Strugglefest

MissMolly180

I've been on MFP for years but always lose motivation and stop tracking. In the past 2 months I've had a ton of stressful events happen and am a terrible stress eater. Need some serious help on healthy, quick and low cost recipes; motivation; encouragement; and overall ways to keep my hands out of the cookie jar so to speak.

kommodevaran

Meh to motivation. Just stop eating for other reasons than hunger. Don't have a cookie jar if you can't keep your hands out of it. Instead, have a cookie now and then.

Decide what healthy means to you, find recipes for meals you like that fit that descriptions, cook and eat that. If you want to eat cheap, buy cheap ingredients. If you want quick recipes, cook simple meals.

argos14

Keep at it! Completely understand where your at

everher

You don't have to be motivated, but you must be dedicated. You have to want it more than you want food.

To deal with the stress eating you need to find another way to manage stress. Some people exercise, do yoga, meditate, write out their emotions, talk it out (with others or a professional), etc. I would recommend going cold turkey and just not allowing yourself to eat unless you are hungry. If you can't manage that I would only allow myself a serving of some low calorie snack. No binge eating.

It worries me when people start throwing the word "healthy" around. Usually it tends to mean they are going to try to radically change their diet and will for a couple of months, but eventually give up because they're being too restrictive and denying themselves food they love. Anything can be "healthy" in moderation.

For recipes, Google and Pinterest will be your best friend. I also love the websites CookingLight, SkinnyTaste, and EatingWell. If you have a high calorie recipe that you love you can always do low calorie substitutions too of some of the ingredients to make it more manageable or eat smaller portions.

For me, and I think for most people, momentum builds upon itself. The first day is hard, but the next day is a little easier and so on. It also helps having all the support here on MFP. Lastly, I just eat everything in moderation and I allow myself to eat when I'm hungry.

It's only as hard as you make it to be.

daremightythings

If you don't keep it in the house, you can't eat it. I don't keep anything in my house, other than raw veg, that doesn't require cooking. If I'm hungry enough to actually prepare a meal, I will eat. If I'm panicky and craving food to calm whatever feeling, I don't tend to have the interest in actually cooking. It really does a lot towards recognizing which is which. The next part is figuring out what to do with the food feelings when it turns out they're not hunger.