Moderation or Deprivation? Which works for you personally?

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  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    Moderation is a skill and a discipline

    It requires a certain amount of planning, and like all disciplines it gets better over time.

    That being said, I still take breaks after hitting Various goals and relax the discipline for a time, up to a week. Knowing that the relaxation will have a cost as pertains to my progress and I accept and acknowledge it.

    Mostly because my primary goals are oriented to fitness and strength and my target weight range is a much more flexible goal. As I get older, that may change, but as I look around the room here there's people with 20 years on me who are still hitting new milestones as far as fitness goes.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    I allow myself to have as much as I want. Just not everyday. I don't crave these things everyday so it isn't deprivation.

    I can't have just one. So from time to time I go over maintanance or replace a meal to have the amont of a treat that I want. I'm not strict with my deficit and I'm taking it easy so it isn't moderation but it isn't deprivation either.
  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
    edited March 2018
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    I'm like you. I feel like I do best when I just 100% avoid trigger foods (rice, cookies, pasta). I've tried the "eating whatever in moderation" and before I even know what's happening, I've eaten an entire box of Little Debbie snack cakes. When I just avoid stuff like that, I find that after a couple weeks, I don't want it, I don't think about it and I'm not tempted by it. Do whatever works for you.
  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
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    Sparkeysworld wrote: »
    Both, at the start of the cut, I can have things in moderation, but the closer to the end I get, the more I have to stick to deprivation.
    To the point I don't even have 'naughty' things in the house.
    Breakfast cereals are the worst for me, one bowl and I might as well do the box.

    This is so me! I told my husband the other day that I can't buy Captain Crunch cereal anymore. He'll want me to buy it so he can eat a bowl on the weekends, but what happens is that I'll start eatingt 2 bowls at 11:00 PM each night and then the entire box is gone in a couple days. I just can't have it around.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
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    Definitely moderation for me. I’m in recovery for an eating disorder and when I slip into that all or nothing thinking the restrict/binge cycles start and inevitably lead to purging. No specific food can be the enemy, it’s my relationship with food that needs work and I can only work on it if I don’t avoid and confront it.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,975 Member
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    Just the opposite as you OP. If I say I "can't" have something, then I'm just going to want it all the more, and will probably go hog wild when I do.

    Moderation is the only thing that is sustainable for me. Pizza, ice cream, fast food, whatever - it's not off limits, I just have to plan for it.

    As an example, yesterday work provided free pizza and cake at a celebration lunch. I didn't hold back (I had already passed on breakfast), but dinner was some veggies with a little Parmesan cheese. I enjoyed my lunch with my coworkers, and didn't feel an ounce of guilt since I had planned accordingly and knew dinner would be light.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    a 1000+ poster here for whom moderating everything never works. I banged my head against that wall for a good 15 years before finally moving on.

    Weight loss comes down to calorie deprivation. Some choose to cut calories in all foods. Those are the people who have no trouble stopping at just one bite.... I always wonder how those people gained their weight. ;). Others cut out some foods, typically nonessential highly refined carbs and sugars, and that help reduce cravings and the likelihood of overeating.

    I don't think moderation is a skill. I think it is something that some people can do because they don't have trigger foods. If they are in fact avoiding trigger foods, that is abstaining or deprivation. IMO

    Just like anyone gains weight: by eating too much. I didn't decide I want to stop at one bite and it magically resolved all overeating for me. That's not how it works. I just gradually acquired skills and strategies to eat the things I like without overeating, and that has never involved stopping at one bite, to be honest. I just found the lowest amount I can eat of some things that is satisfying. If your usual portion is a family sized bag of chips, would you be able to tell the difference if someone removes one chip? 2? 5? Would a two serving bag be enough at some point if that's all you had access to? Like I mentioned before, there is more to moderation that magically becoming a model eater.

    Exactly this! Now I buy those packs of snack sized chips for my house. I can eat the 1oz bag, satisfy the craving, and not feel deprived at all. I don’t need to buy and eat the big one. I’ve used this mentality and approach a lot. I’ll buy the box of ice cream bars and have one instead of sitting with a carton.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    a 1000+ poster here for whom moderating everything never works. I banged my head against that wall for a good 15 years before finally moving on.

    Weight loss comes down to calorie deprivation. Some choose to cut calories in all foods. Those are the people who have no trouble stopping at just one bite.... I always wonder how those people gained their weight. ;). Others cut out some foods, typically nonessential highly refined carbs and sugars, and that help reduce cravings and the likelihood of overeating.

