monster. The solution, don't bake tasty treats. Easier said than done. I stopped buying flour. As tough as it is you have to remove the foods you binge on from your home. That works until you have a "healthy binge" where you binge on food that is good for you (I've done that too...three kiwis and an avocado later...lol) I used to (last time maybe two weeks ago) get a full lunch on my lunch break, then immediately go get another entire lunch and then eat cookies or ice cream for dessert. Still working through that..for me I resorted to meticulously planning what I will eat for every meal weeks in advance.

[asuzy]

Actually I am turning to you guys as my help to stop the craziness that has restarted in my life. For more than 15 years I did not do any binge eating. I followed a good diet for me and had wonderful diabetic control for Type 2. But when I became more lax a couple years ago binges re-entered my life and now I have to address them as if I had never had them under control. I am turning to your forums to help break a bad cycle and recognize I am not along. Along with binges I need to get back to good activities I used to do. I hope that by reading an answering you guys instead of beginning a binge it will help me break the habit and time will tell. meanwhile I have to start one potential binge at a time. Much luck to you as you take your steps as well

[asuzy]

Actually I do not have set rules except NO BINGES and really mostly to do that means not starting on anything crazy most especially if I am doing it alone. All the best

[asuzy]

I cannot start any sort of baking or bring any sort of packaged cookies or baked goods home without eating all of it. My rule when I first stared getting control was NOT to bring those temptations home and that even included things like special cheeses, potatoes or anything. I was strict for quite a while and eventually lost 50 lbs and settled into a chance to have what I wanted when socializing. This worked well for years but it looks like once the actual binging starts again for me I have to start from scratch again until I see control. at least for me baking or bringing in quantities of baked goods or snacks will trigger this eating again so for now I just will write to you guys. All the best

[ButterCup85]

For me. I change nothing at first. I start working out. Within a couple weeks I WANT to be better as the scale doesn't budge much. This time around I picked what I CAN and WANT to do. I read up on portion sizes and mindful eating. It works like a charm and I CHOOSE to eat healthy low carb foods during the week and on the weekend I give myself a break still minding portion control. I wish someone had told me how simple life can be. It does take a week or so to get used to eating smaller meals than you're used to but I'd have a salad with every meal as big as I want. Now, I can say 2 pieces of pizza and 3 wings fill me up. Used to it was 4 or 5 pieces with 8-10 wings. I read something a while ago it basically says once you start exercising you feel like an athlete and want to eat like one too. Those words have changed my life.

[asuzy]

Hey years ago I used to start painting a picture and get some paint on my hands. It was crazy but something other than food on my hands actually helped and I turned out to be a good painter. Hard to eat with blue fingers. I guess I am like a little kid if I manage to actually get distracted for a while before making the decition to eat it will very often be a way of avoiding that potential problem. But for me I finally had to have a situation serious enough for me to actually DO any of this that helped me get better. I recently had a fall into old habits and getting on this site and saying hello is helping me. So I wish you all the best. Sie

[gzgrl22]

I have a couple of tricks. First, when starting out I never change everything at once. Too overwhelming. So I start with what is easiest at the time. maybe food. maybe "Not eating after 6 PM" doesnt matter---just pick one. Then after 2 weeks of solidfying the first behavior I add another piece to the puzzle. Food, water consumption, no snacking in evening, weight training, cardio -- within 2 months I am firing on all cylinders and it is not too much to process.

Second trick bag for not snacking at night--- do your nails. sew, quilt, get your hands dirty somehow. ALso dont watch TV. Find something that gets you away from the chair and the kitchen. I also had a rule about what I could choose for snacks--- 1) I made myself drink 16 oz water before snacking. It fills you up and if you are snacking for reasons other than hunger you will be surprised at how often the thought of an extra glass of water will help you decide you don't really need the snack. EVen if you drink the water and eat the snack, the water may help you eat less. Win Win. FInally The only snacks I would allow myself were a scrambled egg (I eat Atkins) or a small salad. If I wasn't hungry enough to eat either of those then I wasn't really hungry.