What are some of your ‘rules’
Replies
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Biggster69 wrote: »Never eat when I am not hungry. Don’t eat after 6 pm. No added sugars. No calories in drinks.
I have a similar general rule of being done eating by 5:00 pm. When, I’m home, I say I meet that goal 5 days a week. Last night I attended a Christmas party and closed my eating diary around 7:00 pm.
The 5:00 pm goal works for me and my brain and gut have adjusted.
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1 - Log everything
2 - If I have a craving figure out a way to make it fit into my calories, don't just push it away until I end up binging
3 - Don't expect perfection, just expect myself to keep trying4 -
No fried foods and 10k steps as a minimum8
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pierinifitness wrote: »Biggster69 wrote: »Never eat when I am not hungry. Don’t eat after 6 pm. No added sugars. No calories in drinks.
I have a similar general rule of being done eating by 5:00 pm. When, I’m home, I say I meet that goal 5 days a week. Last night I attended a Christmas party and closed my eating diary around 7:00 pm.
The 5:00 pm goal works for me and my brain and gut have adjusted.
Do you not have dinner or do you not have regular job hours?
I tend to work until at least 7 (I realize many get off at 5 or 6), and then get home at around 8 unless I do errands or work out first. So if I have dinner it's late. Hasn't seemed to be a problem.
Sometimes I regularly work until 8, and at my old job that was common.3 -
My rule is not to have any rules - just guidelines.
Flexibility works for me.13 -
Keep logging
Make room for treats in moderation
Don't buy things I can't moderate (but leave the door open for having a single portion on occasion)
IN GENERAL (not talking about a once-in-a-blue-moon banquet/family reunion/holiday), don't order foods in restaurants where the calories are too hard to ballpark. A slice of vegetarian cheese pizza? Easy enough. The pasta with the signature sauce that comes to me in a salad bowl? Not so much. Don't be afraid to ask the restaurant in advance; I've found that many of them reply quickly to questions asked via email/Facebook messaging.
Exercise daily
Stay real with myself
Focus on protein and iron and let the rest fall where it falls.
See my doctor twice a year and get my vitals taken. Now, he's only doing my bloodwork once a year because things are all normal and staying that way, but he still checks my blood pressure and weight.2 -
What are some of the rules (for want of a better word) that help keep you on track
@trirun703 being a sick old man four I came up with just 2 simple rules that are simple and math free.
No foods that contain any added sugar and or any form of any grain. Eat when I felt I wanted to eat and stop when I did not want more to eat.
At 67 my health and health markers are better than in decades.
Remember the Way of Eating of others may or may NOT be right for your body.
I was going down for the third time and knew it. That helped me to go for the most simple way that came to my mind in form of a hunch.
Best of success but I think for 40 years I did not get serious about finding a way of eating, moving and thinking that promoted good health in my case.
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- log foods
- avoid laziness (which leads to buying food out too often)
- a little treat is fine just make it little!
- do what it takes to enjoy the work out session
- try not to stress
MOST IMPORTANT: WATCH THAT SODIUM!6 -
Count daily. Except for holidays or vacation. Once those are over, back to counting. Nothing is off limits. I can have anything I want, just at the right time and in the right amount.0
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Excellent suggestions everyone!0
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Agree with never eating anything I don’t like.
I also track calories, never skip more than 1 day of exercise, stop eating after 8 pm as much as possible, and to choose the most satiating foods I can.3 -
To set as few rules as possible, as cliche and lame as that is. I am always so strict when I start losing weight, get burnt out fast, and then go off plan for weeks or months and gain a bunch of weight instead of lose.
I guess my rule is: Chill. Eat within my calories, but seriously, chill.
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To still enjoy my favourite foods, but adapt the meal to fit in with my new lifestyle. So I’ll take some burgers into work, with lettuce leaves instead of buns (I got mocked a lot for that one!) or chilli with cauliflower instead of normal rice. Little things make big differences.
“Is it worth it” I never realised how many calories were in my favourite junk food treats.
On that topic I saw something on here that actually stuck with me, don’t treat food as a treat or as a punishment. You aren’t a pet, you don’t need to be rewarded, if you want a certain food. Make it work. You don’t need a reason.4 -
1) Eat foods that I like and don't worry about other peoples' opinions or thoughts. Make the meals nutritious and balanced, and keep an eye on the macros.
2) If choosing a more calorie dense food, eat it in moderation.
