I guess sometimes I go on autopilot or something. I'll be eating something that isn't the best of choices, and suddenly realize "oh ya, I'm trying to lose weight. I shouldn't be eating this. Duh!"

Am I the only one who does this? I know I eat out of habit and I need to get my b*tt in gear, big time!

Oh, and I eat for stress release, mostly. I have more bad, stress filled days than not. (hubby had to move 450 miles away for his job. I feel like I am a single parent, and I work as well. I wish I had more down time, but I don't. Sucks)

Heidi
my current stats 180/185/145. Forget the other ones.

What prevents me from this kind of autopilot eating is planning. Planning, planning, planning.

I plan out the night before what I'll eat the following day - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks, and Dessert. It's all written out and counted. Then I just follow the plan. When I'm stressed, it's mindless. When I'm feeling like I need a snack, I have one standing by. Whatever I need to make the meal is in my fridge, defrosted, whatever.

I even plan myself an "extra" treat snack - let's say I am super hungry that day, or feel like I need a little something more than my planned snacks. I even have that planned! So even if I go a bit over, it's still "on plan".

If I don't plan, I eat more because I "autopilot" myself right into a cupcake, then feel bad about it. Planning takes all of that pressure off, so I can just go about my day and NOT think about what I'm going to eat and when.

I also believe planning is the trick for me.I am good at following direction!LOL!

Yes, planning and keeping all those things that I know are not good for me out of the house.

I try not to think of the way I eat as being "on a diet". It's a lot easier now than it was in the beginning, though! Back then there was the occasion where I bought some Skinny Cow sandwiches and ate one. It was so yummy, the thought entered my mind to have another one but I said, "No, one is enough. I'm full." A minute or so later, I found myself walking from the kitchen with another one in my hand, a bit already taken! I had made the conscious decision to NOT have another one, yet I went in the kitchen as if on auto-pilot and got another one out and took a bite before I was really AWARE.

It was really weird, and it made me wonder how much of my eating was done that way. Just kind of a habitual thing that I wasn't even really thinking about.

Planning of course is part of the key

The other thing you need to do is set up an eating plan that you can eat the rest of your life AFTER you reach your goal. Otherwise, it'll be harder to keep any weight off permanetly

Eat whatever you want in smaller portions... even if it's an occasional slice of pizza You can also make pizza or mexican or whatever at home for a healthier version of what you're craving

~ tea

If I don't plan ahead, I will sabotage my efforts. I have too, especially if I am going to be away from home for an extended time.

pretty much right now its a habbit to eat healthy and choose carefully... its like all the candy and soda and bread and cookies and bakory stuff is so gross to me... i dont know why. I guess i just set my mind on this habbit of eating right - i want this to be my life style and not a diet. I want to teach my kids this too.

Not since the day I started. I'm hyper aware of everything I eat. Not that doesn't keep me from occasionally eating offplan, but I always know that I'm trying to be mindful of what I eat. Always.

No, I never forget BUT, last time I lost weight, because it was mostly portion control and exercise, it very soon became auto pilot, second nature, 'normal' - with the result that once I'd got to a really good weight, if not goal, I totally lost focus, created a new normal, and regained 85% of what I'd lost.
I think, for me anyway, creating a diet/plan/programme that is kind of hard work will remind me when I get to goal that it'll continue taking hard work to maintain.

Another planner ahead-er here. Would be no where without it. Eating healthy doesn't happen by chance. It has to be set out for and planned and mapped out in advance in order for it to occur. It is time very, very well spent.

Once I made the decision to lose the weight, I became super, duper aware of my food choices and everything and anything that goes into my mouth. In fact a popular line here comes to mind, which you may find useful, especially in the beginning. It can help you to break your "automatic pilot" random and not so healthy food choices - "You bite it, you write it". NO MATTER WHAT. GREAT for accountability and keeping track.

Another "trick" is a mantra that I used in the very beginning, I still rely on it every now and then - "I just don't do that anymore" "I just don't eat like that anymore". It really helps to put the brakes on mindless and unhelpful eating.

You've got to set yourself up for success. You've got to do whatever it takes to get yourself to transition into and become the person you want to be. The planning, the food journaling, the mantra's - are good ways to do so.

Planning ahead is one of things that I am doing different this time around. On the weekends I am thinking about what I am going to eat for the week and plan accordingly. Now, when the first week I started I went to McDonalds and got a McFlurry and said, "What the h*ll am I doing? I can't eat this crap!" I got rid of it immediately. I was thinking I was on a "diet" but I'm not. I am changing the way I see food and my relationship with it. So, now I don't "forget" that I am eating differently, since its been almost three weeks, I am definitely in habit forming mode.

No, because my weight loss is the #1 most important thing in my life and I think about it all day long, every day, and plan/act accordingly.

I don't really ever forget. I'm a calorie counter, so I have to consider whether or not I have the calories to "spend" on whatever it is I want to eat. If I can't afford it, then I don't eat it.

Until Saturday, anyway. That's my "treat day" where I allow myself to have whatever I want, all day. So if it's something I REALLY want bad I tell myself to wait until Saturday to have it.

This works pretty good for me, although many people don't like the idea of giving themselves a whole day to go off-plan.

I don't ever forget enough to put the food I don't want to eat in my mouth. The way I eat now just seems normal so I do forget that a good majority of people (at least around here) do not eat like I do. It'll be a year for me doing my new lifestyle in May & I think I'll be always thinking about what I put in my mouth