Mental changes towards food

SisepuedeLinda

How long did it take you to unlearn your bad food habits? For me, I skip meals, eat fast food, eat til im stuffed, and overeat. Probably a few other bad habits too. It's what I've done pretty much since I was 8 years old. Being on and off mfp has helped somewhat but not as much as I thought. How did you stick to making better eating choices and how long did it take you til it just became normal? I feel like I used to eat of boredom which I've stopped doing a lot because I don't want to log it all! Lol..but the other things are just not sticking to my head. I know it's a process but where can I go to learn how to just live healthier and better overall?? I often get stuck at cooking meals too because I cook how my mom taught me which uses lots of oil and carbs.

me0231

I don't think you should expect to suddenly wake up 'normal'. A year is weight loss and a good six months of maintenance and it's still a struggle for me to be honest. Sure, I know what I need to eat to maintain and how to cook to fit into my macros and calories but if you suddenly told me this new drug lets you eat whatever, I'd eat all the crap I used to eat without a second thought. It takes being mindful every day. It's a habit now and it's definitely become easier and I do feel a million times healthier and more energetic that I don't want to go back to where I was, but I have to keep reminding myself of that even now and I imagine probably for many more years to come.

Idontcareyoupick

It's a process. A lot of times it's that I really don't want to "spend" the calories on something. I've been doing this for about a year and getting better about stopping before I'm over full because it's not comfortable anymore from eating smaller portions and just keeping the tips in your head and keep working cause you won't be perfect. Just keep trying and you'll just keep getting better

kommodevaran

I've been in maintenance for almost four years and feel that I have a pretty relaxed relationship with food and very good eating habits overall. But it takes a daily effort, I have to tell myself "no" a lot, and I still have to make precautions so I don't eat too much - it's easy enough with meals, because real food fills me up; when it comes to treats, I have been really disciplined for a long time, but now, I just eat until it's empty.

I cook how my mom taught me which uses lots of oil and carbs I would look into this and check if it really is a problem; traditional cooking is usually healthy enough, it's when we start to "fix" it that it gets out of hand.

VUA21

Not too long as I never gave up any foods, I just ate less. It takes me about 3 months to get used to my maintenance whenever I decide to go on a break from weight loss to focus more on strength training.

Millicent3015

It's taken me just over a year to adopt different eating habits. I was diagnosed with diabetes, so I guess it was easier in that respect as I had no choice but to change how I ate. It was extremely difficult at first, because I made the mistake of telling myself what I couldn't have. This made me crave those foods even more, which then made me resentful, and after weeks of avoiding food I liked, I'd end up bingeing on it in frustration.

It was at the fourth session of my food course that it clicked. We were talking about how hard it was to deal with our cravings. I said, "nothing is off limits. I can have what I want, but I have to choose to eat more healthily". That stuck with me. After a while I began feeling differently towards food. I realised I actually preferred the more balanced diet I was now eating. I still have binges, but they happen less and less, because those 'treats' are a normal part of my diet now.

MFP has helped enormously since I decided to use it seriously and log every day. Even when I go over my calories I can see from my logs that it isn't a common occurrence. I've gone over a few times these past two weeks because I'm dealing with some stress. Logging has helped me stay on track most of the time, and to plan what I want to eat, which was the biggest factor in me grazing all day on calorie dense foods.

I didn't do it all in one go, either. Over the year I've tweaked some things, replaced some calorie dense foods with less calorific alternatives, adjusted my portions, upped my intake of fruit, proteins and vegetables, lowered my intake of carbs and sugar, and I drink more fluids. I also have fast food every week, because if I'm not going to give it up for the rest of my life, I'm not going to avoid it just to lose weight.

It all takes time, and a willingness to treat myself kindly, not get bogged down in feeling guilt or shame for eating something I told myself I shouldn't, eating regularly, eating well, which includes stuff like cake, crisps, biscuits and fast food in moderation, and keeping at it by logging what I eat.

Lillymoo01

I just made small changes as I went rather than a total overhaul. That gradual change suited me well. I also did not cut out any foods or make any changes that I would not continue with for life. ie any foods I no longer eat (or eat very rarely) are foods I didn't enjoy much anyway.

Even now, a few years in, I am still making changes to the way I eat as I have been trying to add more variety into my diet by trying foods I never used to eat.

What has worked best for me is to log everything before you eat. That way you can decide whether what you want is really worth the calories, or whether just having a smaller portion would be better. I tend to log my food the evening before or before breakfast and just make the necessary adjustments as I go once the food is actually weighed. It takes the impulse out of eating.

FlyingMolly

My husband and I used to do a “dry January,” then over the years we started adding in stricter and stricter diets during the same month. It’s one month and we were both doing it, so it was doable, and it really stretched my ideas about my own self-control. Around the 20th or so I’d start talking about how we should just keep eating whichever way forever, but of course it didn’t take. Still, every January we’d start again, and I could do it, and that laid a foundation.

This year we tried keto, and after a few weeks of ranting and cursing I realized I LOVED it. Food was fuel. I felt healthy and in control and...normal, I guess. I cooked. I could leave food on the table. And that was the diet I was finally able to stay on past January, and I’m still on it and at my goal weight and have no more shame or guilt or regret about my eating. Ever.

So my advice is to experiment, and try things, and when you fall off the wagon hitch a ride on another one. Set a goal, then give yourself a break, then set a new goal. If you keep trying, something will click.

Evelyn_Gorfram

Mentally, the biggest change I've made is just logging my food. Writing it down lets me see what I am doing, and gives my inner voice the chance to say things like: "Seriously? Boxed mac-&-cheese for all three meals? Could we, like, maybe sneak in a vegetable somewhere?," and I wind up making better choices.

A huge thing for me lately has been - wouldya believe it? - having dessert every night. It was my birthday this month, and I wound up with a lot of gooey birthday goodies. I've been doling them out to myself at a rate of a couple hundred calories worth each night. Planning for this helps keep me from craving snack and treats during the day, and from sneaking more food than I've measured. My sweet tooth knows that I will be getting a treat at the end of the day, but it also knows that's only if I keep from sneaking and snacking and blowing the calories meant for that treat.

JeromeBarry1

How long to unlearn my bad food habits? I'm 2+ years into this and I logged 9.5 servings of candy today. That's a success. Yes, about 2 servings remain in the bag. Maybe that's even progress.