Question:
How have you overcome past behaviors - without therapy?

I will be one year out on March 20th. I have lost about 116 pounds so far, not the 144 my surgeon will be looking for next month. I have recently joined Weight Watchers to help get on track with healthy eating habits before my window of opportunity is closed, and to support my husband in his WW/weight loss journey. The thing is, I find myself saving all my "points" for the day so that I can continue with the SUPER unhealthy night-time eating. Has anyone overcome night-snacking successfully...without therapy? My health insurance paid for the surgery, but won't pay for therapy, and as we all know, the surgeon doesn't operate on the brain!! I don't know why I eat compulsively at night, but I need to stop. Does anyone have any suggestions? And do you think I can still lose the 45 pounds or so to get to a nice weight for my height of 5'10"? 326/210/165    — vittycat (posted on February 4, 2004)

February 4, 2004
I get the munchies in the evening too, but if I feel the need for something bad,unhealthy, I allow myself 1 small bite, and chew it very slow to really really taste it and ENJOY it. I sometime pop myself a fresh bag of Orvil Reddenbachers tender white popcorn. It satisfies the salt need, the crunchy need, and the sweet need, and fills the tummy need:0) Dont beat your self up, try to keep it in moderation and youll do ok. :0) Enjoy the ride:0)
   — wizz46

February 4, 2004
I am in therapy for a variety of reasons, not the least of them being my food issues. I am having WLS 3/8 and I am trying to settle some of the issues before surgery. That said, I have also been reading Dr. Phil's new book on "The Ultimate Weight Loss Stratgy". He goes into great depth how to deal with the head games we play regarding why we eat. He has a good outlook and I think it is going to help me even though I am still having surgery. You might look into the book as an option to weekly therapy. (PS I pay out of pocket for my pdoc because he is a Christian Psycologist and insurance will not cover him. $100/week.) Good Luck.
   — jeh

February 4, 2004
I <i>am</i> in therapy for my eating behaviors, but, whether we use therapy or not, we all must find ways to deal with the eating habits. <br> I have to decide <i>why</i> I am wanting to eat....am I really hungry? Am I bored? Is it merely habit??? Am I stressed? Once I decide the why, I look for alternatives to eating. Sometimes just being aware of why I am looking for food is enough. Other times I have to work harder at it...seek something else to do, give myself a big pep talk, or I may break down and eat something...HEALTHY! I may chew on a piece of beef jerky for hours! Drink a protein shake, eat sugar free jello, pudding, or popsicles. And, sometimes I still hit the unhealthy stuff....I'm not perfect, I am a work in progress. I don't beat myself up anymore when I don't stick exactly to the program...I guess we all have that defeatist lurking down inside us...you know, the one that says, "hey, you blew this, so what's the use?" <br> My therapist suggests that when I am playing "old tapes" (that is, wanting to eat for <i>old, wrong </i> reasons, that I should find an old broken door bell (or something else with a button), push the button to have a visualization of turning off the tape. That works sometimes. Sometimes I close my eyes and think of how I looked before losing 103 pounds, or think of the pain I had in my knees, back, and hip....either visualization is enough to make my want to stop my grazing ways! <br> It's not easy, whether we go through therapy or not. It takes work on our part, and I swear, I understand how an alcoholic or addict feels! But, as time goes on, the obsession gets weaker and weaker, and I have less difficulty in not acting out the compulsion. We just have to keep working at it. What a shame they couldn't turn off that switch while they're inside us! Good luck and big HUGSSSSSSSSSSS. Linda
   — Linda S.

