Does anybody else cope with stress by eating everything in sight and still not getting full?
I am dealing with my mom's cancer right now, a stressful job, rebuilding a relationship with my SO, and a cluster of other things to manage (like everyone, I am sure). Oh, yes, and WINTER. I am out of control with eating, it seems the only safe thing to do (HA!). It's probably better than drinking except for how tight my jeans are. My SO is an Italian who is a fabulous cook, and he brings me CHOCOLATES. Last night he brought chocolate covered cashews....ohmygod, have you tried them? LOL We both say, NO MORE PIZZA and then we walk three miles and cook one up. We figured out that a Roma Pizza has 900 calories, includes all the food groups and they sell here for 6 for $10. How can you go wrong? We could eat two a day, we justify. We both work hard to maintain our weight, but it is getting more difficult.
I should say my entire family has weight issues and I have battled pounds all my life to remain at a reasonable weight. My daughter has now lost #75 lbs. My mom, in earlier years had lost #60 on two different occasions. The only thing that I have in my favor is that I exercise faithfully and dance every weekend. I am in perfect health and take no meds. Pretty darn good for 60. Around here there aren't many slim senior citizens, but I do not want to join the negative statistics. UFFDA. I also know that if I eat any "white stuff" like bread, potatoes, etc. that my appetite bell goes crazy. But, how to say no to a guy who cooks up a pot roast with potatoes and gravy? It's so domestic and comforting to walk in the door and smell that cooking on a cold night. Think of the starving people in ......
Opinions, anyone? I have seen many posts that have to do with weight and self esteem. Now I am going for a walk, I have already eaten chocolate covered cashews for breakfast, they are fabulous with almond coffee.
I don't eat when I'm really stressed, and can drop 10-15 pounds in a month or two and not feel very good.
Other than that I do sometimes make bad food choices when I'm exhausted.
To combat bad food choices or poor portion control I try to think very realistically about exactly what I've eaten during the day and what that means. The only way to know what that means is to study good nutrition some, and apply it. Denial doesn't work well when it comes to nutrition either.
Maybe three of the hardest realities to face in general are:
Financial
Relationships
Nutritional
Who can claim to be denial-free in all three of these?
Wow, THAT says it: I am struggling with all THREE of these right now. What a reward it would be if I could drop #15 lbs while doing it. Of course, I would not want to feel bad. I FEEL good, just feel better when I eat pizza, it's afterwards that I pay the price. So, maybe I am eating to postpone decisions and eating is the least harmful of the issues to address right now. Crossroads are hard.
Sorry, couldn't resist. Judy - I LOVE chocolate covered cashews and the Trader Joe's 50% less salt kind ain't too shabby, either. I, too, fight the weight gain/loss thing. It's those 10 pounds you go up or down. I figure that I've lost 10 pounds about 15 times so I've lost a whole person and then some!
When I usually see my weight inching upward, I know it's time to look at my portion size. Sure, eat the eat the cashews, but eat 1-2 ounces (a small handful) not the whole dang bag! #2 and I always share dessert, rather than eat a whole one. BTW, have you ever seen a book called "Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell"? It is on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/102-2822919-8813743
I have found it very useful for weight maintenance and use it for "tune ups" when I feel the scale getting out of control. She has written another book for post-menopausal women as well, but this is really easy to do and keep with; moreso than a diet (die with t at the end!).
SHHHHH. I'm in the middle of a boring conference call.
RW: What I like about this book is the fact that it is NOT a diet. No foods are good or bad. Food is food is food. It's how much you eat and when, not what you eat. Think about a typical diet - one denies oneself food and loses weight, but goes off the diet, binges on the "bad" foods and regains the weight. The author's approach is that you eat whatever you want, when you are truly hungry until you are full. It sounds easy until you consider that most of us eat for reasons other than hunger; i.e., "it's time to eat", "oooo, that looks goooood", "if I don't eat now, I won't be able to eat again for hours", etc. And that most of the portions one receives are way too much to eat without being stuffed. Whereas it's not a perfect system, and it is often like swimming upstream in a "supersize me" world, it has worked to keep me within a decent weight range for my height and the same dress size for approximately the last 10 years.
She also discourages living and dying by the scale and integrates exercise, but not so much that is becomes unrealistic for those of us with other responsibilities. I just really like the approach as it's not about food, it's about the reasons why one (over)eats. And let's face it, I will NEVER give up chocolate, no matter what.
mmmmmmmmmm Chocolate covered anything might be good right now!
I fight tooth and nail to keep my weight the same. That pretty much means living on salads with a tiny portion of meat each day. I have it down to a science really. Stay around 1500 calories a day and I don't gain. Anything over that and I can gain a couple pounds a week easy. No white breads, no pasta, very few potatoes or starches, minimal salt, lots of veggies and fruit, grilled fish as often as possible, very little red meat, no sauces, no butter, no salad dressing use lemon instead, lots of fat free low carb yogurt.............yep isn't my life exciting lol!
