What do you do to distract yourself from thinking about food.

[pinkymoo]

I'm not hungry most of the time so it's not like I need it. Just once I think about it it's hard to say no. Any tips on how to avoid giving in.

I started the 12 week plan last week and lost 4lbs already. I weigh 16st 1lb and I'm obese, desperate to weigh a healthy amount. I'm 27 and have been overweight for as long I can remember (at the age of 10 I was already 10st!)

[Prin]

I sometimes have a sugar free squash,as I type this I have a hot blackcurrant with me, activities help I read make jewellery or search for weight loss success stories on line! Good luck!

[Asylum]

Exercise for me helps curb cravings. Occasional small controlled indulgence so not feel deprived and a focus on why I want to be healthier helps. I'm in exactly the same boat as you. Find it so much harder to say no when Im stressed and tired. But for me I focus on my reason and read up on positive weight control articles and accept bad days as part of the journey to success.

[L-JAY-R]

I have to keep busy otherwise I think of snacking. I will often have a rooibos tea to take away temptation and this has now come to feel like a treat. I work full time so day times are easy, made easier because there are many others trying to get fit. However, evenings at home are difficult hence finding something else to do and drinking tea. This seems to work for me but is not entirely fail safe, but what is? It's worth a try.

[victoria-plum]

Like Prin says, activities that keep your hands busy! I read a great deal but when the munchies are on me, I find something to do that means I can't possibly eat at the same time. Jewellery making's great; last night I made two cushions to get me through a Fast day. If it's not pouring, even a quick walk can distract you. Have a glass of water and wait for 10 minutes just in case it was thirst. Some people use the half-hour rule, "If I still want it in half an hour I'll have it", meaning you don't eat thoughtlessly. I have noticed that I'm getting hungrier at the moment because my house is pretty cold - draughty windows due to be replaced next month! Well done on your 4lb loss and no doubt by next week you will be below that 16 stone line! Good luck and keep posting.

[Holly1234]

Sounds like you are doing really well Pinkymoo! I found this website useful as there are some really good blogs about weight loss both the nutrition and psychological side- talkhealthpartnership.com/b...

The website are running a free online clinic for weight management starting on the 15 Jan 2014- talkhealthpartnership.com/o...

Here experts answer questions posted so may be useful to look at

Good luck with the rest of your journey. Looking forward to hearing updates!

[pinkymoo in reply to Holly1234]

Thanks for the links. I've favourited them. I shall no doubt take the opportunity to ask tge experts

[Holly1234 in reply to pinkymoo]

You're welcome. Hope you find it helpful

[pragyapratima]

Jst think about ur figure when u become slim n trim ..everyone will appreciate u n also give attention to u ...u will going to feel special n important. ..so dont u want that ?....yeah!!!! u want so fr dat stop eating food widout hunger...

[Loobyloulou]

I took up knitting. I know it's not very cool and what I produce really isn't that good, but I struggle to set or drink AND knit!

[Carolecal in reply to Loobyloulou]

Loobyloulou is right ! Take up knitting ....or crochet ( which grows fast !) and you will become so absorbed in what you are making you'll go for ages without even thinking about food..... and it's a lot cooler than you'd think

[Loobyloulou in reply to Carolecal]

Ha ha to crochet. Bought a hook and trying to teach myself..,.disaster!

[Carolecal in reply to Loobyloulou]

Bet it's keeping your fingers out of the biscuit tin though ! Seriously, it can be awkward at first ...especially if you're trying to teach yourself from a book... I found that too frustrating, but there are some really good tutorials out there and I found that an easier way....plus blogs ( Lucy's blog "Attic 24 "is brilliant , tutes and patterns are so easy to read and follow).

Anyway, knit or crochet ...it really does keep me occupied ...and out of the kitchen

How's your knee, by the way ?

[pinkymoo in reply to Carolecal]

I found youtube was quite good if I was finding a particular stitch tricky as I could find tutorials that had close ups. I found pictures hard to follow.

[mitzymoo]

Hi Angel

CONGRATULATIONS on the weight loss xx

I chew gum, it fools your mind into thinking you've eaten! But also when you have a meal try to chew each mouthful as many times as you can, you release the flavours better and you will feel fuller quicker!

Eat your food in order of importance, meat with veg and end with carbs. Protein fills you for longer as your body takes longer to process meat and veg goes without saying is your important source of vitamins and minerals. And carbs as we know are empty calories.

Try drawing round a teaplate onto a piece of card and drawing a line through the middle, then another line through the middle of 1 of the halves.

The half is for your fruit or veg,

1 of the quarters is for your meat, fish or if you don't eat meat quorn or similar products.

