Will you ever get used to healthy eating?

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Replies

  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    If I didn't have cravings, I'd never know what the hell I'd eat for dinner.

    I eat whatever I most want within my calorie limit and that keeps me satisfied and able to exercise and enjoy life.

    At least once a month I'll have pizza, McDonald's, fish and chips, curry.

    About once a week I'll have pasta, noodle stir fry, something Mexican, vegan schnitzel or meat replacement with veg and pasta, potatoes, or rice. Most of these involve lashings of sriracha sauce!

    Every day I have a serving or two of chocolate and a little icecream bar. You could too if you keep up the 2 hours walking a day.

    I also have lots of fruit. As I lost weight (35 kg 3 years ago; maintained goal ever since) I lost my morbid feelings about "healthy food".

    If you think you MUST eat "healthy food", you're going to feel like it's a punishment to do so. *kitten* that.

    Food is food. It all makes you feel differently depending on your biology at the time and on your psychology.

    I lost weight and keep it off by eating nice things. All food is nice in some way, as it nourishes us.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    dmkoenig wrote: »
    I completely get your concern about limiting yourself with junk food. I know if I am staring at a plateful of chicken wings I will likely eat them all, not just one or two (assuming they are good ones). Speaking of wings, you can google Buffalo Cauliflower wings to come up with an alternative to the high fat and unhealthy chicken variety. The key is to expand your horizons with what you can do to make healthy food really interesting and enjoyable, to the extend that junk food doesn't really taste that good anymore. If you are willing to get in the kitchen and experiment with new flavors, seasonings and ingredients there is a huge world of healthy food out there.
    Check out https://www.101cookbooks.com/17-of-the-easiest-dinners/ or https://cookieandkate.com/. These sites are vegetarian-oriented with recipes that are flavorful, fun and of course healthy. Good luck!
    The transition from "unhealthy" food to "healthy" food is rough but do-able if don't right. Transition slowly, don't do a cold turkey approach and go 100% all at once, you would probably fail. Instead just half the portions of junk food you eat every couple days until you reach a point were you go without it. At this point you can replace the junk food with a healthy alternative with the same texture/taste. For example instead of chips you can eat nuts, granola, etc. Another thing I did personally that worked for me is everytime I'd reach for junk food I'd rub my tummy and just feel it. Feeling my tummy while looking at the junk food would deter me from eating the junk food by giving me a second thought. I'd then reach for the health alternative. Now I can eat healthy foods with ease and when I have a craving for something of a crunchy texture I'd eat pistachios or granola instead . Best of luck to you on your journey! Eat your vegetables and drink water! Consistency consistency consistency!

    Neither of you read the thread, am I right?
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    Again, nothing is unhealthy in the grand scheme of things. Eat a burger or a pizza if you feel like it. Either eat such that it fits into your calories, bank calories the previous days, or don't eat a pizza too often and just move on. Or make your own pizza.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    And actually, something like a burger can be a great choice ...

    A nice lean patty of beef or a chicken breast, lots of veggies like lettuce, spinach, tomato, onion, avocado, etc., a bit of mustard or dash of ranch dressing, and a bun.

    Yummy!!

    Absolutely! Good quality beef, bit red inside, lots of yummy things on it, and a good tasty bun. Now I want this!
  • kylaaimee
    kylaaimee Posts: 21 Member
    Fast Food Fridays at my Place. Used to eat a whole family pizza plus sides. Now a small 1 person pizza and diet soda or sub or pita or small kebab. Used to portion control and am aware of minful eating so cant eat alot now. I look forward to it and feel no guilt. Its a night off cooking!
  • UmaMageswarymfp
    UmaMageswarymfp Posts: 280 Member
    For those who asked what’s my current age and all , I’m 19 now , since I was young my mom fed me a lot of food when I say a lot I mean A LOT. I’m the only child so I’m really spoiled 😂😂😂😂( hey it comes with a lotta pressure too) . So I was overweight when I was 14 years old and I hadn’t gotten my period till I was 15 ( did a lot of squats and bam) . I lost about 10 kg with that diet and I worked so hard at the gym. After that failed , I regained back 20kg and started binge eating. Point is from 15 years old to 19 I tried all type of ways to lose weight and I couldn’t sustain it. That’s my biggest problem, so this time I’m setting this as a lifestyle change and not a diet . I have to lose 60 kgs KGS that’s right. I’m pretty determined this time , started from Jan 1 and till now haven’t slack. I’m doing small exercises like walking and playing badminton. My target is to lose all the weight in 2 years time, even after achieving I’m still going to continue eating clean. ❤️❤️
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited January 2019
    Dilvish wrote: »
    First off, think Diabetes. The more you want carbohydrates, the more you will consume. Anything with simple sugars, junk food, soda, bread, rice, pasta are hard on your pancreas. The more sugars (carbs) you consume, the harder it is for your pancreas to keep up and you end up with Type 2 Diabetes.