February 4, 2004
I have been in therapy for years for stress. I have found that without addressing your emotional demons it is hard to kick the habit. However, I substituted one addiction for another... working out. That way if I do snack or eat something I crave, I don't need to feel bad for doing it. I work out at least 3-5 times a week. This has allowed me to keep losing and will also help me maintain. You may want to add exercise... serious exercise to your regime so that if you nibble you won't feel the consequences. Also, if you are going to snack make sure it is either high fiber or protein and NOT sugar or fat. This is very detrimental to your progress. CARBS are evil at bed time and even worse when eating at night. All insurances do have mental health policies. You may want to look into your county mental health programs, if you need to. They are often free of charge. Or if u have a HMO ask your pcp for a referral to mental health. Keisha
   — keishax

February 4, 2004
I am having the EXACT SAME problem. My problem was that I'd want to eat from afternoon to night, and think about it all the time. Then I would get in a 'mind battle' over 'should I eat it? should I not?' And then after a lengthy and anxiety producing mind battle, I would ultimately eat whatever I had been thinking about plus more. My therapist is having me try something called Thought Stopping. The basic idea is that when I start ruminating about eating, I immediately recognize what I'm doing and stop that thought abruptly with a replacement thought. The replacement thought should be something relaxing (like picturing yourself on the beach sitting in the sun), but sometimes I have to change that to something I"m looking forward to in the future. (Like a vacation.) I've been doing the Thought Stopping for only a week now, but it seems to be helping me. I'll let you know long term! One important point he gave me was that I need to stop the mind battles. Hope this is helpful.
   — raye

February 5, 2004
I found it helpful to be in a volunteer group - the Jaycees - and kept myself really busy. Then I hooked up with some very physically active people. I met a couple of girls who bicycle a lot, and I hang out with them quite a bit. It is great because they don't think it is weird to hunt down good protein drinks or bars, carry around water or Propel, etc... because that is what super-healthy people do, just like WLS people! My family would think I was nuts, but not my new "jock" friends :) It is a great source of support, and they are not food-focused- just fitness focused. And I spend a lot less time on my couch. Also stopped going to the therapist- so I save a lot of money :)
   — kultgirl

February 5, 2004
Krista, some great answers from the other posters. I am also a night time snacker and while I seem to have great control during the day, I love to snack on carbs and sweets at night. Truthfully I don't care why I do this, I frankly find it enjoyable. So what I needed to do was to have a plan how I could enjoy my treats while maintaining my loss. Here is how I do it (may not work for others). I first chose a reasonable weight/size for me. Your surgeons goal is not always reasonable-my surgeons goal was 15 pounds lighter than where I wanted to be(size 10). I knew that the lower I weighed, the less calories I could take in to maintain that lower weight, and what was more important to me, being a size 6 and eating less, or being a size 10 or 12 and eating more. A no brainer for me. You say that you save your points during the day to snack at night. Perhaps a better way is to save SOME of the points and choose snacks that are lo points so that you can have more. What I do is to eat good healthy protein foods all day long-small amounts, like an egg and cheese for breakfast, grilled meat over salad for lunch, a small piece of chicken with veggie for dinner, perhaps snack on fruit or a protein bar. Then while watching TV at night, I allow myself several treats-they are small but I have several. A mini bag of Orville Smart pop, 4 or 5 Hersheys kisses, 4 or 5 mini choc chip cookies, a mini ice cream sandwich, a handful of pistachio nuts, just to name a few of my favs. AND most importantly, I work out 3-4 times a week. Without the working out, I could not do this. AND I weigh daily and if I go over my very tight 3 pound window, which I do on occasion, the first thing I cut is the snacks (not all but some of them), perhaps add a work out session and that is usually all it takes. I found that when I denied myself my evening snacking, I felt deprived, anxious, and usually ended up eating something anyways and then felt guilt..now, no guilt, no anxiety and I am maintaining.And happy. Now if I was someone that couldn't stop at 5 Hersheys kisses and had to eat the entire bag, that would be different.
   — Cindy R.

February 5, 2004
Krista, Dr. Phil says you cannot stop one behavior without replacing it with another. When I started noticing that I get hungry and want to eat all night, I began to worry, like you. So, I said, obviously this is more habbit than hunger so I am going to only allow myself one snack after dinner and it has to be protein or a vegetable or fruit. I began giving myself more fun projects to do at night to keep me busy until finally it wasn't a normal thought to eat anymore. Good Luck!
   — Michele B.