Silly food tips for beginners - my perspective

someturtlefan

I've had some good success with weight loss and I've found in addition to all the big rules, a few silly ones have really helped! Note these only work if you are not doing a total elimination diet. I still eat some sweets and such.

1 - There is no reason to be eating that bread. 90% of the time, a fork or spoon will do the same thing. Also, why are you eating at that restaurant? Bread or real food?

2 - Taste your food. I used to snack on things like Hostess cakes. One day, I realized those creme-filled cupcakes were...actually pretty terrible. They were sweet but they weren't tasty. I systematically sampled snack cakes, candy bars, donuts, and fast food. I discovered almost every one of those was not something that tasted good. Now I can resist the temptation to stop and get a pair of donuts when I'm hungry because I know they're not something I enjoy.

2a - Eat only food you enjoy, veggies excluded. If you start eating something and you realize you aren't enjoying it, wrap it up and give it to a friend. Donate it. In the worst case, throw it out. Don't waste your calories on something that you are only eating because you think you should eat it. (Veggies excluded.) It helps you make smarter choices in the future. Veggies may not be the best tasting things, but find a way to munch them.

3 - Feel how you feel. Maybe you like that fast food, but after you feel like a bucket of slime. Or maybe the food coats your mouth in a weird way. You don't like that feeling. So don't feel it. Again, it will help you pass up temptations if you can conjure that oily, icky feeling.

4 - The freezer is the best thing ever. I do like certain snacks. I may buy them. Then, I put them in the freezer. I am not tempted to binge because they are frozen and just that little bit of extra effort to dig them out and defrost them means I will probably pass them over.

5 - Share snacks. If you buy a thing that tempts you, make sure friends are around. You'll feel weird eating the whole thing and weird getting more thing to not share. Desperate for fries and unable to make a willpower save? Buy the small and bring it back to share. Five people eating a single serving will divide the calories.

6 - (Controversial!) Unless it's trying to steal your car or attack your cat, there's no bad food. There's food high in stuff that makes your body less healthy. There's food that has lots of calories and won't make you full. The food isn't *bad*. The food is...not ideal. If you don't demonize it, it will help you forgive yourself and move on if you make an error. You must move on, but you aren't a bad person for eating "bad" food.

7 - The exercise you're doing is better than the exercise you're not doing. Every bit helps.

KiwiMellow

I think these tips were very helpful! 6 and 7 in particular I really agree with. Eating better is a lifetime commitment not a short term thing and so there really can't be "bad foods" to stay away from for ever and ever. Just foods you have to be more cautious with!

professionalHobbyist

Take item 6 and look at it by factual content

There are nutrient properties to food. Some are better than others. So in that regard there are good or bad goods depending on what you are trying to do.

Think about tools. A carb gram is a screwdriver and a protein gram is a hammer. Both may be perfectly fine new tools. But if you want to drive a nail there is a certain one more suited than the other.

This silliness comes in when we over simplify things and say it is all the same, food is food, and then some get offended when the differences in food types are pointed out.

But it is the internet and people love to argue.

I'm gonna have some taste rich and moderately good for my heart dark chocolate now

Not too much, just enough to go with my bold coffee. My foods that are rich in caffeine I enjoy in the morning. Maybe even a dark chocolate coated espresso bean or three. I definitely would not chow down on those at night. So there is even a time for some foods.

Enjoy your day.

someturtlefan

You know, I've noticed something about the old timers on this site:

They are some of the most condescending, nasty, and unpleasant people I've met outside of forums dedicated to being nasty, condescending, and unpleasant. Especially to newbies. Over and over people come here for help and just get shot down or shat on. *smilely face of recognizing what you're doing*

For example, you come out here and make fun of me, talking about chocolate and coffee. I didn't demonize either of them. In fact, I said some foods had better or worse properties than others. I said considering them "bad" made it more likely for a person to hate himself for making an error. Psychology teaches us people don't want to be bad. Help them feel good or at least not like an abject failure and that will help them make good choices. Push them in the right direction. But maybe you get off on making people hate themselves *smiley face of being unimpressed with a sadist*

Yes, carbs and proteins are handled differently. Also, caffeine is more dangerous than marijuana and it's probably happily counteracting the effects of the chocolate, since caffeine vasoconstrictor and you're probably trying to drop your BP with that chocolate. But then again, you're probably unfamiliar with biochemistry and just busily reading exercise magazines without hanging out with the enzymes. Aww, it's fun to insult random people!

Maybe it's because you've all been fat for so long that it feels good to have someone new to look down on and make fun of. Then again, you're military...and let's just say you love to hurt those more vulnerable and scared. *winky face of Tailhook and unreported sexual assault* Hell, you're the right age to have been on active duty then. *winky face of knowing what you did when you were on active duty*

Gosh, this sure is fun to insult random people over things that may or may not be true!

TerriRichardson112

I love your light-hearted and very helpful, positive ideas. The more enjoyable we can make this process, the more likely it is to have a positive outcome.

Good for you, for answering that po-faced a*****e with such intelligence and humour. This world is full of energisers and depressors. You are definitely one of the former.

