Silly (but effective!) Rules

lilawolf

Hard and fast rule:
1. No drinking alone. (this has multiple and not just caloric reasons)
2. Eat more to be more active to eat more! Positive spin. No guilt, no exercise as "punishment" for "bad" food.
3. Look at weekly calories/macros rather than daily.
4. BE FLEXIBLE! Move workouts around to accept new activities or social things.
5. Don't eat out more than 1 meal a day (unless its a road trip and impossible not to)

Usually rules:
1. If I'm hungry, particularly for an unplanned snack (rather than a meal), wait at least half an hour and a cup of water. If still hungry: eat.
2. If I start to get weird/OCD/disorder-ey about counting, I'll take a couple days off while still eating mindfully.
3. Don't snack out of the container. Put what I'm going to have on a plate. Get more if I'm going to. This is obvious when you're counting, but its a general life rule.

Should implement but haven't:
1. Stop reading while I eat. Pay more attention to taste/flavour/enjoyment.

yayamom3

1. At work, I only eat my food. This means, if it's in my lunch bag, it belongs to me and I eat it. If it's not in my lunch bag, it belongs to someone else and I don't eat it. (referring to all the high-calorie treats that are always abundant at work)
2. Don't drink my calories.
3. As much as possible, exercise early in the morning before work. It energizes me and sets my whole day up for optimism and successful choices.
4. Try to hit my protein goal every day. Protein keeps me satiated.

itsfitnessnotrocketscience

MonkeyMel21 wrote: »

My "rules" are mainly from work.

2. Don't eat the free goodies unless they are actually delicious and/or something I can't get otherwise.

This is an awesome rule. I try to do the same for on cafeteria snacks. They are not great. Just because they're there, doesn't mean I should buy them.

Wolfger

Rule #1: leave room for beer.
(or pizza, or whatever it is you really enjoy)
The absolute best part about a calorie-centric diet is that you never have to deprive yourself of what you really crave. You just need portion control and proper planning. When I want a beer, I start planning for it at breakfast, and hopefully I've got room left for it on my log by dinner. Then it's not just a beer, it's a reward for a job well done!

SeikoMonster

Set meal times.
Knowing its only x amount of time till the next meal has cut my snacking down to nothing.

You cant outrun your mouth.
No amount of the time on a treadmill can make up for just not eating the crap to start with.

stelly76

SeikoMonster wrote: »

Set meal times.
Knowing its only x amount of time till the next meal has cut my snacking down to nothing.

I do that for snacking at work. I won't let myself have my AM snack until 10am and my PM snack until 3pm. Sometimes I end up not snacking at all or at least sticking to only 1 snack. (It's 3:14pm right now and I haven't had my snack yet!)

dunlol

1. I'll probably screw up my diet at some time, don't hate myself
2. Don't make more rules - they just provide extra stress

Bob314159

Don't eat a piece of chocolate while walking - wait till you arrive at the destination - sit down and eat it slowly

perfect_storm

I am trying to lose weight so my rule is to make sure I don't go over calories but stay just under or close to goal

Sharon_C

I've made this a household rule:

No eating out of the bags/boxes. You are not allowed to eat out of a bag of chips, box of crackers, etc. You get a bowl out, fill it with an appropriate serving and put the bag/box back. This stops mindless eating and you really have to think twice before going back to the pantry, opening the bag, filling the bowl, closing the bag, and putting it away.

cwolfman13

1) eat and train
2) train and eat

itsfitnessnotrocketscience

stelly76 wrote: »

SeikoMonster wrote: »

Set meal times.
Knowing its only x amount of time till the next meal has cut my snacking down to nothing.

I do that for snacking at work. I won't let myself have my AM snack until 10am and my PM snack until 3pm. Sometimes I end up not snacking at all or at least sticking to only 1 snack. (It's 3:14pm right now and I haven't had my snack yet!)

Agree agree!

rolenthegreat

Sharon_C wrote: »

I've made this a household rule:

No eating out of the bags/boxes. You are not allowed to eat out of a bag of chips, box of crackers, etc. You get a bowl out, fill it with an appropriate serving and put the bag/box back. This stops mindless eating and you really have to think twice before going back to the pantry, opening the bag, filling the bowl, closing the bag, and putting it away.

This for me too. I feel like waiting a bit after a snack helps give the 'Im not hungry anymore' cues a chance to get to my brain.

yellingkimber

Chew more. It sounds silly, but I had braces for years as a teenager, which made me not want to chew at all (it hurt!), so I would do the bare minimum. I really didn't notice how quickly I scarf down my food because I don't chew nearly as much as one should. Looking back, me eating must have looked like it looks when I throw my dog scraps- chew SWALLOWGONEMORE??? Taking the time to chew has made me feel more satisfied when I'm done eating and helped me be less hungry overall.

