Your tricks to 'embrace' the pain of your lifestyle changes?

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  • trina1049
    trina1049 Posts: 593 Member
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    Honestly, when you practice eating nutritionally dense foods the cravings go away. I still desire the Super Nachos but I don't want to eat them. What satisfies me now is Greek yogurt, lean meats, veggies, and fresh berries. They're my life now.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    trina1049 wrote: »
    Honestly, when you practice eating nutritionally dense foods the cravings go away. I still desire the Super Nachos but I don't want to eat them. What satisfies me now is Greek yogurt, lean meats, veggies, and fresh berries. They're my life now.

    I eat lots of nutritionally dense foods and I still crave "junk" food. But then again I also crave the "healthy" food too.... so I just eat things that I enjoy within my needs. Not eating these things never made the desire to eat them go away, which is why I regained weight after failing to stick to "eating clean" (well, was PART of why I gained, I also lowered how much cardio I did).
  • trina1049
    trina1049 Posts: 593 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    trina1049 wrote: »
    Honestly, when you practice eating nutritionally dense foods the cravings go away. I still desire the Super Nachos but I don't want to eat them. What satisfies me now is Greek yogurt, lean meats, veggies, and fresh berries. They're my life now.

    I eat lots of nutritionally dense foods and I still crave "junk" food. But then again I also crave the "healthy" food too.... so I just eat things that I enjoy within my needs. Not eating these things never made the desire to eat them go away, which is why I regained weight after failing to stick to "eating clean" (well, was PART of why I gained, I also lowered how much cardio I did).

    Yeah, I know what what you mean about still craving the junk. Now, however, if I have a taste of it, sadly, it's just not the same anymore. The foods I that craved all taste too processed and salty. I guess after a year of revising the types of foods that I eat I've actually lost my taste for the junk event though, in my mind, I think I still want it. I hope and believe that I'm done with the junk food now, I've crossed the Rubicon.

    I've also lowered my cardio but increased my resistance training which seems to work for me. I'm within 6-8lbs of my goal weight.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    hartmamp wrote: »
    I am very jealous that so many MFP members find it so "easy" to make the right choices. I understand that the right choices are not complicated, as many of you have so often pointed out - just make a small deficit, make the cookie fit your macros, eat more protein, and so on.

    But don't you ever just NOT WANT TO? I don't know how else to put it. I want a bagel for breakfast, pizza for lunch and pasta for dinner, and no, that absolutely will not fit my macros based on the amount of each type I will eat, with dessert to follow. It's not that those of us struggling don't have the knowledge on how to make this weight loss thing happen. I do want to lose weight and be healthy and all that jazz, but when I'm asking myself "what do I want for dinner tonight?" the answer will never be something that makes this whole thing easy.

    when I want those things I log them into my day and see how they fit. If I meet my calorie/micro/macro targets then I proceed to eat them; if I do not, then I readjust until I am near or at my goal.

    Taking your example I may not be able to have a bagel, pizza, cookies, and ice cream fit into my day; but I can usually make two out of the four fit..so I will have a bagel with breakfast and some ice cram for dessert, or pizza for dinner, and a few cookies for dinner.

    Also, as wolfman pointed out if you are primarily concerned with just fat loss then you do not need to hit your macros spot on.

    Calorie deficit for weight loss
    macro adherence for body composition ..

    as you lose more weight and get closer to goal weight, then you will have to get tighter with logging and macros...

    I would also add that if you do have an occasional blow out, it is no big deal as one day of being a 100 or 200 calories over is not going to ruin progress.

    Perhaps it's a bit easier for you to do this on a 2200-2800 calorie target than it might be for others with lower targets? Honestly the only topic I've ever seen this question discussed without judgement was the Questions in 3,2,1,Go! thread, where the lady said as the women lifters got tinier, their calorie targets got lower and they were HUNGRY. I'm liking the awesome tips so far but I've gotta say I find the dismissiveness and semantics of "no, hunger doesn't really suck" to the OP a little irritating
  • ogmomma2012
    ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
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    trina1049 wrote: »
    Honestly, when you practice eating nutritionally dense foods the cravings go away. I still desire the Super Nachos but I don't want to eat them. What satisfies me now is Greek yogurt, lean meats, veggies, and fresh berries. They're my life now.

    For me it's more psychological than that. Sometimes I don't want to eat healthy. It's a real battle for people like me who have never eaten any differently. Even though I may turn down the junk food, it's not because other food satisfies me, it's that I am terrified of falling back into old habits.

    Much, MUCH easier said than done for me. But I am glad you have found something that helps you.
  • trina1049
    trina1049 Posts: 593 Member
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    ogmomma2012 wrote: »
    trina1049 wrote: »
    Honestly, when you practice eating nutritionally dense foods the cravings go away. I still desire the Super Nachos but I don't want to eat them. What satisfies me now is Greek yogurt, lean meats, veggies, and fresh berries. They're my life now.

    For me it's more psychological than that. Sometimes I don't want to eat healthy. It's a real battle for people like me who have never eaten any differently. Even though I may turn down the junk food, it's not because other food satisfies me, it's that I am terrified of falling back into old habits.

