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I keep overeating, I say I'll stop tomorrow but I never do

(35 posts) (6 voices)

Started 1 year ago by
Latest reply from aishah
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I need to start getting some control back over what I eat, because it's getting worse. I ate so much today, I ate about 1000 calories just for breakfast. I've eaten loads of chocolate and biscuits and bread, just because I felt I wanted it, but I wasn't even really hungry. I feel bloated and sick now, I wish I could un-eat it all. I wont make myself sick though, I'm not bulimic, I just overeat. I eat too many calories and too much fat, I'm worried about my heart.

I really will try to stop tomorrow. I've written myself a plan for what I am going to eat tomorrow for breakfast and lunch, and for a healthy snack if I get peckish. I can't plan my dinner as my mum makes it and I have to eat what I'm given. It's usually something healthy, but the problem is I'll eat too much if there's a communal dish of something, or I'll eat too much extra afterwards like chocolate and sweets. Here is my plan for tomorrow, I hope it seems reasonable and normal, without going too far the other way and seeming like I'm under-eating.

Breakfast:

Slice of wholemeal toast with honey x 2
Apple x 1

Lunch:

Banana x 1
Grapes x 1 bunch
Low fat yoghurt x 1

(Mixed into a fruit salad type thing in a bowl.)

Snack(s):

Nectarine x 1
OR
Dried dates x 3

I would allow myself one small treat, like a bit of chocolate, but I feel I should go cold turkey for a few days and get back into control, so I feel like I deserve a treat when I finally have one. Hopefully then it can go back to being a treat, rather than a significant part of my diet.

Wed Jan 5 2011 20:32:14 #
actionagainstocd
Member

Hello

I have eat loads of things like biscuits, crisps and chocolate all the time because I feel I want to eat to it but I'm not usually hungry. I have tried not eat a lot for a couple of days but it never works, for me because I like eating and am so used to it. Hope you can try eating chocolate and stuff like that as a snack. At least you are eating healthy food like fruits and vegetables as well. Sorry it probably didn't help. Hope your ok.

actionagainstocd

Wed Jan 5 2011 20:44:43 #
Unregistered

But I don't want to eat chocolate as a snack. I only want to eat it as a treat a few times a week. My problem is that I keep snacking on it!

Wed Jan 5 2011 20:46:40 #
playthoseblues
Member

Hey Helz,

I went through a think a few years ago, calorie checking and I was only like 13, and now I'm 16 and skinny as a rake. And by looking at what you're eating you haven't got anything to worry about! All of that's healthy! You've got brown bread, honey, and an apple. What's bad about that, not exactly an English breakfast!

With Lunch, it's only fruit, full of good vitamins and minerals, no junk food in that.

What I do to structure my eating, goes like this:

Breakfast- Cereal (Bran sort e.g Bran Flakes, Shreddies etc..) Without the sugar.

Fruit, (Bannana, Orange, Apple)

Lunch- Sandwich (My favourite, Cheese and Pickle, and lettuce! Always 1 and a half rounds.

Crisps

Small Treat (E.g. Go ahead bar)

Piece of Fruit

Dinner- Whatever you have

And then maybe a couple of treats throughout the day!

I haven't eaten much food today. Didn't have any lunch, didn't feel like it.

But honestly Helz, don't get hung up on it, because I got in a really bad way and was counting everything. There's no point, when you're full you're full, and with OCD you don't want to go hungry too!

Jon

Wed Jan 5 2011 20:47:09 #
playthoseblues
Member

Also it's the winter, it's in our nature to eat more in the winter due to the cold!

Wed Jan 5 2011 20:47:50 #
actionagainstocd
Member

Hello

Sorry I know what you mean I meant to as a treat, Sorry. Hope your ok.

actionagainstocd

Wed Jan 5 2011 20:48:32 #
Unregistered

You misunderstand, that plan is not what I've been eating recently, it's what I want to eat! Today what I ate went more like this:

Breakfast:

Cereal with a banana
3 slices of toast
Yoghurt (quite fatty)
Biscuit

Lunch:

2 jacket potatoes with butter
Apple

Snack:

3 biscuits
Grapes

Dinner:

Noodles
Tin of sardines
Bread
5 chocolates
Piece of Turkish Delight

Wed Jan 5 2011 20:51:44 #
Unregistered

In total that was about 2700 calories (only meant to eat 2000) and 150% of the amount of fat I was supposed to eat.

Wed Jan 5 2011 20:53:14 #
Unregistered

Why does no one understand? I think I know when I'm eating too much and too many bad things. And I find it really hard to control it. I'm not just obsessing over calories.

Wed Jan 5 2011 20:57:56 #
actionagainstocd
Member

Hello

Sorry, I think I understand, Sorry. I think your plan for tomorrow is very good and evenly spaced out for everything your going to eat as you do have healthy foods and good snacks and chocolate is good as a treat. I think it's good to plan what your going to eat if you find it hard to control it. Sorry for not understanding before. It probably hasn't helped, what I have said. Hope your ok.

actionagainstocd

Wed Jan 5 2011 21:21:35 #
Unregistered

It's alright, maybe my post wasn't clear enough.

