Scared of trying moderation

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  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    I think, realistically, if you want to lose weight and have it stick for life, that you will have to learn moderation at some point. So, while eating to an alarm would definitely not work for me, I think part of this journey is trying different things with an open mind and seeing which ones work for you. Good luck!

    I agree. ETA unless the alarm was to help with medical reminders (e.g. need to eat every x hours for blood sugar levels), I don't see this as being something you can keep up long term.

    I'd also note that it's important to figure out what prompts things like mindless eating or binging on high calorie foods. FOr me mindless eating related to a) probably not drinking enough water, and b) not eating large enough meals. I do not snack, unless I'm just eating an entire meal spaced out over a few hours. But at that point I still am full from what I was eating earlier. But for a while there I wouldn't even do that... now I can do it easily and not feel that I want to eat more based on hunger unless my meal overall isn't enough calories (e.g. log a 300 calorie meal and eating it over 2 hours doesn't work, log a 600 calorie meal eaten over 2 hours does work). I'd also set my meals as x calories each, 3x a day, so that I'd stick to this. Like your alarm, this is not something that I could keep up long term and I now naturally eat more during the latter part of the day which enables me to "graze" throughout the evening if I desire.

    And binging on high calorie foods was due to me labeling food as food or bad. Food is just food, nothing is forbidden, and because of that I keep a lot of "junk" in the house that takes months to eat. I have chocolate left over from christmas, and some chocolate from even before then that I never ate. And I have some cinnamon buns and donuts and maybe a few muffins in my freezer from last year left. And I bought 2 small bags of jelly belliesa few weeks ago, I have half of the entire purchase left if not more.Knowing that I can eat it whenever I want means that I can just eat it whenever I crave it and not worry about how much I'm eating.

    Wow you've clearly got the moderation thing down! Yeah I don't usually eat out of hunger or thirst. My meals are pretty huge because I love bulking them up with vegetables and stuff. So a 400 calorie meal ends up being an oversized plate of food that's actually enough (volume wise) for 2. I think mine might be out of boredom. Or just because it bothers me and I can't stop thinking about it.

    A 400 calorie meal, even if consisting of a lot of low-calorie foods, would unlikely be enough of a meal for 2 people by my books. Huge meals are subjective. I ate a pot of soup that took ~1hr to eat, but I'd not consider it a meal for two despite being ~800 calories. It was just a big serving for my evening calorie needs, with about 4 cups of liquid and plenty of veggies, noodle, and chicken.

    What is the boredom causing, eating without thinking about your consumption or binging on high-calorie foods? If you're bored and just want to have something to do with your mouth, you might do better eating small amounts of food throughout the day, e.g. every few hours.

    The boredom makes me think about food. Usually when I think about it there's a compulsion to eat it. Particularly sweet stuff, but also normal food.

    Like I mentioned above, I only seem to have this problem when I'm alone, not when I'm around people. Which is what led me to believe its boredom.
    Then if you have the calories, eat?

    How many calories are you eating in a day, do you eat back your exercise calories, and waht is your weekly weight loss goal?
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    Virkati wrote: »
    Your idea of having to go out and get a single serving of whatever you're craving was such a good one, that I've adopted it. It makes great sense. Keep up your determination and don't let anyone get in your way. It's your body, your life, and you don't need to please or get approval from anyone. :)

    Wow thanks. I'm humbled that you decided to adopt my idea. ;) it is actually a form of moderation in my opinion.

    But I'm always jealous of the people on here that can keep the stuff in the house and not be bothered by it. My sister is also like that, and I've been trying this honestly for like 2 years without much success.

    The interesting part is, it only really bothers me when I'm alone. When I'm around people, I can moderate it just fine! :confused:

    i'm going to guess you don't want people to see you eat copious amounts of "junk" food, although it may not be a conscious desire.

