Motivation to give up overeating

[restless]

Hallo,

in the last few months I began to overeat a little bit.

While my weight is still in a normal range, I am reducing my mental and physical energy with this behaviour. My body fat is also increasing, which doesn't look nice around the face.
Another disadvantage of my behaviour is that I use food as a distraction, which lowers both productivity and the satisfaction I get from my leisure time.

However, since I'm still thin, my motivation to stop overeating is not very high.
Do you have any suggestions on how I could motivate myself and give up overeating?

~restless~

[Angela]

Originally Posted by restless

Do you have any suggestions on how I could motivate myself and give up overeating?

My experience is that it's easier and more fun to go towards what I want than to try to get away from what I don't want. Maybe you'd like to focus on a way of being that really inspires you. What would that be? For me, it's about viewing everything I eat as sacred food for my DNA, programming my cells to operate with joy, freedom, love and peace. It's hard to down eat a whole bag of cookies when you're thinking of how that's programming your cells.

Anyway, I did the 6-week extreme makeover earlier this year (I have lost 20 pounds) and was amazed to find I had to eat a lot MORE food than I was used to -- it was actually hard to do. This plan is about revving up your metabolism , so I end up needing to eat more and more food to keep the fires stoked, and becoming a fat-burning machine. Rawrr!

[Reverie]

Angela,
I'm interested, what is the 6 week makeover? Can you provide a link? Thank you.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Reverie

Angela,
I'm interested, what is the 6 week makeover? Can you provide a link? Thank you.

It's the program that the fitness/nutrition guy (Michael Thurmond) on the tv show Extreme Makeover provides for the people on the show, and they happen to be right next door to my apartment.

If you go to Extreme Body Makeover | Weight Loss Training by Michael Thurmond and click on Programs - Nutrition Only, you'll see what I did. Rich people come and stay in the hotel and have their meals prepared for them and have a personal trainer every day, but I just did the food consultation/coaching part and I love it. I'm in better shape than I've ever been -- my metabolism shocks me I'm running so hot, and I feel great and get compliments every day. It was kind of expensive, but for me at least, I needed to make a commitment of money on the line to get my ass in gear.

It's basically a very customized eating plan plus recommendations for your workout -- not the kind of stuff you would normally get in traditional weight-loss programs.

Michael Thurmond also has an online informercial version, but that doesn't involve the personal consultation and hand-holding that my plan had.

You can call my coaches directly if you want and they'll tell you more about it -- Dustin (Michael Thurmond's son) or Dan (wonderful consultant) at 310-576-7850. They are both extremely sweet and helpful.

[bbdream8]

Try to eat in small meals and don't take in junk food. Snack on fruits instead.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger

[Rawvolta]

I think in most addictions ( we can actually call it food addictions ) we need to find a space between the habit and our thinking about it and visualize HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU WILL EAT IT.
Think about all the emotions that will come up after you..fail and ate.
Feel this disappointment.
so you won't go for it.

It is amazing how attach we are to food.
There is a great book by Victoria Boutenko : 12 steps into Raw.
She describes how we are tough to experience all the emotional breakthroughs through food.
- I got A in school - parents are celebrating with me in a restaurant or are buying me a sucker
- I am crying - food comes along to calm me down
- they spank me.. i get candy or whatever afterwords.

That's how we solve all the problems and celebrate almost every event in our life.

I have same addictions and I have to watch out sometimes.
I haD no idea I have them before going raw vegan.

Check this amazing article : ARE YOU AN EMOTIONAL EATER ? here

[funchy]

Originally Posted by Angela

If you go to Extreme Body Makeover | Weight Loss Training by Michael Thurmond and click on Programs - Nutrition Only, you'll see what I did. Rich people come and stay in the hotel and have their meals prepared for them and have a personal trainer every day, but I just did the food consultation/coaching part and I love it. I'm in better shape than I've ever been -- my metabolism shocks me I'm running so hot, and I feel great and get compliments every day. It was kind of expensive, but for me at least, I needed to make a commitment of money on the line to get my ass in gear.

It's basically a very customized eating plan plus recommendations for your workout -- not the kind of stuff you would normally get in traditional weight-loss programs. .

I am intrigued. Tell me more.

I have been to doctors and medical nutritionists, and I get nowhere. How would you say their advice differs from what my nutritionist told me?

