Struggling

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amberets96
amberets96 Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,
I'm a 20 year old college student. I am 5'6" and 142 pounds currently. When I went to college I weighed about 125 pounds after successfully losing 17 pounds with MFP. I gained weight rapidly last year after stress related to my family and school. At my highest this march I weighed 150 pounds. I've managed to lose about 8-9 pounds since then. But, I'm struggling to maintain healthy eating habits. I frequently find myself bingeing on cookies, chocolate etc. I want to lose the weight very badly, my ultimate goal is to reach 130 pounds by the end of the summer. Any tips? Advice to get my eating under control?

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
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    Well you can keep those out of your house. Preplan meals. And occasionally, incorporate those food in your meals. For me, it's about refocusing efforts and aiming to get more nutritionally based foods. So i increase fruits, veggies and lean proteins. When I go out to eat, I try to make smarter decisions. But, I also incorporate junk food on occasion.
  • ItsyBitsy246
    ItsyBitsy246 Posts: 307 Member
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    Remove temptation. If there are things you tend to binge on, don't have them on hand. You can't eat them if they aren't there. That has helped me, anyway. Another thing that has helped is not having "ready made" food available. If I have to prepare something to eat it, it takes away the easy nom nom nomming. Fruit, veggies, etc are the exceptions. And, admittedly I have a container of Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Espresso beans on my counter, but I know I can't eat lots of those at a time or I feel icky with too much caffeine.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    psulemon wrote: »
    Well you can keep those out of your house. Preplan meals. And occasionally, incorporate those food in your meals. For me, it's about refocusing efforts and aiming to get more nutritionally based foods. So i increase fruits, veggies and lean proteins. When I go out to eat, I try to make smarter decisions. But, I also incorporate junk food on occasion.


    ^^This

    Set your weight loss goal to .5 per week so it won't feel like you're struggling.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
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    If you're doing a restrictive, food-based diet (eat this and not that), then you should consider switching over to flexible dieting, which is all nutritional goal based eating. Eat what you like, as long as you hit your calorie, macro, fiber, and nutrition goals for the day. Naturally, you'll eat a lot of whole foods to get in your fiber and nutrition, but it allows you the freedom to work treats into your day without feeling guilty or out of control. It's the best method I've found for sustainable healthy eating.

    Also, establish a solid exercise regime that's based on resistance training coupled with intense cardio intervals. If you work your hardest in exercise and nutrition, you'll make progress for sure.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    ItsyBitsy246 wrote: »
    Remove temptation. If there are things you tend to binge on, don't have them on hand. You can't eat them if they aren't there. That has helped me, anyway.
    This is great advice. It has helped me too. I have extended this "rule" to not buying any foodstuffs that aren't meant for (planned) meals - meaning no snack food items, not even "healthy snack foods" like dried fruit. I know I'll be craving them, and eat too much, too fast.

    Another thing that has helped is not having "ready made" food available. If I have to prepare something to eat it, it takes away the easy nom nom nomming. Fruit, veggies, etc are the exceptions.
    I would also add ready wholesome meals to the exceptions. And make sure your fridge, freezer and pantry is filled with a selection of ingredients that are easy to combine into tasty meals. To sum it up: Make it as easy as possible to make good choices and as difficult as possible to make bad choices.
  • amberets96
    amberets96 Posts: 9 Member
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    Is 1 pound a week a realistic goal? I've been trying to do 2 for a long time and I can do it for a few weeks but I fall off the bandwagon pretty hard.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
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    Even 0.5 lbs/week would be a reasonable goal. It's not a race.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
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    rebma164 wrote: »
    Is 1 pound a week a realistic goal? I've been trying to do 2 for a long time and I can do it for a few weeks but I fall off the bandwagon pretty hard.

    .5 to 1lb is a good range.

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