I can't stop eating. Please... make me stop

For me, it has been the war against my diet. I move around enough and lift enough where I'm not worried about that, but I went through a very serious depression phase where all I did was eat shit and drink beer, and I ended up putting on 50 lbs over two years. So now it is about controlling what food is in the house.

With poultry, the best meat (IMO), Adobo seasoning becomes your best friend.

Eggs and Oatmeal are an incredible meal to curb hunger, in my experience. Two hard-boiled eggs and two packets of oatmeal will keep me full for hours. And some grocery stores sell pre-shelled hard boiled eggs, and while it costs more than just a carton of eggs, not having to boil or peel them is a huge rage-saver.

I also try to load up on frozen bags of mixed veggies, brocolli, apples and berries, which works since my two young kids are all about fruit also, so that gives me an extra incentive to buy it.

It is just about breaking bad habits and restarting good ones. And it fucking sucks, I know. If I regress for a day or two, I'll get down on myself, but I have to keep at it.

You can get there.

Been doing a low-carb/no-carb diet for 2 weeks now. Usually don't make it this long (yes 2 weeks is a success with me..lol), but it's working. I'm down 7lbs already. Which is crazy, because I've changed nothing else.

My goal weight is 175-185lbs though, LOL. I'm currently 257lbs.

Raging Spaniard said:

You will eat whats available so create situations where the food you want to avoid isnt available.

I dont buy snacks sooo theres no snacks in my house so I dont eat them.

Little things like that will add up. Good luck

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This is good advice. DO NOT BUY STUFF YOU DON'T NEED TO EAT. This has been my problem for like 10 years now.

Wife and I have only been buying the stuff we should eat now. Carbs are close to non-existent in the house for us. We only do them on the weekend/Saturday. That's our cheat day.

Also, I've been strict with myself during the work week. Sticking to my no/low carbs all week. Had a friend that wanted to meet at Burger King Wednesday. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, tossed the bun, and only ate the chicken/lettuce/tomato. No fries and a drank Water.

Eat loooots of apples and carrots. Basically, snack on those. Problem averted.

Honestly, with your weight distribution - you're like 10-15 pounds "overweight." And I use that term lightly. Through working out and strength training, you could probably settle at your current weight and "look slim."

Based off of those pictures though, I would say that 155 is well south of where you should be weight wise. I just can't imagine 30 pounds coming off of that frame.

In terms of losing weight though. As people have said, out of sight out of mind. It's easy to walk by a box of cookies and grab one every time you see them. It's a bit more difficult to have to get up and drive somewhere to satisfy a craving. So try to only keep stuff that fits your diet in the household. Also, slam water whenever you're hungry. Diet wise, do whatever works for you. Keto / Low Carb works for me, but it's a matter of finding something that's sustainable - and that's different for everyone. Finally, I would definitely work out and attempt to fill your time better. If you eat when you're bored at home, then try you're best to mitigate that being a factor.

JB1981 said:

You have a gf. Why are you so obsessed with your body? Does she make you feel bad about how you look ?

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Mental illness tends to suck in any outside validation like a black hole. And having a partner is absolutely no guarantee of high self-esteem.

I believe in you, Kev.

Download MyFitnessPal and use this that app to count your calories on a daily basis. My health trainer got me to start at a 2000 calorie limit and exercise once a week initially. Have been losing weight slowly. I now use my exercise bike up to 3 days a week and that helps reduce my appetite (for some reason exercise always makes me less hungry).

I changed my diet because I was sick of spending all my time cooking. The bulk of my diet is rice, veggies, and fruit now. Whatever is in season I'll buy. A tall glass of cold water helps me from snacking when I'm bored or its too late to eat. I was kinda surprised when I dropped from 135 to 130 because I still eat plenty of crap.

GrizzNKev said:

Peanut butter on celery is my fave and I haven't even had it in ages. Gonna make this correction today.

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Be careful with peanut butter, it's a calorie bomb. Seriously, measure some out an actual serving and look at how calorie dense it is... granted, it's delicious.

