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[quote=Anonymous]Short and fat NP here who has lost about 39 pounds this year while struggling against binge eating tendencies and strong cravings:

I get the sense from your post that you are a generally healthy person who has identified one habit (eating lots of candy) that you are disturbed by because it doesn't fit your otherwise health-conscious habits & lifestyle.

You asked why you do the thing. That's a great question and in my experience starting by identifying why a specific food habit exists is exactly the right thing to do if you're considering/attempting eliminating the habit.

To answer this question, I suggest making yourself keep a food journal. Either use your phone, or carry a small notebook in your pocket, or put a pad of paper right next to the candy (if you do this one make absolutely sure you round up ALL the candy in the house and keep it in only the one location). Every time you go to get a piece of candy, as soon as you have started eating it write down what was happening right before, whether you feel hungry, whether you feel thirsty, any emotions you're feeling that you can easily identify, and anything else that feels relevant. Then eat the candy. At this point don't focus yet on denying or resisting any time you naturally find yourself reaching for candy, just do your documenting.

Do it for about two weeks.

Then pick a time when you have a free hour or so and sit down with your two weeks of candy logging, and see if you can identify any patterns in when or why you reach for candy.

That will answer or at least suggest answers to "why" you eat what you think is excessive candy. It might point to a medical issue worth bringing up with your doctor. It might point to use of candy to address emotional needs. It might point to a simple habit such as boredom --> snack on candy.

Now you have come to a decision point. Is your candy habit something that you *personally* feel is worth getting rid of/reducing? If not, okay, you got the information you needed in order to answer a question you were wondering about and your journey ends here; there's nothing to change. If so, why? Write down your reasons, reflect a little, and set yourself a goal that you want to reach.

If you determine a goal to reduce or eliminate your candy habit, make sure you understand your motivation. Next, make sure you understand your problem. Go back and look at the trends you identified with your candy log.

Do you get candy when hungry? Make sure your food is satisfying and frequent enough to satisfy you --> less desire for candy --> less candy.

Do you reach for candy when thirsty? Do two things: try to hydrate more,  AND reach out to your doctor to discuss. Sometimes (not always, don't panic!) wanting sugar when thirsty might suggest a medical issue. If your doctor is not concerned, hydrating more should reduce your thirst --> less candy.

Do you reach for candy in response to feeling emotional? Try finding additional ways to support your emotional needs. Consider whether part of this support should include seeking out some mental health care. Either way, better/more ways of supporting yourself through strong emotions might lead to less emotional desire for candy.

Assess your personality and how you typically develop or modify your habits. Some people can take a gradual approach successfully. Other people (like me) find that way to be practically torture & a recipe for failure, and those people will likely have to go cold turkey. Cold turkey in this case is either get the candy out of the house and commit to yourself not to buy it or accept it from anyone OR if you live with other people whose candy it is get them to hide or guard it from you.

I have only experienced the cold turkey route, because that is what I needed. If my tempting foods are around me, I will binge. I know that, and right now I have not built my "self control muscle" enough to change that fact. So I accept it and work with it. My adjustment to cold turkey quitting junk food was awful cravings for a month. It was genuinely horrible, but it did work.

In your case OP I do not think you will have such long or severe cravings even if you do go cold turkey because 1) your overall dietary habits sound much healthier than mine were and 2) I quit most forms of junk food at once while you would be focusing on only candy which is a less extreme change.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do![/quote]

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