Am I the only one?
 

I have been LC for three weeks now and everyone is right about not being hungry but I wasn't eating because I was hungry in the first place. I gained all this weight because I eat compulsively. Am I the only one ? I keep thinking some of you must be compulsive eaters too. I lost 7 pounds on induction (first 10 days actually) and then nothing since. I find myself just needing to eat something. My hand is reaching for something, anything. I am mowing through pork rinds like crazy and going through water like crazy too. Heeellllppp :(

I too used to eat out of boredom. As long as you watch your carbs, eat what you want. Pretty soon you'll realize food is just energy for your body and the compulsive eating will stop. I think most of the compulsive eating has more to do with the carbs and the cravings than anything else. Snack on protein and water. You'll be fine.

Even if it's alot of cheese or a lot of eggs? I probably ate 1/2 pound of cheese today.

Welcome CatBat
 

Glad you joined us! And congrats on those 7 lbs.

You shouldnt worry about calories at the beginning, however 1/2 lb of cheese is a lot ;). Maybe you could start a Journal in the "My Journal/Bootcamp" section of the forum so we can see just what you are eating. Have you been drinking your water? Eating your green veggies? These things play a part in the success of a LC WOE. But by all mean, if you're hungry eat something. Just be sure that you are actually hungry, and not bored, as suggested.

Cheers,
Nat

I don't eat because I am hungry, either. I honestly can't say I really know what hungry feels like. I eat all the time, for every reason, I'm bored, I'm stressed, I'm tired, I'm happy( celebrating), I'm lonely, I'm... you get the picture. I have never needed an excuse to eat. I think that is what is great about this diet, becuase it doesn't really limit the amount of food you can have.
Enjoy your food, and if your eating because of something else other than hunger, maybe you could find some ways to deal with that. If I'm busy, or somewhere where food is not available, then I don't even miss it. Find what works for you. Meanwhile, eat what you can have, and stick to this healthy WOE.

Compulsive munchies
 

I find reading this board with a cup of tea keeps me from eating when I'm bored/restless (sometimes, anyway); I can't eat when I'm typing!

I do tend to eat out of fatigue and stress; I suppose this could be called compulsive eating. I do it LESS now that I'm low-carbing, but the tendency's still there, maybe once or twice a week (which beats once or twice a DAY!). One thing that's worked for me is pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds in the shell. They take so long to eat that you can munch for ages and still get very few carbs or calories (if you count them; I do, since I'm getting close to goal and it's harder to lose, but many people don't).

Now this sounds pretty gross, but I've recently started wondering if drinking water out of one of those squeezy bottles (you know, the one with leakproof tops like dishsoap bottles, that you have to suck on?) would help. It seems to me that when I'm stressed, I don't necessarily want food as such, but what I'm craving is that ol' back-to-the-womb feeling - security. So maybe drinking a squeezy-bottle of water would do?

Next time I find myself wanting to munch compulsively, I'll see if it works!

Rachel

Compulsive Eating
 

... can undermine your lowcarb efforts, especially if you find you are eating past the point of satiety much of the time.

There's an article titled Cravings which you'll find in the Low Carb Tips section, from the menu bar at the top. While it deals mainly with Carb. Cravings, I do discuss Emotional Eating, and Binge/Compulsive eating too.

I'm an emotional eater, and a tendency to eat compulsively when I'm bored or lonely. I don't crave carbs, and am not addicted to any food in particular, or at least that I'm aware of. On the other hand, when I'm stressed, anxious, angry, upset .... I stop eating altogether. I have to remind myself to eat, and often will throw out entire platefuls of food, after eating just a bite or two.

Here's some info. I found, that might be helpful. Geneen Roth has written a number of books on compulsive eating disorders -- she writes with humour and personal insight. "Breaking Free from Compulsive Eating" and "Feeding the Hungry Heart" are excellent. You can probably find both of these at your local library. I'm currently reading her latest "When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair" .. ;) .. She describes what that title means thus

Doreen

What I did was listen to my own head chatter to determine what was hunger and what was compulsive/craving. My body was physically satisfied, so I had to figure out why I wanted to keep eating. Learning to deal with stress of any type in a healthy way was a big part of learning to live without turning to food - especially sweets - any time I was out of sorts.

On the topic of cheese... I was thinking about the whole dairy/comfort thing today. The first thing we ever ingested was milk, and then our parents kept us drinking milk all through childhood. We keep on drinking/eating dairy products throughout adulthood. In a way, we were never weaned.

Karen

hands busy
 

Like Rachel I like to keep my hands busy, especially when watching t.v. I knit a lot. Can't knit with dirty figures. Watching t.v. seems to make people hungry (or so they think), from all the commercials. Guess it just proves that their commercials do get to us!

My 2 cents: (as Nat puts it)


I think the watching TV and eating comes from our childhood. Snacking through the day is normal for children, but they are usually watching TV when they are doing it. So, maybe that is why most of us associate TV with snacking. Or it could be from the theater? Why is it necessary to eat pop corn while watching a movie?

Exactly. It isnt. It's a habit. One of the good habits / traits I developed from low fat dieting / working out is the inability to sit infront of the TV for hours the way I did back before I decided to "get healthy" I used to watch so much TV i knew all the commercials by heart. Now I have to be doing something. Usually working out (I tape everything and watch it later w/o commercials); I'll mend clothes, do my nails, brush the cats etc, but I've found if I have absolutely nothing to do I get bored and I'll actually get up in the middle of a movie and walk away. I'm quite the sparrow head now ;) I used to sit there with a bag of whatever and be totally engrossed. Habit's can be broken. Behaviour can be changed. We, who have changed our WOL, are proving that every day.

Nat

Squeezy bottles
 

The only way that I can drink water is in a squeezy bottle. I bought one 24 oz. bottle of water and I keep it and refill it for every meal (even though it's hard to drink a whole one for breakfast and sometimes can't) and get in 72 oz. of water for a day. Oh, and when my bottle gets too gross (for me) I get 5 cents for it and buy a new one. I don't so much suck on it, I lift it over my mouth and squeeze it right into it. I can drink a lot that way and it's kind of fun. Sometimes I miss my mouth though, not good near the computer. :o :o :o :o


Elihnig

welcome aboard catbat! :wave: good advice given already!

Your not the only one
 

I think i always ate because of boredom and a lot of other reasons, but now i always feel full and it's great!