I was just looking for some overeating forums elsewhere and found some sites which are pro- anorexia and bulimia, it's disgusting! How can you be pro- eating disorder?

Wed Jan 5 2011 21:24:47 #
aishah
Member

Hi Helz,

I completely understand, I have been over eating for quite some time now and always have a plan saying I will start fresh next week

My problem is chocolate in a big way and always has been, I do it for comfort I'm sure. It has got to the point now tho, that I am not even enjoying it, I just do it.

I think it is quite common for people who are stressed to turn to food for comfort.

I think your plan for breakfast and lunch is fine but you would need to have something more substantial for dinner tho, like pasta with a light sauce or a jacket potato and salad.

Let me know how it goes.

Take Care
Bridget

Thu Jan 6 2011 8:24:02 #
Unregistered

Thanks, Bridget.

I can't control what I have for dinner, I just have to have what my mum gives me.

Thu Jan 6 2011 11:46:04 #
Unregistered

P.S. I just got up and had breakfast and I stuck to my plan. I wanted to have more bread afterwards, but I resisted.

Thu Jan 6 2011 11:46:45 #
Tess
Member

Hi Helz
Your suggested menu sounds a bit too strict, too much fruit and not enough carbohydrate and it will leave you feeling hungry. Jon's sounds great - can I come to tea please Jon? As for what you ate yesterday Helz it's not excessive, if you are active you can burn up 2700 calories but ideally you shold swap the chocs and Turkish Delight for some leafy veg, then you probably wouldn't fancy so many chocs. Perhaps a cereal bar instead of biscuits and orange juice at breakfast - cereal + toast or yoghurt + toast alternate days but I think your diet is not bad at all - a lot better than the contents of many of the supermarket trolleys I see at the tills.

Thu Jan 6 2011 11:47:43 #
Unregistered

I've got carbohydrate, the toast and the banana. And anyway, carbohydrates are not best for energy, it's protein you want, hence the yoghurt. Protein keeps you fuller for longer whereas carbs cause spikes in blood sugar and then cause you to crash. Carbs are best eaten for dinner as they help you sleep. Really I should be eating eggs, fish, meat or yoghurt for breakfast and lunch, and then carbs for dinner, but I don't have that much control over my meals since I don't make dinner and I can only eat what is available at home.

Thu Jan 6 2011 12:23:10 #
Unregistered

I changed my plan for lunch to include more protein to give me more energy to last until dinner:

Tinned mackerel
Slice of bread x1
Low fat yoghurt
Grapes

Thu Jan 6 2011 14:46:55 #
Tess
Member

Hi Helz
I'm unconvinced about the protein. I've long believed most people eat too much protein. I have been veggie for 35 years, eat no meat or fish, eggs only very occasionally - max 1 a week, and I don't consume a lot of milk products - 1 litre of very low fat milk weekly, maybe 3 yoghurts a week and perhaps 100gm of cheese.
I'm no expert on diet or nutrition but the post war diet on which I was raised when food was rationed was said to be extremely healthy and protein was in very short supply but carbohydrates and home produced vegetables in season were the mainstay. Sorry Helz, I'm a believer in carbohydrates as a slow source of energy rather than a fast fix of sugar and protein.
Did you hear of the experiment they did with some soldiers - half of them were fed a meal and a glass of water, the other half were fed the identical meal but the water was liquidised into it so they had it as a soup - and they felt hungry again much sooner than the other group.
I find the only way to avoid the chocolate snacking is to shop when you are not feeling hungry and then you are less tempted to buy it.

Thu Jan 6 2011 18:21:55 #
Unregistered

Protein is not a quick fix of energy, that's the point, the energy lasts for longer. It's pretty well proven. I'm not saying you don't need carbs, complex carbs are best as they do slow release energy. Overall though you just need protein to be healthy, it's a key part of our diet, any nutritionist will tell you that.

Thu Jan 6 2011 18:44:18 #
Tess
Member

Hi Helz
Back in the 70's when I became veggie I went to a lecture at the home of two veggie doctors and spent an evening in their living room with their smelly veggie dog (it was given cabbage stalks to chew!). But I have stuck with their advice on veggie nutrition:
1. Combine grains and pulses for protein, the combination will give you all the amino-acids of a complete protein.
2. Eat your carbohydrates in natural form - wholemeal bread and pasta, brown rice, don't peel the skin off spuds because you will peel off the protein layer.
3. Cook veg to a minimum, eat fruit and veg raw as much as possible to retain vitamins, eat skins where possible.
4. Eat the outer leaves of vegtables because these contain most nutrients and eat lots of different coloured veg and fruit to ensure adequate vitamins and minerals.

