What Does Moderation Look Like For You?

BreakinChains

I initially decided to try giving up processed sugar for an undeclared amount of time. Yeah, that didn't work. I'm hearing a lot about moderation, and as stupid as it may sound...I barely have an idea of how to do it. To me moderation is eating just a serving of something (I'm talking about the junk foods).

The hard part is I eat one cupcake, and I want 2 more. I think I know HOW to moderate, but I don't know HOW to not go back for seconds, thirds, etc.

So, my question to you is how do you eat in moderation? What keeps you from over indulging?

caradack1985

Wanting to stay in my calorie allowance. It's like getting a gold star at the end of the day! I am literally that much of a child.

kgeyser

Moderation can be done by portion size and/or frequency. So if a single serving in your day isn't working for you, you could always try just having a treat less frequently but allowing yourself more of it. For example, bank a few calories each day during the week so you can have 2 cupcakes on Saturday without sacrificing nutritious food to fit in the extra cupcake.

displaced1

There are some trigger foods that I cannot eat in moderation. I do not buy them or if I want them as a treat I only buy one serving. Ice cream I will eat at a store instead of buying to bring home, and I get the smallest size. I eat something I want but try to make it healthier, like mug cakes with better ingredients. Since my mug cakes are not true cupcakes, I don't feel a need to overindulge. I feel satisfied but I don't have a craving to have more. I would not buy store cupcakes unless they could all get eaten by others the same day (if I could limit myself to only one). I look up restaurant dessert calories before I go so I'm less tempted to get a 1,000 tiramisu or something else. I do a lot of sharing.

zyxst

I stick with serving/portion sizes when I can fit them in. Things that come in pairs (Pop-Tarts, Hostess snack cakes, etc.) can be hard for me to leave the other one because my silly brain is "worried about the other piece being alone and going stale by itself".

I don't really have any trigger foods (foods that I can't stop eating once I start). For me, it was just practice and teaching myself that I can have it tomorrow when it fits in. Today, I built my lunch around a blueberry muffin I bought yesterday. Not hitting macros well, but my brain will be happy.

MelaniaTrump

You log it BEFORE you eat it.
If it fits into your daily caloric goals - enjoy. Get a food scale - best money you will ever spend in your entire life.
I have an open diary. I have actually put down food just because I think someone could peek. Try that?

bioklutz

Moderation to me means not opening something up and eating from the container. If I have room in my day to eat 200 calories of something, I weigh that amount out and eat it.

To keep myself from overdoing it I leave the highly desired items for the end of the day. I log the food I am going to eat for the day - including the fun food. I know if I deviate from my plan it might mean no fun food after dinner.

lemurcat12

For me moderation means eating an overall healthful and calorie appropriate diet and within that including some higher cal/lower nutrient items (or higher fat meats sometimes or adding in some ingredients to a recipe just for the taste addition) that fit within the calories and I otherwise meet my nutrition goals. Or, it can mean wanting an indulgent restaurant meal and so planning ahead during the week or having a big workout or just not doing it very often. There are many ways to do it.

I tend to eat dessert type food (which for me can mean a serving of good cheese, too) after dinner and generally eat a serving, but focus on calories. If it doesn't fit in the calories, I don't eat it. I never had trouble keeping it to the amount I wanted -- I put it on a plate/bowl and put the rest away (for me it's often ice cream) -- and if I did I'd probably switch to something else until I developed more control. I find knowing I can have it tomorrow too if I want helps me not want to overeat.

JeromeBarry1

Log before you eat. Fun-size. A Hershey kiss is 25 calories. A 'serving' is 11 kisses. No, a binge is 11 kisses. A serving is a kiss. That's what moderation looks like.
A cupcake, depending how tall the pile of sugared lard is on top, is at least 400 calories and could be as much as 800. Once you have a ballpark clue of the cost of food, it's easier to decide that it's too expensive.

kommodevaran

I eat treats that I otherwise find hard to moderate, only on special occasions and out of the house. On a day to day basis, I eat food I like but can eat to satiety.

