I think some people are just genetically hardwired to eat more of high energy foods (the kind the body wants to store as food) as a survival mechanism that is sadly outdated in our culture.

I'm one of those people. When I eat something sweet (like candy) or carby (especially packaged baked goods like Oreos), I immediately want to eat another one. Even now, 4 years into my lifestyle change, it happens. Last night I was at the grocery store and the store had small bits of frosted sugar cookies as samples. I knew better, but I said "I'll just have one" and grabbed a tiny square of pink frosting deliciousness and kept walking. The ENTIRE time I was in the grocery store, I wanted more cookies. My body kept up an endless litany of one more, go get one more, how about one more on your way out?

I have ALWAYS been this way. If I eat an Oreo, while I have the first bite in my mouth, I want to stuff in more Oreo. It is a very weird feeling.

From a caveman survival perspective, it makes perfect sense. If you find a rotten log full of honey - you should eat as much as you possibly can. If your men bring home a mammoth, you can't just nibble a rib and say "oh my much too full to possibly eat anything else."

Now that I understand this about myself, I control it (heh most of the time) it does not control me. I control it by avoiding the foods that trigger me - that means I can never be an "intuitive eater" (sadly, I would love it!). Of course, I don't live my life without any candy, cookies or cake - but they are in careful situations, no tubs of ice cream at home, no big bags of cookies. I don't trust myself in any scenario where I have unlimited access to a trigger food. One scoop of Whole Foods gelato - okay. Splitting a dessert in a restaurant - okay. A single serving square of nice dark chocolate - okay. A bag of Hershey's Kisses? Uh no - and I understand that I can't trust myself with that for the rest of my life.

So, back to Missakay :) I hear you, I understand. I used to feel like I was completely at the mercy of my body's urge to eat. Looking at my body as a friend trying to HELP ME (eat eat eat, what if all the food goes away tomorrow?) rather than an enemy really helped me. My body just wants me to survive and up until 100 years ago (and even STILL sadly, in many parts of the world) people didn't get enough to eat all of the time. My body hasn't caught up to the year 2008 and big stocked grocery stores.

What really worked for me was eliminating (as much as possible) the foods that made me binge. I cut back on soda, fast food, white flour products, chips, pretzels, crackers, cookies, baked goods and packaged baked goods. I don't really miss those foods anymore, because I feel GOOD NOW. When I stopped eating all that sugar, other foods started to taste really good. Ripe blackberries, baked sweet potatoes, pineapple, whole grain toast with natural peanut butter - my NEW favorites that replaced muffins, scones, M&Ms and nachos. I still eat bread, but I try to only eat whole grain bread. I have become an EXPERT label reader! I also love other healthy complex carbohydrates like sweet potatoes, beans, quinoa and whole grain products like tortillas, pasta and pitas. I do carefully measure those servings though!

Another thing I think really helped me was eating a lot of super nutritious whole foods. I used to stand in front of the open frig a lot or randomly search through cabinets looking for something something something (I wasn't sure what), I stopped doing that. I think my old processed, junky diet just didn't give me the nutrition I needed and my body restlessly looked for it. Now, I eat healthy foods and I don't binge or pilfer the cabinets anymore.

I get hungry a lot too - I love food and I love eating. I plan to eat every 2-3 hours. I also really like the food I do eat. If there's a food I don't like (like cottage cheese) I just don't eat it.

Good luck, I know what it feels like to want to lose weight and feel out of control. It was amazing to me, how simply changing what I eat eliminated the out of control impulses and gave me the confidence that I could change.

Dont take diet pills. My pastor's wife told me about an easier and cheaper solution. If you by pure apple cider vinegar and drink it with 8 oz of liquid 3 times a day before your main meals it really helps. Its sound disgusting but I mix it with Diet Lipton White Tea and you cant even taste it. You just taste the tea. It really helps. You still get kinda hungry but its right before meal time and its completely manageable. You have to get unfiltered. I get BRAGGS. You can even by it online. You have to mix it with 8 oz though to dilute it or you are gonna be looking at tummy problems.

It is a wierd feeling isn't it? I had never recognized it before but the other day I got a little lax on my habit of reading the label of any "ready made" foods before I put it in my mouth and thought I would have a couple of reduced fat, 100% whole wheat Wheat Thins - sounds safe enough right?. I was only going to have a couple but before I knew it I had shoved in a whole handful and, even though I wasn't actually hungry, I had to fight with myself for a several hours to keep from going back for the whole box. I thought this was odd since I haven't had that problem with Trisquits - I can eat 2 and feel perfectly satisfied - so (as soon as I felt in control enough to pick up the box :D ) I read the label and discovered they contain high fructose corn syrup. I have avoided that particular ingredient from the very beginning of my journey and have been constantly surprised at how "bingeless" I've been able to be. So, to make a long story longer :o , I think it's important to learn not just the types of foods that are triggers but exactly what it is that's in those foods that sends us off on a feeding frenzy once we put that first bite in our body. For some people it might be processed sugar - maybe a cookie sweetened with honey is "put-downable" after a few bites, or maybe chips made with corn oil might send someone off the deep end while some chips made with canola oil make them happy after just a few. I really think just being able to feel like we are eating "like a normal person" makes it soooo much easier to stay OP (and avoid that self loathing and "oh forget the whole thing" attitude we all run into when we go overboard) so if we can find "normal" stuff that doesn't contain our trigger ingredient(s) we can increase our chances of long term (forever) success.

