[azme]

Here's a great article about the worst diet derailers.
http://www.ediets.com/news/article.cfm/cmi_187914/cid_7

It talks about family food enablers, or behaviors in our families that our conter-productive to our diets and what we can do about it.

What do you think derails your diets?

[verymom]

For me it's stress and traveling. I can be sooooo good at home as long as everything is going ok. But send me out of town or let my stress level get high, and I am very vulnerable.

[smk318]

I am engaged and both me and my fiance attempt to eat healthy on a regular basis. But, he has a crazy metabolism and rides his bike about a hundred miles per week so he can pretty much eat what he wants without worry. This sometimes leads to a loss of will power on my part b/c if he is eating something delicious (and fattening) I can barely resist!

[LeslieT]

I am so glad that someone else is a stress eater. Now just tell me how to stop.

[smk318]

Leslie - the best way to stop eating for stress is to find something else to fill that comfort void. That is why you eat for stress, correct? Because it makes you feel better. Try to find other outlets that help you to relieve that stress (see this thread Stress management) What makes you happy and feel good about yourself? Perhaps getting some exercise or doing something fun with a friend or loved one. Whatever it is that relaxes you (besides food) do it! Next time you are stressed and you reach for that ice cream or those cookies, think about it ... are you really hungry? No! So go for a walk or call your best pal and fill that void. Best of luck!

[bellerd]

cooking a dinner for everyone else, and then having to make myself something different. i tend to pick diets like atkins, where i'm restricted on what i can eat, but i don't want my kids eating like that, since they don't need to lose weight. it can be hard watching everybody else eat the food you're craving, and then eating your diet meal. i'm probably just using this as an easy excuse. it just seems i wasn't able to keep making two separate meals each night for longer than a couple of weeks. then you have to buy special foods separate from the rest of the grocery list, and that can add up.

[beth]

Stay busy and drink water.
Boredom is a great excuse for eating - don't you just find yourself in the kitchen staring in a cupboard with no recollection of how you got there? So organize your day so that at those vulnerable times, you are busy.

The other thing is to drink a glass of water when you feel like nibbling. There's a great book out called "Why French women dont get fat" and the drinking water thing is a big focus.

As for having to cook the family meal, I always find that after I've cooked it I don't really want to eat it. No, I'm not that bad a cook! But smelling it cooking makes me lose my appetite, but if someone else does the cooking and I walk inside....well, that's something else!!

[bellerd]

I definetely need to drink more water. One of my biggest "addictions" is Coke. I drink it instead of coffee to give me a lift, but it's loaded with sugar and calories. It's going to be like when I quit smoking...I'm just going to have to go cold turkey. Staying busy isn't a problem with 4 kids...I often wonder how I'm not thin as a rail as much as I chase after the two little ones . Also, I tend to get so busy during the day that I don't eat, and then I pig out in the evenings. I know this is bad, and I need to make sure to eat something during the day so I'm not so famished in the evenings.

[to be a mother]

Our culter is obsessed with weight. When we obsesse about something we can't seem to let it go. Have you ever met some one who is obsessed with the TV? They just can't seem to walk away from the screen if it is on. Well our society is obsessed with weight and therefore we can't seem to walk away from food. So when we get stressed or bored we turn to our obsesseion-weight and therefor food! I've battled with this most of my life, but have recently cut my ties to societal pressure. This inner change has brought about outer changes as well. I no longer wander into the kitchen when my work load is overwhelming. This has not be an intentional change but has come as a result of my lack of interest in weight. As a result, I am happy with my size and unintentionally I am losing weight. The key to this though is not forcing it! I use to try and force myself not to care about weight or how I looked. But, there again I was obsessing about not obsessing and therefore I found myself in the kitchen more than ever. I have talked with others who have tried this technique as well and they seem to have the same problem. So, I recommend not forcing this change of view point but you must truly feel it in your heart before the change can occur. I wrote an article on this issue on my blog at http://tobeamother.blogspot.com/