    If you want the food, eat the food, work it into your calorie needs even if that means eating at maintenance needs.
  • PoisonIvy088
    Options
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    I think, realistically, if you want to lose weight and have it stick for life, that you will have to learn moderation at some point. So, while eating to an alarm would definitely not work for me, I think part of this journey is trying different things with an open mind and seeing which ones work for you. Good luck!

    I agree. ETA unless the alarm was to help with medical reminders (e.g. need to eat every x hours for blood sugar levels), I don't see this as being something you can keep up long term.

    I'd also note that it's important to figure out what prompts things like mindless eating or binging on high calorie foods. FOr me mindless eating related to a) probably not drinking enough water, and b) not eating large enough meals. I do not snack, unless I'm just eating an entire meal spaced out over a few hours. But at that point I still am full from what I was eating earlier. But for a while there I wouldn't even do that... now I can do it easily and not feel that I want to eat more based on hunger unless my meal overall isn't enough calories (e.g. log a 300 calorie meal and eating it over 2 hours doesn't work, log a 600 calorie meal eaten over 2 hours does work). I'd also set my meals as x calories each, 3x a day, so that I'd stick to this. Like your alarm, this is not something that I could keep up long term and I now naturally eat more during the latter part of the day which enables me to "graze" throughout the evening if I desire.

    And binging on high calorie foods was due to me labeling food as food or bad. Food is just food, nothing is forbidden, and because of that I keep a lot of "junk" in the house that takes months to eat. I have chocolate left over from christmas, and some chocolate from even before then that I never ate. And I have some cinnamon buns and donuts and maybe a few muffins in my freezer from last year left. And I bought 2 small bags of jelly belliesa few weeks ago, I have half of the entire purchase left if not more.Knowing that I can eat it whenever I want means that I can just eat it whenever I crave it and not worry about how much I'm eating.

    Wow you've clearly got the moderation thing down! Yeah I don't usually eat out of hunger or thirst. My meals are pretty huge because I love bulking them up with vegetables and stuff. So a 400 calorie meal ends up being an oversized plate of food that's actually enough (volume wise) for 2. I think mine might be out of boredom. Or just because it bothers me and I can't stop thinking about it.

    A 400 calorie meal, even if consisting of a lot of low-calorie foods, would unlikely be enough of a meal for 2 people by my books. Huge meals are subjective. I ate a pot of soup that took ~1hr to eat, but I'd not consider it a meal for two despite being ~800 calories. It was just a big serving for my evening calorie needs, with about 4 cups of liquid and plenty of veggies, noodle, and chicken.

    What is the boredom causing, eating without thinking about your consumption or binging on high-calorie foods? If you're bored and just want to have something to do with your mouth, you might do better eating small amounts of food throughout the day, e.g. every few hours.

    The boredom makes me think about food. Usually when I think about it there's a compulsion to eat it. Particularly sweet stuff, but also normal food.

    Like I mentioned above, I only seem to have this problem when I'm alone, not when I'm around people. Which is what led me to believe its boredom.
    Then if you have the calories, eat?

    How many calories are you eating in a day, do you eat back your exercise calories, and waht is your weekly weight loss goal?

    When I started here I was netting 1250. I've since added 100 so I now net 1350. And I'm eating between 1500-1600 depending on the amount/type of exercise I do. My weight loss goal is a little less than half a kilo a week. I also have one day a week where I eat up to maintenance. Sunday. When we eat dessert after dinner.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I'm going to ATTEMPT moderation with sweets. I've never been very good at it and it always ends...not so good...

    It's because of these failed attempts that I've kept it out of my home, and only buy them in single servings when I crave them.

    But I have now adopted a funky way of eating. I set an alarm for meal and snack times. Unless the alarm goes off, I do not eat, and only drink water. I started doing this because I was beginning to notice a mindless eating thing happening, and now I'm thinking it might help with moderation too.