3) Exercise as much as possible but leave the ego at the door; don't bring it inside the gym. Push myself but know my body and limitations. Modify the exercises as needed. Soreness is OK, pain is NOT.
4) Do most of the cooking at home but enjoy eating out few times a week, and choose sensibly (see #2).
5) Keep tag of the calories and macros but don't became OCD. Weigh and log the food when possible but don't bother when eating out, on vacation or at friends/family gathering (see #1 and #2). Trust and use my knowledge.
6) Check my weight daily, if possible.
7) Stop eating after 7:30PM. Clean the kitchen and let the body digest the food before going to bed so I can have a rested night.
8) Don't talk about my weight, eating habits, or "rules," with people (family included).
9) Be smart and realize that not matter how well I eat, or how much I exercise, I will never have the body of my youth again. Admit that I am OLD
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10) Keep working on rule # 9....7 -
pierinifitness wrote: »Biggster69 wrote: »Never eat when I am not hungry. Don’t eat after 6 pm. No added sugars. No calories in drinks.
I have a similar general rule of being done eating by 5:00 pm. When, I’m home, I say I meet that goal 5 days a week. Last night I attended a Christmas party and closed my eating diary around 7:00 pm.
The 5:00 pm goal works for me and my brain and gut have adjusted.
Do you not have dinner or do you not have regular job hours?
I tend to work until at least 7 (I realize many get off at 5 or 6), and then get home at around 8 unless I do errands or work out first. So if I have dinner it's late. Hasn't seemed to be a problem.
Sometimes I regularly work until 8, and at my old job that was common.
I think people have different schedules and habits, whether they do this "stop eating by x time" or not. I get off work at 5 pm on the dot even though it's a standard office job. That's just the culture where I work, and I'm grateful for that, honestly. I'm at home by 5:15 and my husband works from home and usually makes dinner. It's very doable (even common) for me to be finished eating for the day by 6 or 6:30. My coworker works exactly the same hours and he and his wife eat dinner around 9 pm every night. Personal preference, I guess!
I like to floss/brush my teeth when I've finished dinner so I don't snack in the evenings.2 -
I make all kinds of rules but I tend to break them quite a bit so I would call them more recommendations. My only rule I try my very best to follow.. unless I'm sick or injured, lift lift lift.4
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Most of my rules can be bent or broken sometimes. (Follow my calorie goals, exercise at least every other day, eat what I enjoy/makes me feel good, etc.) The only one that I'm firm on is this: fitness is forever. This isn't temporary- it's a lifelong pursuit.2
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Generally speaking:
I aim for a nutrient dense diet with plenty of fiber rich foods.
I aim to build my menu primarily around lower glycemic foods.
I build my over all menu to keep the glycemic load/impact low.
That worked for me many many years ago to lose the weight.
That worked for me through menopause to only gain a few pounds (don't get me started on that!).
And that has sustained me to this day.
Am I saying there's something magical about the GI and the GL? NOPE.
I'm saying that for me eating keeping the glycemic impact/load low, and my blood sugar level relatively stable, and eating fiber (and good fats, and protein, of course) makes it easier for ME to not go off the rails. It makes it easier for me to eat within my calorie allotment. It makes it easier for me to attain my goals. I strive to never be "hangry".
cheers6 -
pierinifitness wrote: »Biggster69 wrote: »Never eat when I am not hungry. Don’t eat after 6 pm. No added sugars. No calories in drinks.
I have a similar general rule of being done eating by 5:00 pm. When, I’m home, I say I meet that goal 5 days a week. Last night I attended a Christmas party and closed my eating diary around 7:00 pm.
The 5:00 pm goal works for me and my brain and gut have adjusted.
Do you not have dinner or do you not have regular job hours?
I tend to work until at least 7 (I realize many get off at 5 or 6), and then get home at around 8 unless I do errands or work out first. So if I have dinner it's late. Hasn't seemed to be a problem.
Sometimes I regularly work until 8, and at my old job that was common.
I’m self-employed and this is a slower time of year for me so I call my work shots and right now my fitness and eating time preferences come first.
I will have a busy time and I’ll have to evaluate my feeding window. May have to end at 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Right now, I’ve conquered 5:00 pm and like it.
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Don’t give up just because the scales aren’t playing nicely.8
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1. If I'm not gong to do it forever, then I'm not going to do it to lose my weight. No temporary changes.