And how practical is their advice? It's one thing to say "work out 1 hour/day every day" and it's another thing to simply not have the time to do it between work, work, school, family obligations, etc. Or to mandate eat ___ food when that food isn't available in my area this time of year.

Thanks!

[Angela]

Originally Posted by funchy

And how practical is their advice?

As practical as you are willing to practice it. When I first heard how strict my diet would be for 6 weeks, I gulped hard. No bread, no dairy, no sugar, no alcohol, no burgers, no yogurt, no packaged foods at all ... well, you get the picture. For me, 6 or 7 times a day, 2 oz of whole lean protein (eggwhites, chicken breast, tuna, like that) and 4 oz certain carbs like oatmeal, apples, beans & legumes (they count as carbs although they contain lots of protein), brown rice, and I strongarmed them into letting me have my couscous -- the one luxury indulgence. I hated oatmeal, but I've learned to love it. As much as you want of vegetables and some fruit. I get to have some salt each day because I had low-ish blood pressure, and they added in some olive oil or pesto each day plus added more carbs about mid-point because I was burning through the carbs so quickly.

It was really difficult at first to eat so much food -- it was WAY more food than I was used to eating.

And the exercise took somethin' somethin' at first, too. I had been used to doing 30 minutes of interval cardio 5 or 6 times a week, and they switched me to 60 minutes of much lower intensity, flat-rate walking. At first it just felt funny because the intensity was so low to keep me within the target heart rate that I didn't believe it would work. I didn't even break a sweat. But I lost 7 pounds in the first 7 days. It wasn't water weight, because I was monitoring that and also drinking far more water than I had been, and I think a good chunk of it was fat because the little fat pads on my hips were suddenly noticeably smaller.

At intervals of a week or so, I would suddenly be STARVING and simultaneously would have to walk dramatically faster to get my heart rate to my target, and my coach celebrated those times because it meant that my metabolism had had a breakthrough. He would encourage me to eat more carbs! Yay! Or if I felt like it was an emergency, like if I go light-headed and sweaty, to just go ahead and eat something with a lot of calories like a cheeseburger. That happened twice during the six weeks hardcore period. The rest of the time it was relatively easy to stick to the plan, knowing that it was only 6 weeks. After the 6 weeks, the diet relaxed quite a bit but is substantially cleaner now than before I started, and the exercise is the same -- but I think I may be overdoing it a bit now. I've had to learn to listen to my body's need for rest and to deliberately take days off. It's hard though, cuz now I'm an endorphin junkie.

It's not easy to find an hour for cardio almost every day, and then add on another hour for strength training 3 times a week. And it does take a great deal of preparation and discipline to eat clean. And it's totally worth it for me; it's a lifestyle I'm enjoying. My body is just so powerful and gorgeous now; I'm head over heels in love with how I feel and look. I wish I'd done this when I was in my 20's!

[restless]

Hi everyone,

thanks for your suggestions, they gave me a lot to think about

In the next week (November 10th to November 16th), I will do the following things:

• No overeating (= a feeling of pressure on the stomache)
• No sugary foods or drinks, and no salty foods (e.g. salted nuts). They reduce my mental energy and are addictive.
• Exercise 30 minutes every day

The goal is to experience again how good healthy eating patterns feel. I think that will provide me with the motivation to make lasting changes.
At the end of the 7 days, I will report in this thread about whether I succeeded.

[beautyscientist]

Originally Posted by bbdream8

Try to eat in small meals and don't take in junk food. Snack on fruits instead.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger

Just to back up what Vincent is saying, I find that the more raw food I eat the less craving I have for junky food. I use raw carrots as a handy snack. One thing about raw foods like that is that they take a long time to eat so you tend to feel full much sooner after finishing eating - that way you don't need to waste precious willpower on avoiding bad things.

[AskMissK]

If you reduce your portions for ech meal by 10% the first day and then another 10% the following day and so forth, you'll give your body time to adjust so that you don't feel like it's a punishment.

After 30 days, you'll have cut back you portion to normal size.

If you really want to manage over-eating, make sure to eat slowly and also never eat on the run because your brain won't have time to register when you are full!

Best of luck! This is a great initiative!!!


AskMissK

[shalom]

Usually the reasons for overeating are nothing to do with being hungry. Stating the obvious, right?

Once you identify what lies behind your eating behaviour, you'll be in a stronger position to choose how best to tackle it. Trying different eating styles etc will be of short-term value if you haven't first really come to grips with some of your food-related internal territory.

