What do you do to keep yourself on track with not over eating? My problem is just eating too much. I dont' necessairly binge on things. However, I find when I'm bored, I eat. I watch tv and snack...even drink coffee as I'm surfing the web!

Today is day 3 of cutting my portions in half and it's weird. Every time I eat something and it's so much smaller; it's like I have to remind myself..."You will be eating again in another 3 hours"

I'm kind of putting myself on the same eating schedule as my 11 month old.

I always have a hard time eating out or going to peoples houses. it's like I have to eat a lot to feel like I had a good time. Especially if it's a GOOD meal! I didn't cook it either so that's a plus.

Is there anything you do to distract yourself from eating when you aren't really that hungry? Right now, I'm avoidin gmy kitchen!

I would say that if you need the "oral stimulation" go for coffee (no sugar!), tea, water, sugar free gum or hard candy. I find myself drinking water all the time - just sips here and there. I have about 6 half empty water bottles on my night stand now!

Sometimes I brush my teeth to keep myself from snacking.

I brush my teeth.

Read.

Make tea and sip it slowly (I mean hot tea obviously).

I've just started attempting to do my nails.

Exercise.

I also will make a plan like a feeding schedule, i.e., this is what's going to be for breakfast, this is what's going to be for lunch, and this is what's going to be for dinner. Period. If you snack in between, add those too. But don't go over it. It's just not something you negotiate. It's what's there period. It's not necessarily easy and for me the first 3 days sucks and then the 2nd week sucks, but after that my mind is free for other activities (although I've spent alot on books lately LOL--I wish our library loaned ebooks).

All good suggestions here. You will eventually get used to your new habits, too, and it won't seem so strange then!

I replaced mindless eating in front of the tv with stretching, doing my nails, massaging in lotion, that sort of thing. So now I feel like tv time is more productive!

I chew a ton of gum. Drink tea. Read. Knit. Clean.

And the biggest help? Getting in the habit of assessing if I am actually hungry. If hunger isn't the problem, eating isn't the solution. I wish it were easy, but it is a hard habit worth practicing. Fortunately the more you identify hunger cues the better you get at recognizing them. And the more you exercise your 'no' muscle regarding non-hunger eating, the easier and more automatic it generally becomes.

WOW! These are all great ideas! Tonight I had to eat late...but I had fish and a few potatoes with greenbeans and about 1/2 cup of mac and cheese. I definitely cheated on the mac and cheese...but it was ooohhhh so good!

I think my daughter provides a good distraction between naptimes, but on the downtime when she's sleeping for a couple of hours all i want to do is sit. ....thus...."hm, what's in the kitchen?"

Maybe I'll gegt some new magazines or something this week.

Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas!