Put Down The Fork!!!

[rkade8583]

Well, even though everything else in my life is going just freakin' peachy (I'd rather be working but I'll get there eventually), the one nagging problem I've ALWAYS had is my weak willpower... especially towards food although it's kind of a trickle down effect.

Same ol' same ol'. Eat when I'm bored, depressed, hungry, etc. It's a psychological knee jerk, yadda yadda yadda. Who care why I'm 3 and 20? Just that I am and I am powerless over my weak will for food.

Now then, how, if at all, have any of you folks killed the fat demon? None of that exercise crap either, I'm looking for tips and tricks on how to break this all-the-time craving for food whether I'm hungry or not. Asthmatics do what we can but diet is the main issue here. I'm stuck eating crap food for the next 3 years and I accept that. I just want to know how to not eat unless I'm hungry (and with the kind of "wonderful" food here, I'm talking REALLY hungry... like oh, a hunger pain kind of hungry. Hey, it worked on the ins)

I suppose it's like smoking, blow, horse, acid, zingers, tweeters, boomers, zoomers, uppers, downers, snorters, shooters, wangers, and bangers... not to mention any and all kind of addictive activities in general (work, lazyness, WoW, etc.) in that this kind of mind over matter logic could help a bunch of people (can't STAND those Wang/Bangheads )

Enough of that happy horsebleep, Psychological tricks on how to beat the food freak. How to ONLY eat when you're hungry and not to overeat. I hope you folks have some good ideas because the usual ones grate a bit (I'm tired of saying "I can't because I physically can't run a damn mile")

 

[Riffraff]

Eat three meals a day and no more - cut the snacks.

drink water if you're hungry, lots of it if necessary. if water doesn't cut it, maybe some unsweetened tea would be ok aswell.

 

[El_Machinae]

Willpower is a funny thing, but it can be exercised and developed. It's not a static thing, at all. (Though you have to decide to exercise willpower, which is a cognitive paradox, I'd think).

Here's what you do: Put a chocolate bar on your desk (or wherever you spend a good deal of time). Don't hide the bar, have it in plain view. And don't eat it. That's it: just decide to not have the chocolate bar but have yourself exposed to it. This regular 'denial' will build up general willpower.

Don't use techniques to ignore it, don't use aversion therapy, don't try to forget about the bar. Just don't eat it.

(as far as weight loss goes, make sure to get 3-4g of salmon oil every day. It's one of the simplest ways of getting your body attuned to 'weight-loss' mode, nutritionally)

 

[Catharsis]

This might sound silly: have you tried locking the junk food away? If you live with someone, give them the key, allowing them to dictate how much junk food you are allowed to eat in a day/week. Might work.

 

[Fifty]

Just make yourself throw up after you eat. You get all the joy of eating with none of the health risks.

 

[Riffraff]

ah I have another one.

Don't buy food on storage. I go shopping pretty much every two days and buy the food that I'm gonna eat on those days. I find that I eat more if the house is full of food than when it isn't. Another benefit is that shopping often means you can buy fresher food without as many preservatives.

I'm not sure how practical this advice if for you though, seeing that i take about 3 mins on foot to the supermarket.

 

[Yoda Power]

What kind of food do you eat?

One idea could be trying to substitute fatty food with unfatty food. If you eat vegtables instead of hamburgers and chips, then will probably loose some weight.

edit: And another thing.

Don't eat empty calories. No sugar and wheat, replace it with rye.

Empty calories burn much faster, so you also gets hungry much faster.

 

[Narz]

(as far as weight loss goes, make sure to get 3-4g of salmon oil every day. It's one of the simplest ways of getting your body attuned to 'weight-loss' mode, nutritionally)

Funny you say that. I bought some flax-seed-oil / vegan DHA oil (from algae) the other day and used some today and did notice a lessening of appetite.

Good luck with this rkade. I had a problem with this for awhile and still do sometimes (even though I eat pretty healthy now).

Part of it is nutrition, you might be craving certain nutrients you're not getting & overeating to try to acquire those nutrients (but in vain if the food you eat doesn't have them). Alot is psychological. Make sure you believe you can do it, otherwise you'll sabotage yourself, don't say stuff like this "I am and I am powerless over my weak will for food." to yourself. It will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. "I'm having problems with this" is better than saying "I'm powerless to change". That's one of the reasons groups like A.A. has such an abysmally low success rate.

Another trick (the main one really) is find better stuff to do. Probably harder for you since you lack the social opportunities of work at present and you're physically limited but you just have to work harder to fill your time productively and discover what makes you happy, in the long term, not just short term fixes like food, drugs, alcohol, masturbation (the last three might not be problems for you but those seem to be the most common among middle class disaffected teenagers in the modern western world) but stuff that genuienly makes you feel good and good about yourself.

Anyway, good luck! I you for admiting this to yourself and bringing it up. Even if you don't like my advice or anyone else's at least you're thinking about your problems. Now find goals, stuff exciting enough that you want that your issue(s) are holding you back from. If they are powerful enough, you'll break thru.

"He who has a strong enough why can bear almost any how" - Nietzsche.

Course he had a mental breakdown towards the end of his life and died of syphilis but hey, nobody wins 'em all & you can learn from everyone.

