holy crap i cant get my diet under control
 

a few days in a row im fine. getting fruits, veggies, not going more than 2300 calories a day. then out of no where i binge! eating tons of crap. my riding has picked up slightly but if i tried to eat more id be too full. i work outdoors in lite construction.

any ideas? i can list everything i eat on the days i do well if that would help. maybe i need to see a nutritional expert

I struggle with the same things. I honestly feel like I'm addicted to eating.

One thing that I'm doing right now is I write everything I eat every day, and I mean everything. Even little tiny chocolate things or whatever. Anyways, if you know you have to write it, then you will be better about it. It takes discipline to write everything, but it has been working for me. I started a blog just for that, and I post a few times a day. I gave the address to my dad because it also helps to be accountable to someone. So he checks it every day and we try to help eachother.

Also, it sounds weird, but the things that kill me are snacks. I eat normal meals usually, but then I snack a bunch. One thing that really helps me with that is brushing my teeth right after I eat breakfast and dinner (when possible) and for all meals when I can't brush my teeth, I chew gum. It really helps. I used to help with a stop smoking program, and that was one of the things that we did. We told the people to use cinnamon mouthwash and stuff. Just having the taste of food in your mouth is kind of a trigger that makes you want sweets (for me) or cigarettes or whatever, and it really helps to get a strong taste other than a food taste in your mouth.

When it comes down to it, you have to want to eat less. I think I'm just getting there now. I think, for most of my life, I've wanted to eat more than I've wanted to be healthy. I just like food. But, if you really decide that you want to be more healthy, and that you want to eat better, than maybe those little tricks can help you. Good luck.

I have discovered that if I have a lot of sugar in my system then I am too addicted to food and have too many cravings.

When I want to cut back on what I eat or start a new diet I make the first week sugarless - only sugarless. I eat all the carbs and other food that I want - but no sugar or sweets. The second week I start worrying about amounts and cutting back. This works for me.

Hmmmm.....this is a new strategy for me, and makes sense; I think I might try this....thanks! :)

Dont keep bad snacks around at home. I keep a nut/dried fruit trail mix for snacking and nothing else. This is the best way I've found to not eat Doritos by the bag.

yeah here is an idea. stop shoving food in yer head and do more work. you will adjust.

If you have bad type of snacks at home, you will probably end up eating them. If my daughters want something I shouldn't eat, I ask them to put it in their room or they are taking it with them to share at a friends house. It makes it easier for me.

The busier I am, the less I think about food.

we have a winner. i eat all day. however, i have removed all the crap from house. you know what the crap is. heck, most of the stuff people think is healthy is not. read the food lables. stick to low calorie low fat items for snacks. if High Fructose Corn Syrup is one of the first 3 ingrediants it aint no good for you.

fruit, granola bars, cliff bars, oatmeal, yogurt, and so on.

good luck.

later.

Trying to force yourself into some extremely different palate of foods is a recipe for disaster. Try to incorporate some healthier foods into your diet, yes. But don't try and go cold turkey from your old menu to the new one. Won't work, and you'll be binging by the end of the week.

I've tried "diets" and they just don't work. I like food too much. Growing up in Louisiana will do that to you. :)

My trick when I want to lose weight is to cut back about 20% at the most on my portions. At the same time, I try to ramp up my exercise routine that same amount.

This is speaking from experience. Small changes add up to a big change if you can keep at it gradually.

Slow & steady with the weight loss. I started riding again last year after 15 years off, and was about 15 lbs over my old racing weight. I've now lost about 30 lbs total and am at the weight I should have been back when I was racing ! I should have lost weight way back then - maybe I would have done better.

I'm no expert on this, but here's what I did:

1) Cut back a bit here & there on the junk food. 2 cookies instead of 3, smaller bowl of ice-cream, 1 brownie instead of 2. I don't see any reason to cut out all the fun stuff.

2) Drink more water. I started drinking water with a dash of lemon at home & work. I realized that sometimes when I was thirsty, I would eat something instead of drinking. Try various drinks to see what you like. Orange juice with seltzer, seltzer & other fruit juices. Most fruit juices are VERY sweet & sugary ... I cut them to at least 50% water if not more.