Keep that light shining.

mamadon

Huh?

jennifer_417

Some of these are pretty legit, but don't you negate your "no bad food" point at the beginning? There's nothing wrong with bread OR restaurant food. (well, some restaurants may be an exception....)

jennifer_417

someturtlefan wrote: »

You know, I've noticed something about the old timers on this site:

They are some of the most condescending, nasty, and unpleasant people I've met outside of forums dedicated to being nasty, condescending, and unpleasant. Especially to newbies. Over and over people come here for help and just get shot down or shat on. *smilely face of recognizing what you're doing*

For example, you come out here and make fun of me, talking about chocolate and coffee. I didn't demonize either of them. In fact, I said some foods had better or worse properties than others. I said considering them "bad" made it more likely for a person to hate himself for making an error. Psychology teaches us people don't want to be bad. Help them feel good or at least not like an abject failure and that will help them make good choices. Push them in the right direction. But maybe you get off on making people hate themselves *smiley face of being unimpressed with a sadist*

Yes, carbs and proteins are handled differently. Also, caffeine is more dangerous than marijuana and it's probably happily counteracting the effects of the chocolate, since caffeine vasoconstrictor and you're probably trying to drop your BP with that chocolate. But then again, you're probably unfamiliar with biochemistry and just busily reading exercise magazines without hanging out with the enzymes. Aww, it's fun to insult random people!

Maybe it's because you've all been fat for so long that it feels good to have someone new to look down on and make fun of. Then again, you're military...and let's just say you love to hurt those more vulnerable and scared. *winky face of Tailhook and unreported sexual assault* Hell, you're the right age to have been on active duty then. *winky face of knowing what you did when you were on active duty*

Gosh, this sure is fun to insult random people over things that may or may not be true!

I'll take hypocrisy for $500, Alex.
If you don't think it's right to be nasty, maybe you should, oh I don't know, refrain from it yourself?

nicola8989

These are really good tips thanks for sharing one of the things that has helped me the most is being more mindful about food - sitting down to eat whatever I'm eating, whether it's a bar of chocolate or a meal, and taking the time to enjoy it, to think about the taste and what it's making me feel - if I'm full, if I'm hungry, if I'm enjoying what I'm eating.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

someturtlefan wrote: »

You know, I've noticed something about the old timers on this site:

They are some of the most condescending, nasty, and unpleasant people I've met outside of forums dedicated to being nasty, condescending, and unpleasant. Especially to newbies. Over and over people come here for help and just get shot down or shat on. *smilely face of recognizing what you're doing*

For example, you come out here and make fun of me, talking about chocolate and coffee. I didn't demonize either of them. In fact, I said some foods had better or worse properties than others. I said considering them "bad" made it more likely for a person to hate himself for making an error. Psychology teaches us people don't want to be bad. Help them feel good or at least not like an abject failure and that will help them make good choices. Push them in the right direction. But maybe you get off on making people hate themselves *smiley face of being unimpressed with a sadist*

Yes, carbs and proteins are handled differently. Also, caffeine is more dangerous than marijuana and it's probably happily counteracting the effects of the chocolate, since caffeine vasoconstrictor and you're probably trying to drop your BP with that chocolate. But then again, you're probably unfamiliar with biochemistry and just busily reading exercise magazines without hanging out with the enzymes. Aww, it's fun to insult random people!

Maybe it's because you've all been fat for so long that it feels good to have someone new to look down on and make fun of. Then again, you're military...and let's just say you love to hurt those more vulnerable and scared. *winky face of Tailhook and unreported sexual assault* Hell, you're the right age to have been on active duty then. *winky face of knowing what you did when you were on active duty*

Gosh, this sure is fun to insult random people over things that may or may not be true!

See, I found this post to be way nastier than anything else I've read this morning. Definitely nastier than the one to which you were responding, which I think was kind of agreeing with you and just expanding on your point.

helenrosec1

There's nothing wrong with bread, just choose a healthier type of bread that's all.

helenrosec1

helenrosec1 wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with bread, just choose a healthier type of bread that's all.

I meant to add too that in point 6 you say no food is bad, yet in point 1 you say (hint) bread is .

yarwell

helenrosec1 wrote: »

helenrosec1 wrote: »

There's nothing wrong with bread, just choose a healthier type of bread that's all.

I meant to add too that in point 6 you say no food is bad, yet in point 1 you say (hint) bread is .

Seemed to say it was unnecessary, rather than "bad".

Alatariel75

someturtlefan wrote: »

You know, I've noticed something about the old timers on this site:

They are some of the most condescending, nasty, and unpleasant people I've met outside of forums dedicated to being nasty, condescending, and unpleasant. Especially to newbies. Over and over people come here for help and just get shot down or shat on. *smilely face of recognizing what you're doing*

For example, you come out here and make fun of me, talking about chocolate and coffee. I didn't demonize either of them. In fact, I said some foods had better or worse properties than others. I said considering them "bad" made it more likely for a person to hate himself for making an error. Psychology teaches us people don't want to be bad. Help them feel good or at least not like an abject failure and that will help them make good choices. Push them in the right direction. But maybe you get off on making people hate themselves *smiley face of being unimpressed with a sadist*

Yes, carbs and proteins are handled differently. Also, caffeine is more dangerous than marijuana and it's probably happily counteracting the effects of the chocolate, since caffeine vasoconstrictor and you're probably trying to drop your BP with that chocolate. But then again, you're probably unfamiliar with biochemistry and just busily reading exercise magazines without hanging out with the enzymes. Aww, it's fun to insult random people!

Maybe it's because you've all been fat for so long that it feels good to have someone new to look down on and make fun of. Then again, you're military...and let's just say you love to hurt those more vulnerable and scared. *winky face of Tailhook and unreported sexual assault* Hell, you're the right age to have been on active duty then. *winky face of knowing what you did when you were on active duty*

Gosh, this sure is fun to insult random people over things that may or may not be true!

psuLemon

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