NO MOTIVATION

JeromeBarry1

fizzypinkbubbles95 wrote: »

Like enough to lose weight, I don't want to be eating out anymore (fast food). When I go grocery shopping I don't know what the heck to buy besides chicken. I'm tired of eating meat. I want to eat healthy enough to lose weight but I want the food to taste good as well.

Up to this post I'm a bit confused. Anyway, you need to realize that protein is available from many animal and vegetable sources. Google "healthy recipes", visit pinterest.com, or just click on the "Hello Healthy" links on your home page to find an abundance of ideas.

acorsaut89

First things first: there is no rule, written or otherwise, that says you can't enjoy your food and still portion it enough to control what you eat. I love food . . . like a lot a lot . . . but I just control how much of everything I eat.

And I'm curious as to why you don't want to eat out any more - unless it was in one of the replies, and in that case I apologize - because you can still eat out and eat the foods you enjoy you just have to watch how much you eat.

There's a really harsh stereo type that makes people think they can't lose the weight unless they're starving themselves and eating boiled chicken and veggies all the time and that just isn't the case. I personally do eat a lot of chicken, tuna, turkey and fish because I have a hard time stomaching red meat but that doesn't mean I can't or don't eat it I just don't eat a lot of it. I love steak, but it's usually about a 6 month period between having one . . . but that's my personal choice.

All you need to lose weight is to make sure you are consuming less than you're burning - that's really all there is to it. If you are looking for nutrition then that's a completely different story for another day because it sounds like you aren't super concerned about nutrition, just that you lose the weight.

You can get your protein from animal or plant sources, it doesn't have to be chicken. I make oatmeal with protein powder in it, I eat chicken, greek yogurt, boiled eggs, hemp hearts, home made trail mix (but BE CAREFUL with this, nuts are a super dense food so they pack a lot of calories for their size, but they're very good for you), cheese, milk products - so like chocolate milk or 2% added to a smoothie, etc etc. There's a lot of sources of protein out there, you just have to start to understand what is really in the food you're consuming.

Here is what has helped me the most (and take it for what it's worth . . . not saying it's gold or anything)
1. Understanding what I'm actually putting into my body - do research (solid, credible sources) on what is in the foods you are eating and read up on what you're cooking with . . . it can be a real eye opener to find out what you have actually been eating.
2. Meal Prepping/Planning - HUGE, HUGE, HUGE help here and especially because I am single it can be hard to cook meals when everything is packaged for multiple people so I just do batch cooking. This way I know what I'm eating because I made it and I can just throw it in the microwave when I get home late at night.
3. Weighing food - you might know what a serving size 'should' be but are you eating that? Even after a couple years of weighing I have tried eye balling portions and I'm still (shockingly!) pretty far off sometimes. It's super easy to underestimate what you're eating.
4. Portioning everything - so when I batch cook, everything I need for a meal (for the most part) goes into one container . . . that way I know what is in the container is what I'm supposed to eat and that's it. One container = one meal, period.
5. Grocery Lists - make a list based on your meal planning (point # 2) and stick to it. Know what you need to buy and that's it. Until you know you can portion control properly and know your own limits, do not fall into the trap of buying 'snack' foods with little nutritional value thinking you'll just have a few only if you're hungry and only on Friday night. If you're going to snack, then own it and know how much you should be eating. As per point # 4 - portion is everything and if you can't put the bag/box away after a handful then you just aren't ready for that snack. It took me a LONG time before I could have chips in my house and not devour the whole bag in one sitting.
6. Shop mostly in the produce section - majority of my cart when I shop comes from the produce section of my grocery store and I have very few products in bags or boxes (save for pasta and rice, because as a runner those are STAPLES). Fresh foods are huge bang for your buck foods - they are (usually, depending on what is in season) cheaper, better nutritional content, easy to cook with (see Pinterest . . . you can do like a million things with a spaghetti squash), lots of variety and they will (usually, again depending on what you buy) have higher fiber content - see the hard, crunchy veggies like peppers - so they will keep you fuller, longer because fiber takes longer for your body to digest.

In all seriousness though, you have to have the willpower to just do it . . . but that being said, don't do it all at once and think you have to completely overhaul your life. I mean you do, but a renovated home isn't done in one day right? Start with small things.

For me, I started with making oatmeal that I could have for breakfast every day instead of buying a bagel and a coffee at Tim Hortons. Then I started to make sure I had fruit with breakfast, and veggies with lunch and dinner every day. Then I started making sure I ate every 3 - 4 hours during the day, and so on.

You can't do it all at once, it takes baby steps to make it happen but if you want it bad enough for yourself (and that's the thing - you have to want it bad enough for YOU) you can do it. Feel free to reach out if you ever have any questions about meal planning/batch cooking . . . I live by it and I've refined it over the years and found out things that work with batch cooking and (unfortunately) things that don't lol

Best of luck to you! You can do it

billglitch

fizzypinkbubbles95 wrote: »

Okay my weight is out of control and I have no idea how to get myself motivated to eat healthy. Food is my biggest concern. I can go to the gym but the way I eat is really bad. My stretch marks are growing on my stomach and I feel disgusting. I want to make a change but it's hard for me to eat healthy. I feel lost. I'm tired of eating chicken all the time -__- I just need motivation.

i was in similar situation. I started eating low carb high fat (LCHF) in january and watching my calories too. I have done no exercise and have lost 105 pounds in 9 months. I am not hungry and have no cravings. Check out dietdoctor.com

acorsaut89

LynnBBQ72 wrote: »

For motivation, someone suggested that we eat a meal in front of a mirror, naked. Just thinking about that gives me motivation!

This really, really bothers me.

If you stand in front of a mirror naked and then eat and realize you hate how you look you will associate that with eating, and that develops negative relationships with food and is prime breeding grounds for a lot of disordered eating. It's a dangerous and slippery slope.

I do not really like how I look naked, and I'm pretty sure there's a ton of people out there who look better naked than I do, but my motivation doesn't come from that: it's from running further, faster or longer, it's from feeling better about myself every day, it's from my clothes fitting better and so on.

Food is fuel, and it's essential to our well being, so if you start to associate it with the negative feelings you get standing in front of a mirror naked and think if you could just put the fork down then I just think it's asking for trouble down the road. What happens if you get to your goal weight and you still hate how you look naked because maybe you lost really fast and you have a bunch of saggy skin? Or you aren't as muscular as you thought you'd be? I think food and physical views of ourselves should be kept separate but maybe that's just from my experience.

jessicarobinson00

Honestly: all the advice above = AMAZING. I would add: friend some inspirational peeps who are here daily, logging in, struggling, but still pursuing their goals. For me, it helps knowing I'm not the only one who struggled last night and bust out the ice cream bars. Life happens...it's just about not beating yourself up about it and getting back on track..

And if you need ideas on what to eat: look for those with open diaries. I am in maintenance, but I still look for fresh ideas from those around me!

fizzypinkbubbles95

Okay so
If I stick within my calorie range that it recommends for me to Get to my goal weight can I eat anything? As long as it meets those calories?

kommodevaran

fizzypinkbubbles95 wrote: »

Okay so
If I stick within my calorie range that it recommends for me to Get to my goal weight can I eat anything? As long as it meets those calories?

Yes - just log correctly. Make sure every entry you use has the same values as the food you use, and that you are using the amount that you are logging. So weigh everything.