Monsterous Appetite
 

I dont know what it is, but I'll watch what I eat throughout the entire day, get a diet-worthy intake of 1300 calories, then suddently lose control and ruin everything later. What can I do to prevent/help this?

me too its the worst!
there are a few things that have helped me a little, although its still a real problem and i haven't found a magic bullet solution yet...

eating lots of protein during the day and with dinner

drinking plenty of water during the day, and heaps of herbal teas in the evening, particularly ones with liquorice root in them - it helps curb sugar cravings a bit.

distracting myself and reminding myself that the cravings will pass

making sure there are no high calorie snack foods in the house, and that there are low cal alternative snacks instead (so i don't go to the shops in a binge frenzy).

unfortunately even though i replaced everything in the house with healthy low cal alternatives i'm still binging and just eating twice as much so it ends up being just as many calories...

yeah, still looking for the magic solution, as all the above things help a little bit but not much :confused:

Eat veggies! I like the steam fresh veggies and I add a little smart balance or promise butter and some Mrs. Dash Garlic Herb and eat the whole bag (I did this last night at dinner along with my protein and it worked). Protein and fiber are your two best friends for hunger. Make sure you get your share of complex carbs too though.

If this doesn't work, maybe talk to your doctor about taking some appetite suppressants for a little while.

I think this is the reason most diets fail, you work so hard only to crash and burn day after day. Here's some things I've tried that seem to help:

1. Think about your hunger, is it "real" hunger or uncontrollable munchies, taking over? Real hunger builds over time and it can be held off, especially if you know approximately how long it will be until you eat again. Uncontrollable munchies are usually a symptom of a carb crash (and possibly carbaholism), so what you need to do is to avoid crashing by limiting your carb intake per sitting. A lot of people will tell you to limit (or even eliminate) "white" foods like white flour, white rice and white potatoes. We only have whole grain bread and pasta in our house and I try to limit my grain based carbs to 1 serving at breakfast and depending on my calories throughout the day, another serving with dinner. I usually go low-carb and high protein for lunch so I can avoid that after dinner carb crash.

2. Another way to avoid going overboard with the munchies is to pace yourself and eat something that takes time to eat like an orange or grapefruit, or nuts/seeds that have to be unshelled like sunflower seeds, almonds or pistachios. And while you're munching down your snack drink a big swig of water between mouthfuls.

3. Another thing I do when I feel out of control is to tell myself that I can eat whatever I want but I have to start with an apple and go 20 minutes between snacks. Usually I get that full feeling between the 2nd and 3rd snack and the munchies taper off after that. Apples are a great snack BTW and they have a lot of fiber too, which usually helps to make me feel full.

Excellent tips! Thx! :)

almeeker,
Great advice!

I have a theory (I have no scientific proof other than my own experience) that some people have a tough time with hunger because they are following a low fat diet. I keep unroasted almonds for a crutch, because their fat content helps satiate my hunger. I can eat 10 and satisfy my cravings.

I believe, like almeeker stated, that simple carbs can create that carb crash and your body starts telling you it is missing something. This weekend I was at my oldest son's house helping him with some car work and it went over lunch. We had pizza for lunch. I ate two pieces, but the worst part was the crash I experience later in the afternoon. I couldn't even stay awake. I ate a protein bar and that helped me out of my crash.

I LOVE almonds, but 10 never feels like quite enough. I have to be very careful with nuts, because I will literally eat the whole can/bag/box whatever and not even realize it. So to use them for a snack, I count them out, and then hide the nuts in the far back of the cupboard and drink a swig of water between each bite.

You might be right about the low fat, my diet has been low fat for so long I sometimes have trouble adding in more. When my fat percentage looks too low I usually opt for a deviled egg (or 2) or maybe an ounce of cheese.

I LOVE pizza too, but I always keep in mind that is has about 300 calories/slice, more if it has double meat or cheese (heaven forbid BOTH!), and it's going to give you a hard crash later. The last time I had pizza I got up in the middle of the night with the worst case of munchies. So I've been trying to avoid pizza, or make homemade versions that are lower fat, calories and carbs.

I love pizza and could probably live on it. Here's what I do:

Whole wheat pita
.25 cup Ragu pizza sauce
.25 cup part skim Mozzarella
top with mushrooms or onions or black olives or jalapenos (or nothing)
cook in preheated toaster oven using pizza stone for 15 minutes
Yum!

