Need( all or nothing) success stories

Monna2

Hello
I'm an all-or-nothing person. if I allow myself to eat carbs I end up eating a large amount.that is why I always try to restrict myself 2 low carb diet. I'm looking for success stories of people who've been there and overcame this problem. I want 2 live a normal lifestyle. I want to have bread for breakfast . I want to have pasta for lunch. I don't want to have big portions; I want to lose weight. But I want to train myself to be able to control my portions without depriving myself of the foods I like to eat.

thank you

HippySkoppy

Hmm. I don't know if I fall into the category you are after but I started out at 278 lbs and obviously I got there by eating a lot more than I do now.

I've been maintaining a loss of 168 lbs for over 3 years now, I was 48'ish when I started and am 53 now and 5'4".

Over the time pre-MFP it was easy enough to cut the portions down and lose weight, I was clueless about calorie counting. I've tried Atkins (didn't work for me....I felt tired, cranky and hangry), I've dabbled in vegetarianism (again, eventually found that my exercise suffered due to fatigue...I was probably not doing it right and getting enough protein).

When I did join MFP in 2011, I of course chose the 2lb loss setting and it gave me 1200 calories....that worked in relation to weight loss well till I started to tire out and then realize I was eating unnecessarily way too low.

Looking at the above, you can see that I've dabbled and made some decisions that for me were mistakes. Now in maintaining I eat everything that I can (I don't eat gluten due to intolerance but sub in alternatives) I eat meat and all the vegetables I enjoy, splurge every now and again on specialty treats and I don't feel deprived or end up over eating as I did trying all the other methods.

Your mind set was much like mine - All or nothing. I'm here to say that for success I think you have to drop that first....this is going to be a long road. One that will be tiring, boring and test your patience....don't make it any harder for yourself than it has to be. Any diet where you feel deprived will fail.

This is something that you have to be committed to long term, if you put your stats into the database and select a reasonable goal for weight loss then how you achieve that is up to you. Eat your pasta and your bread but exercise the muscle of being moderate....don't feel like you have to over eat it as there is no need...you will get to eat it again so there is no fear about being deprived of your favorite foods.

Anyway, I hope this ramble has helped....I'm lacking in caffeine so if it doesn't make sense blame that .

Monna2

Thank you so much.Your reply helped me a lot.
I loved this part "exercise the muscle of moderation".

carolemaryrosslaura

HippySkoppy wrote: »

don't feel like you have to over eat it as there is no need...you will get to eat it again so there is no fear about being deprived of your favorite foods.

This took me forever to realize. Once I did, it has made a huge difference in how I eat. I grew up in a large family, and if you didn't grab and eat as much food as you could as fast as possible, it would all be gone. That mindset carried over into my adult life even when it didn't happen anymore.

helene4

I can get caught up in eating carbs too. My solutions:

I either only cook a small portion, and that's to hoping I'm too lazy to make more, or I portion out my meals ahead of time in containers. I make a plate and tell myself: this is all I'm going to eat. That forces me to slow down and enjoy it. Even if I'm still hungry after ... I'll wait 20min. I'll have a cup of tea... And then have a snack of something different if I'm still hungry.

if I know I'm in the mood to eat a lot of carbs before I make lunch/dinner, I won't cook any carbs. So instead of having regular grain pasta I'll make zucchini pasta instead. And that way I can eat plenty, still tastes great, and I don't go over my calorie limit for the day.

Good luck!!

mitzhogue

A great way to learn how to 'exercise the muscle of moderation' is by reading a book called 'French Women Don't Get Fat'. I had my doubts about it, and my husband had plenty of jokes the whole time I was reading it, but it truly did help me to learn about quality & moderation.