My problem with dieting has not been eating low-fat/low-cal healthy foods, but eating reasonable portions. Beleive me, everything I put into my body is healthy, the problem is I pig out way to much. Sometimes in the evening I have cold sweats, or even start feeling dizzy. I'll say "I'll just have a little snack to hold me over" but then it just doesn't do. By the end of the night, I've eaten way more than I ever intended and I feel super crappy about myself. A couple weeks ago, I lost 5 pounds. Got on the scale this morning and I'm up 3. Does anyone have any tips for an over eater like me?? It's my huge downfall to dieting.

I am exactly like you. I've been eating too much low fat/low cal food for my entire life. I still battle it. In fact, when i get cravings, it's not for chocolate or chips... it's for quantities. I crave eating.

I've got an addiction. I'll admit it. I'm addicted to eating (not food, but eating). How much easier it would be if i could just go cold turkey? Give up eating all together. I know we've all heard this analogy before, but alcoholics aren't expected to have just one sip a day. And yet i have to eat every single day. Man that is hard.

So all of that aside, now onto something that may actually be helpful. How have i learned to work around it?

NUMBER 1: CLEAN OUT YOUR KITCHEN (if you can't resist it, don't buy it!)
The most important number one piece of advice i can recommend is CLEAN OUT YOUR KITCHEN. Get rid of any kinds of food that bring on the overeating. Get rid of quantity. Buy SINGLE servings! (I'm not gonna lie, i've even had a hard time with those 100 calorie packs. Yeah, they're prepackaged but that doesn't stop me from eating all 6 packages in a sitting...how sad! ) I don't buy peanut butter any more because i can't stop myself from eating too much of it. Same goes for bread and frozen yogurt and popcorn etc. I have even been known to store those kind of things at my boyfriend's house so that i know i will only have access to them while i'm there and then i don't have to fight the urge to eat them all like i would if they were in my house. But you know what i'm saying...if you can't resist it, don't buy it!

NUMBER 2: VOLUMETRICS
Right now i'm on Jenny Craig. And one of the most interesting things Jenny has taught me has been "volumetrics". I have learned to beef up the volume of my meals by adding veggies. I have gotten this down to a science now. I never sit down to a small meal. I can double (or triple) a serving of pasta with veggies. I add veggies to EVERYTHING!

But despite these tricks that have been pretty effective for me i'm still working VERY hard at learning portion control and moderation. I am taking my time losing this weight and every week i keep at it i learn more and more. I challenge myself to control my urge to binge on fruit and low cal snacks. And i fuel my body every 3 hours to make sure i'm never too hungry that i can't control myself. But i also laugh about it (most of the time, sometimes i scream or cry, but most of the time i just laugh). I try to accept that it is one of my vices and tell myself i'm lucky that i can resist pizza and fries and dessert and just understand that quantity is my weak point. But i'm learning, and if i could get myself to do portion control for 80% of the time, i'd be proud.

For now i just joke with my boyfriend that there are to be no Wheat Thins in sight when i'm there.

I second the "bulk everything up with veggies" rule. I make a pasta in a practically fat free cream sauce, and I include 1 serving of pasta, at least 2 cups of veggies, and 3-4 oz of chicken per serving. Let me tell you, you do not feel deprived with about 3 cups of yummy, saucey pasta on your plate, but the calories are WAY lower and you get lots of healthy nutrients and fiber. Its my favorite "I feel like eating a huge portion tonight" meal. I add veggies to meatloaf, and I LOVE stirfrying - small portion of steak or shrimp, 3/4 c. of brown rice, heaping pile of all the veggies you can imagine - its another "big portion small calorie" meal for me.

I am totally the same. I stick to healthy foods but eat too much of them. I can eat a whole fresh pineapple. I know I shouldn't do this, but it's better than eating a large bag of cheetos. I try to eat the correct portions, but for me it's hard.

Plain potatoes, plain popcorn, and water all fill you up for very little (no) calories. If you have the need to chew sugar free gum is great.