    Any thoughts, opinions and support are welcome. :)

    Yep. Plan it all out. I went from never allowing certain foods in my home because I would binge to now having them here and eating everything in moderation. This includes sweets, nuts, etc. It's awesome to be able to moderate foods and to no longer deprive myself.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I just have trouble sticking to it if candy is involved. Those darn things whisper to me. They are evil. In a good way.

    Turn the volume down, tell them no and walk away, or have an exorcism done of that evil chocolate. You have the control. :)
  • njitaliana
    njitaliana Posts: 814 Member
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    I like your alarm idea. If you don't think you can handle the sweets, it's okay to keep buying single servings. You can always try buying a week's worth to see how it goes and set a goal that for one week, you won't eat more than one serving. Then, take it from there to see how it goes.
  • PoisonIvy088
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    Virkati wrote: »
    Your idea of having to go out and get a single serving of whatever you're craving was such a good one, that I've adopted it. It makes great sense. Keep up your determination and don't let anyone get in your way. It's your body, your life, and you don't need to please or get approval from anyone. :)

    Wow thanks. I'm humbled that you decided to adopt my idea. ;) it is actually a form of moderation in my opinion.

    But I'm always jealous of the people on here that can keep the stuff in the house and not be bothered by it. My sister is also like that, and I've been trying this honestly for like 2 years without much success.

    The interesting part is, it only really bothers me when I'm alone. When I'm around people, I can moderate it just fine! :confused:

    i'm going to guess you don't want people to see you eat copious amounts of "junk" food, although it may not be a conscious desire.

    If you want the food, eat the food, work it into your calorie needs even if that means eating at maintenance needs.

    Actually its not that. its just that it doesn't bother my mind as much. I think about other stuff because we are talking and doing other things.

    And a little bit...because I know the candy is not "mine" and its "theirs" so I don't feel like I have any right to just take it. Weird but true.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Options
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    I think, realistically, if you want to lose weight and have it stick for life, that you will have to learn moderation at some point. So, while eating to an alarm would definitely not work for me, I think part of this journey is trying different things with an open mind and seeing which ones work for you. Good luck!

    I agree. ETA unless the alarm was to help with medical reminders (e.g. need to eat every x hours for blood sugar levels), I don't see this as being something you can keep up long term.

    I'd also note that it's important to figure out what prompts things like mindless eating or binging on high calorie foods. FOr me mindless eating related to a) probably not drinking enough water, and b) not eating large enough meals. I do not snack, unless I'm just eating an entire meal spaced out over a few hours. But at that point I still am full from what I was eating earlier. But for a while there I wouldn't even do that... now I can do it easily and not feel that I want to eat more based on hunger unless my meal overall isn't enough calories (e.g. log a 300 calorie meal and eating it over 2 hours doesn't work, log a 600 calorie meal eaten over 2 hours does work). I'd also set my meals as x calories each, 3x a day, so that I'd stick to this. Like your alarm, this is not something that I could keep up long term and I now naturally eat more during the latter part of the day which enables me to "graze" throughout the evening if I desire.

    And binging on high calorie foods was due to me labeling food as food or bad. Food is just food, nothing is forbidden, and because of that I keep a lot of "junk" in the house that takes months to eat. I have chocolate left over from christmas, and some chocolate from even before then that I never ate. And I have some cinnamon buns and donuts and maybe a few muffins in my freezer from last year left. And I bought 2 small bags of jelly belliesa few weeks ago, I have half of the entire purchase left if not more.Knowing that I can eat it whenever I want means that I can just eat it whenever I crave it and not worry about how much I'm eating.

    Wow you've clearly got the moderation thing down! Yeah I don't usually eat out of hunger or thirst. My meals are pretty huge because I love bulking them up with vegetables and stuff. So a 400 calorie meal ends up being an oversized plate of food that's actually enough (volume wise) for 2. I think mine might be out of boredom. Or just because it bothers me and I can't stop thinking about it.

