Cold turkey

Maio44

I have seen a lot of posts talking about not cutting some foods out of your diet completely, and not labelling any foods "bad" foods and allowing all things in moderation, as long as you track them. So I thought I'd share my story...which many will disagree with, but it is what it is. I've lost over 50kg in the last year, and am now eating at 1410 calories for maintenance while my head catches up with my weight loss. I have arthritis, so do very little cardio but some upper body, light weights and have taken up golf (gently!)
I have found it impossible to allow myself to eat anything that I remotely consider indulgent. Once I let those "bad" things back in, I don't just have one, I have to have two or three.
I found the best thing for me was reducing carbs to about 30g a day, and completely cutting out any added sugar. Ive had no bread for over a year. However, it's not hard to say no to biscuits, cakes, sweets etc. what I can't do is have them at all. I can see a packet of opened biscuits and not be tempted...that's easy. It's when I think "oh yeah, I feel like one of those, I'll just have one" that I come unstuck. So, my practice is to abstain completely. I know lots of you will disagree, but I thought I'd put it out there that for some of us, going cold turkey on sweet treats is easier than managing them, and fitting them in, on plan.i obviously have a lot of work to mentally to get over this, but I'd rather go without than even try to have "just one".

L1zardQueen

Do what you gotta do! I have things I can't moderate either, so I don't buy them.

wellthenwhat

I have foods that I don't cut out, but don't keep on hand generally. I do currently have soda, but if I do have some, I generally split a can with my son, and a 12 pack will last me many months. I don't keep ice cream in the house on a regular basis, but will eat it on occasion

leanjogreen18

I'm glad you found what works for you and others will agree with you!

I think the mind here is to let people know they don't HAVE to give up some foods to lose weight. I though my "diet" had to be restrictive to be effective. So it was great to learn that food isn't good/bad it's just food.

I know often times folks that restrict foods tend to overeat or binge on them later. That was my case when I went on Atkins. After coming off I overate potatoes. I also thought I must need to cut them out of my diet completely so I went on the "no white" diet. Well that lead to overeating on bread & potatoes. So learning that I didn't HAVE to have a restrictive diet was empowering to me.

Learning to moderate certain foods for me has been an experience. I can have Halo Top ice cream in the fridge for days. I can have Hershey's kisses for days in the candy jar BUT I can't have a big bag of potato chips or saltines in my house. My way of moderating is only eating those foods out or when I have friends/family over to help me eat the bag.

Abstinence works for some and I say more power to you!

Moderation works for some and there are various ways folks moderate.

In the end whatever works to keep us at our calorie goal and ultimately maintain that loss is a win win for everyone!

ETA - I don't think anyone really cares what others do. I think what happens is there are people out there like me who thinks they had to restrict certain foods. Informing them that they don't have to if they don't want to is eyeopening to some.

nvmomketo

Sometimes going cold turkey is the best solution. As you said, it isn't for everyone, but restricting certain foods can work really well for some people. It is the path that I've needed to follow as well.

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middlehaitch

It is choosing the method that works for you that is important.

The heated discussions start when someone says their way is the only way.

Most of the long time posters recognize that every individual is actually an individual and has to develop a way of eating that can transfer to maintenance.

Sometimes this does mean not having a food available at all, sometimes it is only when eating out- not in the house, sometimes it is only Sunday, or whatever day one chooses.

And, one has to acnowldge the flexibility of these restrictions.

Some people find a 'cooling off period' with a certain food puts it in perspective for long term admittance, others know the control is not there so deal with it in a way that is sustainable for them, not everyone.
It is all down to what works for you.

You sound like you have got 'you' well done.

Cheers, h.

AnvilHead

So what are we debating? Since this is the Health and Fitness Debate section.

Macy9336

I completely agree, I have a whole list of "bad foods" that are completely banned from my diet/life. It is helpful to me to do that as if I allowed these foods now and then...it's like stepping onto a ski lift....next thing I know I'm being whisked away to a mountain of unhealthiness and weight gain. Better to not take that first step.

zyxst

Congrats on finding a way of eating that works for you. What's to debate, or is this just this week's argument thread?