Around 400 cals or so and fairly low fat--add a salad and a couple glasses of water and it makes a great supper.

My hubby brought home some roasted almonds that were in 100 calorie packs. They are the perfect size to just take the edge off hunger and I don't have to worry about overdoing it by having a larger bag/jar accessible. Maybe give those a try almeeker. =)

Pace.
 

It's been shown that eating slowly tames appetite.

That is, eat a bite, then stop. Wait, even if it's 30 seconds (which may seem like a long, long time) and then take the next bite. Continue to do that until you have eaten the serving.

The idea is that it takes awhile for the feeling of satiety to register, even at the level of 'a bite,' let alone 'a portion.'

I really, really believe this works. Can I do it? No. Not unless I am eating alone or eating in a group where everyone is talking, including me.

I agree with Ron about the "lowfat". Not only do I get hungry quicker if I try to keep my meals and snacks fat-free, but I end up feeling deprived because my food wasn't enjoyable, so I'll end up eating something else.

A good example happened a few days ago. Most days I have a cup of whole-milk yogurt, but on that day, there was a Chobani nonfat Greek yogurt in the fridge. My son had asked for it at the store, but changed his mind, so I decided not to let it go to waste. Whatever they put in it to make up for the fact that it's nonfat made it kind of gritty and gloopy. I tried to eat it all, because it's high in protein and relatively low-cal, but it was such an abomination, I couldn't finish it. Blech!! Ha ha!

In the end, I had something else as well, because I felt like I had been cheated out on a proper eating experience.

Of course, here I am, not losing an ounce, so I guess my advice isn't worth much. ;) In all fairness to myself, though, my clothes are fitting better and I'm firmer in places, so I think I've built up some muscle with all my weight training.

Those would be alright if I packed them in a lunch and there was only 1 pack, but if I was at home and had access to the whole box, well it might be a different story....

Me neither, I grew up with 2 brothers, both of them eating machines. I learned to grab quick and throw it down as fast as possible, because seriously nothing ever got passed around twice in our house. My dad was the oldest of 6....

Thankyou all so much for your advice. I'm following it and its actually working. you all are the best!

Why only 10 almonds?
Natural almonds - no salt or seasoning is about 165 Calories per 22 almonds.
If you have 25 almonds with water, there goes one snack that will fill you until the next meal.

Geez OP, you are not alone!
I do this too. Some days I am very good all day. But more often than I'd like to admit - I will be stellar all day, and then get home and go on a rampage devouring everything within arms reach.

I'll tell myself I am going to have one bowl of pasta when I get home. Then I get home and have seconds. Then some sides. Then a sandwich. Then some chips. Before I know it I'll have racked up an embarrassing amount of calories within one hour!

Then I spend the rest of the evening feeling guilty!

You need to eat more in the day - protien and fiber - a lot less carbs.
That way when you get home or at night, you won't feel the urge to munch.

I've taken a long hard look at my 'binging' after reading some nutrition/weight loss books. One in particular I just finished talks about the eating habits of those 'naturaly skinny' people. The biggest things I'm starting to see in regards to my eating in comparison to what the book says include:

-if you deny yourself ceratin foods, you just want them more...hence when I do binge eat, I tend to load up on all those bad foods all at once because I haven't had any of them in so long. If I were to have controlled portions of chips with my salsa (instead of the celery sticks I usually eat with it) or a scoop of ice cream now and then, I woulnd't feel so deprived and binge on it later.
-Eating habits: the book recommends eating without distractions (meaning no TV, don't read a book, ceratinly don't eat on the run, etc.) so that you can really focus on the food and how it tastes. If you eat while distracted, only half the amount of food eaten actually registers, so you don't feel like you ate enough, hence you want more. The book also recommends putting your fork down between bites, that even the distraction of getting your next bite ready will take away from the experience of the bite in your mouth. I have actualy started putting my fork down and really paying attention to the different flavors and textures (I've been having stir fry for dinner this week, so there are tons of different textures and flavors to really enjoy). It helps a lot to really concentrate on the food, and putting my fork down between bites definintely slows me down. I have yet to be able to eat without the TV, just because I live alone and with dinner taking me longer to eat (due to taking my time on it), it's hard to sit for a half hour in complete silence just thinking about the food in my mouth! But I have to say, these techniques are working to help curb those cravings to just eat and eat and eat.

I think a lot of what people have been saying on here makes sense, so just try a few things out here and there to see what works for you. Good luck!