I've gone back to old eating habits

kelhea

These last two and half months have been brutal for me, I've fallen back into my old eating habits (athough it's not as bad as it use to be, it's still affecting my goals). I'm finding that I'm craving every kind of junk food I can think of, sweet and salty and I can't say no to temptation any more. I've still kept up my exercises though which is a plus! But I need help to get back on track!!! I do meal prep except half way down the week I sabatoge myself and go of course. And trying to keep all junk food out of sight doesn't work as the people I live keep buying it (I've talked to them, they keep buying tempting foods)

Does anyone who has gone through this before have any tips on how to get back on track? Thank you

leejoyce31

Someone posted about knowing your "why". Try to focus on why you began losing in the beginning. It's hard. I wish you the best!

CafeRacer808

It sounds like your diet plan may have been too restrictive. We see this a lot around here. People cut out all the foods they like but perceive as "bad", and at some point along the way their cravings become too much to handle and they fall off the wagon.

It's perfectly fine to include "junk foods" in your way of eating, so long as you make them fit into your daily calorie goal and you're not eating so much of them that you're not making room for other more nutritious options.

It's also important to remember that once you reach your goal weight, you're going to have to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of your life. If you can't envision the rest of your life without any form of "junk food" ever, then it'd probably be best to learn how to moderate your intake of those foods now.

ETA: I put "junk food" in quotes because I don't believe specific foods, in and of themselves, are bad or unhealthy. Diets (noun, not verb) can be bad or unhealthy. But if your diet is balanced and meets your nutritional goals, incorporating a moderate amount of what you perceive to be "junk food" is perfectly fine (and healthy).

KeepRunningFatboy

I used to be obese. Some foods (processed foods and sweets loaded with added sugars) I have absolutely no self-control around. I actually set a hard rule against eating any of these foods. (i.e. cookies, ice cream, pop-tarts, granola bars, most cereals, etc) And through education and reading, I made the switch to a whole foods primarily plant based diet. It did take some time, but now those foods can be present and I havent the slightest interest. Simply put - I put those foods on my forbidden list, and over time, my body stopped desiring / craving them.

Geocitiesuser

You can't outrun a bad diet... so even though you're still exercising, you need to get a grip on your eating.

Any damage you do will take 3x as long to correct. Remember the only person who is control of your diet is you. Like others said sometimes you have to practice abstinence from 'trigger foods'. Force yourself to eat clean for a week or two and it will help significantly. Key words though are "force yourself", as in, only you can tell you what to do.

estherdragonbat

I've found two things helpful in controlling my eating. Well, three.

1) Acknowledge that in social settings, there will be food that I want to eat that I have binged on in the past. Mentally prepare for this and ask myself in advance, "What would I realistically consider a treat? How much do I need to have so that I can properly enjoy myself?" Then I look up the calories. Sometimes it fits. Sometimes, I see how much X food will be and ask myself, "Am I sure I need this much?" (Once a week I have a frosted cookie and two small-ish pieces of potato kugel. It's around 400 calories, and worth every last one to me. On Hannukah eating fried food, especially latkas and filled donuts are a thing. As much as I like custard donuts, I didn't think it was worth the 240 calories that they're worth. But... I decided that it was worth 120 calories to take a half.)

2) Pre-track. Once I see it written in advance that I am going to have that frosted cookie or half-donut or piece of naan, and that it fits my daily calories without taking me over, not only do I enjoy the moment, but I avoid all of my negative self-talk that's plagued me in the past. That little voice telling me that I've just blown my diet and I might as well keep on going because today is a lost cause anyhow? It shuts up. Because I haven't blown anything; the treat fits within my calories and I know it.

3) If it's possible, I leave after eating what I planned to. This works in some situations (refreshment buffet at the end of an event), but not all.

If all else fails, accept that I went over today. It happens. It's past. Nothing I can do about it but move on. Tomorrow will be better.

JRiveraRodriguez

You have to get accustomed to a healthier lifestyle, once you do it's almost natural avoiding junk food.
In my experience I no longer crave sweet foods, whether it be donuts, cake, candy, coffee with 2 sugars, soda.
I'd say it's because I get my sugar fix from fruit, find you're favourite fruits and stock up, I know it can be pricey but it's well worth it.

Now for salt it's pretty easy to keep me away from any added salt as it bloats you up like a balloon, and for someone who is bulking the last thing they need to be doing is holding a lot of water.
So think about your physique next time you grab that bag of chips, is all your hard work for naught?