Horrible habit! Any suggestions??

angelka71 · Post by **angelka71** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:41 am

When I was younger times were tough and I worked alot of hours. I wasn't getting much sleep and having a difficult time waking up to get going. I've never been a morning person, in fact I swear it takes me 2-3 hours to feel fully awake even after a good nights rest. Anyways, this is when I started eating sweets in the morning to help me wake up and get going...much like coffee is to alot of people.

Now, many years and many pounds later that habit is still ingrained in me. It eventually morphed into waking up several times in the middle of the night, eating sweets and then going back to bed. While I've conquered that beast...the eating sweets first thing is still my downfall.

This morning I did better, I ate a couple of crackers first thing, which is better than usual. But I took a nap later on and when I woke up, w/o even thinking I ate like 8 oreos!

I swear when I first wake up it's like I have so very little control...but I swear once I'm wide awake I'm back in control and do just fine! I don't even mind being hungry! In fact, eating like this actually makes me feel good emotionally b/c it reminds me of how I ate growing up.

I guess I just need to suck it up and just do it already. But does anyone have any advice on how to get myself up and going w/o sweets? Coffee just makes me jumpy and gives me stomach cramps first thing in the morning.

Thanks!

drswife · Post by **drswife** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:54 am

I would eat something sweetish like yogurt and granola or pancakes w/ a lil syrup. It's okay to have something on the sweet side like that (in my book) but you don't want something that has like 90% of it's calories from sugars like doughnuts or oreos.

I'd plan the day before what breakfast is going to be so you're ready to go while you're still feeling sleepy in the morning. Remind yourself you can have oreos on S days.

Good luck!

rose · Post by **rose** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:37 am

How about not buying the sweets, or hiding them?
How about preparing your breakfast foods the night before so that you have everything ready and don't have to make decisions when you are still sleepy?
You could also try having complex carbs at dinner so that your blood sugar levels don't fall down quite so fast.
I find that stretching and exercising in the morning is a great way to wake up (not sure whether this is some hormone thing or merely from having the blood running about).

apple · Post by **apple** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:38 am

Not buying sweets seems like a good plan. Works quite well for me.

Are you eating enough at dinner?

wosnes · Post by **wosnes** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 9:03 am

If you must have sweets, then have sweets that aren't a snack food or dessert! Have toast with jelly/jam and fruit. Have yogurt with fruit. Cereal with a little sugar -- and fruit. Have fruit.

There are lots of ways to get the "sweets" in without eating Oreos. The easiest way not to eat them is to not have them in the house.

JillyBean · Post by **JillyBean** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:52 pm

This might sound way too simplistic, but try this: Before eating anything, have a big glass of water first. You could even bring the water with you before going to bed and have it right there on the nightstand (or coffee table if you're having a nap on the couch) when you wake up. After drinking the water you decide: What do I really want to eat?

Sometimes when I first wake up I am just plain thirsty and it comes disguised as "I'd like something sweet to eat." After a big glass of water I think more clearly. (Maybe it washes the cobwebs away or something...)

Good luck to you!

Nicola · Post by **Nicola** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:56 pm

If you're grabbing Oreos without thinking, then put them somewhere where you'd HAVE to think to get them- or better yet not buy them.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:02 pm

Yeah, I'd just not buy them. On S Days, you can go to the store and buy individual packs that will just last the weekend, or a special trip to the bakery, etc. On my weekends I have to physically go to Dairy Queen (my fav treat) to get my sweets. Not keeping it around REALLY helps. Eat a cereal that is "lightly sweetened" like Multi Grain Cheerios in the morning, that way you get your whole grains AND a tiny bit of sugar.

Nicola · Post by **Nicola** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:18 pm

If you're grabbing Oreos without thinking, then put them somewhere where you'd HAVE to think to get them- or better yet not buy them.

flipturn · Post by **flipturn** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:50 pm

I ditto all of the suggestions about not buying the trigger foods and also eating a nice breakfast that includes pineapple or other sweet fruits. If fresh pineapple is more expensive than you want to spend (yikes! up to $4 where I live), you could apples/banana/pineapple chunks canned in juice. Good for you that you conquered middle-of-the-night binges, which used to be a problem for me, too.

tgp157 · Post by **tgp157** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:13 pm

Raisin Bread Toast works for me in the mornings.

Post by **reinhard** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:03 pm

Orange juice is sweet, no-s approved, and very traditionally breakfasty. How about that?

Reinhard

Dawn · Post by **Dawn** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:33 pm

Well, first of all know that the AM sweets are a habit and you can break it. But since there a lot more "sweet" breakfast items than any other meal, I would say you and I are not alone in our enjoyment of a sweet for breakfast.

As for the snacks you are finding too easy to grab. I hear you there too. I live with 3 teenage sons and my husband. None of them have a problem with moderation, only me. So not having some snacks around is something that I must learn to live with. I do however put them where I can't see them so easily. And since I have been doing this plan it's easy to see how bad my problem was. The snacks I buy now last weeks rather than days since I am not getting into them - how embarrassing!

But like the others have said, there are lots of options that can satisfy your AM sweet craving. In the beginning I just laughed at those who suggested drinking water to curb hunger or eat fruit to satisfy sweet cravings, but I have to admit after a few months of doing this I do find that water does help when I get my late afternoon munchies, and I do find that fruit is sweet and satisfying - who knew? Of course there are times that shear will power is needed, but since those times are rare, I have plenty of will power just sitting around not doing anything.

So when the sweet craving is big, as it most likely will be in the beginning, you might try something like this.

Fiber One bar - 150 calories, 9 huge grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein - these stats make it a healthy option and not a sweet in my book. So on my one plate in the AM I have my fiber one bar, a serving of fruit, cottage cheese and a hard boiled egg - all for a reasonable 420 calories.

Nichole · Post by **Nichole** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 5:16 pm

OR how about a glass of milk with just a little bit of Hershey's Syrup? Not the store-bought ACME brand chocolate milk that's laden with calories, but the "homemade" kind. And not so much chocolate that it's dark dark brown, but very light brown. That might help for a little while to help wean you off... I don't know, the idea came to me..

Too solid flesh · Post by **Too solid flesh** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:33 pm

As has been suggested, a big drink of water first thing might help.

Fruit compote can make a tasty, sweet element of breakfast. I put some dried fruit (figs, prunes, apricots etc) in a cereal bowl in the evening, pour on boiling water and leave overnight. In the morning, it's all gooey and sweet and delicious in its own juice. It is almost too sweet, sometimes. Somebody on the message board recently suggested adding a pinch of cinnamon to dried fruit, and that is good, too.

Good luck! It will get easier.

angelka71 · Post by **angelka71** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:16 am

Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions!

I'm proud to say that I followed some of the advise this morning and instead of craming cookies in my mouth to wake up, I pulled up a chair and ate a bowl of cereal with my kids...and no oreos!

So many benefits with one simple change. I got to sit down and eat with my kids, which I never thought I had the time to do...too much running around trying to get everyone ready for school. But ya know what? It only took a couple of minutes and I actually felt more calm this morning than I have all school year.

Normally, after all the kids are at school, I'm so tired I go right back to bed but today, I felt just fine. I'm thinking normally with eating so many sweets in the am, my blood sugar is starting to crash by the time I get home. Today wasn't a problem and by the time I got home, I was in control again and the rest of the day went by just great!

Now, I'm actually starting to feel a bit silly. For so long I've felt like my sweet tooth habit was so deeply ingrained that it would take a monumental effort to change it. I'm surprised by how little effort it actually took.

I told a few people about the "No S Diet" today and they were like, "Ummm, ok. Let me know how that goes..."(snicker snicker). Hopefully, in a few weeks I'll be able to tell them how successful it's been!

JillyBean · Post by **JillyBean** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:02 pm

This is my hope too. I have tried SO many different weight loss schemes that I know some people just think "here she goes again." This one does really feel different though, and I'm not talking about it much. Just doing it. It's not about food all the time. It's about getting on with life. In a few weeks or months, if anyone should ask if I'm losing weight and how, I will only be too happy to tell them!

Jaymiz · Post by **Jaymiz** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:10 pm

Dawn wrote:So when the sweet craving is big, as it most likely will be in the beginning, you might try something like this.

Fiber One bar - 150 calories, 9 huge grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein - these stats make it a healthy option and not a sweet in my book.

Oh, oh, oh... I am SO glad to read this! Being a newbie to NoS, I was wondering if anyone else ate stuff like those FiberOne bars for breakfast (they're my favorite type of breakfast, but I don't eat them *every* day). I just LOVE the Peanut-Butter ones! I also like the NutriGrain bars, and the Quaker Oatmeal bars. But, the FiberOne bars are yummiest of all! Thanks for posting this!

Jaymiz · Post by **Jaymiz** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:15 pm

Just Jill wrote:This is my hope too. I have tried SO many different weight loss schemes that I know some people just think "here she goes again." This one does really feel different though, and I'm not talking about it much. Just doing it. It's not about food all the time. It's about getting on with life. In a few weeks or months, if anyone should ask if I'm losing weight and how, I will only be too happy to tell them!

I feel that's how it's going to be for me, too -- that people will say "Here she goes again". So, I've already made up my mind to not talk about it -- just do it. No sense having everyone watch what I'm doing, and be "policing me" in the meantime (( ever found that? That when you tell people you're dieting, they immediately start giving you advice, or questioning your eating behaviors?? Drives me nutty!!! )). Victoria Moran, author of "Fit From Within" suggests that, when people ask you how you've lost the weight, you just change the subject. I have found that that's the best idea... so that's what I'm doing. I don't talk about it any more. Maybe once I've lost the weight and kept it off I'll change my mind, but for now, I'd rather not have people judging my actions.

drswife · Post by **drswife** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:19 am

Jaymiz, I totally agree w/ you. I haven't told anyone about the whole Nos thing. For some reason the minute I tell ppl about trying to lose weight it makes me want to rebel against it like all of the sudden I think ppl are waiting to see if I'm going to keep it up or not and it's just too much pressure (real or imagined).

I'm not going to say anything.. This is just going to be the way I eat end of story. If anyone comments on my weightloss I'll just be like "hmm I hadn't noticed anyway how bout that weather were having?"

Maybe after several months of sucess I'll let the cat out of the bag if ppl ask me directly.

CrazyCatLady · Post by **CrazyCatLady** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:49 pm

angelka71 wrote:
Now, I'm actually starting to feel a bit silly. For so long I've felt like my sweet tooth habit was so deeply ingrained that it would take a monumental effort to change it. I'm surprised by how little effort it actually took.

I told a few people about the "No S Diet" today and they were like, "Ummm, ok. Let me know how that goes..."(snicker snicker). Hopefully, in a few weeks I'll be able to tell them how successful it's been!

This No S-ing is very empowering, isn't it? And I totally understand about not wanting to tell people about yet another miracle diet that we found. After all, I used to think the same thing about Weight Watchers when it was working for me....but I just know this one is different.

Like your breaking the early morning sweets habit, I have broken the "I must have a piece of candy or something in my mouth all day long" habit.

Yesterday at work, a co-worker (who knows that I am No S-ing) was messing with me. Said how could I have pizza when it wasn't an S day....so I told her pizza is a P, not an S! LOL! Then she said I had 4 servings, since I had 4 slices! (One of those they cut into squares, not large triangles.) So I acused her of eating hundreds of servings with her chinese food...one for each grain of rice! Some people you can talk to about it and joke about it, and they are supportive. But for the most part, like others, I feel like people give WAY to much extraneous advice if they know I am dieting....ugh!