    Much, MUCH easier said than done for me. But I am glad you have found something that helps you.

    Heck, if I had a choice I wouldn't ever eat healthy either, but I don't have a choice -- if I want to keep away from the doctors and meds. Fear also keeps me on the straight and narrow road, but I'm OK with that now. I am feeling satisfied and eventually you will too, just hang in there; you're right, it is easier said than done. I think the longer you do it, the easier it gets. I've been at it almost a year and a half now.
  • sansaeverdeen
    sansaeverdeen Posts: 13 Member
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    lizzocat wrote: »
    For some of us, it's absolutely 'pain' at times when we're first starting out. Completely changing my eating habits, starting a workout regimen, was hard mentally and physically. Now, almost 2 months in, my body has adjusted, but my mind is maybe, 70% of the way there. Being someone that binged my entire life, even when I lost weight before, changing that thought process is a work in progress. It's easy to say that this shouldn't be painful to be sustainable, but when your mind is ravaged by years of yoyo dieting, binging, doing fad diets, and never fully learning how to correctly lose weight, it's an absolute struggle at first.

    The only advice I can offer is that it does get easier over time. It's all about sticking to it- and exercise certainly helps to change your mindset as well.

    QFT. Thanks.
  • sansaeverdeen
    sansaeverdeen Posts: 13 Member
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    GrannieLinda wrote: »
    I understand entirely where the OP is coming from. My way of dealing with the shock to the system is to tell myself that feeling empty is ok and won't harm me for the short time I feel it. Hunger, however, if it is genuine (and I really have to examine myself to be sure it is if a meal is not due) means it's time to eat something if the next scheduled meal is more than an hour away - even if it's just an apple. Otherwise I console myself with the thought that all the time I feel this way I am losing weight. I am getting used to the concept that not feeling full does not equate to actually being hungry. Agreed there is a certain amount of mind training to be done. Old habits die very hard but I'm getting there. 15.5lbs down in exactly one month.

    Great post thanks.
  • Ellaskat
    Ellaskat Posts: 386 Member
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    A few thoughts for you that might help:

    Are you sure you're hungry? And not thirsty? Or not having a craving? (Which can be changed over time by eating better)? Or not having an emotion?

    I used to feel like you do, but figured out that much of the time,one of the above was the case- not real hunger.

    Also, I figured food so that really help me. 1/4 cup of cashews, or a tbsp of peanut butter on a few slices of apple or spicy maple pumpkin seeds, or a clementine. Those are my foods, but you'll find your own.

    Also, i started paying attention to feel what it actually feels like to be hungry. I think we are conditioned to think never is a 'bad' feeling. We feel slightly up hungry and we act like we're about to starve, and freak out and eat, or don't eat, and pout. I started to realize that my 'hungry' is usually a really small feeling, and that it's actually not a bad one. Now I don't let a slight feeling of hunger bother me,and I don't mind the feeling.

    I'm finding weight loss is just as much mental as physical, so training my brain has made it easy to keep going, to not be frustrated, and to enjoy the journey.
    Good luck on yours!
  • stacyd1030
    stacyd1030 Posts: 3 Member
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    CathyGillis wrote: »
    The negativity toward the original post is so disappointing. People share their feelings on here for support. Saying things like "I don't have any pain" is not helpful. OF COURSE people are going to experience pain or discomfort when they are making changes in their lifestyle.


    I agree!! Negativity is not helping anyone. Asking for advice is what this is for...not knocking people down!!
  • RoToQ
    RoToQ Posts: 93 Member
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    RoToQ wrote: »
    Would it help if we just substituted the word 'discomfort' in for pain. We can all agree that hunger is a negative feeling on the whole and then address how to deal with it?
    No, not everyone agrees that hunger is a negative feeling, or even one that is uncomfortable. In fact, I saw upstream where someone welcomes hunger as she waits for that big tasty meal.

    By your reply above, you're projecting an awful lot and trying to control the course of the conversation. And, you're calling another poster immature?


    Project? I'm trying to find middle ground, I'm not sure how you couldn't see that. Anyway I'm done with this thread. Good luck OP.
  • Danni_peck
    Danni_peck Posts: 31
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    Honestly what I do is I make sure to eat late in the day. I also have a protein shake for lunch to help with the pains, and then eat a good dinner. I know it's hard to not snack, but I just drink a protein shake and that tides me over for a long time. I've shrunk my stomach, but if I take a couple days off it can be hard to get back into the swing of eating this way, so I have to watch out.
  • vbenoit81
    vbenoit81 Posts: 22
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    I would say put up pictures to motivate you, to remind you not to give in. The pictures will remind you that if you eat what you don't need it will take that much longer to reach your goal. The more you eat right, the less you will want or need anything bad. Eat more protein which will help you need or want sweets or trash food. You will start craving protein, instead of meat. Drink plenty of water when you think you’re hungry but you are not because you may just need water. If you are craving ice cream or something sweet, freeze bananas, blend them up once frozen, mix in berries or eat plain, now you have ice cream. I hope this helps.

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