    A 400 calorie meal, even if consisting of a lot of low-calorie foods, would unlikely be enough of a meal for 2 people by my books. Huge meals are subjective. I ate a pot of soup that took ~1hr to eat, but I'd not consider it a meal for two despite being ~800 calories. It was just a big serving for my evening calorie needs, with about 4 cups of liquid and plenty of veggies, noodle, and chicken.

    What is the boredom causing, eating without thinking about your consumption or binging on high-calorie foods? If you're bored and just want to have something to do with your mouth, you might do better eating small amounts of food throughout the day, e.g. every few hours.

    The boredom makes me think about food. Usually when I think about it there's a compulsion to eat it. Particularly sweet stuff, but also normal food.

    Like I mentioned above, I only seem to have this problem when I'm alone, not when I'm around people. Which is what led me to believe its boredom.
    Then if you have the calories, eat?

    How many calories are you eating in a day, do you eat back your exercise calories, and waht is your weekly weight loss goal?

    When I started here I was netting 1250. I've since added 100 so I now net 1350. And I'm eating between 1500-1600 depending on the amount/type of exercise I do. My weight loss goal is a little less than half a kilo a week. I also have one day a week where I eat up to maintenance. Sunday. When we eat dessert after dinner.
    SO a roughly 500 calorie deficit, right? With so little to lose, change it to a 250ish calorie deficit. This will give you more room to eat reasonably.
  • JimFsfitnesspal
    JimFsfitnesspal Posts: 313 Member
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    Ivy,

    I think you are going to be fine no matter what. You gave me alot of ideas for myself. You seem like you want to be successful.

    I think not buying them in the first place is an awesome idea. I'm not sure why you would want to change that.
  • valente347
    valente347 Posts: 201 Member
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    I've found that it's much easier to control myself around food when I feel in control of the rest of my life. I don't keep the most tempting sweets or snacks in the house if I'm sleeping badly or if I have a lot of stress. I will eat all of them at once. Once my life goes back to normal, I have little problem with sweets, snacking, mindless eating, or overeating.
  • Virkati
    Virkati Posts: 679 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    Virkati wrote: »
    Your idea of having to go out and get a single serving of whatever you're craving was such a good one, that I've adopted it. It makes great sense. Keep up your determination and don't let anyone get in your way. It's your body, your life, and you don't need to please or get approval from anyone. :)

    Wow thanks. I'm humbled that you decided to adopt my idea. ;) it is actually a form of moderation in my opinion.

    But I'm always jealous of the people on here that can keep the stuff in the house and not be bothered by it. My sister is also like that, and I've been trying this honestly for like 2 years without much success.

    The interesting part is, it only really bothers me when I'm alone. When I'm around people, I can moderate it just fine! :confused:

    i'm going to guess you don't want people to see you eat copious amounts of "junk" food, although it may not be a conscious desire.

    If you want the food, eat the food, work it into your calorie needs even if that means eating at maintenance needs.

    This^^^^
    Never letting yourself have something is a set up for disaster when you finally DO have it. Nothing is a "no". It might be a "not yet" or a "not today", but nothing is forbidden. BUT, you have to do it on your terms. You can do this!
  • PoisonIvy088
    Options
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    I think, realistically, if you want to lose weight and have it stick for life, that you will have to learn moderation at some point. So, while eating to an alarm would definitely not work for me, I think part of this journey is trying different things with an open mind and seeing which ones work for you. Good luck!

    I agree. ETA unless the alarm was to help with medical reminders (e.g. need to eat every x hours for blood sugar levels), I don't see this as being something you can keep up long term.