Francl27

I want not to be fat more than I want the extra cupcake. I do also have days when I eat less so I can afford to have 2 cupcakes when I really want them.

Budjola

burn more then you eat

Eleanor_82

Some things I just can't have in the house or office because I know I'll slip up, like crisps. I'm hoping my willpower will improve over time but that's just where I'm at right now. I try to have enough healthy alternatives easy to hand and visible- fruit everywhere!

For occasional afternoon treats I tell myself I'm allowed a biscuit with peanut butter once I've had a litre of water, or finished two cups of herbal tea. That helps me realise whether I'm really hungry or just bored or having a craving. Wee mind tricks!

Machka9

When I'm on my diet, I just simply keep within my calorie limit.

Hornsby

If you build a "moderate" diet and hit your macro and micro goals and fiber it is pretty hard to not have an overall, balanced, healthy diet, regardless of whether there are some cookies and cupcakes sprinkled throughout that diet.

zyxst

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

Log before you eat. Fun-size. A Hershey kiss is 25 calories. A 'serving' is 11 kisses. No, a binge is 11 kisses. A serving is a kiss. That's what moderation looks like.
A cupcake, depending how tall the pile of sugared lard is on top, is at least 400 calories and could be as much as 800. Once you have a ballpark clue of the cost of food, it's easier to decide that it's too expensive.

210 calories is a binge?

AmandaHugginkiss

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

Log before you eat. Fun-size. A Hershey kiss is 25 calories. A 'serving' is 11 kisses. No, a binge is 11 kisses. A serving is a kiss. That's what moderation looks like.
A cupcake, depending how tall the pile of sugared lard is on top, is at least 400 calories and could be as much as 800. Once you have a ballpark clue of the cost of food, it's easier to decide that it's too expensive.

Who puts lard on a cupcake? You use butter unless you're making a meat cupcake.

Moderation is knowing you can have a cupcake once in a while without freaking out and misrepresenting it to make it sound gross.

samchez0

Saying no to seconds, getting smaller portions of foods I love, only drinking pop once a week (which I've been failing at), saving candy and sweets for special occasions. It's about not completely cutting myself off from food I love but not making them an everyday occurrence either.

Lounmoun

BreakinChains wrote: »

I initially decided to try giving up processed sugar for an undeclared amount of time. Yeah, that didn't work. I'm hearing a lot about moderation, and as stupid as it may sound...I barely have an idea of how to do it. To me moderation is eating just a serving of something (I'm talking about the junk foods).

The hard part is I eat one cupcake, and I want 2 more. I think I know HOW to moderate, but I don't know HOW to not go back for seconds, thirds, etc.

So, my question to you is how do you eat in moderation? What keeps you from over indulging?

To me moderation means not going by feelings but looking at meeting my needs. It means eating appropriate portion sizes.
I look at my whole day. I look at my calorie intake and then my protein intake. I try to get serveral servings of fruits or vegetables. I have 100-300 calories to use on snacks.
I can eat one cupcake every single day. It is not a rare food at all. If I eat 3 cupcakes I likely can't eat enough food that meets my nutritional needs, is filling and stay within my calorie goal so I won't be helping myself at all to do that. I can stop at one.
I eat more slowly with foods like that and really experience it. Kind of like a food meditation. Satisfied with less that way it seems.

sunnybeaches105

JeromeBarry1 wrote: »

Log before you eat. Fun-size. A Hershey kiss is 25 calories. A 'serving' is 11 kisses. No, a binge is 11 kisses. A serving is a kiss. That's what moderation looks like.
A cupcake, depending how tall the pile of sugared lard is on top, is at least 400 calories and could be as much as 800. Once you have a ballpark clue of the cost of food, it's easier to decide that it's too expensive.