Chocolate = evil
However I have had the flu and have been living on dry crackers and a couple spoonfuls of soup for the last 5 days and I lost 7 lbs YAY!!! It's a friggin record hehe....not the way anybody wants to do it though since I went to work today and can now barely hold my head up I am so tired. Going to bed.........dreaming of chocolate covered cashews......mmmmmm
I did cheat yesterday and had one of those tiny coffee crisp bars as a Halloween Treat. Dammit I deserve one!
make me laugh now, but I have to be very aware of them and the potential danger that awaits:
Don't leave the table till you finish everything on your plate!
You don't get dessert till your plate is empty!
That's wasteful, always eat everything on your plate when we go out! (ummm hello that's what doggie bags are for )
Roadtrips........first thing you grabbed was some munchie snacks to bring with you (usually chips)
Camping = chips, pop and marshmallows
Comfort Food - anytime I was sad or sick etc I would get comfort food and it would generally be junk food. UGHhhhh
Christmas/Special Occasions - we ate till we were stuffed and dad/grandpa and uncles were always so stuffed they fell asleep immediately after dinner. We did the dishes.
Hahahahha can anybody else relate?
Ohhhh my favorite two mom theories are:
It's cold outside better bring an extra sandwich (huh???)
If the grease is hot enough it doesn't get into the fried food (okay ma then where the hell does it go???? huh??)
Your post on food reminded me of a song by Ann Reed, a folk singer from Minnesota. The title is "Don't do your deep fat frying in the nude." It is very funny.
Yes, I got a chocolate shake every time I went to the dentist, then once I got older I rewarded myself with a chocolate shake even if I didn't go to the dentist.
On the farm, food was always a reward because we hardly got any treats.
Ya know, we do the best we can and damnit anyway, a reward or two won't kill us. I need to get back on rewards that are healthier though. Like oranges. Uhh, huhh, that's it, oranges.
Misha, I guess I should have written a food book years ago. That all sounds like my theories on food: none are good or bad by themselves. And most importantly: most people lie to themselves about how much they eat.
I'm with RW: eat when you're hungry, and eat slowly, so that when you feel full you can stop.
(Judy, I try to gain about five pounds this time of year, otherwise I'm frozen all the time.)
I tend to go the other way when I'm stressed, I don't eat at all. I seem to gain weight when I'm happy and things are going good.
I try to eat smart even though I don't always eat healthy. Chocolate is my weakness. And I also love bread. So I try to eat those things early in the day. I convince myself that I'll work them off throughtout the day that way.
I do the slow eating thing at dinner. I drink a lot of water (or tea) with my meals and only put small portions on my plate. Sometimes I say to heck with it and stuff myself though.
I haven't tried the cashews but I love chocolate covered peanuts. The only thing I don't like chocolate on is raisins. Oh, or bananas. That's a waste of good chocolate to me.
Kid
We pretty did the same thing growing up. Food was a big part of our lives, only it wasn't always healthy food. We had a big garden and we ate lots of vegetables but not fruit. As a result I don't like many fruits today. My Mother fried everything. We always had snacks on trips and usually had snacks in front of the television. And ice cream because my Dad loved ice cream.
I've tried to change that with my kids. I can't remember the last time I fried anything. And I always have lots of fruit on hand. But it's tough for me when it comes to the snacking because I'm worse than my kids on that one.
I'm the same as GT. I also don't eat when upset and eat too much when I'm happy. I've gained a few pounds lately and am feeling like I need to lose a couple. My biggest problem lately is that I'm at school 3 days a week, all day long so it is harder for me to get to the gym. The 2 days I have off, I want to see boyfried a bit b/c he's working at night now. Then I have studying and kids and their activities and homework every night and it is harder to get to the gym. I have been doing more elliptical at home b/c I can study while I'm on it but getting to the gym lately is happening less. I'm trying to get back to it.
I also have a serious issue with chocolate and that is chocolate anything, Snickers bars, Lindt chocolate balls (dark), chocolate chips, Twix, you name it. If it weren't for chocolate, I'd probably lose a few just from that
Most of the time I don't lie to myself about what I eat.
But...I'm so proud of myself. I finally kicked the french-fry habit midsummer.
Oh, it started out small. I'd go to get fast food for lunch, and there they were. Free with a sandwich and drink....even with a healthy sandwich. First it was once a week. Then twice. Then every day for a year.
The damn things are addictive...all the salt and fat and carbs. I excused it by saying I needed lots of calories in a short lunch, something I could eat quick, so "calorie dense" foods were the best choice.
Yeah, right. A burger and fries are the "best choice". What they are is a cheap, easy, and somewhat tasty choice. But a 46 year old man (even one who burns a ton of calories) needs saturated fat like he needs plugged arteries...which, of course, is the inevitable outcome of a burger-and-fry diet.
I don't seem to be starving yet. And I think I got those 5 pounds this week, sitting down every day at a conference and eating really big meals.
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