It's all I think about.

I have been trying to loose weight my whole life. I am not severely overweight but I defiantly need to loose a good 20 pounds. My problem is I have the worst self control and all I ever think about is food. I feel like it calms me.... The way some people look forward to going home and relaxing with a glass of wine, I look forward to going home and relaxing with a bowl of pasta. I want to loose weight I realllyyy do. Its just all I ever want to do is eat. I look forward to it... I wish I could be one of those people who just eat to live but to me food is a pleasure. Every now and then I get motivated and I will be good for a month or two and then I just fall back into this hole were all I want to do is eat. I know I am using food as a way to distract myself. How do I stop this? I am so scared I am going to loose control and really become heavy. I want to know what its like to be thin, I want to be healthy and I know the motivation is there but then I just fall. Some of you guys may say I am weak and I am and I know it. But I honestly feel as if I am addicted to food and I don't know how to break this cycle and not give in. I know there are many others out there like me.... Has anyone been able to get past this?

Jennasourus, love the name, dinosaurs rule! BTW, I wouldn't say that you're weak at all, very human, it's good to have our quirks.

You sound a lot like me when I started, I have never been severely overweight and I was shocked that I was in the obese weight range when I first weighed myself and put in my profile.  I've been saying that I needed to lose 10-20 lbs for over a decade and have never been able to, in a large part due to my not wanting to give up eating what I want to...fortunately this is a good thing, never doing fads diets is really good for your body, being overweight seems to be an easier problem to have than being underweight.

I am still not giving up eating what I want to, but I have modified the quantity, quality, and frequency of some foods.  Food is and should be a pleasure, but there are plenty of other pleasures to be had such as the company of good friends, the feeling of muscles working on demand, being healthy and alive, being able to do new things even though you might fail.

Here's what worked for me: 

The first thing to do is to log everything that you eat.  I think you'll find that often times you'll make a different decision on food based on knowing the number of calories that are in it.  Other times you'll just decide to have the calories and either exercise to burn some extra or accept that that day isn't going to fit in the A+ category. 

Once you have an idea, just start working with one meal or snack at a time.  You can plan them all out at once, but if you're like me, that really won't work since you'll resent the restrictions and revert.  I tried oatmeal for breakfast for a month.  It was healthy and lower calorie.  Then I switched to fiber one cereal for about a month.  Now I'm having a banana with my coffee and soy milk.

What are the foods that you like and don't like?  I have loved sushi and I find that going out to eat sushi is as satisfying if not more than going out and eating pizza.  Most of my friends just about die over the idea of raw fish, but for me I think it's lovely.

Add in some exercise, 2-3 days a week, every other day, you can start small with a 1/2 hour or more if you're feeling enthusiastic. I prefer classes, I hate the gym.  I added a hip hop class, a salsa class, and a tango class, all of which I've since quit and I'm taking jui jitsu instead now, but the classes that I paid for made an appointment that I didn't want to miss, they were reasonable exercise, not too strenuous but not completely lazy.

One small tip I have-

I'm the exact same way...I look forward to curling up in bed at the end of the day with my puzzles and snack. My snack used to be several glasses of wine and half a bag (or more) of chocolate. When I began my lifestyle change several months ago, I tried and tried, but could not give up this nightly ritual of snacking in bed. I like to go to sleep on a full stomach and I like my ritual. So I compromised. Now, I've replaced the wine and chocolate, with a few sips of vodka and a bowl of oatmeal, or some popcorn.

It's all about making little changes here and there, substituting one thing for another. I love food too! But I've lost 25 or so pounds and kept them off by continuing to eat lots, just different.

One step at a time.

I too am in the same boat as you. I live.breath.think about food constantly....i'll be thinking at breakfast what I am going to have for dinner. I hate the fact that I am this way; I attempt diet/workout regimens only to fail.  food simply makes me happy thus I have too much. I too need to lose 20 lbs.......and am afraid that if it's this hard for me now, I am very nervous of becoming obese and the thought of how hard it'd be for me to lose weight down the road.

 

Right now I am looking for that "magic" way to decrease my appetite- I know diet  supplements  are usually not the way to go..unhealthy....but one thing I have discovered through logging my intake on CC is that I am wayyyyyyy low on my fiber everday, so I just began taking a fiber supplement and drinking more water....i'm hoping this will help the large appetite...

 

anyway, sorry I am not of more help- I look foward to any advice others have, as I am in the same boat. good luck jennasaurous-we're all in this battle together.