Yes, mindless eating of chocolate for comfort was my main issue during shielding. I have a small chocolate bar at the weekend now. I started off not having chocolate in the house (I live alone so could eliminate temptations derailing me) - I walked to the shop to purchase a small treat. But this weekend I’m experimenting with 2 finger KitKats - I could only buy a multipack of 9, so I’ll see if I manage to resist having more than my planned one. I’m hopeful, as I feel a lot less stressed now I can see the weight coming off. Wholegrains are definitely satisfying my hunger during the day and the natural sweetness of fruit has been helping too - especially strawberries and blueberries.
Yes I've been eating fruit at the moment I have chocolate in the fridge but I'm thinking of throwing it get rid of the temptation good look on your journey
I think I mainly had only one but it covers all of those and much more - the thought ‘I’ve ruined the day, it doesn’t matter now, I’ll start eating healthy on Monday’ 😊
So true N-o-r-d-I!! Our brain does the trick!! It keeps telling us to do the things which will make us feel comfortable and does not like to put us out of our comfort zone !!
That was my biggest blockers for years but some one said think about it like cleaning your teeth. If you forget to clean your teeth before going to bed you don't think 'Oh no I've ruined it I'll start cleaning them again next Monday'. You make sure you clean them properly in the morning.
Yes that, and missing your turn when driving: you don’t say ‘oh well, I missed my turn, I will just go where this road takes me and go to my original destination on Monday’
I work with a lot of younger females who spend a fortune on snacks but are permanently short of cash . £5 spent on average per day . They are constantly handing out sweets and carry pockets full as we work .Hotter weather this week meant boxes of Magnums and Soleros which because we have a fridge freezer in staff room means a help yourself policy . It is hard because I have to buy back and it costs even if I don’t eat I feel obligated. Annoying as I should be discouraging this muck . Luckily Costa coffee is open outdoors so I hope they spend money there . The rubbish they eat worries me but keep quiet mostly.
I’ve not been in the office since March 16th last year. The office is open for people who are struggling at home but most of us have been told to carry on working at home. My teams have been a lot more productive from home.
Birthday , Easter , Valentines Day and Xmas where people are very generous and chocolate is bought and alcohol. Saying that it’s all gone . I still haven’t read all Xmas books ,not opened a pack of candles or started using 2 cosmetic gift sets so I have to admit I do eat and drink all the goodies and rather swiftly .
Oh my God, you are so true!! Those are the other culprits as well and they work like devils in the body!! Thanks for including them. My all intentions of these post was to say out loud my things which deters me from my weight -loss goal and hear from others and I am so thrilled to hear from others who are also in same boat !! thank you 💞
Hehe I relate to free food definitely! Not particularly nice biscuits at work meetings were a weird one for me - I'd think 'ooh, there are those orange and mint ones wrapped up in foil, I never get those at home and they're FREE' - and would eat them and remember that I never got them at home because I didn't particularly like them! Haven't had a work meeting at work for over a year now but I managed to kick that habit by making sure I wasn't hungry before a meeting and by promising myself that if I really wanted a foil-covered biscuit I could buy myself some. I never did.
My weight loss saboteurs aren't so much about specific foods as about my behaviour.
1. Not planning for meals away from home then ending up with something unsuitable.
2. Regressing to my guzzly childhood as soon as I enter my mother's house. Why yes, thank you, I will have chips, biscuits and cakes. (I was a skinny child.) A weekend there can derail a whole fortnight of eating sensibly at home.
3. Feeling deprived - this is the worst one. If others are enjoying a treat, I have to have something...
4. Boredom or habit eating. A great difficulty and temptation when working from home or relaxing in the evening.
5. Not having enough of the good stuff - especially water and vegetables.
I think it's good to recognise and acknowledge these sticking points, so that we can try to address them. Good luck, everybody.
Thank you bikegrrrl for your reply !! Love and hugs for you!!