    I'd also note that it's important to figure out what prompts things like mindless eating or binging on high calorie foods. FOr me mindless eating related to a) probably not drinking enough water, and b) not eating large enough meals. I do not snack, unless I'm just eating an entire meal spaced out over a few hours. But at that point I still am full from what I was eating earlier. But for a while there I wouldn't even do that... now I can do it easily and not feel that I want to eat more based on hunger unless my meal overall isn't enough calories (e.g. log a 300 calorie meal and eating it over 2 hours doesn't work, log a 600 calorie meal eaten over 2 hours does work). I'd also set my meals as x calories each, 3x a day, so that I'd stick to this. Like your alarm, this is not something that I could keep up long term and I now naturally eat more during the latter part of the day which enables me to "graze" throughout the evening if I desire.

    And binging on high calorie foods was due to me labeling food as food or bad. Food is just food, nothing is forbidden, and because of that I keep a lot of "junk" in the house that takes months to eat. I have chocolate left over from christmas, and some chocolate from even before then that I never ate. And I have some cinnamon buns and donuts and maybe a few muffins in my freezer from last year left. And I bought 2 small bags of jelly belliesa few weeks ago, I have half of the entire purchase left if not more.Knowing that I can eat it whenever I want means that I can just eat it whenever I crave it and not worry about how much I'm eating.

    Wow you've clearly got the moderation thing down! Yeah I don't usually eat out of hunger or thirst. My meals are pretty huge because I love bulking them up with vegetables and stuff. So a 400 calorie meal ends up being an oversized plate of food that's actually enough (volume wise) for 2. I think mine might be out of boredom. Or just because it bothers me and I can't stop thinking about it.

    A 400 calorie meal, even if consisting of a lot of low-calorie foods, would unlikely be enough of a meal for 2 people by my books. Huge meals are subjective. I ate a pot of soup that took ~1hr to eat, but I'd not consider it a meal for two despite being ~800 calories. It was just a big serving for my evening calorie needs, with about 4 cups of liquid and plenty of veggies, noodle, and chicken.

    What is the boredom causing, eating without thinking about your consumption or binging on high-calorie foods? If you're bored and just want to have something to do with your mouth, you might do better eating small amounts of food throughout the day, e.g. every few hours.

    The boredom makes me think about food. Usually when I think about it there's a compulsion to eat it. Particularly sweet stuff, but also normal food.

    Like I mentioned above, I only seem to have this problem when I'm alone, not when I'm around people. Which is what led me to believe its boredom.
    Then if you have the calories, eat?

    How many calories are you eating in a day, do you eat back your exercise calories, and waht is your weekly weight loss goal?

    When I started here I was netting 1250. I've since added 100 so I now net 1350. And I'm eating between 1500-1600 depending on the amount/type of exercise I do. My weight loss goal is a little less than half a kilo a week. I also have one day a week where I eat up to maintenance. Sunday. When we eat dessert after dinner.
    SO a roughly 500 calorie deficit, right? With so little to lose, change it to a 250ish calorie deficit. This will give you more room to eat reasonably.

    More like a 300 cal deficit. I'm pretty sedentary if I don't exercise intentionally. Like, I only get up to go and pee. Lol. My maintenance (at sedentary level, I do eat back any intentional exercise calories) is only 1650.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Options
    Virkati wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    Virkati wrote: »
    Your idea of having to go out and get a single serving of whatever you're craving was such a good one, that I've adopted it. It makes great sense. Keep up your determination and don't let anyone get in your way. It's your body, your life, and you don't need to please or get approval from anyone. :)

    Wow thanks. I'm humbled that you decided to adopt my idea. ;) it is actually a form of moderation in my opinion.

    But I'm always jealous of the people on here that can keep the stuff in the house and not be bothered by it. My sister is also like that, and I've been trying this honestly for like 2 years without much success.

    The interesting part is, it only really bothers me when I'm alone. When I'm around people, I can moderate it just fine! :confused:

    i'm going to guess you don't want people to see you eat copious amounts of "junk" food, although it may not be a conscious desire.

    If you want the food, eat the food, work it into your calorie needs even if that means eating at maintenance needs.

