Appetite is out of control..

Does anyone have any suggestions?  Over the past year or so, I have lost 50 pounds.  I have slowly put it back on over the past 4 or 5 months.  I am still down 13 pounds from where I started, but I have to stop it now.  My biggest problem is that my appetite is out of control.  I can eat all day long.  I do not eat a lot at a time, but I stop at the fridge and pantry every time I walk in the kitchen.  I am having trouble getting food off of my mind.  Does anybody have any suggestions on how to stop the continous cravings?  I do not want all of my hard work to be for nothing.  I also want to stay healthy.   

What I do -

Throw away all junk food, or donate the un-opened containers to a food bank. Well, not ALL junk food, I kept a few things to keep me sane, but anything over 50% fat goes bye bye. I keep healthy food in the pantry, and things that have to be prepared, so I can have "control" over what I eat. Nothing like wanting a "snack" that takes 35 min to prepare.

What if you took your alloted calories for the day, and divided them by 6 or 7? Then you can eat a few hundred calories all day until you get used to the small meal thing. That's what I did, and now I sometimes have to FORCE myself to eat all my calories. I have never been on a "diet" where I haven't felt hungry. This is it for me, just managing what I am allowed to have.

My problem was night time. I used to skip breakfast and not eat anything until about 3 in the afternoon, and not stop eating until I went to bed. Now that I have breakfast, life's much easier. I pushed back my last 300 calories of the day until about 1 1/2 hours before bedtime, and that's when I ate dinner. Once you get used to one meal, you can scale it back to 3 hours before bed time. It's a "test" thing to get there, but good luck!

Congrats on losing 50 lbs!

Thank you...I started this journey probably two years ago.  I lost 50, but with what I have put back on I have only kept off 13 pounds.  I just reset my account weigh.  I am restarting my quest to get healthy.  My NEW starting weigh is 210.  I want to get down to 175.  I have a stocky build so I do not know if I can get lower than that.  I have 35 pounds to go to get to my goal.  Thanks again for the advice.

Satiety control is a tough porblem to deal with.  It is part of the yo-yo that dieters go through.  Usually it follows rapid weight loss.

I strongly recommend you contact your family doctor and get a referral to see a clinical dietician.

You CAN eat all day, if you eat raw veggies.

Have lots of them on hand, and whenever you need/want to be eating something, eat them. (No fatty dips: that would be counterproductive). If you don't want veggies, then you aren't really all that hungry. Eat them anyway, though, and you'll be so stuffed you can't even think of chips anymore.

It's psychologically easier to switch the food that you eat, than to avoid eating.

Thank you for the replies.  I guess I am going to have to change my whole mind set again.  I need to make this a lifestyle change...

My thought is that it might be more psychological than it is physical hunger.  If you've gotten checked out by your medical doctor and there's no medical reason for why you are wanting to eat all the time, I would suggest considering going to a counselor and seeing if you can discover the reason why you fee such a need to feed yourself.

I only say this because I once struggled with the same problem.  I felt so empty inside and tried to fill it with food - as cliche as it all sounds, it's true.  The emptyness wasn't for food, it was for a spiritual hunger I couldn't physicall feed, and also sooooo many other issues that came to the surface once I started counseling.  It was difficult to face all my issues, but incredibly benificial in the end.  I no longer feel the urge to feed myself all day long - I get days here and there, don't get me wrong, but I have a better grasp of my feelings and am able to divert the feeding frenzy before it gets out of control. 

It's easy to look for logical solutions to your problems, food replacement, throwing out all your junk food, ect, - which, don't get me wrong, are all wonderful ideas and definitely have their place in helping us all reach our weight loss goals - but often times the problem is deeper than the surface, and you can distract it for a while, but until you really face it, it won't really go away. 

I could be full of it, and feel free to tell me if I am....I just felt like you were telling my story in a way.  :) 

Dehydration is one of the most common causes of hunger. Are you drinking enough water throughout the day? When you start to feel those hunger pains coming, down a few glasses of water and wait a little bit to see if you are still hungry.