2. I just because I have started to manage my weight doesn't mean I've stopped living. I have no problem enjoying an event/holiday/occasion and going 2 steps backwards because I spend the rest of my time going 500 steps forward.9 -
I find it amusing that someone has come through and "Woo-d" some of the best pieces of advice!!
To you who "Wood-d" ... what's your advice then?7 -
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seltzermint555 wrote: »pierinifitness wrote: »Biggster69 wrote: »Never eat when I am not hungry. Don’t eat after 6 pm. No added sugars. No calories in drinks.
I have a similar general rule of being done eating by 5:00 pm. When, I’m home, I say I meet that goal 5 days a week. Last night I attended a Christmas party and closed my eating diary around 7:00 pm.
The 5:00 pm goal works for me and my brain and gut have adjusted.
Do you not have dinner or do you not have regular job hours?
I tend to work until at least 7 (I realize many get off at 5 or 6), and then get home at around 8 unless I do errands or work out first. So if I have dinner it's late. Hasn't seemed to be a problem.
Sometimes I regularly work until 8, and at my old job that was common.
I think people have different schedules and habits, whether they do this "stop eating by x time" or not. I get off work at 5 pm on the dot even though it's a standard office job. That's just the culture where I work, and I'm grateful for that, honestly. I'm at home by 5:15 and my husband works from home and usually makes dinner. It's very doable (even common) for me to be finished eating for the day by 6 or 6:30. My coworker works exactly the same hours and he and his wife eat dinner around 9 pm every night. Personal preference, I guess!
I like to floss/brush my teeth when I've finished dinner so I don't snack in the evenings.
I totally get this, I just get cranky when people suggest there's something bad about eating after 5 or 6 when my own schedule makes it basically impossible to eat dinner before 8, and more often 9. I have never had a job where getting off at 5 (or even 6, other than rare occasions or Fridays) happened, and where I live it's common to have a 45 min to 1 hour commute.
I'm not eating dinner at work or skipping dinner.
I end up with a long time between lunch at 12 (or so) and dinner at 9 (or so), but it works for me. I tend to eat lighter at dinner than I would if I ate earlier, I think, since hunger in the evening isn't an issue.3 -
Digging back through my diary I found the ones I wrote for myself when I started this thing. I think generally they're still pretty solid 7 months later:- Focus on food I want to eat. There’s no point me eating food I don’t enjoy. If I won’t eat it once I’ve reached my goal weight, I won’t eat it now.
- Baby steps are better than a treadmill. Focusing on the small changes that get me closer to my ultimate goal is better than big and impressive ones, that only keep me in the same place.
- Listen to my body. It means snacking on fruit if I’m hungry between meals, and leaving food if I’m full.
- Ignore that a bad day. As long as it’s very infrequent, it really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
- Don’t restrict what I can eat. If I want a slice of cake, I’ll damn well eat a slice of cake. It will be a small slice, and I’ll remember to eat a little bit healthier lighter later.
- Slowly reduce the calorie deficit once I’ve reach my goal weight. Because a sudden hike in allowance, I know is going to get out of hand. - In retrospect: probably unnecessary
- Make better food choices.
- This is for the long term.
In addtion I'd like to add a few more:
- Give yourself a break once in a while. A maintenance week is better than unintentional maintenance from binge/restrict -ing
- If you ate it, log it3 -
These are the rules I've used this last year successfully.
Only make changes you know you can sustain for life, and make them slowly, one at a time.
If you stumble, or fall learn from it. And move on. Every one has bad days. If you keep trying, keep learning, and keep evolving you'll be successful.
Listen to your body. Do not overeat, and don't eat when you're not hungry.
I need to have checks and balances in place. I need to either be logging everything, check the calories on everything, weighing myself frequently, or restricting my eating time window to remain successful. I have found if I am not doing at least some of these, I'm not being accountable to myself, and I slip back into old habits.
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I don't let others pressure me into eating foods I do not want to.
This is especially critical for me over the holidays since treats and decadent dinners are in abundance.2 -
-2 meals a day between 11am - 7 pm. No snacking.
- plan my meals in the morning so I know I’m in my calorie count for the day.
- Track everything I eat in MFP and my food journal. Accountability
- Weigh myself every morning. So I can see what is happening and can change it before it gets out of hand.
- Be aware of what I’m eating and eat foods I enjoy.
-Try to Follow a WFPB way of eating but still allow a bit meat for garnish. In my sixties and gotta watch my lab numbers and BP.
- work out on my Pilate bench every day.
That’s enough!3 -
log food. That's it I can't think of anything else 3
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