    This^^^^
    Never letting yourself have something is a set up for disaster when you finally DO have it. Nothing is a "no". It might be a "not yet" or a "not today", but nothing is forbidden. BUT, you have to do it on your terms. You can do this!

    Yup. I don't see how the food you be "theirs" either (your friends'?) unless they bought and brought the food. In which case if you want it say "hey can I have some"
  • PoisonIvy088
    Options
    Ivy,

    I think you are going to be fine no matter what. You gave me alot of ideas for myself. You seem like you want to be successful.

    I think not buying them in the first place is an awesome idea. I'm not sure why you would want to change that.

    Because people with strong willpowers inspire me. ;)
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Options
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    I think, realistically, if you want to lose weight and have it stick for life, that you will have to learn moderation at some point. So, while eating to an alarm would definitely not work for me, I think part of this journey is trying different things with an open mind and seeing which ones work for you. Good luck!

    I agree. ETA unless the alarm was to help with medical reminders (e.g. need to eat every x hours for blood sugar levels), I don't see this as being something you can keep up long term.

    I'd also note that it's important to figure out what prompts things like mindless eating or binging on high calorie foods. FOr me mindless eating related to a) probably not drinking enough water, and b) not eating large enough meals. I do not snack, unless I'm just eating an entire meal spaced out over a few hours. But at that point I still am full from what I was eating earlier. But for a while there I wouldn't even do that... now I can do it easily and not feel that I want to eat more based on hunger unless my meal overall isn't enough calories (e.g. log a 300 calorie meal and eating it over 2 hours doesn't work, log a 600 calorie meal eaten over 2 hours does work). I'd also set my meals as x calories each, 3x a day, so that I'd stick to this. Like your alarm, this is not something that I could keep up long term and I now naturally eat more during the latter part of the day which enables me to "graze" throughout the evening if I desire.

    And binging on high calorie foods was due to me labeling food as food or bad. Food is just food, nothing is forbidden, and because of that I keep a lot of "junk" in the house that takes months to eat. I have chocolate left over from christmas, and some chocolate from even before then that I never ate. And I have some cinnamon buns and donuts and maybe a few muffins in my freezer from last year left. And I bought 2 small bags of jelly belliesa few weeks ago, I have half of the entire purchase left if not more.Knowing that I can eat it whenever I want means that I can just eat it whenever I crave it and not worry about how much I'm eating.

    Wow you've clearly got the moderation thing down! Yeah I don't usually eat out of hunger or thirst. My meals are pretty huge because I love bulking them up with vegetables and stuff. So a 400 calorie meal ends up being an oversized plate of food that's actually enough (volume wise) for 2. I think mine might be out of boredom. Or just because it bothers me and I can't stop thinking about it.

    A 400 calorie meal, even if consisting of a lot of low-calorie foods, would unlikely be enough of a meal for 2 people by my books. Huge meals are subjective. I ate a pot of soup that took ~1hr to eat, but I'd not consider it a meal for two despite being ~800 calories. It was just a big serving for my evening calorie needs, with about 4 cups of liquid and plenty of veggies, noodle, and chicken.

    What is the boredom causing, eating without thinking about your consumption or binging on high-calorie foods? If you're bored and just want to have something to do with your mouth, you might do better eating small amounts of food throughout the day, e.g. every few hours.

    The boredom makes me think about food. Usually when I think about it there's a compulsion to eat it. Particularly sweet stuff, but also normal food.

    Like I mentioned above, I only seem to have this problem when I'm alone, not when I'm around people. Which is what led me to believe its boredom.
    Then if you have the calories, eat?

    How many calories are you eating in a day, do you eat back your exercise calories, and waht is your weekly weight loss goal?

    When I started here I was netting 1250. I've since added 100 so I now net 1350. And I'm eating between 1500-1600 depending on the amount/type of exercise I do. My weight loss goal is a little less than half a kilo a week. I also have one day a week where I eat up to maintenance. Sunday. When we eat dessert after dinner.
    SO a roughly 500 calorie deficit, right? With so little to lose, change it to a 250ish calorie deficit. This will give you more room to eat reasonably.

