I live a relatively active life but I struggle with eating too much. I feel like there is no diminishing returns when I eat something. Each chip tastes just as good as the last one. So I will be craving food but know it’s not healthy for me to eat more. I’m trying to find ways to ignore that feeling or dismiss it.
Are there any tips or methods you use to help with that? Impulse control is the hardest thing to work on sometimes.
For me only buying heathy snacks is a big one if you insist on buying snacks in general
But the biggest way would be to not buy snacks
Can’t crush a box of Cheez It’s while watching YouTube if you have to go to the store first
Of course recently I got Invisalign so to eat any snacks is a headache of having to pull them out, keep it to a short amount of time, floss and swish when I’m done, and then put them back in. So that’s a huge hurdle but it cost me $5k so not the cheapest option for sure.
I tend to forget eating due to my adhd. With the years Ive gotten quite good at turning on tunnel vision and working through lunch. Do that ofen enough and a box of cheetos is not a problem. X]
Make a rule not to eat while you’re doing anything else: watching a show, playing a game, reading a book, browsing Reddit Lemmy. When you’re eating, focus on the food. Taste and enjoy it. And when that gets boring or you feel full, set it aside and go do the other things.
This will not work for everyone, but maybe also try intermittent fasting. I sort of accidentally fell into it while busy with work until after a regular lunch. At some point I was eating between 3 and 6pm only. Sometimes snacks at night. I can no longer eat a big meal.
My stomach just won’t take it. I still eat total junk food/fast food a few times a week., but I can only eat so much. I’m 45 and at my college weight. Add some push ups/planks and walk whenever you’re on the phone or count steps.
I’ll assume here you’re talking about eating outside your main meals, and you’re mainly eating for that dopamine reward.
Usually low calorie snacks (fruits, veggies, etc) are a good choice, but even eating too much of them can be detrimental. Best alternative IMO is finding something that distracts you from continuously eating. Preferably some activity that requires your attention and needs your hands active (so just watching a video isn’t gonna work in this case: it’s easy to continue eating while watching something).
In my case, I’d start doodling and fiddling with Lego blocks or something.
Only thing that works for me is to never go shopping hungry. That way I am able to not buy unhealthy food and snacks. So if I want to eat or snack there are no unhealthy options.
So either I’m actually hungry and will eat what is there. Or I’m not that hungry. Also there is no chance my lazy ass is going to go and get any snacks even if I feel like I really want them.
Don’t eat shit food for a meal, and snacking is usually a bad idea.
Though it’s counter to American practices, eat a large breakfast and lunch, and lighter dinner. You’re active in the day, that’s when you need food. Sleep on an emptyish stomach.
Processed foods are not good for you. “chips” are not food as in a meal.
Foods should be mostly recognizable growing things or made from them.
Fats are good for you sugar is fine – in reasonable quantities. You need fat! You probably don’t need sugar, lol, but it is tasty. But it’s a shit food source.
The only thing that really works against binge eating for me, is to keep a very low carb diet. I realized that if I eat carbs, I want carbs; I crave carbs, I binge. If I’m not eating carbs, I lose all interest, have no desire to eat them, my appetite falls way down and I fill up and stay satisfied super easily, and I just cease to binge.
Also, getting off carbs means a 10-day struggle with cravings (after shockingly rapid size/weight gains, bingeing and guilt); after going through that a few times, I’d rather just stay perpetually low carb. If you already like salty snacks like me, you might also really enjoy having an excuse to eat a lot of meat, cheese, veggies etc.
After decades if struggle- that’s what I’ve finally found that actually works. Over a year binge free. Good luck!
I totally get what you mean. It seems like we should be able to eat carbs without problems. But for some of us, carbs seem to interact badly with one or more systems related to cravings/satiety, digestion, metabolism, energy storage/release. And then limiting carbs seems to really help. Especially insulin resistance/diabetes issues seem to respond well.
Perhaps it’s genetic? I remember both my parents bingeing. Or there’s been some kind of damage or exposure over time: High fructose corn syrup? Micro-plastics? Endocrine-disrupting chemicals? Who knows.
This. Diets help only temporarily. In order to beat binge eating it’s necessary to find the cause for the binge urges (boredom, depression, stress,…) and tackle them first.
Coffee. I drink it black with no sugar and therefore it has minimal calories. Caffeine is an appetite suppressant, although I switch to decaf after my first 2. Probably the smarter answer is water. I find having the flavour though helps with the psychological trick of novelty that I’m often seeking from food.
My therapist told to try this thing recently where you suck on a candy or snack that you really like, don’t allow yourself to crunch it. Suck it until it dissolves.
Resisting giving into the frustration but of not being able to crunchit helps you with emotional regulation, feeling the emotion but not immediately reacting to it
Resisting crunching it because you want to taste that explosion of flavor helps you increase your ability to not only resist temptation but also to increase your ability to have the will to do the things you want to do.
It also interacts with that same oral fixation as eating, so you’re helping qualm some of those binging urges.
I do it with sugar free werther’s originals, it works surprisingly well
One thing I do to limit my intake of a single type of snack is to pour a serving or two into a bowl and allow myself to eat the whole bowl without thinking about the restraint. I may go back for a second serving but I usually find myself not eating a whole family bag of chips in one sitting that way.
Same, if I have a family bag of chips in front of me, I’ll eat the whole bag. If I serve an enormous bowl of pasta, I’ll eat the whole bowl.
The only way I can not overeat is to not have it in arms reach. So yeah, pour a sensible serve of chips into a bowl and then eat that. Leave some pasta in the pot, or put it straight in the fridge for lunch tomorrow.
By the time I sit down to eat, the battle is already over, whether I’ve won or lost.
Try replacing unhealthy snacks with healthier ones. Eg. Nuts/seeds instead of chips, fruit instead of candy. hummus + veggies, homemade veggie chips/baked veggie “fries” (avoid starchy veggies)
Dont go to the store/order when youre hungry. Its easier to control what you buy than it is to say no to the unhealthy snacks in the cupboard that you already bought. i.e put a barrier between yourself and unhealthy snacks.
Make a hobby out of finding creative ways to make that comfort food healthier. eg. Sneak veggies into things, replace less healthy ingredients with healthier ones. eg. Replace butter with olive oil, replace beef with turkey, switch to lite salt (slowly) instead of table salt etc.
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