rorywatson

So, I start every day thinking

'today is the day'

And I start off healthily, but by the early evening the rest of my family are tucking into a delicious dinner, and a chocolate pudding for dessert.

And I get so hungry! I crave what they are eating and so I binge on their leftovers.

Eating a little bit with them isn't the answer - I know this from trial and error.
I end up feeling that my diet has failed and bingeing on calorific foods later on.

What can I do to stop this??

PLEASE HELP. I AM DESPERATE.


rory x

quinnesec

Hi rory!
Are you in charge of the grocery list and the menu planning? If so, just clean up what everyone eats. I know... you're saying, "... they won't eat that way." At first, you may get some protests, but you know what? After a while, they will actually prefer healthier choices. I didn't even tell my family that I was cleaning up their diet. I just started making very small changes each week. I got rid of the old junk food and replaced it with healthier choices that they liked. They can keep their portions larger, if they wish. Just experiment a little to find out what they like.

As for myself, if there are "illegal" foods in the house, I'll eat them. So, I keep my grocery shopping clean and if I binge, at least I'm binging on foods that are good for me.

If you're not in charge of the grocery shopping, that's a lot tougher. Many people on Fit Day find it easier to journal their foods at the beginning of the day so they have an exact road map to follow with no surprises.

Hope this helps!
quinn

pattialbert

I agree..I did the same thing. My dh now eats whole grain pastas,,,whole grain breads,,skim milk,,the list goes on. He tried a piece of white bread in desparation one day and thought it was the most terrible thing he had eaten in a longgggg time. Just take a look at your recipes and see how you can lighten them up. Use less oil?, use low fat cheese,, whole wheat pasta< more veggies? I never made two meals,,,I would make it so we could all enjoy it. Jello sugar free pudding is very tasty,,

quinnesec

Agreed. We had an agreement in our house. If even one person didn't like the "new" menu item, I never made it again. In no time, I had a nice rotation of healthy evening meals that everyone liked.

As I've posted before, my 16 y/o daughter attended a birthday party where the only menu choice was KFC. She texted me, telling me how gross it looked and asked me for advice because she didn't want to appear rude. It only takes a matter of weeks until they prefer less greasy, fresher tasting food. But, baby steps... just a little change at a time.

nrh322

I feel your pain (and your hunger!!), Rory! Everyone's offered a lot of great suggestions so far...but when you have a house full of skinny, picky eaters, it is really hard to get them to change their ways. How does a person that needs to lose weight look at a person that doesn't and tell them, "gee whiz, I don't think you should be snacking on such and such because it MAKES ME HUNGRY!" Frustrating, right?

What's helped me is to find snack foods that my family likes to eat that I hate. For example, as far as chocolate goes, if we have Kit Kat bars around, I'll make myself sick on them...but I won't touch a Reeses...same thing goes wish salty stuff...I'll polish off a bag of Cheetos, no prob...but won't touch Doritos.

So, I do that (keep the stuff around they like that I won't eat) AND, more importantly, I try to eat lots of nice lean protein and high water content high fiber veggies earlier in the day so when binge time rolls around I won't be quite so inclined.

So far, it's working.

Best wishes, Naomi

cjohnson728

That's great advice. It works for me also. I am all for encouraging healthy eating with my fam...but I can't expect a teenage boy to eat the way I do! I usually get a snack or two a week (Cheez-Its, granola bars) for him and always things I don't like, or I will have him stash it somewhere and not tell me. I just remind him every once in a while so things don't get forgotten and spoil in their hiding places . I have to say, it is very rewarding that he is starting to think about and talk about what would be a bad choice and what would be a good one, and that he is "grossed out" by fatty and greasy things now.

It might be possible for you to modify the meals so that you are all eating the same thing, with some changes. For example, use the leanest cuts of beef, bake chicken breasts, etc....your family could have mashed potatoes with gravy, for instance, and you could have some brown rice? I really don't know what kind of stuff you cook so that might work; it might not. Another idea is to compensate during the day if you know dinner is going to be a not-so-healthy meal you can't pass up. I know when I make the pot pie my family begs for, I will eat it, but it's been modfied to be not as bad and I also eat light at breakfast and lunch. Getting into the mindset of "how can I balance this out" has been really helpful for me, because I don't like to be told I CAN'T EVER have (fill in the blank). Moderation is the key.

Could you throw your leftovers in the freezer right after dinner? Make just enough so there are no leftovers? If you can't make the food disappear, how about leaving yourself? If you feel the urge to binge, go for a walk, a drive, get in the tub...just make it difficult for you to eat it by putting some environmental constraints up.

I know I am a nighttime eater, so I plan for that when I do my food journal for the day. Knowing I have "permission" to eat something and that it's accounted for takes away the forbidden aspect that is a large mental component of bingeing.

Is your family supportive? Would they put a padlock on the fridge for you? Sounds extreme, but...when I started out my husband would lock things in the trunk of his car for me!

Sorry this got so long! I hope some of these things help, or spark an idea for what will work for you personally. C'mon back and complain or share your success, ask for help and get/give ideas. You're on your way and we will all get there together .

rorywatson

You guys all have brilliant ideas but I don't control the family food, as I'm 14. I tried today eating twice what i usually try to, so I had 1000 calories. It was alot and I feel full but, I didn't binge on the dinner this evening, and tomorrow I will have 900 cals, then 800 and so on, slowly working my way down. Sound good?

Thankyou all so much for your ideas, I will keep them in mind and hopefully they will help me stay on track!!

love to all, rory x

elderwanda

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but it sounds like you're trying to get by on 500 calories a day? (If 1000 is twice what you would ordinarily have)

I lost weight by doing just that when I was 14. I did lose weight, but I pretty much had to shut myself in my room and do nothing but sleep. In school, I would just sit at my desk and dream of the apple I was going to have for lunch. I couldn't think much.

What I realized later is that much of the weight I lost was not fat, but muscle.

Believe me, you really, really need more than that. A lot more. Did you put your information in FitDay to see what it recommends? If you try to get by on less than about 1200 calories, you're probably cheating yourself out of things like calcium and protein, which you especially need at your age.

When I was 14, I just tuned out anyone who suggested I was still growing, because I knew I wasn't. That may be true for you, but at 14, your brain and nervous system is still developing, and it's built on protein. If you are dieting so that you will look good, remember that healthy is what looks best.

If I had it to do over again, I would have cut my calories to about 1300 a day, and added some daily exercise. That's what's working for me now.

Best of luck!

Lizzycritter

If you're trying to get by on 500 calories, then you're bingeing because you are LITERALLY starving. That's not sustainable. You may get your weight down but you WILL gain it back dieting like that. Your body needs food and you can't fight those biological urges, at least not without becoming anorexic.

cjohnson728

Hey rory!

Sorry for the assumption. Most of us are adults and I guess I just thought that you were also. My bad...but good for you trying to take control and build better eating habits as a teen...I wish I had done so!

Anyway, I agree with the above, that you are bingeing because your body is not getting enough food. If you really are eating less than 1000-1200 calories, your body will slow down your metabolism and you won't lose weight. I've been there as well. You wonder why you can't lose any, and it's because your body has ratcheted down to meet the new normal of low calories. The other problem is that when you go back up on calories, your metabolism stays slow, so you gain weight faster.

My advice is to go here Calorie Calculator - Daily Caloric Needs and put in your information. You will get the number of calories per day for fat loss and for extreme fat loss. Even those will be more than 500-800 a day and it will be a more effective diet. I promise!! Like I said, I did it the other way (being overly restricting) and failed every time. I did it the smart way this time and am at my goal weight for the first time since high school...and I'm 42.