    More like a 300 cal deficit. I'm pretty sedentary if I don't exercise intentionally. Like, I only get up to go and pee. Lol. My maintenance (at sedentary level, I do eat back any intentional exercise calories) is only 1650.

    I doubt you are as sedentary as you think you are. Most people here would likely do just fine using the lightly active setting.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    I can't even do sweets moderation... I have no self control. I just had to eliminate all sweets from my diet. If we have candy in our house and i even have 1... consider the bag gone because I will eat the rest.

    If you find anything that helps you eat sweets in moderation please tell me. I would love to be able to eat sweets.

    Log however much you want that fits into your caloric needs, eat it. Restricting its availability and frequency is unlikely to be beneficial. This is waht caused me to eat 3 bars of 3-4 boxes of chocolate in a single day.

    Thank you for the advice. But I've tried that and I always just end up eating everything and more. It's best I just take it completely out of my diet and that is the only thing that has ever worked for me.
  • PoisonIvy088
    Options
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    ana3067 wrote: »
    I think, realistically, if you want to lose weight and have it stick for life, that you will have to learn moderation at some point. So, while eating to an alarm would definitely not work for me, I think part of this journey is trying different things with an open mind and seeing which ones work for you. Good luck!

    I agree. ETA unless the alarm was to help with medical reminders (e.g. need to eat every x hours for blood sugar levels), I don't see this as being something you can keep up long term.

    I'd also note that it's important to figure out what prompts things like mindless eating or binging on high calorie foods. FOr me mindless eating related to a) probably not drinking enough water, and b) not eating large enough meals. I do not snack, unless I'm just eating an entire meal spaced out over a few hours. But at that point I still am full from what I was eating earlier. But for a while there I wouldn't even do that... now I can do it easily and not feel that I want to eat more based on hunger unless my meal overall isn't enough calories (e.g. log a 300 calorie meal and eating it over 2 hours doesn't work, log a 600 calorie meal eaten over 2 hours does work). I'd also set my meals as x calories each, 3x a day, so that I'd stick to this. Like your alarm, this is not something that I could keep up long term and I now naturally eat more during the latter part of the day which enables me to "graze" throughout the evening if I desire.

    And binging on high calorie foods was due to me labeling food as food or bad. Food is just food, nothing is forbidden, and because of that I keep a lot of "junk" in the house that takes months to eat. I have chocolate left over from christmas, and some chocolate from even before then that I never ate. And I have some cinnamon buns and donuts and maybe a few muffins in my freezer from last year left. And I bought 2 small bags of jelly belliesa few weeks ago, I have half of the entire purchase left if not more.Knowing that I can eat it whenever I want means that I can just eat it whenever I crave it and not worry about how much I'm eating.

    Wow you've clearly got the moderation thing down! Yeah I don't usually eat out of hunger or thirst. My meals are pretty huge because I love bulking them up with vegetables and stuff. So a 400 calorie meal ends up being an oversized plate of food that's actually enough (volume wise) for 2. I think mine might be out of boredom. Or just because it bothers me and I can't stop thinking about it.

    A 400 calorie meal, even if consisting of a lot of low-calorie foods, would unlikely be enough of a meal for 2 people by my books. Huge meals are subjective. I ate a pot of soup that took ~1hr to eat, but I'd not consider it a meal for two despite being ~800 calories. It was just a big serving for my evening calorie needs, with about 4 cups of liquid and plenty of veggies, noodle, and chicken.

    What is the boredom causing, eating without thinking about your consumption or binging on high-calorie foods? If you're bored and just want to have something to do with your mouth, you might do better eating small amounts of food throughout the day, e.g. every few hours.