Gallowmere1984

Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »

There will always be certain foods i likely won't be able to have. I recently wrote a status to this degree..



This product in particular will probably never enter my kitchen again. Lol
I crave this mayo like crazy and when my binge eating was out of control i was squirting this stuff onto bread and flat bread and just eating it.

My status basically said that i felt like i had grown personally because i realized that i look at this food different then i do other foods and in order to navigate through my life without issue i need to realize that this food really can't be apart of my life now. I think before i probably would of kept trying to reenter it back into my life and likely would of always failed to be able to control my use of it. I give big kudos to anyone who recognizes things within themselves and makes changes for the better no matter what they need to do.

I used to put that stuff all over eggs when I was running keto. It was delicious, but I ended up finding that I much prefer the taste and texture of kimchi on said eggs instead. It also saved me a couple of hundred kcals. xD

jenilla1

Hey, whatever works for you! I'm cool with it.

kommodevaran

I cheer on anyone who choose methods and strategies that work for them, no matter how radical or unusual.

I just personally get my undies in a bundle when people insist on doing things the hard way, doing lots of unnecessary things, needlessly restrict foods they like or eat food they hate or just try to eat too little, exhaust themselves at the gym, in short, deliberately picking a way that they know they will self-sabotage, sooner or later.

embeers

HAHA Im so hungry I thought this post was about TURKEY

kommodevaran

Mmmm... cold turkey sandwich

kaizaku

That's what I been saying from the start, sadly some smart *kitten* telling me otherwise lol

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lemurcat12

Now I want kimchi on eggs.

I agree with everyone that people should do what works for them, and maybe experiment to find out what it is. I don't really think telling yourself that you CAN'T moderate anything that seems at all indulgent seems all that helpful, longterm -- I find the message I give myself matters. But I do find it's sometimes easier to say no than make exceptions if you haven't figured out how to govern the exceptions or if you tend to want something more after having a little.

Anyway, like others have said, I only object if people insist that one way is better not just for themselves (I do plenty of things others would find weird), but for everyone. Basically, what feels like evangelism or "my way is the best way" bothers me. What works for people will vary.

On that note, what works more for me is cutting out things I ate mindlessly, without really enjoying them (which actually includes much of the rice and bread and so on I ate, since I don't consider those indulgent, but not that interesting, yet often there), and not the things I really love, which I can mostly eat in moderation. Focusing on really enjoying and appreciating what I eat is what works best for me, but of course everyone should find their own way.

CSARdiver

Good for you - that's pretty much the whole trick to this long term. MFP is a process that is lost on so many, the first of which is logging and tracking to enhance self awareness. This is one reason for the volume of "I'm only eating 1200 kcals/day and still not losing?!" threads. Many simply don't want this process to work as that would require a shift from victim status to being personally responsible.

Those who have taken this to the next level don't have to log as they realize that this is behavior that drives the process. They have successfully identified behaviors that do not drive their fitness goals and replaced these with good habits.

I don't believe anyone has an issue with identifying those trigger foods everyone has. It is only when posters make broad strokes stating "my way is the only way" nonsense that these threads end badly.

bagge72

I eat cold turkey every morning for breakfast. Well Monday - Friday. Saturday's are usually pizza for breakfast, and Sunday is a doughnut. But yeah I like cold turkey.

Lounmoun

It sounds like you had a lot of problem foods. I hope you enjoy the food you do allow yourself to eat. If it works for you then great.

I advise people to focus on calories and not cut food groups out of their diet or completely overhaul what they eat overnight unless they have a medical condition requiring it. I say that because my past experience has been that it is hard to sustain a big diet change like that long term for many people. It can lead to yo yo dieting or binge eating cycles. If a person can learn to moderate the foods they like then they should... because this is for life. Sometimes you may need a bigger diet change than another person. Whatever you can best sustain is what you should do.


My strategy to eat what I like is planning and prelogging my food for the day to meet my calorie goal and protein goal. I have 100-300 calories for snacks. I'm not eating some foods as often anymore.