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Poor impulse control regardless of terrifying consequences

Resurgam said:
You might find visualization could help.
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That reminds me how I'm often able to ward off carb disaster by imagining how a certain food tastes. I see that yummy tiramisu, chocolate or whatever, and I remember what it tasted like. Imagining the taste is almost as good as really tasting it, but less carby. While imagining the taste I also think to myself that I already know what it tastes like, so no need to taste it again. Does that make sense? Well, it works for me, but these days I hardly ever need to use that technique. Mind you, @BB8.HG I do recognise the vicious circle spinning you around. I think many of us have been there, but maybe, like a roundabout going way too fast, it'll let go of you and you can escape?
 
Hi sorry to hear you’re having a difficult time at the moment but don’t be too hard on yourself. Maintaining control can be a real struggle. Does your healthcare team have a psychologist they can refer you too. I was on a self-destructive pathway last year (couldn’t stop eating high carb rubbish food) and had a few appointments with a psychologist. It did seem to help as made me review how I thought about my diabetes. In a much better place now, good luck with it all
 
Some much good advice from ppl_! it really helped me reading ppl's replies.
Here is some "theory" it might help understand why IT IS SO DIFFICULT to change habits. Coz if it wasn't difficult we WOULDN'T be in this forum


Firstly, our impulse control ability is the result of our environment plus our life experiences.
So what is easy for one person is a nightmare for another.

THEORY 1:
Studies show that the way to create lasting habits , i.e run marathons rather than sprints, is to start low and slowly increase the intensity.
Some ppl are obsessive and can keep going at full throttle from the start, but they are the 5% minority! (apparently)

Theory 2:
Our habits and our need to "reward" ourselves has little to do with the particular behaviour, e g. cutdown on carbs, shopping, alcohol, woteva.
Which is why rational, "common sense" thinking direct with for some of us.

You could say "thanks a bunch! what do i do with that?"

Well , only u can know (find out) .
A hint may be: if we feel deprived (on a deeper level), a void, a loss, sadness, etc or if we need to feel special or need a rush of excitement or distraction (by shopping?)
it s about satisfying the deeper need RATHER THAN focusing solely on stopping the behaviour. Coz the underlying need is never looked at.
Apologies for long reply, I hope it is of some use.
 
I meant to say: ...why "common sense" advise doesnt work for some of us.
 
I have Fibromyalgia. I use my own home made ‘magic’ medicine to afford pain relief and help with insomnia.

Unfortunately one of the main side effects is getting the ‘munchies’so I really understand that feeling of just wanting to stuff myself with high carb items.

The only way I can control this is by only having low carb drinks and foodstuff in the house. Luckily I am unable to leave my house to get my hands on high carb items at Tesco Express just round the corner

I have found it very useful to have low carb treats in stock that are kept only for ‘munchie’ moments. American Keto food websites have masses of stuff available, especially for the sweet toothed, and although there is shipping and maybe import duty that make prices high, because these items are treats and not eaten constantly, the cost is way less than having a relapse in MacDonalds or Just Desserts.


Anyone friendly out there who can teach a blonde how to put my results underneath my comments and then keep them updated?
 
BB8.HG said:
You could well be right. Perhaps a slow re-introduction to low-carb could be helpful
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I'd agree with the others that 1,200 is too low because it inevitably means you will have to stint on fat (doing low carb and low fat is not sustainable). Your body is always stronger than your mind so you're setting yourself up to fail and then feeling bad when you do.
I had a clinical eating disorder so can recall when I was a heavier binge eater and got help because it was bad for my diabetic health. It was as simple as keeping a diary and noting emotions/feelings as well as fhe food. Eventually it took the lure of the forbidden fruit away but I still had lapses.
Being obsessed (white knuckles= red flags) is never a good sign so I'd suggest you build in a day or a meal of good eating which you consistently do as easily as you brush your teeth before you up your game! If you go wrong then think about every choice being a chance to do better rather than be perfect.
I found the podcast (US) Primal Potential https://primalpotential.com/ to be great because it has practical stuff but is mainly motivational based on someone who has been there and done that!
Good luck with nailing these new habits. as you say you have loads going for you but you are linking losing weight with massive deprivation/major effort and a sense of failure so it is hardly surprising you can't stay the course.
 
Hi BB8, sounds like you have been doing absolutely your best and you are now struggling an annoying behaviour that many people struggle with food management problems have (even if they don't have diabetes) with you however the consequences are more immediate. One thing I talk about with people I work with who have diabetes and dual diagnosis of mental health issue or eating disorder (or similar concerns) is the difference between impulsive eating/food shopping and compulsive eating/food shopping. Both impulsive and compulsive behaviours are an expression of a person's emotional relationship with food, and they seem to get entangled and become entrenched.

One way to look at is that impulsive eating/food shopping is often driven by a desire for "reward" i.e. an immediately nice experience and a good feeling, the behaviour works in the short term, however often later it results in feelings of guilt, shame, fear and/or failure. Whereas compulsive eating/food shopping is done to ensure we have those nice "rewards" to hand - should we feel that we want to eat them and therefore avoid feeling "bad" i.e. tired, upset, etc.

IMHO standard CBT often doesn't have the impact you hope for as it requires logical thinking, whereas the impulsive buying/eating is usually emotions driven, these emotions hijack the brain and dismisses the rationale thoughts. Not sure if that helps, but sometimes when you have a fresh perspective it helps you work out what emotion is driving the behaviour and therefore what you need to do next (which is what I spend time on with clients).
 
