Pizza > salad (PLEASE ACTUALLY HELP)

BicepsAndBows

My first suggestion for you would be to nix the protein meal replacement shakes and just eat actual food. Those things wont fill you up the way eating actual food will, and this can lead to the cravings and feelings of extreme hunger for a lot of people. Take the amount of calories you would dink in that shake and divide it up into a healthy meal that includes fiber, protein, and some healthy fats. This will help keep you feeling full and satisfied for longer.

Secondly, I would definitely caution you to not be overly restrictive with your diet and what you allow yourself to eat. This will lead to binges and over-indulging in foods you've told yourself are off limits. Nothing should be off limits! It's all about calories in and calories out and finding a good balance of all the nutrients. ANY food can fit into a healthy lifestyle, it's all about moderation. As long as you have a deficit for the week (you've burned more calories than you have consumed) you will lose weight! So, if you are craving pizza, allow yourself a slice or two. Plan it into your calories for the day. Indulge when you have the craving, and the cravings will go away. You will be satisfied because you allowed your body to have what it craved in a healthy, balanced way. Then, just go about your day and make your other eating choices based on the amount of calories you have left and what nutrients you still need to get in for that day. Finding ways to include the foods you love in moderation is what will help you to keep at this and make it a lifestyle change. Drinking shakes as meals is not something that is maintainable long term. We are made to eat! Therefore if you learn now how to eat within a calorie goal and still be able to eat foods you enjoy, you are making a true lifestyle change vs. a temporary quick fix!

One other tip is that water will be your best friend on this journey! Not only does it help you feel full throughout the day, it also keeps you well hydrated. Sometimes when we are not getting enough water our body confuses dehydration and thirst for hunger. If you get a very strong craving and are tempted to overeat, try drinking 2 cups of water first. You could just be dehydrated! It also helps flush out excess sodium which can lead to retaining water and feeling all puffy and bloated. Plus, its super good for your skin! Get yourself a water bottle and take that sucker with you everywhere! Set a daily minimum goal of how much you want to drink (should aim for AT LEAST 8 cups a day!) Track/log it into your MFP food journal just like you do your food so you can keep track of how much you drink.

And finally, to answer your last question about how others perceive you/how heavy you look, all I will say is this... we are often our own worst critic! People are often so busy in life and so worried about their own appearance that they do not even have time to look you up and down and judge you! And 9 times out of 10, even if they are judging, the things you say to yourself are so much worse than anything anyone else would ever say about how you look. So keep that in mind and try to be kind to yourself. You can't hate yourself into a version of yourself you will love!

kristenveganvixen

What you could do is either have a salad with a small slice of pizza, or have the whole pizza but work it into at least maintenence using either a good workout that day or smaller other meals (meal replacement shakes can sometimes be useful for this too if you want a treat meal)

sofaking6

DrHDLM wrote: »

For now i would recommend for you to drink a liter of water with 2 fresh limes squeezed in to it and drink as much as you can every time you have a craving. Besides, the craving for carbohydrates is a imbalance of hormones in your brain because of the lack of specific vitamins and minerals. I hope this would help you.

Thank you Doctor Notadoctor.

_Terrapin_

DrHDLM wrote: »

For now i would recommend for you to drink a liter of water with 2 fresh limes squeezed in to it and drink as much as you can every time you have a craving. Besides, the craving for carbohydrates is a imbalance of hormones in your brain because of the lack of specific vitamins and minerals. I hope this would help you.

I do the 'lime drinking' post meal. . .amazingly I am full after every meal. Thank you doctor. WTF?!?

PAV8888

Aggressive deficits tend to create more cravings than smaller deficits.

Sometimes you may crave a particular food, let's call it pizza, but eating something else and no longer being hungry often makes that craving diminish.

I'd love to have a pizza (used to eat a large + a bit more by myself), but at 250 calories a slice I don't consider it to be a great bargain anymore! Let me think: two slices of domino's or half a roasted chicken...

Having said that, there is nothing illegal about fitting pizza in your MFP goals. Or making your own "pizza" to both control and log the ingredients.

Re: the shake. I have nothing against shakes or protein bars (I eat them instead of candy or when I don't have time to grab anything else). But as a planned meal replacement for the rest of my life?

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Machka9

lrwxo wrote: »

Literally, 3rd day into taking actual food out of my lunch and having protein world chocolate flavour slender blend in place of a meal at lunch and already feel like ordering pizza. I need ways to change my mindset! I want to do this so much, I want to be slim and toned but how can I keep this up for 1-2 years for weightloss then maintain it for my whole life? All I want is pizza :-( I also would like to know how big I look to other people, anyone pre weightloss not realise how big you are too?

Eating fewer calories does not have to be bland and boring.

Since starting with MFP, I have been browsing the grocery store for low-cal options and I have found some good ones. I'm eating things like spicy red lentil soup ... spinach & ricotta cannelloni ... last night we had palak paneer over rice with chicken. Yummmm ...

Add spice to your food ... we add chili and curry and garlic to a lot of things. We have also been putting chopped up onion into a lot of recipes. I find that if food has a lot of flavour, I feel like I've eaten more.

And as for pizza, there's a tomato and cheese panini we get in the frozen goods section ... my husband and I each have 1 portion. They are small, but sort of pizza-like and not high in calories. Then we top up with heaps of mixed veggies.

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Oldbitcollector

Eat the pizza! Just don't eat the whole pie! I've reduced my slices down to 2-3 (depending on which pizza) then finish off with a big salad. Totally works, don't stress over craving for pizza, just keep the portion in check.