Constant munching!

[muffintop67]

How do you stop yourself from eating just for something to do? I feel I want to eat all the time. Dont even recognise if I feel hungry or not. Managed to put on half a stone over last few weeks so on top of the stone I already wanted to loose that makes me mad and fatter! Any tips gratefully received. Many thanks.

[TheHud]

Sugar free tasty chewing gum and sugar free jellies

[muffintop67 in reply to TheHud]

Chewing gum is a good idea. Thanks.

[sueper]

Hi,

I had this problem (and still do to an extent), you really have to train yourself out of it. Choose calorie light snacks like sugar free jelly and drink lots of water. Set yourself a time that you have to wait for your next snack etc. It may also be worth eating your dinner a little later if that helps.

As I still eat a lot more in the evenings than during the day I try to make sure I keep my calorie intake to a minimum in the daytime so I have more calories in the evening.

Try to learn about yourself and why you do what you do and when you are at your worst and start working on changing it and breaking the bad habits. It took me about 3 months to significantly reduce my compulsive snacking.

Good luck

[muffintop67 in reply to sueper]

Thanks for reply. I try not to eat dinner too late as I will snack too much before dinner. I dont seem so bad after I had my evening meal. Maybe I will try to see if there is any pattern to my snacking and just try to be strong and retrain my habits. Thanks for suggestions.

[sueper in reply to muffintop67]

Hi, can you go for a walk before or after your evening meal?

Just give yourself some time and you will crack it I'm sure

[muffintop67 in reply to sueper]

I think a walk would be good. Usually being taxi service for the kids. But maybe with the lighter nights now i could fit one in. Thanks.

[sueper in reply to muffintop67]

Hi, 20 minutes will make a huge difference and I can highly recommend it - and it helps keep you away from the snacks. I found that psychologically I didn't want to stuff so much junk and ruined the good work I'd done by having a walk.

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to sueper]

I agree with sueper, even 5 minute dance/stretch/exercise is often enough to distract me, lifts my spirits and motivates me enough to stop snacking 😊 Good luck

[Hidden]

Keep a food diary so you at least account for what you're eating.

Try to eat something healthy before you get too hungry, rather than waiting and then feeling overwhelmed with cravings.

Plan what you will eat/not eat - say it aloud to someone and try to be accountable.

Find activities you enjoy that keep your hands busy - it's hard to compulsively snack while sewing/painting fingernails/ etc.

I also sometimes go out for a walk with just my keys and no money, by the time I come home the craving is gone, or at least it's delayed.

Good luck. As Sueper says - allow some time to overcome habits like this. Slowly but surely

[muffintop67 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for reply. I like the idea of painting my nails. Would stop me eating for a while!

[Hidden in reply to muffintop67]

I do foot baths too - hard to quickly skip off to the fridge for something while getting a peppermint treatment for your toes!

[Gonti 10 kg in reply to Hidden]

That is a brilliant idea...

[Annde70]

I agree with much of what has already been said. I have always suffered from boredom eating. Basically I just enjoy eating and at times I could eat non stop simply because I just want to eat, nothing whatsoever to do with feeling hungry.

I have, over time, trained myself to not to pick (though I still have the odd day when I go for it). I try to stick to just eating at meal times now, maybe occasionally allowing myself a piece of fruit if I genuinely feel hungry because I know once I start I can't stop.

It really is a habit, like smoking or drinking, and needs to be broken. Keep a diary. Not only of your food but of your feelings. I find doing something that concentrates my mind and keeps my hands busy, puzzles, crosswords etc takes my mind off of food

Good luck, it's not easy but can be done, and don't beat yourself up if you have the odd bad day just be proud when your good days outweigh the bad ones

[muffintop67 in reply to Annde70]

I enjoy eating too. I tell myself that the yummy feeling only last a few moments but one biscuit is never enough. I think you are right I have got myself into a habit of eating and always grabbing a biscuit every time I walk through the kitchen. Thanks for advice.

[Hidden]

Do something that will take your mind off it. Go for a walk, it's amazing what you will see. Stay out of the kitchen. Reorganise your kitchen so that the snacks are all put away. Throw out the naughty snacks and replace with fruit. Stick your progress chart on the fridge door. Remember to have a good breakfast and don't skip meals.

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Hidden]

Good point about eating enough to avoid getting too hungry 😊 If I get too hungry my will power goes out of the window!!! 😊

[Carol08]

HI ,you aren't the only one,the best thing is to find something interesting to do and forget the food..for example last time I had succesfully lost weight ,I had a chess in my computer and was passionate to play so I forgot the food.

On the other had ,put a timetable for your meals and try to be accurate .

Good luck, keep calm and carry on..finally you can manage it.