3) Get used to the feeling of hunger. Sometimes, I won't eat quite enough to satisfy my hunger pangs. Dampen them yes, but not completely fill myself up. Then, when I feel a bit hungry, recognize that the feeling is the feeling of you losing weight. Then go get a big low-cal drink instead.

4) Tighten your belt a notch .... that will discourage you from pigging out if it's tight already.

5) Don't deprive yourself too much. I try to cut back during the week, then cut myself some slack on the weekends. I think going "cold-turkey" and being too ascetic will backfire after a while. I'm close to my target now, and want to hold it for a while.

6) Lots of fresh fruit. Fill up on healthy stuff first, then when the junk food comes out, you'll already be full.

7) Ditto on not having the junk food in the house to start with.

8) Brush your teeth right after dinner - dissuades you from eating more because your teeth are nice & clean.

And there's a sticky thread right at the top of this forum about weight loss.

+1. If you tried to cut out all sweets, it would last about a week, and then you'd give up, and then you'd have the sense of failure to your sense of being overweight.

Lately, I've been getting all my value meals small size. I know I should get like a salad or something, but that just doesn't work for me.

There is actually a book on the subject.

Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/055...id=X6KTTLY5IYY


I haven't read it, but it's well known that there are strong psychological connections to eating. Changing your diet involves replacing bad habits with good ones. That takes time. It took years to develop the bad habits, so don't be in too much of a hurry and don't worry too much about relapses as long as you are making some progress..

The good news is that the relapses become less frequent over time and you lose your taste for the junk. At least I did.

What works best for me is a knowledge of nutrition. That gives me the information to select the foods that I like from those that are healthy.

For the physically active, Ryan's Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes (2nd edition) is a good place to start. Ryan has a master's degree in nutrition and writes for Velo news. You can probably get a used copy at Amazon cheap.

In your case, it's possible that you have cut your calories by too much. Ryan cautions about trying to cut to much too quickly if you are physically active. A couple of pounds a month might be best. You have a whole lifetime.

Al

There is some evidence that during fat loss, a day eating at maintenance can be beneficial for metabolism and for the mind. I keep an 85% dark chocolate bar in the fridge for cravings and also some ice cream. Some people can be super strict but I enjoy having a little treat everyday. If you can work it into your Calories, what does it matter?

Worth a try. In the first week I eat all the carbs I want, but make sure the carbs are not sweat. I have pretzles, chips etc.

I usually try to avoid diet soda on the theory that my sweat tooth will get active. I don't know if this helps or not.

Good luck. Let me know if it imporves you chances.

Yeah, I totally do this too. I don't know about you, but bingeing is really a mindset. Like people say to just have a little of something bad and then stop, but I sometimes can't do it. I eat healthy for a few days like the OP, but then all hell breaks lose and I can't stop. I tell myself I'll just have a little something and it snowballs into shoveling any sort of food into my mouth, all the while I'm eating that I'm planning the next thing I'm gonna eat. This has been going on for way to long. Think I'm gonna see an nutritionist/psychologist on it. Bingeing destroys you emotionally. I feel great when I eat healthy and only when I'm hungry. When I binge I know I'll regret it but I do it anyway.
So basically, I feel you.

Don't forget: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting the same result. Some people can go cold turkey, others have to take small steps. Just expect to be human, and that you will fail. And you might fail often until you find what works best for you, then maybe you'll only fail occasionally.

I think you mean "a different result". I don't think this necessarily applies to what you said after that, but it's a good point. Don't expect to lose weight if you keep doing the same things you've been doing.

It may seem strange, but I kinda follow other people who eat well. It somewhat the same as when you justify your eating because someone else is doing it to.

I would go and follow someone's eating habits at work ,who eats healthy or does not eat at all. In my mind I am like in a competition and if that person can do it I can do it to.

At the beginning one thing I did try was black coffee without creamer or sugar, it would be so bad and upset my stomach that the thoughts about sugar cravings would at least be minimized. It is not really a diet, its a way of eating healthy. I have not eaten a slice of pizza or drank beer for about a year now, no more mexican restaurants or meals from Burger City. My fridge has salads, water, juices etc. No more Doritos, Pringles, Kisses, and no its not the end of the world. I am the same person!

Also, watch out for those TRail Mixs, many are packed high on Fat intake, for example 180 of 200 calories is from fat which is not a good thing if your goal is to look lean mean muscle machine, lol.

Something very funny is people at work would make fun of me for wearing spandex, telling me its a "girlie weak sport"...