    I don't think moderation is a skill. I think it is something that some people can do because they don't have trigger foods. If they are in fact avoiding trigger foods, that is abstaining or deprivation. IMO

    Just like anyone gains weight: by eating too much. I didn't decide I want to stop at one bite and it magically resolved all overeating for me. That's not how it works. I just gradually acquired skills and strategies to eat the things I like without overeating, and that has never involved stopping at one bite, to be honest. I just found the lowest amount I can eat of some things that is satisfying. If your usual portion is a family sized bag of chips, would you be able to tell the difference if someone removes one chip? 2? 5? Would a two serving bag be enough at some point if that's all you had access to? Like I mentioned before, there is more to moderation that magically becoming a model eater.

    Exactly.

    My ability to regularly eat the serving size I want to eat didn't happen automatically, it's a skill I developed. The more I use the skill, the better I get at it.

    (This isn't to say that I believe every single person is capable of developing it, I can only speak for myself).
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    SCoil123 wrote: »
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    a 1000+ poster here for whom moderating everything never works. I banged my head against that wall for a good 15 years before finally moving on.

    Weight loss comes down to calorie deprivation. Some choose to cut calories in all foods. Those are the people who have no trouble stopping at just one bite.... I always wonder how those people gained their weight. ;). Others cut out some foods, typically nonessential highly refined carbs and sugars, and that help reduce cravings and the likelihood of overeating.

    I don't think moderation is a skill. I think it is something that some people can do because they don't have trigger foods. If they are in fact avoiding trigger foods, that is abstaining or deprivation. IMO

    Just like anyone gains weight: by eating too much. I didn't decide I want to stop at one bite and it magically resolved all overeating for me. That's not how it works. I just gradually acquired skills and strategies to eat the things I like without overeating, and that has never involved stopping at one bite, to be honest. I just found the lowest amount I can eat of some things that is satisfying. If your usual portion is a family sized bag of chips, would you be able to tell the difference if someone removes one chip? 2? 5? Would a two serving bag be enough at some point if that's all you had access to? Like I mentioned before, there is more to moderation that magically becoming a model eater.

    Exactly this! Now I buy those packs of snack sized chips for my house. I can eat the 1oz bag, satisfy the craving, and not feel deprived at all. I don’t need to buy and eat the big one. I’ve used this mentality and approach a lot. I’ll buy the box of ice cream bars and have one instead of sitting with a carton.

    So much this.

    And if I WANTmore, I have another 1 oz bag. IF I don't WANT more, there's not an open Family size bag screaming my name and going stale. There's a box full of single serve bags that must be individually opened, eaten and thrown in the trash. I don't have a bowl that I can just walk back over to the bag and tap some more into my bowl.

    It's just enough more work to let me evaluate how much and whether I really want more.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    Oh, and to add, for some things the serving size that satisfies me is still large. I can't have a sliver of cheesecake. I need the whole decent 800 calorie slice. For that kind of food, I just eat it less often. An 800 calorie slice is stressful to fit in daily, but it's not a problem at all to have every few months when I have the calories and feel it's worth it.
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
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    My answer is both. When I tried to start slow, I had a lot of false starts. All it would take was a holiday, cookout or other "special" circumstance that would make me think "I can just start over after this" or "I can make this average out." When I started with a crash, I could get a "lead to protect" fairly quickly and the bigger I made it, the more likely I was to stick to losing the rest of it.

    I went a little too far with the crash part this time, but I think I recovered okay. I have lost about 60 pounds and have a BMI under 25. I lost the first 30 in about 2 months without tracking and the last 30 in about 5 months of tracking with the last pound taking about 2 weeks.

    I absolutely do not recommend the quick loss for that long at the beginning. I was not very well educated about what that was doing to me and I lost some chest and shoulder muscle that is going to be hard to get back with arthritic issues I have.

    Coming down the home stretch slow while tracking is making the transition into maintenance easier. It's just an adjustment up a little and I am still tracking and will be for some time. I attempted to become a natural eater after a big loss in the past and failed miserably.
  • amberellen12
    amberellen12 Posts: 248 Member
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    I allot myself so many calories a day and I can use them any way I want but if I want to eat a lot of food then the high calorie junk food has to go.
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
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    mostly moderation (I still eat small amounts of what most people would consider "junk" ) but depends on the food.. I'm a stress eater and there are a few things I'd definitely rather not buy/have in the house in large quantities

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