ok... here's something that is bugging me right now.
So, my problem with weight and food comes with i don't stop... i'm like addicting to eating and feeling full...
let's say i was addicting to something else, drinking gambling whatever... i would just avoid gambling and not do it again
what makes it so hard with food is that we have to eat! we have to eat but not eat too much
i feel like i'm constantly walking that line and more often then i like i crossover and find myself eating and not being able to stop... like logically i know i'm not hungry anymore and the food doesn't even taste that good... and sometimes i just stop and do something else distract whatever...

ok i just wanted to get that off my chest, i think i just need to hear someone else say, i totally understand how you feel... cause you just feel so alone with your thoughts sometimes, you know?
anyway please respond you have any helpful/unusual/random tips or motivation for me!!! i would appreciate it so much

CHRISTINE!

I totally understand how you feel!

Really.
My only solution has been to take the emotion out of it entirely when I started this journey, and when I find the going getting tough. I've been maintaining for over 5 years, so it's working for me. Food is fuel, food is fuel, food is fuel...food is not love, anger, your best friend, or a source of entertainment.

Plan your meals, count calories, don't bring trigger food into your house if you have problems with certain foods. Don't go shopping hungry, bored or angry. Find other ways to interrupt your eating- put your food on your plate, then put the rest away. I used to munch on my way home from the grocery store- if I'm feeling vulnerable, I get someone to go with me or send my dh with a list.

Hang in there!

Mel

I completely understand how you feel. I find myself painting my nails all the time to avoid snacking...it works, since I'm not willing to mess up my nail polish just to eat something

I completely understand.. I dont know how to get around it.. its **** for me.. pure T, ****. Right now.. I want to eat.. Im not hungry, and there isnt one specific thing I want, but I want to eat.. its killing me really. I want to eat but Im scared of calories. If I were hungry I would definitely eat.

put your purse in your trunk when you drive so you cant go through a pick up window

I'm also a food "addict," and while I can't avoid food entirely, I'm finding it necessary to avoid certain foods entirely (or nearly so). Mostly by trial and error, I've learned what I can eat and what I need to avoid, and for me, it's pretty close to WW Core, South Beach, whole foods and similar lower carb or "good carb" plans.

It's still a struggle and my progress has been extremely slow, but I figure as long as I don't give up, I'll eventually get there.

lol at the last comment... Im trying to quit smoking, so I did that with my purse... pssshhhhaaaa I pulled over.. and got my purse out and smoked Thats the only time I smoke. In my car.

Luckily for me drive thru's dont tempt me.. honestly I would rather starve lol

I totally and completely understand you - 150%. I have said this to myself soooo many times. Why, oh why couldn't I be "addicted" to something else. It would be sooo much easier. Then I wouldn't have to deal with it all the freakin' time.

For me I had to set limits by counting calories. And then of course you must make the conscious "decision" to go no further then your allotment. I also plan my day out and eat every 2 1/2 hours or so. Just knowing that I will be getting to eat something yummy in a couple of hours helps me to put the brakes on. And of course you must look at it as to what you will be GAINING by losing the high volume of food. A happier, fitter, more productive life. It's hard - but sooo very worth it. Food is so incredibly temporary, you can have a fit and healthier life forever and ever. Hang in there. It does get easier as you go on.

I talk about this very subject with my husband all the time. Well maybe not all the time, but often. Anyway...

I've learned that for me there are some foods I abuse and just can't have around. Those foods I have put on a list. (I add things to the list when I find a new food I can't control.) These foods are treated like a drug because really they are a substance I abuse. I've never been able to eat less than a whole box of ice cream sandwiches. So these foods never make it in my house. Even my husband knows what they are and knows never to bring those foods around me.

But that only works for certain trigger foods. I'm still learning how to control portions. So I can't help you with that part.

You do have to eat but you also can choose what you eat, what you are exposed to and what you bring in your own home. If I wanted a brownie, I'd have to drive to the store, pick them up, purchase them, drive home and then eat them. I think partially it is a lot easier when you keep good foods and snacks in stock and leave the not so good foods away.

I understand you!

I DO find that sometimes I hardly even think of food and other times it's the only thing on my mind! Sometimes when I'm not hungry at all or maybe have just eaten, I am STILL thinking about food.

Lately I have tried to keep busy with other things besides food. I quit watching the Food Channel, too!

I hear you. Food is the one addiction that's visible to everyone around us. You can be an alcoholic, drug abuser, gambler, or smoker etc and hide it from the world. Not so food addiction. As someone once said, we wear our shame.

I know exactly how you feel! Food addiction is so incredibly hard to deal with. I've had to learn what works for me through trial and error. What works for me is accepting me for me. I've learned that I have to quit focusing on my flaws all the time and just start living as me and not the me I want to be/or look like. Calorie counting does not work for me because it makes me feel like I'm obsessed...constantly waiting for the next meal and calculating how many calories, and of course, constantly thinking any minute I'm going to "blow it." So for me what works is eating what I want in very little portions. I have really bad portion control, but if I crave a piece of chocolate then I eat one or two small pieces and put it away and do something. Laundry, paint my nails, wash the car, get out of the house. I try to focus on what I want to do during the day or with my day, not what do I want to eat today. I'm tired of it...constatly thinking of what should I eat next, it disgusts me. I also remind myself that feeling satisfied is a great feeling, feeling full is an uncomfortable/miserable feeling.

I definitely agree. When I lost weight a few years ago, I also quit smoking the same day I started my "new way of eating". It was MUCH easier to quit smoking than it was to lose weight because I could simply not do it anymore. But to lose weight you have to eat the right amount of the right things, etc.