Never give up

[Baumeister]

I have been juicing for four weeks. I alternate between fruit juiced one day and vegetables juiced the next. ( all with spinach or kale base) Make sufficient to last all day. Snack on it or daily allowance of 12 almonds veggie crudités.

I make the juice in the morning and have it for breakfast. Lunch is low cal soup or raw salad and protein or carb and veggi/salad evening meal three courses - low cal soup followed by raw salad and protein or carb and veggies/salad followed by low cal jelly or fruit and yoghurt. All the chopping keeps me busy. I don't eat carbs and protein together but have a portion of each every day. Best discovery - cauliflower rice!! Have strayed a bit but ... especially when eating out but made sensible choices and not beaten myself up. For the first time in years - it's working.

[muffintop67 in reply to Baumeister]

I think that might help if I had something ready made that I could snack on that would last all day. Will look into juicing. Thanks for info. Glad its working for you.

[Baumeister in reply to muffintop67]

Well so far so good I have tried every diet known to man. I call this the juice and soup diet. I have noticed that my general health is better. All the chopping certainly keeps me busy. I like ginger and find that is good in the fruit juices. ( they are more like smoothies) good luck

[Hidden]

I crochet it keeps my mind and my hands busy without being too busy. Is there some small activity you could do to distract yourself?

[muffintop67 in reply to Hidden]

Not sure as I usually am snacking while doing chores anyway. My kitchen is a walkthrough room downstairs so unfortunately I pass it many times to the washing machine and back and seem to reach for something to eat every time I go through. I think I have just lost my will power and need to take control back. Thanks for tip anyway.

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Hidden]

Haha, I sew/embroider, impossible to eat whilst stitching 😊

[Flossie1920]

Exactly the same as me....so we both need some help P L. E. A. S. E .... Thanks xx

[muffintop67 in reply to Flossie1920]

I seem to have lost all will power. Have lost weight before but was younger and less stressed then. Need to find some healthy, low fat, low carb, low sugar snack - but don't think one exists or if it does it probably will not be tasty. If you find anything let me know!

[lindag49doverrd in reply to muffintop67]

I don't have any willpowder either so i don't buy junk food when i shop , if it isn't in the house you can't eat it lol that's my motto. In my opinion Diets dont work, you stick it for a while then get bored or something comes up like xmas and you gain what you lost back plus some. I think the best way to lose weight is to try and eat sensibly. If you pig out one day dont beat yourself up about it, eat abit less the next day and some excercise. try to stick to some rules like eat a little less at mealtimes don't snack in between . Expect it to be slow but sure , slow tends to stay off anyway. let's face it there are millions of us in the same boat, it isn't easy.So plod on just do your best, and you fall pick yourself up again and say well today is a new day, you never give up. I just baught an excercise bike and a virtual dvd , excercising is alott less boring now. Good luck to all with whatever you are aiming for .x

[Adheela]

I wonder if u need to eat more for mealtimes as u mentioned ur ok after dinner muffintop. I find that when I'm full it's easier to say no rather than well I'm feeling peckish. What are u eating for lunch - maybe add a couple of veg to ur plate. Also maybe have a filling snack sort of late afternoon to keep u full for dinner. Maybe have one boiled egg. Or Greek yoghurt w fruit? I had the problem but found that by adding veg it keeps me going from 1-6. (My snack would b just eating kids leftovers from dinner, cos I just can't throw away food!) and then 8 dinner. V naughty now as I can't give up my biscuits I have 2 custard creams at night with milk. (And during afternoon with my tea 😬)

Hope that helps

[muffintop67 in reply to Adheela]

Yes I hate throwing away food too. My main problem is that I am not even hungry when I am eating. Biscuits is my thing too! Maybe I could make vegetable shaped biscuits and con myself! Thanks for reply.

[muffintop67]

Thanks for info. I will look into that.

[Adheela]

Wat about being hard on urself and throwing away temptation (or my not buying them next time). When these custard creams finish im going to buy ginger nut biscuits and then downgrade even more to rich tea biscuits!

[Annde70]

You should not cook with Olive oil far better use Rapeseed.

You should aim to eat Protein with each meal as protein is what keeps you feeling full

[Annde70]

Going to be contentious now. Juicing is not the way to go. Juice gives you all the sugar but none of the essential fibre from fruits. Encourages your sugar levels to spike and allows you to consume huge numbers of calories in a very short time.