Guess what? Now many are asking me what routine do I follow as many are struggling with their weight and are even on probation for been so fat. Now, WHo is laughing?!

Amen. Love me some trail mix.

People can get fired for being fat???
Where do you work?

Might not be in the US.

But, my dad and I were just having a conversation about how it's sad but true that being fat really does hold you back in all aspects of your life. When you go to get a job, I think that many people see fat people as being unmotivated or undisciplined. There is probably some truth to that in some cases, but it's not always the case. But, whether or not it is true, that's how people perceive it in many cases.

Whether it's fair or not, being fat closes a lot of doors.

Here's a good article on what foods, and what sequencing of foods can make you feel full and help you avoid over-eating...

http://www.poweringmuscles.com/Artic...y_Satiety.html

Two statement jumped out at me, as someone who trys to eat tons of vegetables and fruits (which never make me feel "full")....

Certain types of fat are the most effective, specific types of proteins are second, and carbohydrate has the least effect.

Even though the body has a sophisticated appetite control system, in today’s environment it kicks in too late, since the food is already in the stomach. Healthy satiety involves changing your meal pattern to turn on your appetite control mechanisms before you eat your meal.

For me what really works are eating things like natural almond butter or peanut butter (either before or after a meal), or even a few slices of dark chocolate. These seem to be appetite killers which make me feel full.

Good luck.

gene r

When you want to snack, have one of these
http://www.sunsweet.com/products/info.asp/product/ones

I'm a really bad snacker and eater. I'll snack between meals, and sometimes skip meals altogether. I also drink a lot of beer. I bike nearly every day though, so that keeps it in check. I've also lost like 15 lbs in the past two months just from biking every day. I still eat quite a bit though, and it's hard to resist when my roommates bring home chips and cake and ****. It's also common for me to stop at the 4am burger place down the street on the way home from the bars on the weekend.

On days when I'm just doing nothing at home, I snack like a fiend. Keeping healthy snacks around works wonders. I know snacking between meals isn't the greatest thing to do, but at least it's better to gorge yourself on vegetables (only a little dip!!), fruit and nuts, and hummus than it is to gorge on leftover pizza, chips, and other crap. I don't drink soda (can't handle the sugar), and usually have a beer or some watered-down fruit juice. Yeah, I know, but you'll pry my beer out of my cold, dead fingers.

The only thing that's keeping my weight in check is biking every day. I still eat more crap than I should, and I've still got somewhat of a gut, and could stand to put on some more muscle. I didn't bike for almost a month over the holidays and gained 10 lbs. Stupid holidays. I still try hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but it's kinda half-assed.

Here are some things that help me:
-Bike everywhere! Every day! Go really fast and impress chicks.
-Don't use the elevator.
-Cut up a crapload of dipping veggies, and only use a little ranch at a time.
-Keep lots of hummus and good French bread around.
-Also keep some good sliced cheese and fancy deli meats for sandwiches. (but be careful)
-Sweet cravings: Dried cranberries and other fruits.
-Salt cravings: Various nuts.
-Learn to cook healthily for yourself.

Another technique that worked very well for me was to integrate better eating habits and exercise into your lifestyle. When I originally tried to lost the extra 15 lbs., I was jogging and doing the fitday thing, recording what I did and what I ate. It lasted about three weeks. I burned out because it wasn't a strong enough part of my daily routine. The ultimate solution for me was to get a job which required me to ride my bike anywhere from 20-30 miles per day, about 3-4 days per week. And so I turned into a bike dork and lost all the weight very rapidly. I also started biking absolutely everywhere, and found that crappy food wasn't cutting it in the energy department. Eating a big slice of deep dish didn't provide my body with the right kind of energy it needed. Ooh, I can't eat chain fast food now either. Everything I've tried gives me a stomachache and either constipation or diarrhea. That's a major deterrent as I like to poop neatly and on time each day (TMI sorry). Fresh veggies, lots of complex carbs, and lots of protein are what does it for me now. So I suppose it could be a chain reaction: Bike more, body craves better fuel, fat is burned.

Jeez, I dunno. :D

We all have to be aware of our "substance abuse foods".

I could keep chips in the house, and not have a problem.

But, a bag of salted nuts or trail mix (which are very, very high in calories) would be gone in minutes.