Sneaky eats, anyone?

[Lara Kretler]

Today I had the rare pleasure of getting home from work earlier than E. I was in the door by about 3:45 p.m. and instantly thought "aha! what yummy snack can I make since I have the house to myself?!" Quickly I realized what was going on and bounded up the stairs to put my workout clothes on. I'll work out before I let myself eat a snack - I had a perfectly robust lunch.

So what was going on? A desire for sneaky eats. Long ago in my childhood, I discovered the pleasure of hiding junk or candy away in my room to scarf in secret. I saw a friend post about this recently in her own blog, and I know we're not the only ones. Eating in secret can be fun and it can also be devastatingly unhealthy. Why did I want to sneak a forbidden snack in my newfound alone time? Why would I want to sabotage my program or eat something I wouldn't eat in front of my beloved hubby?

The only thing I can think of is that sometimes it's fun to treat ourselves on the sly - feels wicked and naughty and taboo. That happens to be an area I've gotten myself into REAL trouble with in the past. So instead, like I said, I squelched the urge and came up here to post and read up on the latest FitnessQuest haps. Thank you all for being here and giving me accountability and a reason to keep my program top of mind! :)

Anyone else have an issue with sneaky eats, or urges to hide/scarf food or treats in private?

[Callie]

Hello everyone, I'm Callie, and I'm a Food Hoarder. A Sneaky Eater. Whatever you want to call it. As a child, I often hid food in my room - I was told later on (in therapy) that it was rather symbolic of a lot of other things in my life for me to do this. While I wasn't a heavy child by any means, this bad habit has come to bite me on the ass more times than I can count.

Having snacks hidden "just in case" I got hungry late at night, accompanied with the feeling that I just couldn't bear it if I didn't have *something* in the house... awful. I also run for the grocery store every time I get depressed - ice cream? No. Peanut Lover's Chex Mix or Fudge Rounds for me. I would also hide my treats so that no one else would be able to eat them.

Not anymore. I mailed off every last bit of junk food to Gabe last week, so I can't eat it. I do have a jar of individually-wrapped sour gum balls (Tear Jerkers) out in the open on my desk, and they're great - I can't eat more than 1 or 2 due to the citric acid content. But the point is, they're out in the open - no hiding. :)

[Lara Kretler]

Yeah, I can totally relate. I still hoard candy even as an adult, although I have gotten rid of it all and have nothing at the moment. When I am feeling insecure or uncertain or afraid about something, I'm most likely to go out and get some candy to hoard. It makes me feel secure and comforts me. My dad was very controlling about food and would make me eat things I hated and/or refuse to let me have things I loved. It f*cked me up, clearly. :P
Fortunately, we're bright smart brave grrls who can rise above this sh*t!

[Courtney]

ugh this is *why* I got fat. My mother and father were always on me about weight so I was a closet eater. I stuffed my face when no one was looking. I binged and forgot to purge! ;) (only joking) But seriously, this is what I do. And I haven't been able to reset my brain to realize that I don't hurt anyone but myself when I do these things. And quite frankly it's gross! I'm sure I look insane when I'm in a binge!
court

[Lara Kretler]

Aww, I can totally relate. And I think it is AWESOME that you are doing so great and working so hard on your program! My all-time favorite WW leader, big gay Jonathan, is always talking about how there's so much more to this work than just "eat less and exercise more." There's also the whole emotional, psycho-social component that drives us to eat too much or have compulsions like hoarding, bingeing, etc. That is a huge goal for me with this community - for all of us to figure out our own emotional and psycho-social "things" that we have around food. Kind of like group therapy, only more fun and less nerve-wracking. :)