You are so brave to identify and expressing the things so boldly about your behaviour !! None of us are perfect but it takes lot of courage to take accountability of our own behaviour!! At least I know I struggle a lot! I am inspired by you 💞
I found that with the 'feeling deprived' thing I can get over it if I promise myself I can have whatever it is another day, when I've planned it and/or when I'm maintaining. Part of my brain thinks I'm going to be deprived forever and panics! But I've found if I think about it carefully I can get over the feeling. Ditto with seconds. I have an almost infinite appetite and have to carefully tell myself 'you can always make this again'!
Great idea for a post Y_B. Mine are sugar, boredom, sugar, sugar and boredom!! If I can keep cakes and deserts as an occasional treat instead of a daily norm, and if I keep stimulated and interested in life, I’m usually okay. If I get bored, then strangely my body thinks some sugar would be a good and exciting idea, and a vicious circle gets going!
I also been to that phase Eleanorba !! My kids were small that time and I used to feel highly stressed at the end of day and nothing used to seem interesting !! that's the time when I developed the binge-eating-disorder without even knowing it.. Later, one thing that helped me a lot that was meditation.. since the beginning of the lock down we as a family started practising 15mins meditation in the morning .. we followed it until the school reopened!! It had huge impact on me.. I found myself feeling happy and cheerful whole day !!
I kept thinking to resume it but hard to do on school days !! I need to make up my mind and start doing it again as a family thing!
I am sure you also find out something that can help you to come out from this vicious circle 💞
Thanks dish70 for replying ! This place is absolutely brilliant to stay focus on your goal and not be derailed !The Daily diary is helping me a lot to stay in track! If you haven't join then please check this link -
Hugs to you 💖 You are always stronger than them !! When someone hurts me I just remind myself ‘it’s not how hard you can hit! It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward !!! X
All these factors play such a crucial role in weight gain !! Great to see that some of them are not a problem for you at the moment!! If you take some corrective measures on other factors you can see great results !!
Great question, really made me think. For me it’s after following slimming world plan for years then changing to more calorie controlled diet getting it into my head that a dustbin lid of pasta (as my old consultant used to say you could eat on SW) will put weight on, likewise with potatoes, rice etc. Basically you eat in those volumes you’re going to put weight on! Also visits to my sister in laws which always involve bowls of crisps being left in front of me so you just can’t help picking, I always put weight on that week.
Another issue for me is Chinese takeaways, think it’s the msg/salt that always makes me weigh heavy, I know it’s probably only temporary but plays on my mind on weigh in day so try to avoid it now and tend to choose fish and chips as a takeaway choice instead. X
Wow! You identified so properly !! When I am reading yours I can easily correlate myself with each of the points you mentioned that leads to weight gain xxx
Taking your points in no particular order: forget a daily calorie allowance. Spread the calories over a week. That way, if you eat too much one day you can cut back the next day.
As far as not drinking enough water, the point here is drinking enough. It doesn't have to be water. Anything non-alcoholic is fine - tea, coffee, it doesn't matter. Just make sure it's not heavily sweetened. To gauge whether you are drinking enough, the key is "pee pale". If you're drinking enough your wee should be pale yellow - the paler the better.
Eating late in the evening is a bad idea, for more than one reason. It's best not to eat after 8pm. Years ago there was an item about this on Trust Me, I'm a Doctor. I can't remember everything that was said, but they recommended a 16:8 split so you fitted your meals into 8 hours of the day. Some people describe this as intermittent fasting. You can get apps to help you with this.
The refined carbs, which includes sugary foods, is harder to deal with. One option is to limit the amount you have at home. After all, you can't eat cake if you don't have any. Hubby and I decided that we wanted to reduce the amount of processed carbs we eat, so we stopped buying biscuits and cakes. I allow myself some dark chocolate, but I'm careful how much I eat at a time.
I do relate to your problems. I hope some of my advice is helpful.
Thank you for your supportive reply, but as this post is 2 years old, it's possible you may not get a response from Yellow_Blue.
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