Thu Jan 6 2011 19:02:27 #
Unregistered

That sounds very sensible to me, I can't argue with that! It includes protein though, doesn't it, so it shows protein is important for your diet. Protein doesn't just have to come from meat and fish, which I knew anyway. I could be a vegetarian, I eat a lot of vegetarian stuff because my mum is a pescetarian, I don't eat meat everyday.

Thu Jan 6 2011 19:29:09 #
Unregistered

Well, I enjoyed my dinner but I ate too much. I had a serving of macaroni pie (mince with macaroni and a white sauce on top- made with no butter), but then my mum offered me some beans and I had a load of them too. And then a yoghurt and 3 Cadbury Roses. It would have been fine if I'd just had the macaroni and then maybe a few of the beans, and even one chocolate as a treat, but I had to go over the top.

Oh well, there's always tomorrow again. I made some progress today at least. We're going out to eat tomorrow for lunch, which will be hard, but I'll chose something lighter. We're going to Wetherspoons where you can see the nutrition info online, so I've checked it out and chosen a lighter option that I will still enjoy.

Thu Jan 6 2011 20:30:43 #
Tess
Member

Hi Helz
I think your dinner sounds great and I don't think you went OTT except for the 3 chocolates. I had 3 veggie cumberland sausages, peas, boiled potatoes (with skins on) and celery (cooked) with a bread roll and buttery spread followed by mince pie and natural yoghurt. I shared it with two parrots and a hen.

I've just had a pm from Trudy, she didn't want to upset me by saying on the forum I'd got the results of the soldier experiment the wrong way round ... oops, sorry everyone, but she says it's on TV again tonight and passed on this link. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00ksh7c/10_Things_You_Need_to_Know_About_Losing_Weight/

Thu Jan 6 2011 21:19:28 #
Unregistered

I'm watching that now Tess, haha. It was just talking about visceral, internal fat, and now I'm worrying that I'm not fat on the outside but I am on the inside, with my organs surrounded by fat.

Thu Jan 6 2011 22:48:17 #
Unregistered

They're just talking now about how protein is best for giving you long lasting energy. And they're proving it on builders.

Thu Jan 6 2011 23:06:44 #
Truddles
Member

No, it said protein makes you feel full for longer.

It's complex carbohydrates that provide the body with a slow and steady supply of energy.

Thu Jan 6 2011 23:17:54 #
Unregistered

Oh, w/e, I don't know. I'm sick of food. There's too much choice and variety. I wish it was just basic stuff and every got the same, exactly what we need, no more, no less. It would be so much easier. I'm sick off all the stress eating causes me. I hate it, I hate it. I've had enough, really. We're supposed to eat, this, and this, but not this, and I'm not getting enough of this. What the hell am I supposed to do? I wish I didn't have to eat. Everything is about food. I'd rather starve.

Thu Jan 6 2011 23:23:48 #
Tess
Member

Hi Helz
I agree with you, there is so much choice and so much conflicting advice we don't know what to do for the best and not only that it changes from generation to generation. The advice which was rammed into me as a young mum by a well-meaning but out of date health visitor was that my breast milk was insufficient to provide my baby's needs and to get him onto solids at three weeks old and onto an egg yolk every day at three months - and I did this believing I was acting in his best interests. My son was horrified when he found out what he had eaten as a baby. My father-in-law was prescribed a diet of steak and eggs after he had a heart attack back in the 60's and the whole family went without to pay for it because they thought they were helping dad - but ironically that's probably partly why dad is long gone and the rest of the family are still around.
But the worst thing you can do for your health Helz is to let it get to you, food should be a pleasure in life and there is a lot of sense in the old adage that a little of what you fancy is good for you. Your body knows exactly what you need to eat for optimum health and it will tell you.

Fri Jan 7 2011 10:28:04 #
Unregistered

Thank you.

It changes all the time. Like you say, things that were touted as the best diets in the past are now found to be wrong, and it's quite possible that certain things we eat today will be discarded in the future, so it's very confusing to know what's best. Everyday it seems there's something in the news about a certain food being bad for you, and then an other time it's good for you again!

Fri Jan 7 2011 13:13:39 #
Tess
Member

Hi Helz
I've just done the wicked deed, went into Morrisons and they were selling lots of deli cheese at 75% off and boxes of Mr Kiplings fondant fancies for 25p a box, so sat outside with hubby scoffing a big lump of vintage cheddar and a fondant fancy - then saw a pair of trousers I liked in Bodmin town centre and couldn't get them round my waist. Now I'm hoping a glass of red wine will get rid of it before it turns to visceral fat. I think it's something to do with the weather, will power is very low and I wasn't even hungry when we went shopping. The price of veg has rocketed too which makes the healthy choice shopping less appealing, especially when they are almost throwing cream cakes at you with big soleful eyes which say please buy this or it will go in the bin and we will get penalised.

Fri Jan 7 2011 17:54:41 #

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