Mental blocks

JJJPK · Post by **JJJPK** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 8:30 pm

Little help here guys! I'm feeling rather depressed. I find that I am constantly absorbed by the thought of food.

I feel like I'm living from meal to meal and no snacks is absolutely killing me right now. I feel deprived. I'm always playing the freaking hunger games (lol gotta love the puns!) and it just kind of makes me sad. I see my entire life (as I've known it) disappearing before my eyes. I see afternoons at the pool (no popsicles

) I see friend's birthday parties(no cake

) I see an afternoon reading under my favorite tree (no apple

) And getting weird looks for constantly having to say "No thank you." And all the "Are you on a diet?" "Are you trying to lose weight?" Questions seem positively daunting. I know, I know, relying emotionally on food is awful, and extremely unhealthy. But, I confess, till this point in my life food has been a BIG part of it! It's almost like I'm mourning a loss!

lol. It sounds stupid. But it's true. So tell me, all you long time no s'ers, because I'm wondering whats so harmful about the occasional apple? Or a slice of watermelon in the afternoon? Nuts maybe? I want to be a good little dieter and stick with it, so tell me, will this go away? Will it get better? Will I feel less depressed? Also, I haven't really seen any "results" yet. I've lost a grand total of 2 pounds. Will it get less discouraging? Less weird feeling saying "no thank you" constantly? Will I stop being so frickin hungry? At this point I should literally move to Hungary because that would be a fitting place to live. lol. as you can tell, I'm depressed, thinking of all the things I'll have to forego this summer to stick with this. It seems almost impossible at this point. Somebody tell me it gets better, even if it's no true

Na Razie!

MaggieMae · Post by **MaggieMae** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 8:39 pm

You are definitely not alone! Someone just posted a similar topic not too long ago. I still occasionally think "can I do this forever"? Two pounds is actually a really good loss because you started. This is a SLOW weight loss, but it builds habits that will help you keep it off long term. You are a lot younger than most of us....perhaps your body is still growing and NEEDS a snack, especially fruit. I really think we associate fun events with food and that makes it harder to break the habit. Like you said, you associate the pool with popsicles, reading under a tree with eating an apple. Perhaps you can find replacements for the snack, such as drinking a flavored water that you made yourself with real fruit. As a nurse, I would consider a popsicle a "fluid" anyway because you can have them on a liquid diet. Haha. If you're at a friends birthday party, make it an S day and have the cake! I'm not perfect at this yet, but that's my two cents. I look forward to hearing some long timers chime in. OH, and could it be that this post was written while you're hungry....or even HANGRY??

Jen1974 · Post by **Jen1974** » Thu Apr 21, 2016 5:19 pm

No snacks is a lot easier if you are eating enough at meals. When I was younger I would have made my meals too small & been STARVING & obsessed with snacks between meals. Make sure you are eating enough at meals. Once you are doing that, snacks become so much easier to skip. Make sure you are eating fat. Fat will keep you full longer. I have cheese with almost every meal. And I only drink whole milk. I'm very rarely hungry between meals & when feel like I want a snack it's always boredom or something else, not hunger. When people ask you if you want some snack or treat say "I'm not hungry, I just had a huge lunch" or "I'm having my favorite dinner tonight, I want to save room" (: By eating a little more at meals it will keep your metabolism from slowing down so it's a win win (:

cedar · Post by **cedar** » Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:29 pm

Yes that's great advice Jen1974.. I tend to think if you're thinking about food constantly it can be your body trying to tell you it's hungry! It's not always emotional..sometimes it's more basic than that..since I've been eating more at meals and more fat also it's amazing that my mind isn't on food between meals so much..apart from when it's offered to me but because I'm well fed it's much easier to say no.
Some days though are just harder for whatever reason, and it feels like nothing can distract you from food thoughts..hang in there and try to remember why you are doing this..list all the pro's and cons and you may change your perception..so instead of seeing all those 'fun' times with food you listed (like icy-poles by the pool) you can perhaps see that you don't actually need the icy pole to call it a fun tim and instead you can feel happy that if you say no to the icy pole you're saying yes to giving yourself something you want more..or have the icy pole and call it an S day or a fail..try not to make it harder on yourself than it needs to be. Hope that makes sense! All the best xx