 Along with the rest of the suggestions on here- I try to keep snack size baggies filled with veggies (baby carrots, sweet bell peppers, etc) or fruit (grapes, apples, STRAWBERRIES) in the fridge so I can grab and go....even if I just go out the kitchen.  This was you have something that is easy and ready for you when the hunger comes..

Have you ever considered being hypnotized?  I have heard that it helps with sporadic eating such as you have described. 

I was JUST LIKE YOU, Punkin!  The only thing that helped me is the analysis tab after completing my food log.  I do my log the day before so that I know what I'm going to be eating (which means I can think about it and look forward to it.)  Also, while I plan my menu I keep looking at the analysis tab to make sure I'm getting BALANCED nutrition.  I make sure that my Food Letter Grade is in the "A" range and that I have 50% complex carbs from whole grain or whole wheat, 20% lean protein, and 30% good fats.  Doing that has REALLY helped keep my cravings for other foods at bay- and since I make all my meals the night before, when I do go to the fridge, they're already there waiting for me.  GOOD LUCK...and let me know if there's anything else I can do for you: sounds like you and I have some similar food issues.  I'm not even close to perfect, but I'm getting the hang of this thing and we can learn together! :-)

did you watch the biggest loser last night? Julian had her mother(psychotherapist) on to talk to the group. Almost all of them were products of divorce when the weight gain started. one guy was physically abused by his father. She said that we have to figure out why we are eating too much so we can keep it off. she said that losing the weight is the easy part(not convinced haha) and that keeping it off is the hard part because if we don't cure the reason we over eat in the first place, we will just go back to the old habits.

try and find out WHY you are eating too much. we all feel like it is just plain "hunger" but sometimes it is more.

when i moved away from my alcoholic mother at 19, i went from 170 to 135 and didn't even diet. it took months but people kept asking me what i was doing. i really didn't have an answer. part of it was i was poor and paying for college but as i looked back i realized that i was a chubby kid because i felt scared growing up. i used food to comfort me.

i know also that i have to be on guard. i was raising 2 teenage girls on my own and had a house payment i could handle but if i lost my job, i could not. i was so scared that i worked two jobs. i ate and gained. i ate the "free" donuts at work. "free" lunches and "free" dinners from friends. anything to save money right? 

now i am in a very secure relationship and have sold the house. if i lost my job today, i would be ok. so i am trying to lose the weight i gained over the two year fear.

so, it may not be easy to figure out what it is for you but try. and if you can't figure it out, maybe see a counselor for a bit.  maybe they could figure it out for you so you can break the cycle.

good luck to you friend.

kat 

this might help eat what you like but count the calories,so your not deprived

but BUT

eat 5,6 small meals every three to four hours so you kinda keep your self away for the following hours, and it keeps you in control,plus it boost your metabolism

believe it or not i used to  eat whatever i counted calories,but i ate smaller portions,i would eat out, and everything and i lost weight,but i counted calories still,heres how i did it

EXAMPLE:

say i'd get a sandwich and fry,and it came to 800 calories,i would cut it in half

and make 2 small meals out of it,eat half of it now and 3-4 hours later eat the other half,and it worked.say your on a 1300 calorie diet,eating every three to four hours helps you not put in 800 calories in one meal and its only 12 noon and you still have all day,so split up your food,make it feel like your eating all day but your not chowing down 5000 calories a day.

say i'd get a sandwich and fry,and it came to 800 calories,i would cut it in half

and make 2 small meals out of it,eat half of it now and 3-4 hours later eat the other half,and it worked.say your on a 1300 calorie diet,eating every three to four hours helps you not put in 800 calories in one meal and its only 12 noon and you still have all day,so split up your food,make it feel like your eating all day but your not chowing down 5000 calories a day.

 that's what i have to do! i never eat all of the meal when i go out but i do eat more than i need or should. so, from now on, i'm going to ask them to put 1/2 of my meal in a go box before they bring it to me!! 

thanks, i know this is not my thread but some great advice!

kat