It's okay to love food
Russellb97
Posts: 1,057 Member
The more I fought against who I am the worse it became. The amazing truth is we can eat what we love and be fit. Depriving yourself only leads to failure and guilt. To have long-term success you need to find a lifestyle where you can eat what love while losing weight.
Be in control and it's easier to lose weight if you lose the guilt first.
That being said, what food(s) do you whole-heartedly love?
I think my first true love was donuts because even when I'd let them go, they'd always return to me.
Be in control and it's easier to lose weight if you lose the guilt first.
That being said, what food(s) do you whole-heartedly love?
I think my first true love was donuts because even when I'd let them go, they'd always return to me.
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Replies
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I think the most comforting thing in the world for me is a really GOOD bowl of mac and cheese. It makes me think of my grandpa.
I feel lucky that I also really enjoy vegetables and other foods that more easily fit into a balanced diet. The key is just indulging in the delicious, rich foods more sparingly.4 -
Poutine.
I really seriously love poutine.
Unfortunately, it just won't fit into my calorie goals, not anytime soon.
Once I reach maintenance.....maybe I can splurge once a month on the delicious plate of a bazillion calories.6 -
Potatoes. I seriously have a love affair with these things, lol! The good thing is I can make a medium sized baker fit in my day, every day.
My second food love is either a fine, aged beef filet with bearnaise sauce or a big, juicy ribeye with a lovely cabernet demi glace. Oh, with a glorious potato mash on the side, lol. Alas, those only fit my calories for very special occasions. Good thing they're expensive, and I've a modest income4 -
Popcorn.
I like all kinds of foods but popcorn has been a favorite my entire life.2 -
I have so many foods I love. But I would say candy is my weakness, specifically chocolate. Not even fancy good chocolate, but snickers or kit kats and m&ms. I must eat them every day!3
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Chocolate, guacamole, mashed potatoes, Krispy Kreme glazed donuts, butter on almost anything.
I do okay keeping the chocolate, guacamole or mashed potatoes within my calorie goal, but the others...not so much! I have to stay away!!!!!2 -
All food = love. Having an unhealthy attachment to food, not to mention the multiple health issues I have, I need strict limits so that I can see food as fuel and not as comfort. Comfort eating has gotten me to an unhealthy place and I have to have control in MY way. That means giving up things that I have learned trigger over-eating for me. Not everyone can have just ONE chip or just ONE slice of pizza or cake.2
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I have way too many.. I declare that I am professional foodie!2
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That's what I love about this. I've lost the 35 lbs I have by eating what I love, as long as it fits in my goal. I have bacon and eggs just about every morning. I also try to fit in some sort of candy like m&m's. Once I found that the key was to weigh my m&m's instead of just downing a whole bag, the weight has come off easily.6
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Cookies. A piece of my favourite brand of cookies contains about 400-600 calories. I don't have the confidence to eat it. It is equivalent to one full meal. It's sad! But I choose to live healthy and live longer.2
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I love food too. I eat a lot of different foods now and I love all of it. It's just simple food and I struggled for a long time to understand why I would get so excited over simple food. Then it dawned on me that 23 years of eating cardboard can make any real food taste like heaven. And losing the guilt is the best condiment of them all.
I love to cook now that I let myself make and eat what I like, and my cooking style and food preference can be described as "updated traditional". Examples:
Black rye bread with butter and fatty ham, with mustard. Pork chops, mashed potatoes, peas. Salmon fillet, rice and green beans. Spaghetti bolognese withground beef, lots of vegs, and parmesan. Hot cocoa. Pancakes with honey and maple syrup. Frozen pizza. Cream of wheat with butter. A wide variety of fresh fruit and raw vegetables. Banana/milk smoothies without greens, but with nut butter and cocoa, or frozen berries. Stir-frys with chicken and rice noodles and lot of vegs. Vegetable soups. Cheese on toast. Chicken Alfredo. Chili with beans and lamb mince. Lamb chops, oven roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts. OMG, I'm salivating. Time for breakfast2 -
Pizza...I think me and za might be soulmates.2
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My impression is that some people failed to answer the question, but in doing so, highlighted the importance of it. Your work on your attitudes towards food has paid off, OP, well done.0
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kommodevaran wrote: »My impression is that some people failed to answer the question, but in doing so, highlighted the importance of it. Your work on your attitudes towards food has paid off, OP, well done.
Thank you! My hope is that my experience and long-term success can be a benefit to those who are struggling just like I did.