 

[Mango]

They say a lot of times if you think you are hungry you may just be thirsty. Perhaps you are not drinking enough water throughout the day. The problem may be compounded if the only beverages you drink are highly caffenated, as they will make you more dehydrated throughout the course of the day. Water really is the way to go.

Also, if you eat when you are bored or depressed try curing the cause of those problems. Take up a hobby; something to occupy your free time, and something that you cannot do and eat at the same time.

 

[rkade8583]

In terms of eating healthier, I have no control over what is in our fridge. Since I can't drive and the store is a ways away, I'm relegated to eating whatever my dad puts in the fridges and all of it is microwavable crap (burritos, dinners, pizzas) So in terms of WHAT I eat, I'm stuck.... for now.

As for drinking water, I'd forgotten about that one. I bought a bass guitar about a month ago and I consider that a hobby since I practice it every day. As for the chocolate bar, I'm gonna try that one.

Thanks a ton. Any other tips are greatly appreciated. By the way, the last three are not a problem. I physically can't do drugs, I don't like alchohol, and I'm 24 so I'm slowing down.

 

[Yoda Power]

In terms of eating healthier, I have no control over what is in our fridge. Since I can't drive and the store is a ways away, I'm relegated to eating whatever my dad puts in the fridges and all of it is microwavable crap (burritos, dinners, pizzas) So in terms of WHAT I eat, I'm stuck.... for now.

As for drinking water, I'd forgotten about that one. I bought a bass guitar about a month ago and I consider that a hobby since I practice it every day. As for the chocolate bar, I'm gonna try that one.

Thanks a ton. Any other tips are greatly appreciated. By the way, the last three are not a problem. I physically can't do drugs, I don't like alchohol, and I'm 24 so I'm slowing down.

You are 24 and have no power to convince your dad what to buy for yourself to eat???

I don't know your dad, but I'm sure that if you told him to buy you some carrots, or whatever, instead of a pizza then he would do it. It's not like he's forced to eat it, if it's just for you.

 

[rkade8583]

"You are 24 and have no power to convince your dad what to buy for yourself to eat???"
No. I'm blind therefore I'm worthless according to that ****** (he literally is a ******. He was dropped on his head by his mom.) Reasoning with him and even requesting things from him is a waste of time. Diet food to him is diet coke and vegetables are sweet and sour.

And it's not excuses either. I've had MAJOR blowups with him about the kind of food he buys. I can't move out on my own because I'm on SSI/SSDI and that doesn't net me near enough per month to survive on my own. So yes, I meant what I said when I said I was stuck on what is in the fridge.

As for what'll be in MY fridge when I get out on my own? Nothing microwavable. I won't even OWN a microwave.

 

[warpus]

What if you offered to cook for you both if he made an effort to buy some actual food (as opposed to all the microwavable crap) ?

 

[hossam]

maybe you should try your mother? btw are you really blind? how do you respond to the post.

 

[rkade8583]

See, I actually graduated a blind cooking class (I'm low vision. My retina is detached and my other one is kind of hanging on) where I cooked blind for 11 people. I can cook... it's one of the things I KNOW I can do really well. Let's see, ask dad? ok...

Verbatim:
Me: Hey, dad, what if you bought real food and I cooked it for all of us
Dad: Aw jeez, not this again.
Me: I'm just saying if you buy the food, I can cook it and we can lose weight
Dad: Alright alright alright. We'll see over the weekend.

Incidentally, from past experiences, he will forget on the weekend.

As for Mom, she's in a home because her diabetes and depression is kicking her butt... She wouldn't put up with his crap GET WELL SOON, MOM.

 

[hossam]

See, I actually graduated a blind cooking class (I'm low vision. My retina is detached and my other one is kind of hanging on) where I cooked blind for 11 people. I can cook... it's one of the things I KNOW I can do really well. Let's see, ask dad? ok...

Verbatim:
Me: Hey, dad, what if you bought real food and I cooked it for all of us
Dad: Aw jeez, not this again.
Me: I'm just saying if you buy the food, I can cook it and we can lose weight
Dad: Alright alright alright. We'll see over the weekend.

Incidentally, from past experiences, he will forget on the weekend.

As for Mom, she's in a home because her diabetes and depression is kicking her butt... She wouldn't put up with his crap GET WELL SOON, MOM.

your mom is in a home?how old is she?

 

[rkade8583]

61. She used to be the one who organized family reunions from the entire country... now she's dying and forgotten by all but myself, my dad, my brother, her sister (uncles are dead, one from a brain aneurysm and one from diabetese) and a couple of old friends.

How the mighty fall... and our family is well known for never dying so she's survived at least 3 instances that should have killed her. She's been ready for awhile now... she just gave up on life after she retired.

I've said my last words to her and she knows I have. She knows I love her more than anyone else (until I get a wife sometime down the line) and that she's the reason I've survived what I have in life. If she died tonight, I would have no regrets...

 

[hossam]

wow 64 and your only in your early 20's. anyway maybe since you cant live alone you could live with a friend or family member or find a roomate to cut the costs.

 

[Yoda Power]

Since you are disabled, then aren't there somekind of goverment funding that allows you to move away on your own, or to some protected home?

 

[rkade8583]

I get 900 a month from government funding. My rent would be 700 a month without food, utilities, electric, phone, etc.