Some things that can be causing this need for you are:
-not enough protien in your diet
-not drinking enough water
-stress or bordom
-not eating every 3 hours
-not eating breakfast
-letting your insulin levels spike and drop

Can you post an example of your daily menu so we can help more?

Here was my menu yesterday (I admit it's embarassing):
brkfst:
1 slim-fast bar
snack:
1 100 calorie back
lunch
1 pb sandwich w/ an apple
snack: 1 100 cal pack
dinner: 1 pb sandwich, pudding cup, bowl of cereal
Evening:
Okay, here's where things got scary
@work: 1 soda, handful of skittles at work
When I got home:
couple bowls of cookie crisp
couple bowls of raisin bran
slimfast snack bar

Yep, the evening is where I majorly screw up! This is really embarassing to admit, LOL. It wasn't stress that made me eat that much, I actually had the shakes at work along w/ cold sweats. I know the problem is most likely that I eat way to fast--to fast for my stomach to signal that it's full.


My menu today: (did much better)
brkfst: 2 slices lite wheat toast, 1 glass skim milk, 1 banana
lunch: one pb sandwich (I use a mock pb and low sugar jam), 1 apple
snack: 100 cal pack
dinner: 1 lean cuisine and 1 small serving l/f cottage cheese
snack: l/f granola bar

Put a bowl of cereal in your planned meal, like for breakfast or something of that sort. And try a cereal with lots of fiber.

I think I can do w/o cereal after last nights episode LOL. I'm gonna switched to cooked cereal so I won't go back for more... and more... and more. Probably more filling too.

One of the biggest faults I see with your diet is that you are consuming alot of processed food, which normally equals simple carbs.

Here was my menu yesterday (I admit it's embarassing):
brkfst:
1 slim-fast bar

These are not as healthy as they claim, the only reason you will lose weight eating slimfast is because it controls your calories. Looking up this product I found one of the healthier bars, it has 35gm of carbs and 27 of that are sugars (simple carbs) and only 2gm of fiber. It does have a good deal of protien to it, but with the amount of sugars in it, it will quickly spike your insulin levels before they crash (making you hungry)

snack:
1 100 calorie back

Not sure what this is 100 calories of, but I assume it is processed food probably really high in simple carbs again (another insulin spike)

lunch
1 pb sandwich w/ an apple

Not a bad lunch, could use a little more protien though (I'm assuming lite wheat bread that you have for breakfast)

snack: 1 100 cal pack

See above

dinner: 1 pb sandwich, pudding cup, bowl of cereal

Another pb sanwich? Pudding even if it is fat free is full of sugar. It is fine as a treat every so often but it is another simple carb that doesn't keep you full. What kind of cereal? Some are better than others.

Evening:
Okay, here's where things got scary
@work: 1 soda, handful of skittles at work

You already know this one.

When I got home:
couple bowls of cookie crisp
couple bowls of raisin bran
slimfast snack bar

I doubt cookie crisp has much nutritional value, raisin bran isn't so bad though. Try eating slower and letting it fill you up. We already covered the slimfast bar.


My menu today: (did much better)
brkfst: 2 slices lite wheat toast, 1 glass skim milk, 1 banana

Much better, finally some calcium (in a healthy form).

lunch: one pb sandwich (I use a mock pb and low sugar jam), 1 apple

More peanut butter...not bad though

snack: 100 cal pack

dinner: 1 lean cuisine and 1 small serving l/f cottage cheese

Pretty good, try eating the lean cuisine by itself though and using the cottage cheese for a snack later.

snack: l/f granola bar

Most of these are wolves in sheeps clothing, most people think they are healthy, but they don't have too much going for them.

I hope that you don't mind me analizing your diet like that. It seems like you are trying, but not quite sure where to start.

