Hey everyone..
Well i am having a bit of trouble today and almost every other day lol.
Today is especially bad because I have just come home for a summer break and up until now, since i really started my weight loss this time, I have had something to do, but today I have nothing to do!!

I have found that now (and pretty much as far back as i can remember lol) all i think about is FOOD!

I wake up and think about food, my day is pretty much marked out according to meals..only few more hours then it is time for lunch...few more hours time for dinner..then bed, then I wake up to think of exactly the same thing lol. It is driving me mad! I think about what I am going to eat, I feel bad about what I already have eaten and I regret eating at all lol then I just sit and think about what I will be eating for dinner.

I think of activities as just a way to pass the time until..food o'clock. I have drastically decreased what I have been eating lately (not unhealthily but I was eating ridiculous amounts before, now I am eating much more healthy, realistic amounts) and I am no longer as hungry as I was, in fact, most of the time I am not hungry at all, but yet I still think about food,

I know this is a long and rambling post that probably makes no sense, but i needed to get it out (plus writing it has passed some time...soon be dinner lol). I know I am joking about it, but I really am in some need of help!! Food is controlling my life basically, well thinking about food and i know that it is not a healthy attidtude towards food. I tend to eat when i am feeling any sort of emotion or just boredom lol. I have managed to sort that out (mostly lol) and don't do this so much, but anytime I do eat anything remotely unhealthy or what i feel to be not allowed I nearly give up!

Again, I am sorry for this long post, and i appreciate it if you read it. Any help would be great, but i just needed to get it out lol. I feel like unless i sort this out, i will never be completely successful with my weight loss, food should just be fuel for my body, for me it is my life and my body has to suffer for it lol

Thank you xxxxx

First, congratulations on your 9 pounds lost! That is wonderful.
I unfortunately don't have a good answer, but I wanted to say that I do the same thing. Every time I start a diet, all I think about it food and how fast I can lose weight. Do you have any hobbies that you haven't done lately? Now might be a good time to restart one, or find a new one. Do you like to read? Sometimes that helps me. Good luck!

Hey Volleyballsis,
thank you it feels good to have lost some even if i still have a long way to go.. hmm maybe tomorrow I will head to the library. I used to read a lot but I haven't read for pleasure in years really. That's a good plan lol I hadn't thought about that!
I am hoping that as i settle into my 'lifestyle change' (though that is difficult now i am home, much less control) it will become something that i think about less and less. For now, i think i will look into some hobbies lol maybe i will find something i love
thank you
xx

I would also like to say congrats on the -9! I also have had a lot of issues with centering my day on food...I feel that a lot of people have the same issue. Like volleyballsis said, the best bet is to do something to take your mind off of it.

Are you coming home from school? I'm in college so I can definitely relate! Its so tough to go from being on a budget, not being able to afford snacks (in which case I STILL managed to gain 20 lbs last year!) to home where food is EVERYWHERE!

Whenever I'm tempted, I try to remember how far I've come and how great I'll feel if I don't give in to cravings. The best thing to do is keep that in your mind, and do your best to walk away.

It sounds like you're doing fantastic so far, keep your head up!

When I'm busy having fun or working on a project, food takes the backseat to whatever other activity I'm engaged in. Do you have any time-consuming hobbies or chores that you can fill your spare/hungry time with?

Of course work gets in the way, M-F 9-5 with almost nothing to do all day every day is hard...

lol I managed to gain about 3 stone in the last year on a really tight budget.. strange how i always had money for take-out but not for books and supplies..ooppss! But still when i started this weight loss this time, i was able to control what i ate as i was the one buying and cooking, now it's taken over by my parents!

Thank you to everyone for the advice

You know...I was exactly the same and still am at certain times of the month! All my life food has been an obssession, I would think about it all the time, revolve my days around eating, my social life...everything! I had the little food devils on either side of my shoulders...one saying..."go on, go and get that ice cream from the freezer" and the other one saying " NO you dont need it...you are NOT hungry"!!
It has always been a mental battle, I eat for every emotion I have, nothing puts me off food..not even illness.
And then I look at my mother......
My mum is 54 and up until 2 years ago had been 16.5 stone ( 5ft 1"), she had been that weight for 20 years or so, she has developed problems with her spine due to the excessive weight she has carried around all those years and now needs surgery to put a metal rod into her back to straighten her spine and seperate compressed discs! She only decided at aged 52 that she needed to do something about her weight, she has lost over 7 stones and is now about 8stone 5lbs but if you were to ask her if she was happier now...she would tell you no! The reason...??
She has been left with the body of a 90 year old ( her words not mine)..she has loads of excess skin on her legs, stomach arms and breasts...in fact her breasts are probably the worst affected She knows that if she had tackled HER obssession with food a lot sooner then she wouldn't be in the position she is now ( considering major surgery to have it all removed).
She has made me look at food In a whole differant light, we need it to survive and be nourished, nothing more!, it is a fuel that our body requires to keep functioning. I now look at food and think..."yeah that looks nice" but I dont need it, am I really hungry?? If I am do, I really have to eat that..is there something else I could have instead. It's not just a total lifestyle change, its mentally challenging as well.
I just know I dont want to leave it any longer to deal with my issues with food and end up where my mother is 20 years from now...the burgers and pizza's are just not worth it!!
Keep going, keep challenging yourself and I'm sure you will be successful in your journey

Thank you so much niknaknat. You have really given me something to think about. I know it will take a while to get to that frame of mind, but I know that now is the best time for me to make this change. I am sorry for your mums problem, though she has done so well to lose that weight, if only she had done it earlier.
Again, thank you for your advice. I feel like I can soon start to look at food in a different way than what I am used to. xxx