abstainer or moderation

schaapj2

Was a fan of everything in moderation. After giving up diet pop and wheat, I've seen greater progress. For me, abstaining from these 2 things is the way to go....so I say BOTH!

The_Enginerd

I'm all about the moderation. I have a little (or a lot sometime!) of a treat every single day.

mjh1959

I have found that I do better when I completely abstain from a few things - sugar and dairy. With the dairy, it is just because I like cheese so much and tend to overeat it. I am using soy cheese alternative and really like it. With the sugar, I have terrible cravings that others have described. If I have it, I want more and more.

ndowns22

The more you eat "crap" foods and sugar, the more you crave them! Once you cut them out of your diet you will be amazed at how you don't crave them any more. Moderation is key and portion control is more important but if you binge eat these bad foods I would stay away 100%. Weight loss is all about eating clean - 70% kitchen 30% exercise. Abs are made in the kitchen.
Everyone is different and metabolism, age, activity level are all factors.
I have been taking a super food, nutrient dense shake called Shakeology that helped me curb my cravings. I was one that NEVER thought I could give up soda, I tried SO MANY times. Not to mention, chips, candy, chocolate, cookies...you name it. I KNOW they are bad for me but my cravings or more like "habits" needed to be changed.
Well my shake is chocolate flavor so I get my sweet fix from that and I am proud to say I don't crave that "crap" any more It's all natural 100% healthy meal replacement shake JAM packed with nutrients. I am still in shock at how fast my pounds fell off once I made the change and started eating clean! You can feed your body with crap food or FUEL your body with healthy nutrient dense food. THATS what we all need to wrap out heads around. Our body processes healthy food as fuel to give us energy and processed crap food as sugar to be stored as a fat reserve. BLAH gross, yuck, ick...its poison really.
The food we eat either feeds disease or fights disease...... its as simple as that.

Feel free to add me if you want more support xo

ash8184

I'm the EXACT same way as you are. Once I moderate with certain things, I crave them. When I totally abstain, I feel better and have very limited cravings - maybe it's a lack of willpower. I find I look and feel my best when I stick mostly to lean proteins and veggies.

At the end of the day, I think you have to do what works for you.

Beckboo0912

I have to abstain...if I have a little I have a lot! I will give myself a day to be indulgent once in a while knowing that it's back to work the next day and I've started feeling crappy after those days. However, I can drink a beer or two and stop usually. I plan my indulgent days around the nights I'm going to go out. Since it doesn't happen often at all I feel it's ok for me and I know the next day it's back to real life of being a mom, having responsibility and everything and be accountable.

ihammen

I've just convinced myself I don't LIKE rich, greasy, sugary things! That way I can eat around people having chicken fried steak, donuts, ice cream. . . Nothing tastes as good as being a size 6!!!

This. I started telling myself "I don't like that" about some of my favorite foods. Works on a lot of things if I tell myself often enough. Sadly I still want a piece of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I will treat myself when I get to goal. Another 20 pounds or so. I also tell myself nothing tastes as good as thin feels. I went from 12's and 14's to 6's and 8's. Want to get to 4's and some 2's, which is where I was last time I weighed around 130-135.

Some things, like a glass of wine or a cocktail, I will have one when we go out.

bcattoes

So what do you think is best for you? Are you able to eat things in moderation or are you like me and need to abstain from the "bad" foods?

I abstain from many foods. I don't think there is anything that I like that I would say "I'll never eat that again", but there things that I eat very, very, rarely.

iLoveMyPitbull1225

It is all up to what works for the individual of course, but me personally, I do better with moderation. I felt tortured when I attempted to give up things I really love. I was cranky.

BrendaLee

I do both. I don't bring anything too tempting into the house unless I plan on eating it that night. I know better. On the other hand, nothing is off limits. If I want it, I make it work. I'll buy a big cookie for junk-food night, but I would never bring home a bag of cookies thinking I could moderate myself.

Espressocycle

I believe in fitting everything I like into my diet, but there are certain things I just have to avoid because I lose all control. Cereal is the big one for me... I just can't eat one serving and it can easily become a 500 calorie snack. I had to stop eating it entirely.

UsedToBeHusky

If you can abstain for the rest of your life, then by all means...