Soups are great as you maintain all the fibre from the vegetables, essential for a healthy bowel and prevention of bowel cancer

[Venusflytrap]

Dear Muffin,

What a fascinating thread and what great replies, so thank you for posting. I am with most of what was said. The thing with biscuits is not to have them at all. I stumbled on a solution just before Christmas. It was the crisps that were calling. And the minute I tell myself I can't have something, a big light goes on in my head and the neon flashes "EAT CRISPS". So I told myself I could have crisps any time I wanted, but I had to make them myself with veg and a teaspoon of oil! Guess who hasn't had any crisps for 3 months? Lazy littler me. So stop buying biscuits for yourself. And stop buying them for family and friends. You are only getting them because you want them, not because they want them. If they want them, offer to have a cookery session with them and help them bake them. Or send or take them out with money to the nearest shop or garage. You're not stopping them from eating them, just not stocking them any more. My lot didn't really notice. Let them eat dry cereal!

The next thing is we all get hungry times. The recent cold spell meant I was looking to munch all the time too. Obviously in that unheated cave, our ancestors needed more food to keep warm. We don't but we still have bodies that think they do. So like Adheela big up the veg. Maximum filling power for minimum kcals. I always have at least one veg soup on the hob and another in the fridge or freezer. Add it to lunch, dinner and snacks if you need it. A fresh fruit salad pud or snack is another winner. A chopped apple, segmented orange and chopped banana make a really big bowlful. Eating your fruit is way more filling than making it into a smoothie. If you top it with just 50g of no fat plain yogurt or quark, it will have extra filling power. If you are still munchy then it's on with the raw veg sticks. Carrots, cucumber, celery and peppers, mange tout, sugarsnap peas, baby corn are all great. I like swede too, but that is a minority raw veg. Make yourself a very low kcal dip for these, if you don't love them naked.

If you are a rebel, like me, saying no to yourself often has the opposite effect to that intended. So I try to make everything positive. Not eating less, but changing what I eat. I'm having an extra veg on my plate sounds and looks much better than I am having less of lean protein (100g), 150-200g of potato and the recipe will be as low fat as I can make it. I also find that chopping can be the key. If I have little potatoes it just looks like more! I am so easy to fool! But now I regard it as a useful trait rather than a fault.

Hoping some of this rings a bell for you. Pick yourself up and get back to eating healthy. We're rooting for you.

Venus

[muffintop67 in reply to Venusflytrap]

Thanks so much for all your comments venusflytrap. I feel determined to start and stay on track this time. Watch this space!

[Adheela in reply to Venusflytrap]

Really good tips there, I never thought of taking the time to actually cut up fruit and having a fruit salad. That would be quite tasty. I'm not brave enough as u to not buy biscuits but I promise I'm downgrading lol!

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Venusflytrap]

Absolutely love this post, agree totally with the "nothing is banned" philosophy, I immediately want whatever I am told I can't have!!!! It's small changes for a long term permanent solution 😊

[Venusflytrap]

I will look out for the next episode in the Muffin Loses Weight story.

[muffintop67 in reply to Venusflytrap]

Hope I can report that I have managed to loose a few pounds over the next week. Just planning my meals and snacks. Going to have big bowl of chopped raw veg so right by the biscuit box so hope that will remind me to eat them and not the bisciuts.

[bigfattoe]

I find nuts are good drop your sugar levels...im doing well was a big eater now im not..trust me id munch all day every day now im so good at it lost four pounds this week biggest ive lost simce 8 weeks since xmas ive lost astone and half...that is ten bags of sugar off me..and beleive you me i used to eat a box of cakes aday and snack on chocolate crisp chips you name it i ate it..NUTS I EAT AND A GOOD GENEROUS HELPING TOO WITH RAISONS INXXX TRY IT GOOD LUCK

[Venusflytrap in reply to bigfattoe]

Hi Toe,

Really can't call you big or fat! What amazing results at the scales since Christmas. I am gaining and losing the same couple of lbs even though I am being perfectly good. I do find those last couple of lbs to goal are the hardest of all. So I'm a little bit jealous of someone who gets to eat nuts with raisins and still loses. It must be all that marathon training(!)

Venus

[muffintop67 in reply to bigfattoe]

Well done for the weight loss. When you think of it in terms of bags of sugar that is quite an achievement. Do you need to watch how many nuts you eat as I guess they are high in fat? Once I open a packet I can't stop. Especially honey roasted cashew nuts!!!

[Bongo4]

I plan what to eat before the weekly shop. I only buy the things on the list, so no butter or bread or etc in the house.

I have a very large bowl of porridge or similar first thing and a big main meal at midday, then having had all the necessary nourishment there is a light snack before 6pm eg humous with salad.

Usually if I'm hungry between meals it is really thirst, so I have a drink of coffee or tea, and a piece of fruit if that isn't enough. I don't get hungry if I've already had all I need of the right nutrients.

I don't miss crisps or biscuits now I haven't had them for a while, but it was an effort for a few days.

[bigfattoe]

I eat enough really but not too much..lol but i must st