Stress leads to poor decisions, eg: over-eating. Being tired leads to stress.

i'm just going to eat whatever

Look up some foods that are known for having low calories but that are really filling (Oats, popcorn, Greek yogurt ect). Find something you like and go from there. Dont worry so much about lifting heavy and up your cardio. Eating a lot is great if you want to put on some muscle but if you want to get rid of some flab then burn as many calories as you can throughout the day. Do some jumping jacks for a few min when you're not doing anything.

This might sound weird but i'd focus on your sleep first.

Bad sleep can really screw up everything - appetite, disposition, energy levels...

I'm not overweight (and in fact have trouble putting weight on) but I too have a bad habit of wanting to snack on something every time I'm doing something passive like watching a movie, reading a book, etc. I've started chewing gum at times like that instead and that's helped a bit. It's silly and not really much of a permanent solution but it helps a little to get rid of that craving.

There is nothing wrong with being overweight or obese. You can be healthy even at those sizes. Focus on plenty of exercise and a healthy mind. Way more important. The fat shaming and diet culture in society has to stop.

Best thing you can do is not have that stuff in your house. I love sweets...especially ice cream. I can not keep it in my home though because I will smash it. Good luck, I think you can do it. You identified the problem and that is a big first step

I was legit addicted to food for most of my life. I am 29 and have never been over 215lbs at 6'1", but I felt terrible at that weight. I didn't sleep well, was always thinking about food and rationalized eating in a variety of ways. I started eating a keto diet in July and feel SO much better. By far the biggest difference is that I stay full much longer and have more energy. I only eat three meals a day and virtually never snack. I've lost 22 lbs and will be at my ideal weight by the end of the year. I couldn't recommend it more strongly and I am learning new things about the keto lifestyle all the time. I've started exercising more and sleeping better also.

I'd recommend OP research keto and just try it for a couple of months, really giving it a good shot. I was skeptical at first, my wife started two months before me and had amazing progress so I decided to join her and I'm really glad I did. Being free of food addiction has helped me in so many ways.

Force yourself to change habits so what you want becomes your new behavior. Then you will feel weird when you aren't following your new behavior, not eating like shit in your case. You just have to start and remained disciplined for a little bit. This advice applies to everything too, it's how you got where you're at and it's how you will get out of it.

While I don't think you need to go all the way back down to 155 (your height makes it sound like that's very close to being underweight), you're definitely stress eating to an extreme.

Stop looking at the news all the time to the point that it negatively impacts you. Disconnect from social media and news feeds. Work on building a sleep routine so you can attempt to get some regular hours in. Your food intake sounds like it's a symptom of a bigger problem, and it's going to be hard to fix the diet if stress is getting in the way. On top of that, stress can mess with your body's processes, which can affect your weight and practically everything else.

From there, I'd just recommend not bringing those sort of snacks into the house in the first place, as then if you crave them you'll have to really make an effort to go out and get them, as opposed to mindlessly grabbing them from the kitchen. Sometimes that extra time is all you need to realize that there's plenty of better stuff to eat, if you're actually hungry in the first place.

GC- said:

180 would put you towards the upper range of a healthy body mass for that height. Would be very strange if you looked deathly ill.

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That's weird. I'm 6'1" I started looking pretty skinny below 190 and was like a tiny stick when i hit 165 (my lowest) I was definitely extremely skinny. I look best around 200 to 210 depending on how much I have been working out, if at all. Best I looked was when I was 213ish and was doing weighted squats and curls two or thee times a week.

Now Im 270 :(

Pretend you have stage IV kidney failure. I have to work to eat enough protein that won't effect me negatively. I've gotten to the point where I'll go pick up ice cream for my wife, or hang out with the family when they have steak and just enjoy my vegetables and tofu.

I'm nearing 40, and would like to see retirement.

The weight loss has been nice, I was/am obese and have dropped 50 pounds in the last year, 40 more to get back down to 170.

Whenever I get depressed about how much I weigh, I find food is the only comfort.

Vicious circle, man.

GrizzNKev said:

Just so you can see I'm not lying, The width of my waist, the forward hang. I'm uncomfortable. I'm tall with a slender frame for my height, that weight is all fat. I used to have somewhat visible abs, some vascularity in my arms when I lifted. I want that back. I'm 26.