The other quarter for carbs, wholegrain, wholewheat, wholemeal, brown, seeded or spelt are the best as we know.

Hope some of our advice helps, but if all else fails put some music on that you love to sing and dance to and bougie round the house doing the housework or take up a challenging hobby to get engrossed in

Take care and angel blessings xx

[jeancuffe]

Drink more water for one thing. I found that if you feel like you want to eat between meals, sugar-free jelly is great! It feels like you're eating, but technically you're drinking

Often people eat because of boredom or habit.

If you find it is boredom then definitely drink instead (or have jelly perhaps?)

If you think some triggers are habits; e.g. You may do something similar to this: as soon as you get in from work, you go straight to the fridge and have a snack. Recognise the habit, and break it. I used to do that, get in form work and grab a bag of crisps. I had to move the crisps, and then make myself do something else instead. I used to get in from work and instead do the washing up! It broke the habit

[ahbuzza1]

I have the same problem in the evenings mainly when I am not so busy and wind up watching all the cookery shows on TV, if you can keep busy that's great...if not then sadly there's no easy way to say no it's just a case of doing it....I have a snack cupboard, I put one of the worse pictures of me I could find on the cupboard door...suffice to say the snacks cupboard has been empty for a fair while now. Keep eating well and eventually you wont even enjoy the bad foods as much.

[martha12]

Hi pinkymoo re giving in to cravings, I find that the busier I am the less I think about food. Have you tried having a glass of water or other low cal drink ,perhaps having a low cal snack might help eg; choc drink or two squares of choc curly wurly bars are quite low in cals and if frozen will last ages. If you give in dont worry just get back to your eating plan, try to count in some choccy or couple of biscuits into your plan. good luck

[mr1pac]

if you thiniking of food do some like go for a walk eat fruit like an apple or banana then will boast you up

[jackieruss]

At the moment I'm really struggling. Just signed up tonight, looking for the answers myself!

[Booster8joanna]

Hi there,I tend to take the dog out if I'm mooching round the housefor food,good for both of us,I have also taken a picture of the dress I want to wear in may to a wedding and use it as my screensaver on my mobile so that Ive always got a constant reminder why I'm doing this,every positive day you have will make life easier I'm sure,good luck!

[motivated]

I usually go for a nice walk, but with the recent disaster weather I also do things around the house, for example - cleaning, sorting out documents, taking care of my clothes. I also like to read a good book or watch a film... also when you are tempted to eat especially something sweet go and brush your teeth... for me it works every time, I just don't want it anymore oh I also don't keep anything snack like at home, apart from berries or healthy food just in case I give in to temptation! good luck

[pinkymoo]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I realised before I started my diet last week that although I don't really drink fizzy pop or lots of caffeine (not much of a tea or coffee drinker) that I was drinking a ton of squash (I switched to drinking that as I used to drink serious amounts of cola.... like 4-6 litres of the stuff a week).

So last week I cut down my squash drinks to 1 a day for first few days then none for the rest of the week. By Friday I was really crabby I think I was coming down off a sugar high lol! I'm quite pleased now though as I don't seem to feel the desire to drink it and I'm not guzzling the water like I was the squash.

I'm trying to keep busy and have succeeded in doing that until after dinner but then my husband and I spend most of the evening vegging in front of the tv. I do actually knit and crochet already and I'm about to start knitting a pair of socks so hopefully that should keep me busy!

It doesn't help that I know there is an entire shelf in my cupboard dedicated to chocolate I recieved for christmas. If I know it's there then I want it. If I don't have it then I'm too lazy to go get it lol! Also whilst my husband is very supportive he can sometimes tempt me into things I don't need. I went for years not eating crisps but when I moved in with him he was buying and eating them so I started again. He also eats chocolate in the evenings 5 evenings out of 7. It's not so much of a problem for him as he has a very fast metabolism. I on the other hand only have to look at a chocolate bar and I gain pounds.

I'm also still quite competitive with food as when I was growing up if you didn't eat it then someone else would and you wouldn't get another chance to - we weren't hard up, just greedy. My dad was the worst culprit but he's getting himself fit and has lost a lot of weight last year. He's my inspiration to loose my lard. In a way living with my husband now is helping as he is not at all competitive about food. For example, my sister got married in October and she had a pic a mix table which had kinder eggs on them. We both had one, I insisted we get one quick before they were all gone. I ate mine the next day. He's still got his! I've really cut down on my snacking when I started living with him as I know I can leave things in the cupboard and they won't be gone before I've had some.

I'm going to try and get out and do some walking but it's hard with the weather at the mo. I spent an hour on my wii fit earlier as I thought it was better than nothing. I was supposed to swim this week but couldn't due to women's troubles (tmi soz!)