^ Definitely not this. If you shop for cupcakes at the grocery store and not some ridiculous $6 cupcake place you'll find that you can easily find ones that are 200-300 calories. And yes, 11 kisses is a fine serving. If you're cutting on 1400 calories or less then it's more difficult and you may need to eat just a mini cupcake. The point though is that you eat a serving and walk away. That takes discipline until you form the habit. If you have a serious sweet tooth then no, it won't be easy, but you get out what you put in. Good luck!

amusedmonkey

In the past I would eat a doughnut just because it's on the counter, even though doughnuts taste pretty "meh" to me. Every time there is cake, I felt I had to eat a piece for some reason, even if it's the sponge kind that I don't like. I used to eat them just because they had a "fun food" label in my mind. I had to strip some foods of this label. I don't buy expensive ugly shoes just because they happened to be the first thing I laid my eyes on, so why would I be spending that many calories on things I didn't like?

Now things are different. I generally don't eat doughnuts or sponge cake because I don't like them enough to warrant the calories. Even things I do like, like ice cream or chocolate, I only eat when I really want some. How do I decide if I really want some? I pre-log the item in question then ask myself: would planning my meals for the day around this item and eating lower calorie meals be worth it to eat that ice cream or chocolate? If I can't be bothered, then I don't want that item enough to have it.

I don't keep "temptations" where they are staring me in the face. No sense in testing my willpower unless necessary. I either tuck them into the darkest corner of my fridge/cupboard where I would need to haul out all the foods covering them to get to them or walk all the way to the stairwell to get my step ladder, or go to the shop to specifically buy one serving of that item. This serves two purposes: out of sight out of mind, and I make my laziness work for me. I think about these foods less often, and when I do, a passing craving often resolves itself quickly because of laziness. When I really do want something, and it's worth the hassle, I have it. No place for guilt there.

Another trick I use, especially when I'm out, is leaving the highest calorie items for last. After a filling meal I'm less likely to go for a second slice of cheesecake.

Normalizing foods takes time and practice, but once you're there the whole process feels semi-automatic. By normalizing I mean judging foods based on preference, not based on "junk" being more attractive just because it's junk, bad, forbidden, guilty pleasure... and all the other words that set certain foods apart as somehow naughty and therefore attractive. There are days when a mushroom and vegetable ragu is more attractive to me than hot dogs, and there are days when hot dogs are more attractive. Nothing's wrong with either dish, and nothing makes one more special than the other, other than my preference for that day.

In practice, moderation looks like this for me:

- Had my food for today, still have calories, feel like having some chips and willing to go to the shop and buy a single serving pack. I go to the shop and buy a single serving pack then go back home.

- Had my food for today, have no calories left, feel like having some chips. Can I wait until tomorrow? No? Would I be fine eating fewer calories tomorrow? Yes? I go buy a single serving and either exercise to make up for it, reduce my calories for the next day, or just let it go if it's a passing thing that doesn't happen often.

- It's a birthday party and I just found out about it. I set my calories at maintenance for that day, enjoy only the things that I like the most, and if I do go over my maintenance, I recognize it might set me back for the week but one higher calorie day is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

- Going out with friends for a planned dinner. I skip breakfast and eat a light lunch, and if I know the restaurant is particularly high in calories I also set my target to maintenance for the day although more often than not I don't need to. Enjoying my time with friends without having to worry about calories is worth that small and temporary sacrifice.

- Feel like having pizza for lunch. I log 3 slices of my favorite pizza and comes out at 750 calories leaving me with only 300 calorie for dinner. Nah. Some other day it might be worth it, but not today. I've already had a large breakfast and I was planning to have pasta for dinner. Either pizza or pasta today, I'll stick with the pasta and have a light lunch.

...and so on. As you can see, moderation looks differently in different situations. Just don't stress too much, expect to have to exercise a good willpower at first and put some effort into it before it becomes much easier to manage. Even then, sometimes one square of chocolate is enough to scratch the itch and fairly easy to fit, other times you want the whole bar, and that's alright as long as it's only occasional with careful planning. There is a difference between controlled overeating every now and then and mindlessly spoiling yourself with high calorie indulgences every day.