As previously stated, had never needed to count either before. At diagnosis started counting carbs. Swift, unwanted weight loss got me started on calorie counting as well, in an effort to find balance. Not got there yet, but maybe soon ?
 
I imagine that's a problem with the munchies.
The problem with snacking is that the pancreas (the main insulin producing organ) never gets any -much needed- downtime!!!
So it's not about the high carbs aspect, it is also hindering longterm insulin production...
 



Hey, I hope you don’t mind this but I’ve found that the brain overwhelms me.

I’ve since found that starving the brain of sugar and feeding it on fat, I’ve become remarkably “self controlled.”

I actually feel a touch of humorous guilt—it really is not a sudden change of my character.

It’s the brain on fat.

I look like a hero turning down chocolate chip cookies but while fat fed, it’s without craving.

When I made the decision, ahead of time, to have them on Christmas, in two hours I no longer had that “character” of self control.

Fighting the brain when it’s on sugar is (for me) a losing battle.

Fighting the fat fed brain seems to “improve my character.”

 
Little boy won’t eat meats
He’s got anxiety & food issues -hovering but loving mom etc. he’s never tasted meat.

Pediatrician pushed meal “pouches” when weaning.

He is a sugar addict. He’s sweet & loving but at about 2 hours in, he will turn and break things, etc.

“Food therapist” doesn’t want to “judge”

School has 1/2 the class as overweight and the other in “special ed” and on “the autism scale.”

Parents worn out trying to get him to eat meat, eggs etc.

He screams that they’re disgusting and smell.

Throwing out all foods, hunger eventually is so powerfully signaled that the craving of survival makes the food smell & taste wonderful.

In extreme, people saw this on The Magic Pill but working w the brain can bring more success than working against it.

This 5 yo may have been saved from type 2.
 

I managed to lose weight on lchf but then went back to carb laden food and have now put the weight back on. At the moment I am having so much trouble cutting the carbs and getting back to healthier foods but what you say makes total sense.
 
@Ponchu that is absolutely FASCINATING! I have an adult son on the spectrum, who was certainly born with the genes, but my theory is, an injection of antibiotic when he was 6 weeks (and before we adopted him) ruined his gut forever. I have pages and pages of notes, page one called Trying To Feed Son, and the rest various sequel-type names. We did an elimination diet for allergies (ages before autism dx, and he starved his little 7 yr old body until I couldn’t stand his whimpers any more. So I see that had we and his babysitters and schoolmates’ moms been able to withhold all food and juice until he drank water and ate what the rest of us ate, he wouldn’t have gained all that weight from his various adult-onset antidepressants? Well... he was skinny until he went on them. They change the metabolism. Co-morbid dx’s are a vitch.
@bb8hg so here’s just another thought, most likely worth zilch. Above mentioned autistic child was treated for a few years for yeast in the gut. You know when you make yeast bread, and you proof the yeast, you add sugar to it because yeast eats what? Sugar! So my theory for him now is that the sweets he is addicted to from those antidepressants have created a giant (and realllly gross) yeast colony in his gut, so it’s the yeast that asks for the sugar.
I am also a secret eater. Out in the kitchen alone, slivering at the desserts while making folks coffee; nobody in the car with me to know I just ate a whole pint of ice cream...; I’m stressed I eat what? Used to be carbs! I live in terror of an actual T2D dx, and have stayed away from carbs for 5 months, and very thankfully don’t go for the ice cream any more. No.. I’m now a butter and cream addict! All that could change at the drop of a hat, however!
Congratulations on the length of time you remained “pretty model”! What has happened once can happen again. I have no advice re what’s in your head, but do know all too well that willingness to self-destruct and -sabotage. We are all broken people. Good thing we’re all in this together!
 

You make a very good point.

I am lucky in that I use my magic medicine about an hour before bedtime (read that as going to sleep time) as I get little to no Stage 4 sleep (one of the Top 5 Fibromyalgia symptoms) so manage to avoid the munchies by being asleep. Stage 4 sleep is the deep sleep Human Growth Hormone release stage (HGH repairs the body at cellular level once released) so by achieving some Stage 4 sleep I can occasionally avoid morning stiffness and Fibro fog.

It’s only when I also need some magic medicine when I have a flare up that last two or three days that the munchie problem occurs hence having sensible things in the house. For example a munchie attack can be overcome with a couple of celery sticks with marmite and nut butter or a pan grilled Lo-Dough wrap with cream cheese, a few raspberries and a sprinkle of Stevia.

Munchies or not I stick to 60gms of carbs a day, and have lost 3 stone since September 4th 2018 despite being a power chair user so taking minimal exercise and dropped my 3 month blood sugar average from 71 to 48.

After a bad winter full of hospital admissions in 2017/18 I had gone from borderline (41), held there for 4 years by diet only, to 71 on September 4th 2018 and threatened with Metformin. No way was I going onto that stuff so asked for 3 months leeway and dived into the LCHP programme I found on this website. I was following the Diabetic Clinic eating guidelines and, whilst this way kept my bs steady, I wasn’t loosing any weight.

LCHP seems to suit my body.

Sorry for the life history, not sure why that popped out!

Back to your point......re-educating my brain what it feels is a treat and only having one treat when I get the munchies.
 
Every time I walk past the bakery I tell myself that it's another small victory. (Cheese and bacon puffs are the main food that I miss).
 
HI to you
Go low carb that is working for me lost weight and also lower blood sugars try it and see if it works.
Hope it works for you.

Colourfull500
 
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