You're already on the way-a distraction, you say? From what? Look at that some more.

There has been sooo much written about this subject. I wouldn't even begin to offer references because I am sure with suggestions made by others here and the squillions of resources online and off, wouldn't be hard to find something of value.

Instead, here comes the inevitable personal experience stuff, for what it's worth...

After a lifetime of fussing and obsessing about types, amounts and proportions of food often expressed in experimenting with numerous extreme and unsociable ways of eating, what works best for my physical and emotional well-being is eating with consciousness.

This means anything goes, whatever I enjoy does me good because it is usually what I almost exactly need; no more, no less. I eat in moderation without trying. For many years I was a vegetarian, then a vegan, then added dairy, followed by meat etc.

So it's like I spent half my life cutting out major food types and the second half putting most of it back ! Perhaps the only exception is processed food-pseudo food in boxes. Ugh.

Otherwise,today I see no good reason to deny myself or not to take advantage of all the fabulous abundance the planet has to offer- meat, seafood, vegies, even a slice of the best chocolate cake I can find or bake, all consumed with consciousness, intention and enjoyment without the chains of addiction.

BTW -you know we can also become addicted to denial and deprivation.

Don't know if this makes any sense to you or anyone else reading this. I hope it does.
Excuse me while I take myself off to breakfast of avocado salad on toast, enjoyed in the autumn sunshine of my garden...

[restless]

First of all, thank you for your answers.
I love that one pose a question in this forums and get so many different answers from many different perspectives. That's immensely helpful.

Just wanted to tell you that I did pretty well on my 7-day-trial, but still ate too much.
But I realized something: Overeating is not the problem, it is a symptom.
Some non-food-related causes I found within myself were:

• Boredom
• Fear of taking action
• Fear of wasting time
• Stress
• Uncertainty about projects, commitments, goals and the next actions associated with them

Just by becoming aware of them, I started to eliminate them. Also, I set a goal to bring my belly to a reasonable circumference and get lean again. Such a "weight loss goal" is very motivating for me.

Thanks again!

[NewPath]

Originally Posted by restless

First of all, thank you for your answers.
I love that one pose a question in this forums and get so many different answers from many different perspectives. That's immensely helpful.

Just wanted to tell you that I did pretty well on my 7-day-trial, but still ate too much.
But I realized something: Overeating is not the problem, it is a symptom.
Some non-food-related causes I found within myself were:

• Boredom
• Fear of taking action
• Fear of wasting time
• Stress
• Uncertainty about projects, commitments, goals and the next actions associated with them

Just by becoming aware of them, I started to eliminate them. Also, I set a goal to bring my belly to a reasonable circumference and get lean again. Such a "weight loss goal" is very motivating for me.

Thanks again!

You've outlined some very common reasons for overeating. A few years ago I was primarily a healthy eater but would binge periodically for purely emotional reasons.

I would often feel a tremendous void close to bed time, and would fill it up with some tasty snacks. Or if I had some down time I would constantly be thinking about food.

These problems were a result of my general view on life. My need for immediate gratification, enjoyment, pleasure, etc. Only when I had a large shift in mindset and consciousness did the overeating subside. I was never overweight at all because I would counter overeating with undereating the next day, or with exercise, but it was a very destructive pattern.

I see that you've outlined a lot of the same symptoms. boredom, fear that you're wasting time & uncertainty. deeply recognizing your desire to have something immediately, or something to help you cope, will no doubt lead you in the right direction.

I can recall sitting down and thinking long and hard about the logic of eating for 3 minutes to cure boredom. It seemed that I also must have craved the negative feelings that would follow overeating, ie: the negative feelings associated with the act of eating a bunch of junk. I must have thought it was better to have negative thoughts & emotions then have a quiet (bored??) mind. The old "boring" moments have been transformed into peaceful enjoyment for me personally (usually.... not without fail!)

From my experience I have found that people will go to great lengths to suppress boredom or loneliness. Complete acceptance & awareness of this has been key in taking more control of my life.

keep it up!

[lifeforce]

Originally Posted by restless

Hallo,

in the last few months I began to overeat a little bit.

While my weight is still in a normal range, I am reducing my mental and physical energy with this behaviour. My body fat is also increasing, which doesn't look nice around the face.
Another disadvantage of my behaviour is that I use food as a distraction, which lowers both productivity and the satisfaction I get from my leisure time.