Some tips:
1) eat a big breakfast, preferably with protien
2) instead of eating prepared snacks try cut up veggies and nuts (not too many nuts though)
3) eat 5-10 servings of fruit and vegatables a day
4) try to vary your diet more, it will help make sure you get your vitamins and nutrients
5) get more calcium in your diet (3 servings of low fat dairy a day)
6) try eating 6 small meals instead of 3 plus snacks
7) try to get some protien at every meal (it will keep you full throughout the day)
8) drink 1 oz of water per 2# of bodyweight plus extra for exercise
9) try to get 80% of your calories in before 3 pm (it sounds like you will be hungry all night, but in reality it keeps you fuller)
10) try to eat more unprocessed food
11) try to eat a little more meat

Overeating is something I struggled with for years, all the tips I posted have helped me be able to come home at night and not feel deprived if I wasn't eating.

Okay, I know protein is important. The fact is, I really don't like meat all that much. I eat a little hear and there but the truth is I could do without. That's why I like the PB. I only use 1 Tbsp. on a sandwich (and usually the reduced-fat kind, even though I know it's about the same in calories). You think I should give the peanut butter up? I really do like it, and it is a good source of protein.

As for the cottage cheese with dinner, it was an entree so I figured if I ate something with a lot of protein to go along with it, it would help me from getting hungry later on. It seemed to work. (I counted my calories for the day, it was around 1250).

Anyways, I did pick up some high fiber and high protein foods last night: l/f cheese, beans, whole wheat crackers.

Just a few thoughts... but the certainly help me!

Cut away from the processed foods and eat whole fresh foods mostly... fruits and veggies, with smaller portions of meat, etc. Example like someone else posted above... a bit of pasta with a small portion of chicken and loaded up with veggies!

I eat a LOT and am losing weight at a good healthy pace. BUT I portion my meat servings out when I cook them into individual freezer portions... that's what I get with a meal -- it is VERY hard to gain weight when you have a small portion of meat and even a pretty good plateful of stuff like asparagus, spinach, tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, sweet red pepper strips, even carrots and sweet potatoes. I also eat lots of fresh fruit.

Processed foods just do not have the nutrients that natural foods do. The natural stuff is SO much more satisfying and just doesn't pack the pounds on you. You can eat a LOT of lettuce, etc. without gaining weight!!

Coupla things...
First, please come visit the eating disorder gang (compulsive overeaters - me - bingers, purgers, etc) here. We'd love to have you!

Second, please listen to the wise ladies above, they truly know from whence they speak. If you aren't fond of meat you might also want to hit the vegetarian threads here to get some ideas on other protein sources. Peanut butter is not bad in small doses, but you don't want it to be the main staple of your diet... too much fat and too many calories. Looking over your meals, I'd agree that you are getting way too much processed stuff and too much sugar/simple carbs. It's not true for everyone, but some people do not process carbs efficiently and it makes them hungry, hungry, hungry all of the time. The more sugar you eat the hungrier you get. That would be me! You don't have to eliminate carbs or go on a no-carb diet, you just have to make better choices.

Stick with us, okay? and keep posting, let us know how it's going!

-Lala

Thanks for the advice!

The odd thing is that about a year ago I was anorexic. Now I'm binge eating. From one extreme to another. (I've gained 30 in the past year). I'm just really messed up when it comes to eating correctly.

My boyfriend gets produce at cost from his job, so I'll definitely take advantage of that. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that with my hectic schedule it's hard to prepare healthy foods. (I have do eat dinner at work, so usually it's something frozen or canned). I'll def. try to cut down on those processed snacks and replace them with fruits/veggies.

No, you just need more variety. Dairy is a source of protien as well as nuts. You can also make complete protiens by combining vegetables (If you want I can pm you a link that helps you do this)

This is a struggle for alot of us. One of the things I do is buy my veggies (and sometimes fruit) prewashed and cut up. It may cost a little more this way but at least it is better than alot of other things we could be snacking on.


Another thing I do is keep canned fruit, applesauce cups, cup a soup, and oatmeal in my desk drawer. That way if I don't have time to bring something I still have something healthy to eat (you can include preportioned nuts too)