Otherwise, how are you ever going to learn how to actually eat and not yo yo up and down if you don't learn moderation. IMHO, moderation is practiced an learned...MFP is a training ground

This is pretty much how I feel, but then I don't relate at all to food being an addictive substance. As someone in recovery, I understand the difference between physical addiction and psychological compulsion. The two are similar but not the same. Some who have never experienced a physical addiction might not understand the differences, and despite my best efforts, I find it difficult to communicate those differences. If abstaining is a workable solution for the individual, then that really is what they should pursue. But I think if you are an 'abstainer' you should at least attempt to moderate your eating habits from time to time.

1princesswarrior

This is very interesting. I find the longer I abstain from candy, cakes, ice cream, cookies, or the baked food aisle the worse the thought of eating it sounds.

It's like that ex-smoker 'syndrome' that I have. I quit on August 28, 1998 cold turkey. Now I can't even stand to smell smoke on someone else or be around an ashtray, let alone secondhand smoke.

On the other hand there are many things I can eat in moderation as well like pizza and pasta which I absolutely love.

deksgrl

I can do some things in moderation.

However, there are a few things that are "triggers" for me and I find that it is best to abstain because I can't do moderation.

MyChocolateDiet

I've tried both. I can lose weight both ways. I don't know if I have good will power, or just choose plans that make lots of inherent sense to me and so I find them easy to follow and stick to. They all seem to have a bottom line of just cutting calories sometimes in the form of actually watching the numbers and sometimes in the form of calling certain foods "bad for you" that just happen to be high cal foods and so inadvertently one eats fewer cals than before and loses weight. Whatever works for you I guess.

I will say that if I start the day with a carb heavy breakfast (like almost nothing but carbs) it's all down hill from there. I will be carbs crazy for the rest of the day. It will be a fun day, but a sugar and nap filled and over cals day.

lcvaughn520

I've read this article too and it's definitely interesting to think about. I think when I'm first starting to be very conscious of my choices, it's best for me to abstain. If I order fries with the intention of only eating a few, I will inevitably finish whatever is served to me. I usually don't really think about particular food items too much when I'm not around them, so I don't feel deprived of anything - I just eat what I eat and move on.

My goal is to learn how to SELF moderate, though - learning how to only eat a few french fries even when there's a plateful in front of me. We'll see?

JenAndSome

I do it all in moderation, but I am fortunate in many people's opinion because I don't like sweets. I don't eat chocolate, candy, cake or cookies. I don't even eat things like pancakes or waffles because I don't like syrup. I guess this makes it easier to avoid a lot of things that are a struggle for some people. The things I have to not over-indulge in are cheese, beer and chips. I still eat all of the things I eat, just not as much at once.

arains89

I don't abstain from anything. I do make healthier choices with everything however. I will still eat ice cream but I will get low fat. I still eat pizza but I order it thin crust with veggies on top instead of meats. I'll have a burger but it will be a turkey burger. I will have alcohol but not on weekdays and usually only one day on the weekend. (I usually have no more than 3 beers or a couple glasses of wine anyway). If I really want a soda I will have a coke zero (on great occasion as well). If I crave a sweet tea I sweeten with sweet n low. You get the picture. There is no reason to cut anything out of your diet completely. It's unrealistic to believe you can live that way forever. Unless you have a medical issue.

Pangea250

I've just convinced myself I don't LIKE rich, greasy, sugary things! That way I can eat around people having chicken fried steak, donuts, ice cream. . . Nothing tastes as good as being a size 6!!!

drojen

Depends what it is - sweets like donuts, cakes etc, make me want more. Junk food will make me desire something sweet afterwards - like eat at McDonalds, have a donut (or 5) for dessert. So now I have to really want it or it's not worth having it. For instance, on Mother's day, I had one piece of coconut butter tart pie at a restaurant we went to. One piece is sweet enough, two is too much and even if I crave it, it's not easy for me to get back to that restaurant on the spur of the moment to get a piece. so, it was worth it because it was good and because I don't have easy access to it. I find my sweet tooth doesn't handle the sweets the same - I find a lot of things too sweet now. This is a good thing, since before I started here, I was pre-diabetic. Blood test since starting has me in the normal range again. I just have to remind myself of that whenever faced with one of my food challenges. So i won't abstain completely, but I'm really choosy about what I have when I do it. It has to be worth it.