    The boredom makes me think about food. Usually when I think about it there's a compulsion to eat it. Particularly sweet stuff, but also normal food.

    Like I mentioned above, I only seem to have this problem when I'm alone, not when I'm around people. Which is what led me to believe its boredom.
    Then if you have the calories, eat?

    How many calories are you eating in a day, do you eat back your exercise calories, and waht is your weekly weight loss goal?

    When I started here I was netting 1250. I've since added 100 so I now net 1350. And I'm eating between 1500-1600 depending on the amount/type of exercise I do. My weight loss goal is a little less than half a kilo a week. I also have one day a week where I eat up to maintenance. Sunday. When we eat dessert after dinner.
    SO a roughly 500 calorie deficit, right? With so little to lose, change it to a 250ish calorie deficit. This will give you more room to eat reasonably.

    More like a 300 cal deficit. I'm pretty sedentary if I don't exercise intentionally. Like, I only get up to go and pee. Lol. My maintenance (at sedentary level, I do eat back any intentional exercise calories) is only 1650.

    I doubt you are as sedentary as you think you are. Most people here would likely do just fine using the lightly active setting.

    I am lightly active. But I use sedentary setting and add my exercise. Its just easier. I do get 10 000 steps a day plus gym some days. Intentionally. Unintentionally, I really do just sit on my butt all day. So with exercise included, my maintenance is 1800-1900.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    ana3067 wrote: »
    I can't even do sweets moderation... I have no self control. I just had to eliminate all sweets from my diet. If we have candy in our house and i even have 1... consider the bag gone because I will eat the rest.

    If you find anything that helps you eat sweets in moderation please tell me. I would love to be able to eat sweets.

    Log however much you want that fits into your caloric needs, eat it. Restricting its availability and frequency is unlikely to be beneficial. This is waht caused me to eat 3 bars of 3-4 boxes of chocolate in a single day.

    Thank you for the advice. But I've tried that and I always just end up eating everything and more. It's best I just take it completely out of my diet and that is the only thing that has ever worked for me.

    And how long have you ever tried this method? How long will you keep the food in your house before giving up on your attempts at moderation? I used to think that keeping it out of my house was also the only way, but then again I also thought that the food was both "bad"/"unclean" and was going to cause weight gain. Somehow binging in huge amounts made me think I could just work it off. I used to get angry that my parents would buy bags of chips and leave them out in the open.

    Now I've had all this stuff in my house, in the open, and it doesn't cross my mind any more than does the fruit on our table.
  • LoupGarouTFTs
    LoupGarouTFTs Posts: 916 Member
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    I understand craving sweet, since I should not have them for medical reasons. Can you tolerate sugar-free versions of things? I let myself have a sugar-free gelatin parfait (25 calories) every afternoon as part of my lunch. Since I get something sweet every day, my cravings are a little less and I can keep other things, like sugar-free puddings and no-sugar-added ice cream and cookies in the house without binging on them.

    I really like your alarm idea for building awareness of your mindless eating problem. Is there anything you can do to deal with the boredom problem?
  • PoisonIvy088
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    I understand craving sweet, since I should not have them for medical reasons. Can you tolerate sugar-free versions of things? I let myself have a sugar-free gelatin parfait (25 calories) every afternoon as part of my lunch. Since I get something sweet every day, my cravings are a little less and I can keep other things, like sugar-free puddings and no-sugar-added ice cream and cookies in the house without binging on them.

    I really like your alarm idea for building awareness of your mindless eating problem. Is there anything you can do to deal with the boredom problem?

    I try to deal with it but it still sometimes creeps into my head. For example, I can be busy exercising and still think of it. I do need something to make me focus.

    And yes I do occasionally eat sugar free stuff, but sometimes there's no substitute for the real thing. ;) Plus, for some reason sugar free is not really a big deal where I live, so its hard to find a good variety. For example, sugar free ice cream?! Wuuuut?!