I'm far too many calories over every day, lately (1000+!)! Too much working out to get rid of the calories over (2 straight hours of incline walking!) Gaining weight like a prize-winning hog!
Help! Help! I have 20lbs instead of 15lbs to go, now, thanks to gained weight, and I just...I'm just going to gain it all over again and I can't lose it again I just CAN'T go through that AGAIN.
Arggghh! I'm going insane and I'm just rambling about all desperately.
Get a grip, chick! Okay, no that we have that settled, why are you choosing to overeat? You need to find a plan, make a plan and decide to stick to it. Have you lost your mind trying to exercise away over 1000 cals a day? That will kill mere mortals, don'tcha know.
Seriously, you need to figure out how to cut back on the food and cut back on the exercise and get off the hamster wheel. Make a food plan for the week. Figure out how many calories you are gonna have and DO NOT exceed them. I have the best luck pre-planning my food and then grazing every couple of hours from that day's foods.
If there is some reason you are eating other than hunger, you need to figure out what it is and try to address it.
You can't change yesterday, but you CAN start fixing today. Right now. No excuses. Do whatever is required to stick to that plan. Any means necessary.
Come back here tomorrow and let me know how it's going. We are all here to support you in your efforts to lose weight, not to beat you up for slippin' and slidin'. You can do this.
Okay, first thing to do is take a deep breath, and realize that you are just fine. Really, you are.
So, you've been eating too many calories over what limit? There are different reasons for eating more than you've planned, and one of the reasons is that you've planned to eat too little. That can, over time, lead to an unpleasant mindset. Is your calorie limit 2000? 1800? 1600? Is it hard to stay within the limit?
Okay, first thing to do is take a deep breath, and realize that you are just fine. Really, you are.
So, you've been eating too many calories over what limit? There are different reasons for eating more than you've planned, and one of the reasons is that you've planned to eat too little. That can, over time, lead to an unpleasant mindset. Is your calorie limit 2000? 1800? 1600? Is it hard to stay within the limit?
Okay, look. The food isn't putting itself into your mouth. The time to STOP what's happening isn't after you've eaten too much--it's before.
It's as though someone were saying, "Help me! I keep hitting myself in the head! How do I stop?!"
You must not lift that food to your mouth. I don't care whether you spent an hour cooking it, that doesn't make it OK. Pretend you have no hands. Put the food down. Throw it away. Go sit somewhere with your hands folded. Read a book. Clean the floors. Go for a walk. But do not lift the food to your mouth.
You can do this. It won't feel good, but you can get through it.
Make some guidelines. No eating between the set meals and snacks you have planned. And plan what those meals and snacks will be. Don't just rely on the moment to make your choices.
Plans work better that willpower. Plan everything--the what, the when, and the how. Do not leave any choices to make in the heat of the moment, as you seem to be in a phase where you aren't good at that.
Others have asked: is this stress/emotional eating or hunger eating?
If it's hunger, you need to eat different things, and consider going up to 1600/day for a while: a controlled, healthy 200/day is much better than binging.
I'm far too many calories over every day, lately (1000+!)! Too much working out to get rid of the calories over (2 straight hours of incline walking!) Gaining weight like a prize-winning hog!
Help! Help! I have 20lbs instead of 15lbs to go, now, thanks to gained weight, and I just...I'm just going to gain it all over again and I can't lose it again I just CAN'T go through that AGAIN.
Arggghh! I'm going insane and I'm just rambling about all desperately.
I'm so full of sad and fail.
So much fail.
Help!
The surest way NOT to fail is to DETERMINE to succeed.
Have you done that? Have you determined that no matter what "you will do this'? Have you committed to making a lifestyle change? Have you decided that you're through being overweight and that are you WILLING to do what's necessary and what's required to get the job done. WANTING to lose weight is not enough. It's all about the willingness. Are you willing to pass up on the high calorie/high quantity foods in order to make weight loss a REALITY?
And I agree - it's all in the planning. Failing to plan IS planning to fail. Make yourself a sensible, healthy, tasty plan. Map out your food schedule IN ADVANCE. Know EXACTLY what you will be eating for breakfast, lunch, dinner and numerous. Have your home FULLY loaded with healthy, lower calorie delicious foods. GET RID OF THE JUNK - you can't eat it if it's not there. Take "your" foods with wherever you go. Stick to that plan like glue - like glue.
Don't give into momentary temptation. Push through the initial discomfort of implementing new and healthy habits. It's okay to tell yourself no! Remember what you want the most. The food - or the weight loss/health. Remember, you can't have it both ways - the high calories AND the weight loss.
Decide what you want the MOST and than set yourself up for success by having a plan and being prepared.
You DO have the ability to do this. This IS within your power, your hands. You don't have to be overweight if you don't want to be. You hold the key. It's all about the choices that you make. Decide to do this. Commit to do this and than get out there and MAKE it happen.
Sounds to me like you may have an issue with thinking that something is 'happening' to you. I am a binger as well, and its SO important for you to change your mindset on this.
Nothing is happening--you are causing.
