replacing binging with healthy habits

mom418

mom418

Cathlete
what healthy habits or hobbies do u do in place of over eating or smoking etc. ?
i'm sort of hitting a wall. since this past march i've been working on a public wt loss journey. (to everyone in my family) my battle with getting under 200 has been going for yrs, anyway i've lost 30lb now i'm right at 200. last 2 weeks been exercising and trying to get under, but unless i deal with my issues i wont be able to get under and i'll just gain it back.
so what replacement behaviors work for u instead of doing any healthy habit?
of course that's not a cure,but its a healthy direction.
try to keep in mind alot of the time i'm needing to supervise my kids. so locking myself in my room to exercise isnt a solution even if it sounds great to me lol. but they are school age now so keeping an eye on them isnt a challenge.
in the meantime, i have been building muscle last 2 wks, and i can feel a difference!thx in part to some of cathe's workouts. afterall its about being healthy not just a number. anyway, i'd love to hear your thoughts.
 
Replacement for eating unhealthy - eating healthy.
Replacement for smoking - not smoking.
Replacement for not exercising - exercising.

If you're looking for alternate things to do when you're bored rather than smoke, eat junk and lay around, maybe go for a walk, get a hobby, volunteer for something, help someone who needs you, work, have sex, play a sport, train for a race, talk to a friend, help your kids with homework, make up your own workouts, learn about something you're interested in.
 
For me, the biggest one is coming to this very web-site has made a world of difference!! I look for positive ideas and read the incredible stories of success by soooo very many people here!

I also give myself small goals- like I can't indulge in my favorite reward which is taking a long hot bath (bathroom door locked!!).

Just know that you are not alone and will always get great advice here!

Pam
 
Going for a walk is good.
Taking up a hobby that keeps your hands busy (and allows you to create something useful or beautiful) is helpful.
You can sometimes combat overeating by drinking a glass of water before meals (to take up room in the stomach), and when you feel like a snack, try drinking flavorful herbal teas.
 
tangent

I found a lot of help with my issues in podcasts. I am always mentioning this, so if you saw it already, I'm sorry for the redundancy. They are free and will play on any mp3 player.

IOWL Inside Out Weight Loss with Renee Stephens helped me with compulsive eating issues. The critical casts are the first 18. The workbook is nice but not necessary. Her experience is specifically with binge eating and how to become relaxed around food and the path to being 'naturally slender'.

The Reasonable Diet Podcast with Sandra Ahten has great casts about plateaus and how they may relate to numbers on the scale. Sometimes we associate experiences in our lives with a weight. We attach significance to the number, either good or bad, and for some reason we don't want to experience that. But, the thing is that you are not the person you were, you are the new, improved you, more capable than you ever were in your past.
 
thx for the ideas

i'm not really having a problem eating healthy food. but even eating 3 bowls of raisin bran isn't healthy, it's just too much food. and i dont smoke, i was just leaving it more open because the problems are similar and sometimes doing something distracting helps. most of those ideas r good and would work as a distraction.
the hobby is also a good idea for long term. i used to really enjoy drawing and painting, i may pick that up again. of course i'm not thinking about food when i'm mixing paint. cleaning around the the house has that effect too.
i think long term i'll just have to change the focus of my life. exercise and strength training helps too in a zillion ways.
i do the best when i exercise first thing so i'm focusing on becoming fit later in the day.
but the kids r starting school really soon. i'm excited about that uninterupted time to w/o. well after they get on the bus...but getting all 3 ready in the morning is going to be a challenge, thats a whole other discussion.
 
I'm into hot tea now. I have a problem with afternoon eating, and if I can fix me a cup of hot tea, it takes awhile to drink and relaxes me and helps me to not want a snack.
 
Just a thought, you may not want to refer to over eating as "bingeing" or any other negative term like "pigging out", etc. I think when you use negative terms to describe your habits, it kind of reinforces that behavior pattern, just like when you say I always do this.....you don't always do this, just sometimes.

Look for patterns that lead up to over indulging, for us, I just made too much food, or would have seconds, when a single plate was enough. It doesn't take very long for you to adjust to smaller quantities, also doubling up on salad or broccoli is not the same as hamburgs & fries.

my latest salad creation....Leafy greens with Red beet eggs & crisp cucumber, bacon bits, with lite honey mustard dressing......:)

you can do it :)

Linda
 
mom418 said:
what healthy habits or hobbies do u do in place of over eating or smoking etc. ?
Click to expand...

Habits can be important, but I don't think binge-eating is about habit. I think it's a way of giving yourself something because you're feeling denied in some way. You're busy taking care of your family all day, but you should be sure to get in some "me" time during the day, preferably after the kids are asleep so you can look forward to it. Every night, no matter what else may be going on, at a certain point I get into bed, pull the comforter up to my chin and settle in with a good, juicy mystery novel. It pulls me right in, and pretty soon I forget everything else that's going on. It's my way of relaxing and treating myself for getting through the day. I usually chomp on a bag of homemade microwave popcorn, too. Very low fat, but salty and delicious and full of filling fiber. In short, you have to learn to be very nice to yourself. The nicer you are to yourself, the less you'll have the urge to binge. I really think it's that simple. :)
 
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