One of the most important changes that happened during my journey was creating a positive relationship with food. I probably have been on 12-20 diets in my past where I gave up foods I love like; pizza, ice cream, and donuts. I did this because I was under the impression that they were "bad" and they made me fat. Inevitable when I deprived myself my cravings were like a balloon and without release some of the air it eventually popped and I binged and even worse I binged on foods I considered to be "bad". So I felt that I was bad. This brought on immense shame and guilt, almost as if I slept with the devil.
Today I know for a fact you don't have to deprive to lose weight. I ate everything I wanted and actually lost 100lbs in a year and another 30lbs over the past 12 years while in maintenance.
The one huge difference between 12+ failed attempts and true success was finding a way to eat what I loved and feeling in control.
I feel pain in my heart when I read about those struggling with hunger and shame. I get angry reading about fad diets or any short-term weight loss plan for that matter. Because we all should know that losing weight isn't the hard part but keeping it off is.
I know what it takes to do this and I'm practically begging to share it.
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I love fast food. I don't get to eat it all that often because I prefer to have 3 decent meals a day rather than saving calories for fast food.
But some highly active days (like today) I plan to fit in some delicious Chick-fil-A, and I anticipate it all day long.1 -
I love a lot of foods and if I really want something I will find a way to fit them in. But there are also foods that I specifically love to eat in great quantity and that quantity just doesn't fit into my calorie budget. I'd rather abstain from eating them than to eat just a small amount. Those foods I eat only on very rare occasions. But I also don't sit around dreaming about how I miss them.5
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I love a lot of foods and if I really want something I will find a way to fit them in. But there are also foods that I specifically love to eat in great quantity and that quantity just doesn't fit into my calorie budget. I'd rather abstain from eating them than to eat just a small amount. Those foods I eat only on very rare occasions. But I also don't sit around dreaming about how I miss them.
I have found that after a while I was able to reintroduce certain old favorites and not get cravings for more triggered. I don't think about missing them anymore and do taste a bit when offered in small portions.
I try to eat more fats and less carbs in general for satiety. Also if I start gaining weight I will modify a bit more of a deficit by eating in an 8 hour window in a 24 hour period (intermittent fasting). This has shrunk my stomach so I am fuller on less calories. I still am fond of food but try to eat a "normal" one serving sized family meal for dinner so that I can enjoy the things that I prefer which is a petite 6 oz steak, roast, or baked 4-6 oz chicken/fish/meat of any kind, serving of veggies with butter and occasionally a small amount of starch like potatoes or low glycemic bread or pasta.0 -
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Portion control is key. If it's my kid's birthday, I'm having a piece of cake. It's only about 400 calories, and I can make space for that by either eating maintenance for the day or going for an extra walk or cutting out a few snacks. We still eat pizza. Three small slices of thin crust is only about 300-350 calories (Dr Oetker cut into 8 pieces). I have a big salad on the side for bulk. We still eat hamburgers; we just use smaller buns and, again, have a salad or kale chips on the side.4
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Fresh baked bread and a medium-rare ribeye steak. However, oddly enough, if hypothetically I had to pick one food to be stuck eating the rest of my life, it would have to be a lamb gyro. Just something about those suckers that I never get tired of. LOL2
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I'm a sweet tooth, basically anything with tons of sugar XD. (mainly cokes)1
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I've never been a fast food lover like some people suffer from, which is good. My problem is entirely portion size.
I love good food. I love great tasting foods. Some days that will be a massive salad, some days that will be ice cream. Flavour favourites in no particular order include: butter; scallops (chased on the seabed by me); vanilla; steak; garlic; mangosteen; trout; chicken; butter; garlic; butter; Rosemary; crumpets dripping with butter.
Thankfully most of my friends are foodies too.1 -
I whole heartedly love butter. Any kinds or forms of butter always have a place on my plate.
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Donuts for sure, really good hot pizza too. I would kill for deep dish tbh.1
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Basically 'round' sweets, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, ice cream scoops, jelly beans, you know round things - LOL! The joys of round sweets help the world go round!!2
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Hot Wings......PIzza.......Beer......repeat when necessary.2
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ashjongfit wrote: »Donuts for sure, really good hot pizza too. I would kill for deep dish tbh.
Donuts and pizza are my staples
You don't have to kill for the deep dish. I promise you that you can eat it and still lose weight.
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I love donuts, brownies, pizza, and Taco Bell. Basically anything with their nacho cheese, as awful as it may be. However I've been doing pretty good at resisting all that stuff, and I don't feel deprived!0
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This thread reminds me of a song by the Descendants:
"I like food, food is good".
And yes, I like food. A lot.0
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