Which puts you in complete control of the situation. PLAN PLAN PLAN. This is how I, personally, avoid binging. I don't ever see me being able to be an intuitive eater. My body lies... ALOT. And I can't trust it. So I see how many calories I need (around 1400 ish--although I zigzag a bit here and there) and I put those calories into the meals I have on schedule. I eat 300 for breakfast and lunch, 200 in my two snacks and whats left I eat for supper.
Theres no room for error that way. I am eating every couple of hours, so I know I am not TRULY hungry--its just my body acting out again! You can do this.
Take back control. You'll feel so much better that you did.
If you feel like 1400 calories a day is easy and really do-able, then going off plan may have something to do with the way you are going about it. Also, I think it's not a question of willpower, or being good or being bad, but I think it's important to see the direction you want to go in and know you'll get there, even if there are some setbacks.
It's okay just to do what feels easy. Is it daunting to get strictly on plan right now? Then just take a couple of baby steps in that direction. When things feel right, and you feel capable of doing them, you will absolutely succeed... but if you feel like you are forcing yourself to do something, you will want to rebel. That has been my experience with restricting my food. When I just gently remind myself that everything is going to be fine, I don't feel the need to urgently restrict or urgently overeat. It's not a race. If it takes a long time for you to lose the weight you want to lose, it's absolutely okay. There is nothing wrong with you, you aren't a bad person for going off-plan, and though it's frustrating to feel as though you have failed, you are still going. Still breathing, still moving, still heading in the right direction.
You can do whatever you put your mind to. I suggest you be gentle with yourself, because it's a long and delicate process, to lose weight while still keeping a good relationship with food and your body (or, in some cases, lose weight while trying to gain a good relationship with those things).
One thing that helped me eat less was eating slowly. Set a timer for 20ish minutes and try to drag it out until the timer rings. Savor and enjoy the food. It sounds so simple, but it really made a difference for me, personally, to stay within my calorie limit, eliminate hunger and be satisfied. I say if you haven't tried it yet it's worth a shot
I DO understand that I have problem of feeling victimized by the food. I know it's ME that's in charge of what goes in my mouth. That's what makes it so painful when I self-sabotage! I am typically NOT a binge eater by definition. I used to be a constant over-eater, but until I started this journey to lose weight, I was never frantic or desperate about food. I just liked to eat...eat a lot! Now that I have limits and rules, I sometimes go off my hinges and feel like if I can't just EAT what everyone around me is eating in the same enormous portions they eat, I'll go insane.
I'm a college student on a strict meal plan. I have no kitchen. No fridge. No microwave. It's dorm food or no food. That is much of my problem. I have access 3-times a day to what is basically an all-you-can-eat buffet of primarily junk food (pizza, fries, hamburgers, mashed potatoes, etc EVERY day!) with healthy options being few and far between. Even though it's all on my own shoulders, I feel like losing weight and making better choices is next to impossible in this environment.
I am an avid cook and I looove my fruits, veggies, and lean meats. I adore junk food, sure, but REAL food prepared by my own hands is what really does it for me. NOT having that option at this time is just ANOTHER limitation. This obstacle is even more suffocating than my daily calorie limit and even more difficult to surpass than my dislike for 60min daily workouts.
Perhaps it's all just the straw that breaks the camel's back. Whatever it is, I feel emotionally strung out and self-loathing thanks to my bad choices and the 5lbs I've recently gained.
Today I took stock and re-evaluated. I pre-planned my meals as much I could...and was thwarted at every turn, it seems. (The bananas I'd planned for breakfast were all raw and inedible; I usually do not have time to eat lunch due to class scheduling, yet magically got out early today and so of COURSE was ravenous and ate at the cafeteria at noon, which I had not planned for...etc.) I've kept a log of what I did end up eating on my Dailyplate, as per usual. I only have about 250 calories left for supper. Instead of going to the cafeteria and having to resist extreme temptation (I AM hungry!) I think I will WALK to the supermarket and buy some fruit. I cannot afford to do this often, but one day can't hurt my piggy bank too much.
My plan now?
I guess my long-term plan is to ditch the sweets once and for all. I always heard of people taking 'cheat days' and 'treating themselves' which is awesome...but I just am not strong enough for that sort of indulgence. Not yet, anyway.
I will be allowing myself 1500 calories per day (my estimated BMR amount) and NOT go over it. Then I will continue with 60 minutes of workout per day, burning at least 100 calories. It will slow as molasses, whatever loss will come from that...but I keep getting told it isn't a race.
Day by day, now. Nothing else I can do about it but try to actually make some life changes. I somehow managed to get the first 30lb off while cheating...but I guess that just won't cut it anymore.
Thank you, chicks, for everything. I'm a bit of an emotional idiot when it comes to my weight. Thank you for being understanding and encouraging as well as uncompromising and stern. Knowing we've all, at least at some time, been in a similar boat, is a great comfort.
Good Glory, I'm doing TERRIBLY and I'm panicing.
And I can't trust it. So I see how many calories I need (around 1400 ish--although I zigzag a bit here and there) and I put those calories into the meals I have on schedule. I eat 300 for breakfast and lunch, 200 in my two snacks and whats left I eat for supper.
You can do this. 
