What?

Hey everyone :  Since Tia left for the day I was trying to think of a topic to keep
the board going today -  I asked Deb if she had any thoughts and she came up
with a good one.

"What do you do to fight the urge to overeat or eat the wrong things (within the limits of your tool, if you have had surgery of course, or otherwise if you have not yet had surgery)? These have to be things that you actually do, not things that you have read about but never put into practice."

For me I would have to say Exercise:  One day after a confrontation
with my mother I was really upset and would normally have headed
for the nearest Wendys and gotten a Doublecheeseburger combo-
Since I was only 4 months post op obviously this was not an option-
instead I headed for the gym and did a really really big workout
lasted about 2 hours.  I admit now that I am further out the urge to eat
something I should not is getting really hard to fight:  but I still will head to
the gym for an extra hard workout if time permits.

I don't feel particularly successful at the things I have tried. It seems like different things work for me on different days.

* On the weekends, the best thing is for me to be extremely busy out of the house. I am a closet eater and am most tempted when I am home alone.
* Drinking something first to see if that makes the urge go away.
* Staying as far away from the kitchen as I can.
* Just say NO. This one only works for me some of the time.

I used to think I knew why I ate. But now I am no longer sure. Perhaps if I could get to the root cause of it all, I could be more effective combating this. I am still a much happier person than I used to me and my frustration is that I am in this pattern of success and regression. I do manage to keep it from going too far, but I am not really moving forward either.

I truly welcome what everyone else does to manage this. I am looking for ideas and insight that may help me figure all of this out and finally get to goal.

Well, I have to say it was easier very early out when I had no desire to eat and when I didn't know whether or not I dumped on sugar.

I tend to drink more to see if the feeling will go away, particularly if I KNOW it's not anywhere near time for more food.  I used to be an emotional eater at times for sure.  I've found that now I'll go lie down and read and/or take a nap.  Works for me now.

Heather

I agree, in the first year, I was much more religious and less tempted. I did discover that I do not dump severely and my devious mind starting using that to come up with ways to crave and do things that I know I should not. I guess I am just at the point of resolving that last bit of my old self. It is just such a tough nut to crack!

I forgot about sleep. I do that too sometimes.

I struggle on the weekends.  I keep the fridge,  pantry empty , grab a bottle ot tea or south beach bar.  Lately its been beef jerky - high sodium though. I dont bring junk into the house and I stay away from junk joints. I go to the gym when the head is yelling for comfort foods.
This is plan A
Dont have Plan B yet

I brush my teeth.  You don't want to eat when you have fresh teeth.  :)  It is also how I quit smoking.  LOL