However, since I'm still thin, my motivation to stop overeating is not very high.
Do you have any suggestions on how I could motivate myself and give up overeating?

~restless~

I ate nothing but a spoon of peanutbutter every third hour for about four days. No more food addictions.

Food addictions are a result of instable bloodshuggar.

When you eat carbohydrates, they turn into shuggar in the blood. The brain needs shuggar to operate. But small amounts. So when we eat a high carb meal, the brain sends signals to this organ called pancreas. This organ then produces insulin. And the main objective of insulin is to remove shuggar from the blood. It does this by opening the fat cells and storing this energy as fat. That is why you dont notice fatgain, because were talking small amounts of fatgain every day. You dont see 10 grams of added bodyfat today, but you notice it in a year/two years time.

Today, we are a high carb (shuggar) nation. But this time period is only about 10 percent of the time people have existed on earth.

That means 90 percent of the time we humans have existed, we have not had agriculture, and we have eaten what we could hunt and gather (I may be off on the actual precentage, but that is not my main point here). This means berries, nuts, animal etc. A diet high in healthy fats, low in carbs and moderate amounts of protein. The standard western diet is high in shuggar, unhealthy fat and low in proten.

If you do like me, and do a 30 day trial of moderate protein, carbs only from veggies and high in healthy fats through nuts and oils, dont be surprised if energy, mood, consentration, dicipline, good sleep and fatloss goes through the roof Basic rule: if the stoneage man could find and eat it, then so can you. No kfc for our stoneguy

[angies]

2 oz of whole lean protein (eggwhites, chicken breast, tuna, like that) and 4 oz certain carbs like oatmeal, apples, beans & legumes

How much is 2 oz is it just about 1 palm size say of chicken, 100g can tuna, say 2-3 egg white? Is it OK to have 1 whole egg instead?

And the exercise took somethin' somethin' at first, too. I had been used to doing 30 minutes of interval cardio 5 or 6 times a week, and they switched me to 60 minutes of much lower intensity, flat-rate walking.

How do you do your 39 mins interval cardio, on a bike 1min high i min low intensity? do you have different cardio excercise?

This is what I have been trying to do but I don't think I have been hard core enough. I have no seen much result except my body has tomed up from the excercise but the fat is still there. I can still feel the the same layer of fat on my tummy. May be I have to go really hard core for 6 week to get the body a headstart. before relaxing to a couple of "bad" days a week.

[dice]

Laugh really, really, REALLY hard.

Go to a live comedy show or hang out with some really ridiculous people. Make sure you are thouroughly cracked up. Until your stomach hurts and your face is numb.

I went to the Just for Laughs tour recently and this happened.

The problem completely disappeared. I had absolutely NO interest in food after laughing for 3 hours straight. I tried eating a gummy worm, could not even taste it. Problem solved.

If you can't laugh for whatever reason - grad an absolutely sob-inducing movie (Jacksons King Kong does it perfectly for me.) and cry cry cry cry cry until you need to build an ark and save the animals (again!).

Motivation eventually wears off and you'll just relapse. You don't need to just 'stop'. You need to fix the problem - and the problem is probably just that you're missing out on the best parts of human life: laughter and tears.

anyhow that worked for me. fun and effortless.

[TheHulaQueen]

Here's a really intestering statistic... in the 1980's they did research with zinc deficiency with bulemics (binge and purge) and anorexics and found that most were seriously zinc deficient. When liquid zinc was added to their diet 65 % of bulemics, and 85% of anorexics effected recovery of the person. These were the stats 5 YEARS LATER. Given how difficult both these things are to treat, I think that says alot. The link to eating disorders and zinc deficiency was found in the 1930's when lab animals deficient in zinc appeared to be anorexic.

There are also links to being overweight, and chronic overeating to zinc deficiency. And the zinc that has to be used is straight liquid zinc, not pills with zinc combined with something else.

The funny thing is I only ready this yesterday. And earlier this summer because of an injury I ordered some angstrom liquid minerals from Mother Earth Minerals, including zinc. And without dieting this summer I lost over 30 pounds, just spontaneously started making much better decisions, and not overeating as much. Maybe a cooincidence, or maybe because I got my zinc levels up.

[restless]

Over the past two months, I managed to get rid of this behavior.
Yes, I was never overweight, but overeating slows you down mentally and physically.

Now I'm eating healthy and the right amounts. Thanks everyone!