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Nothing there that's too terrible and couldn't be fixed with some adjustments in your eating habits and getting into a gym 3x a week.

Your sugar/carb intake is too high obviously looking at your stomach, you need to get it down, for some people a cold break works, but for most you have to do it gradually. If you're eating like say 12 cookies a day, try and bring it down to 6-8 for starters, stuff like that. Drink more water or protein shakes if you want, that will make you feel more full.

I have the same problem. I lost a large amount of weight over the past 2 years, but recently I have had a hard time. I am at 160 right now, and I have been trying to get under 160 for months. Every time I get down a bit, I end up having a bad weekend or something and I am back around 162. It's so frustrating. I think checking my weight every morning actually makes me feel worse and maybe I should just check every week or something.

Have you tried one of those apps where you add what you eat daily and it counts up the calories? Just an idea but maybe try using one of those and always add the snack before you actually eat it so you're always seeing the hard figures to maybe sway you. Leave them item there and dont delete until the end of the day so you know you've earned that lower count by the end of the day and have a constant reminder sitting there of what it will be if you cave.

I haven't personally had any difficulties just cutting back but had a bit of a think about it and I guess this is the sort of thing I'd try if I needed that extra push. Obviously some therapy would be ideal, but at the least implementing a system like that gives you more opportunities to have to justify it to yourself.

Am i the only one who thinks the OP has some form of body dysmorphia?

Stop watching/reading the news, cold turkey. Live the life that's in front of you.

rockinreelin said:

Am i the only one who thinks the OP has some form of body dysmorphia?

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i dunno but i think a lot of people do

Honestly low carb would probably be very effective for you. Get rid of all the carbs in your house, and for the first two weeks don't care about calories, just keep your carbs low (<15g a day if possible). Measure everything you eat, get a food scale. After two weeks start caring about the calories, but your appetite should naturally have decreased, and it's harder to snack all day on protein and fat.

Do not go grocery shopping when you are hungry. Buying sweets leads to eating sweets. Buy only what you want put in your body to achiever you goal. If you have ice ream in your fridge, melt it down the drain.

Sleeping more (going to bed earlier) and cutting out late night snacks was the biggest factor in losing weight for me. I used to eat well all day until night time..

Lots of protein and Veggies were my key. As that other thread about chips, they have tons of calories and do not fill you up.

GrizzNKev said:

I'm 6'1. I'm not huge at this weight, just unhappy because I used to be skinny, which is where I feel comfortable. I'm hyper-aware of my body fat and how it makes me feel at all times and what it does with my current clothes.

I have reasonable goals - frequent activity and 1500-1600 calories a day. I just don't have the mental strength to destroy my shitty habits.

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I'm like you in the fact that I have a hard time controlling how much I eat. I felt like I was eating every hour that I was awake. What I've found has worked for me so far is only eating once a day. Yes, that sounds brutal but it's pretty easy once you get used to it. In that one "meal" period I allow myself to eat whatever the fuck I want, but once I stop eating I'm not allowed to start again until the next day.

The other thing I do to try to curb my snacking is I dont allow myself to snack straight out of the bulk packaging, whether it's a bag of chips or candy or a package of cookies I take out a handful of them and return the package to the cabinet.

Another sweets trick is to try to only keep one kind of candy in your house, right now for me its candy corn. So if I'm craving chocolate im shit out of luck and eventually you will get bored with the candy you have and eat it less and take in less calories, atleast until you reach the end of that bag.

im 320, eat like a pig all day and only 6'2. Its the only thing that relaxes me. I just want the heart attack to come in my sleep.

in on healthy eating thread

For your height 185 is in the ideal weight range. Are you sure you don't have some negative self body image going on?

This seems to be much more of a mental problem than a physical one. Yes, you can diagnose yourself as having a eating disorder but from everything you've said it seems you are just living in a pool of stress and low-self esteem. If you are too stressed to sleep properly then it will be hard for your body to be healthy and for you to feel fine.

Definitely follow everyones advice here but I would also check with your insurance if you can see a therapist for anxiety or something like that. That should make a HUGE difference.