Snack. The chewing thing makes me less hungry, but I still have a brain and my brain still wants things like peanut butter crackers, a square of chocolate, olives, and those pickles I found in the back of my fridge. That's fine! When I said that I was going to be trying to lose weight, my very science-minded boyfriend immediately said that I should cut out snacking and spewed some statistics about how people that don't snack have keep the weight off X% of the time compared to snackers and backed up the benefits of not snacking with lots of medical journals. I tried it. I really did. But not snacking really just made me snippy and anxious about all of the food I couldn't eat because cooking and food are my biggest hobbies / passions. Instead, I let myself snack all I want as long as the calories are budgeted into my day. It keeps me from melting down and falling off the wagon, so snacks are in my life to stay, even if it's just an orange or handful of olives.

zdyb23456

My rules:
Log everything as accurately as possible and err on the side of overestimating

Don't drink my calories. Starbucks is an occasional treat.

No mayo or anything made with mayo except for deviled eggs at Easter.

No eating in the car or in bed - it's a cleanliness thing. It bothers me to feel crumbs in bed! I'd have to change the sheets before I could sleep. And cleaning/vacuuming out cars are a pain in the a**.

I try to never shop hungry. Shopping hungry means a lot of extra crap ends up in my cart.

lyrical_melody

I have a rule of not keeping sweets, chips, or bread in my house. If I keep any of that, I literally can't stop and have to consume all of it. I find that I will usually pick something healthier if I dont have the bad stuff in my house. For example, I so wanted to order a pizza tonight but I'm on a budget...so instead I made sweet potato fries and now I am satisfied and not craving that pizza anymore. #win

HlthDtour

Food is not a reward, you are not a dog. Also, if it doesn't taste good, don't finish it. Those starving children in Africa don't want your half eaten bagel. I am an adult who buys the food, if I don't want to clean my plate it's really ok. If I want to eat an entire cake, then eat it. If I choose to then I have to own it. I guess my rule is...be real with yourself.

goldthistime

dunlol wrote: »

1. I'll probably screw up my diet at some time, don't hate myself
2. Don't make more rules - they just provide extra stress

I have some casual rules, all of which I break at various times, and all covered here already by others. I've never thought about "don't hate myself" as a rule, but I guess it is. Perhaps the most important one. Have to add it's corollary, "just keep trying".

junodog1

My calories are a budget, just like money. I can only spend so much.

kar328

Lots of great ideas here. I have a water rule - I aim for 12 8oz glasses per day minimum, so to help with this, I drink 16 oz when I get up (unless I'm hitting the 0545 class, then one of those and coffee because, hey, it's 5AM!). I bring a 32oz water bottle to the gym, so I have to finish it all before I step back into my house - sometimes involves me drinking while in the driveway if I did less sweaty activities.

I also have a rule about not buying what I cannot control, right now it's ice cream, I can polish the 1.5L container in an evening or two. I've had problems with other foods in the past and try to work them back in when I think I can handle it.

Also a rule about good quality foods. I'm a transplanted New Yorker so to me bagels and pizza are so-so everywhere but home. There are a few places here, run by transplanted NYers so those are fine, but no pizza from chains that have commercials and no store bought bagels. The calories are worth it if the quality is there.

I guess my biggest rule is just try to do the best I can and make improvements.

Sheisinlove109

When I eat out, I only eat out where I really want to. For instance if the kids want fast food or a restaurant that I'm not a fan of we will occasionally go but I won't eat there...why eat the sodium and calories and not even want it?

I don't drink calories....no seeet tea, soda, alcohol....I'm a hungry girl! I want food!

I take a daily workout selfie to see the progress....so all the "typical" rules apply.... but the pic reminds me why I've been working so darn hard.

leanjogreen18

I don't have any rules per say but how I moderate...

- No big bag of chips or saltines for the house.
- Friends/family take your pies and yummy leftovers home.
- Homemade bread only when company comes over to help me eat it.
- Be grateful

Rules if you must call it that are always flexible:)

STLBADGIRL

Drink 32 oz's of water before I leave the gym. I'm horrible with water. Drink the other 32 before I leave work.

Rosyone

I weigh myself naked only once a week, for the record. Beyond that, I can step on the scale 50 times a day if I want, but I have to be clothed so that the normal fluctuations don't drive me crazy. I just write them off to the fact that I'm wearing jeans rather than shorts, or whatever.

fubarfornow

Another person who has a "no eating out of the bag" rule.

I also look at calories like a banking system, but one where I have no credit privileges. I can save up to spend later in the week, but I can't "borrow" to spend now, and pay it back later in the week (because I don't do it). Calorically, I'm a bad credit risk.

ninerbuff

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ninerbuff

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ninerbuff

Only rules I follow are: Eating within your calorie allotment

Be consistent with your calorie burn (I exercise 7 days a week for at least an hour).
Get enough sleep and don't stress out.

Been about the same weight for over 20 years.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

pamfgil

Log everything I eat
Don't drink calories
Remember persistence beats perfectionism
Remember weight loss is not linear

CattOfTheGarage

fubarfornow wrote: »

I also look at calories like a banking system, but one where I have no credit privileges. I can save up to spend later in the week, but I can't "borrow" to spend now, and pay it back later in the week (because I don't do it). Calorically, I'm a bad credit risk.

That's a good approach. Mine is similar, in that I can work to earn calories in advance, but I don't exercise to "make up" for things I already ate. If it's in the past, it's in the past. Generally what I'm aiming at is your "no credit" situation but can't avoid the odd day when I'm over. Basically I forgive those debts.