Rikki · Post by **Rikki** » Fri Apr 22, 2016 2:54 am

If you stick with it, you WILL get used to it- consistency is key. Your body is still adjusting as it is learning to expect food 3 times a day instead of serveral times a day where your previous eating habits were akin to "grazing". When I began this diet my stomach stopped rumbling 1 hour after meals because it learnt to stop expecting food constantly

I think the longer you stick with this, the more your eating behaviours become a habit- where you won't even have to think about it anymore!

Best of luck, you will get there

JJJPK · Post by **JJJPK** » Fri Apr 22, 2016 3:16 pm

Thank you all for the helpful comments! They really do help me get through

Those are all great tips. I found that fat does work quite well. I ate a lot of avocado and some nuts in my meals yesterday (along with milk) and I seemed to stay full a lot longer. I almost didn't finish my avocado burger at dinner(gasp!)...almost!:) lol. So yes thank you guys, I think more food at meals along with more fat will be really helpful. As Rikki mentioned I'm going to try to train my body to expect food less often. I'm going to try to stick with it rigidly a few more weeks and then maybe see about loosening a couple things up (like some occasional fruit or whatever). Happy Friday all!

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Fri Apr 22, 2016 11:31 pm

The thing I wanted to add is to keep an eye on your self talk when you're hungry and tired. all the things you said above you'll NEVER have again, in fact you can have them every single week if you like - on your S days. So your lament becomes: afternoons at the pool, only Popsicles two days a week, reading under a tree with an apple only 2 days out of 7 (or more if I put that apple on my lunch plate), cake at every birthday unless it is a weekday and I decide not to make it an S event.

Hang in there, eat nice big meals and soon people will forget to even offer you a snack

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 3:35 am

Hear, hear. Plus, can you see now that you were magnifying how much you sere going to miss all those things, and imagining YEARS of deprivation but all iw just a few moments? Of course it would make just a few hours of not eating seem torturous.

Research shows that overeaters at tough moments often magnify how wonderful some food is going to be and minimize how unpleasant they will feel after eating food they know is not in their best interest. You might notice yourself doing this next time, and it can deflate the urge.

And of course, if there's a way to eat moderately that keeps you from being bothered by food sadness, do it!

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 3:35 am

Hear, hear. Plus, can you see now that you were magnifying how much you sere going to miss all those things, and imagining YEARS of deprivation but all iw just a few moments? Of course it would make just a few hours of not eating seem torturous.

Research shows that overeaters at tough moments often magnify how wonderful some food is going to be and minimize how unpleasant they will feel after eating food they know is not in their best interest. You might notice yourself doing this next time, and it can deflate the urge.

And of course, if there's a way to eat moderately that keeps you from being bothered by food sadness, do it!

minimizer · Post by **minimizer** » Sat Apr 23, 2016 1:57 pm

I (sometimes) add another S exemption to my list of S occasions--Social.
Some social situations are OK to indulge in a snack or sweet when it would
seem quite impolite to turn it down, even if it's on a weekday.
If it's a friend's, co-worker's, acquaintance's, etc. birthday or wedding or
any celebration, I would still honor that person and his/her special day by having a bit of cake/dessert/snack, especially if it seems important to them

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 5:03 am

Since posting this I have read your intro post where you mentioned you are 15 and not overweight. It's great that you're doing this now (wow I wish I found No S sooner), but I gently suggest that the "result" you aim for is a sane and moderate relationship with food, not pounds lost. If you are very active and still growing you may need to make yourself some relatively heart meals to fuel yourself and keep from feeling too hungry.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sun Apr 24, 2016 11:58 pm

I think you meant "heavy" meals, not "heart." Or "hearty"? Agreed.

ironchef · Post by **ironchef** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 7:29 am

Oops, typing on stupid phone again - yep *hearty