So, hang in there Misskay :hug: ! Even though you are angry and frustrated right now, don't give up! Make sure you praise yourself for successes - no matter how small they might seem (come here to brag too ;) ) I'm kind of a broken record on this point but one of the hardest things about getting healthier and losing weight is learning patience - You might have to try a few different things before you find what's going to work for you but, I think everyone here will agree, it is SOOOOOO worth the effort :)

Oh yeah, Wheat Thins are a huge trigger. Also, Ritz Crackers. I had a Ritz Cracker episode last Wednesday. When I identify trigger foods, it's honestly easier not to eat the first one than to fight not to eat the second one.

I'm yet another person for whom a whole category of foods must not pass my lips lest I lose control. Sugar is the culprit for me. When I'm off sugar, I feel great, and eating healthy and losing weight is EASY. When I'm on sugar, I eat 99% crap, and feel crappy, and gain gain gain.

Knowing that, it's not really a hard choice to not eat sugar. Some people can control themselves and take small portions of sugary foods and be satisfied, but I cannot and will not ever be able to. Oh well--I'd much rather be healthy than eat sugar.

Yumm... Wheat thins. & Ritz Crackers.

Yup, I'm best off not even starting with that stuff. Meg had a great line, which is sooo true -

"One cookie is too many and a dozen are not enough"

As far as so many of us feeling that need to just shovel food in our mouths, I think that's probably what sets us apart from the folks who have never been overweight. I've always felt that I just plain old wanted more then other people did. Which is why I have to count/track my calories. Listening to my body - nu-uh. Doesn't work for me.

I know many people that can stop easily at, if not one cookie, then 2 or 3, or maybe even 4. But not a whole row of oreos or whatever the item may be. They would never dream of eating that many. Like I said, they just don't want as much as I did.

Oh, I DEFINITELY understand. I always find myself wanting to eat everything until it's gone, unless it's something I don't particularily care for. I even do this with "healthy" foods. For instance, I had to stop buying Kashi GoLean crunch because I could never put the box down. I almost did this with Fiber One bars until... well... uhm, they have a lot of fiber, so I'm sure you can figure it out :o It was once a good idea for me to eat some natural peanut butter with whole wheat toast, but it stopped being so when I started eating it right out of the jar. Precooked chicken strips are even a trigger food, so I buy them raw and cook just enough for me to have a meal and freeze the rest.

I agree that some of us just want more food than other people. I personally just LOVE food and want to eat all the time. Part of it is genuine hunger (seriously, I DO feel that I am hungry more often than a lot of people) but the other part is just that I never, ever get tired of food. If I ate until I truly felt full, I'd be clutching my stomach in misery for hours later.

Don't cry out in frustration... if someone as awfully prone to binge eating as myself can still lose weight and keep it off, so can you :D And feel free to come here and brag about all the amazing weight loss accomplishments you'll make :) :hug: Hang in there.

Oh yeah, I can easily do it with healthy foods too - nuts and trail mix are my healthy food triggers. I am usually okay with healthy foods, if I portion it in advance.

I ate an entire box of Kashi Go Lean Crunch in a day, I still remember it as Crunchgate 05. I was sick as a DOG that night. Don't try this at home, kids!

:lol: Glory, that sounds like something I would do! (eat a whole box of Go Lean Crunch in a day)

Nuts and trail mix are healthy food triggers for me, too; if I am going to eat either, they are going to be in well-portioned zipper bags or individually wrapped. Purchasing an entire bag of trail mix will just make me eat all 6-9 servings in one sitting :o

I wish I could eat a cookie or two and completely stop, but I can't. I will eat them and eat them, and even though I'm doing so much damage to my body, I still can't stop. I love how everyone here on 3FC understands... I've tried explaining this to naturally thin people (most of my friends are naturally thin and eat whatever they want) and they just say things like, "But why can't you stop? It's not that hard to not eat an entire box of Oreos" or worse: "So what if you eat the whole thing... I've done that before... WHO CARES! Eating all of _____insert yummy trigger food here_____ isn't going to KILL you or anything! LIVE A LITTLE!"

Another one who has certain foods I need to be careful around -- mostly sweets. One bite of sweet and I'm like Glory -- the food literally YELLS at me to have MORE. It really is easier not to have any. I've learned that I tend to cave under stress.

But anyhoo, missakay, as you can see you are not alone. Many of us have (mostly) successfully found tricks to deal with these "addictions" most of the time. But you really have to be willing to try. And then try again if you fail. And again. Learning from those mistakes helps too!

Glory87's before and after pics are really amazing! What an incredible story - thanks for sharing them - they are really inspirational; you look so much healthier and happier now - congratulations and thanks for encouraging everyone else trying to get to a healthier weight.

Actually everyone's before and after pics are riveting - so many people feel that they can't make the changes necessary and give up/give in. You all prove that it can be done!
My brother is considering bariatric surgery because he thinks he can't lose any other way and you're here to say it's possible.
Thank you

Kashi Go Lean Crunch is off limits in my house. I was eating regular Kashi Go Lean for a long while and then found myself dipping back into the box once too often. So now, it's off limits too. The only cereal I can safely eat is Fiber One.

But funny enough, I have lots of other cereal in the house. For my kids. But you see the difference is, I don't even START eating those. They're off limits to me. They're not intended for ME. I TOTALLY and COMPLETELY stay away from those.

Gosh, I have issues. Oh well. :dizzy:

Looks like you're not alone. Maybe we can make a club. Oh wait, this IS the club! :lol3:

Tis' a good thing too.

The more I think about it (and I should probably stop), just how insane is it that I can totally stay away from cereals that I know are not "earmarked" for me, ones that I really, really love - like LIFE & Honey Nut Cheerios & Frosted Flakes & & Raisin Bran Crunch & whatever other yummy cereal is on sale, yet I can easily overeat the ones that are "earmarked" for me?

Issues. Yup, I've got em'.

And Heather, don't think I've forgotten your "Ode to Cereal" or something like that, post . So, I know you CAN relate. Welcome to the club. ;) & :hug: