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Boredom and old eating habits



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I am struggling more and more with this.It used to be that gum, or a Protein drink (low carb) or a cup of coffee would just kill the desire to snack. I am not having that good of result anymore!

I have to keep all protien bars out of the house, out of my life as they somehow quickly turned into junk food. I was having like 2 a day and the thing is - that is just too much carbs/calories. Protein drinks don't have that same effect on me (I use the preimier Protein Drinks or the nectar powder - all pretty low carb).

anyway, i am struggling right now. grrrrr

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In addition to boredom, stress is the other "event" that really gets me looking in the fridge. I guess the 30+ years of bad habits and emotional eating don't disappear in 2 1/2 years of "doing the right things". It is the reality for me that I'm going to have to learn how to deal better with life changes and challenges instead of looking to food for the quick pick me up and entertainment. I thought this was supposed to be the easy way out? LOL.

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Hi Paul,

Just want to give you a shout out. That's quite a loss in your ticker. Congrats on getting to goal!

Lynda

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I'm not far out yet, but I'm definitely a boredom eater. I know this is going to be an issue for me at some point. I just wanted to add about the gum. Have you tried Extra's dessert flavors? sugar free and they have Mint chocolate Chip, Lemon Bar (my 2 favs). Root Beer Float, strawberry Shortcake, Apple Pie - they are really good and help me when I'm craving sweets.

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I'm not far out yet, but I'm definitely a boredom eater. I know this is going to be an issue for me at some point. I just wanted to add about the gum. Have you tried Extra's dessert flavors? sugar free and they have Mint chocolate Chip, Lemon Bar (my 2 favs). Root Beer Float, strawberry Shortcake, Apple Pie - they are really good and help me when I'm craving sweets.

This is a great idea. But for me, not so great in practice. I love to chew gum but if it's super flavored I will eat it like candy and keep popping new pieces in my mouth. By the end of the day, I might as well have had a 100 calorie snack! The only way I'll stick to one piece and chew it to death is if it's mint of some sort.

Ah, disordered eating. I mean, who else eats gum like it's food? When I was a kid, I'd eat toothpaste, too.

~Cheri

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This is a great idea. But for me, not so great in practice. I love to chew gum but if it's super flavored I will eat it like candy and keep popping new pieces in my mouth. By the end of the day, I might as well have had a 100 calorie snack! The only way I'll stick to one piece and chew it to death is if it's mint of some sort.

Ah, disordered eating. I mean, who else eats gum like it's food? When I was a kid, I'd eat toothpaste, too.

~Cheri

I wonder how many calories are in toothpaste? Just wondering! He He!

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Ah' date=' disordered eating. I mean, who else eats gum like it's food? When I was a kid, I'd eat toothpaste, too.

~Cheri[/quote']

Ha! And I used to think my Mayonnaise sandwiches on white bread were weird :P

You got me beat!

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I'm a total convert for the Extra Dessert gum flavors. They do help me postpone eating when I start to get the munchies and it's not quite meal time. I buy in bulk - you'd actually laugh if you could see my desk drawer. However, I think it has the unfortunate down side of reinforcing my bad habit of wanting to chew on something when I'm stressed or bored. I'd probably be better off using those calories for something else - it can add up.

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Hi Paul,

Just want to give you a shout out. That's quite a loss in your ticker. Congrats on getting to goal!

Lynda

Hi Lynda,

Thank you. Now the real challenge begins...the rest of life. Thanks for saying HI.

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Agree the dessert flavors are very yummy and a good distraction to eating something sweet. My current favorites are root beer and raspberry cupcake. Mmmmm,.....cupcake. :)

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My go to snack is a decafe skinny vanilla latte from Starbucks. 120 calories and 12 grams of Protein. I know it has a lot of carbs and sugar from the skim milk but it does keep me satisfied for a good while and I get some protein and Calcium out of it.

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In addition to boredom, stress is the other "event" that really gets me looking in the fridge. I guess the 30+ years of bad habits and emotional eating don't disappear in 2 1/2 years of "doing the right things". It is the reality for me that I'm going to have to learn how to deal better with life changes and challenges instead of looking to food for the quick pick me up and entertainment. I thought this was supposed to be the easy way out? LOL.

Paul!I see you just reached goal! Congratulations man, great job and long life to you! Please keep posting to the Vets section, your a big inspiration to us all!

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Paul!I see you just reached goal! Congratulations man, great job and long life to you! Please keep posting to the Vets section, your a big inspiration to us all!

Thanks. The ticker is a little misleading though. Not sure quite how to best change it. I actually have been at my current weight for over a year. I got lower and decided to gain back a few lbs. (I never would have ever thought that would come out of my mouth). Thanks again for the nice comment.

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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
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      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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