    Eating healthy doesn't mean giving up on everything that tastes good. Reading nutrition labels, portion control and exercise are your best friends.

    Adding seasoning is great as long as the seasoning doesn't add calories or in most cases, too much sodium. Sodium can also wreak havoc on weight gain as the more you consume the more water your body retains.

    Start by just getting rid of old food habits. Eat healthy, wholesome food (made from scratch) and snacks and start exercising. Stay away from anything processed (in a package) because they usually contain way too much fat, sodium and carbs (yup, even pizza).

    I too used to wolf down a large Domino's pizza in one sitting. I love pizza and ate it at least twice a month. I haven't had it now for 13 weeks. It's hard but doable.

    Once you adjust to more healthy eating, then start counting calories by measuring and reading food labels...don't guess because it will backfire.

    And finally, if you find it difficult to exercise, try the local swimming pool (if available). "Water walking" is great exercise and very easy on the body because you are mostly weightless in the water. Water also offers more resistance than air so it's a better "workout".

    Except I normalized high glucose (pre-diabetic range) numbers while still eating all sorts of 'processed', high carb 'junk' food. Improved all my other health markers too. The change was that I lost around 50lbs of extra weight that was putting stress on my body and organs. The weight loss corrected the high glucose number, not what kinds of foods I was eating.

    Fast forward to today and I'm now almost 6 years into maintaining the weight loss and better health markers (fasting glucose numbers in the 80s, triglycerides in the 40s etc). While my way of eating has evolved to a more 'healthy' style, I still eat a higher carb woe, usually 200+ grams a day. I'm in excellent health with a BMI of 22.1. Following a higher carb style of eating gives me high satiety levels and I enjoy the foods I'm eating, which makes the whole thing realistic and sustainable for me.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    zeejane03 wrote: »
    Dilvish wrote: »
    First off, think Diabetes. The more you want carbohydrates, the more you will consume. Anything with simple sugars, junk food, soda, bread, rice, pasta are hard on your pancreas. The more sugars (carbs) you consume, the harder it is for your pancreas to keep up and you end up with Type 2 Diabetes.

    Eating healthy doesn't mean giving up on everything that tastes good. Reading nutrition labels, portion control and exercise are your best friends.

    Adding seasoning is great as long as the seasoning doesn't add calories or in most cases, too much sodium. Sodium can also wreak havoc on weight gain as the more you consume the more water your body retains.

    Start by just getting rid of old food habits. Eat healthy, wholesome food (made from scratch) and snacks and start exercising. Stay away from anything processed (in a package) because they usually contain way too much fat, sodium and carbs (yup, even pizza).

    I too used to wolf down a large Domino's pizza in one sitting. I love pizza and ate it at least twice a month. I haven't had it now for 13 weeks. It's hard but doable.

    Once you adjust to more healthy eating, then start counting calories by measuring and reading food labels...don't guess because it will backfire.

    And finally, if you find it difficult to exercise, try the local swimming pool (if available). "Water walking" is great exercise and very easy on the body because you are mostly weightless in the water. Water also offers more resistance than air so it's a better "workout".

    Except I normalized high glucose (pre-diabetic range) numbers while still eating all sorts of 'processed', high carb 'junk' food. Improved all my other health markers too. The change was that I lost around 50lbs of extra weight that was putting stress on my body and organs. The weight loss corrected the high glucose number, not what kinds of foods I was eating.

    Fast forward to today and I'm now almost 6 years into maintaining the weight loss and better health markers (fasting glucose numbers in the 80s, triglycerides in the 40s etc). While my way of eating has evolved to a more 'healthy' style, I still eat a higher carb woe, usually 200+ grams a day. I'm in excellent health with a BMI of 22.1. Following a higher carb style of eating gives me high satiety levels and I enjoy the foods I'm eating, which makes the whole thing realistic and sustainable for me.

    You know what's a great way to tell if a food has too much fat, sodium, or carbohydrates for your goals? Check out the nutritional facts. Taking the step of avoiding any processed is absolutely unnecessary and will result in people cutting out dozens and dozens of foods that may be perfectly healthful, convenient, tasty, and affordable components of their diet.

    Agree! And the term 'processed' is vague and arbitrary. I had a serving of brown rice today for lunch and it came in a box and is 'processed' (it was parboiled already). It also was a good source of protein and fiber. Ate it with 3 servings of CA blend veggies (which came in a steamer bag-the horror!).
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    edited January 2019
    For those who asked what’s my current age and all , I’m 19 now , since I was young my mom fed me a lot of food when I say a lot I mean A LOT. I’m the only child so I’m really spoiled 😂😂😂😂( hey it comes with a lotta pressure too) . So I was overweight when I was 14 years old and I hadn’t gotten my period till I was 15 ( did a lot of squats and bam) . I lost about 10 kg with that diet and I worked so hard at the gym. After that failed , I regained back 20kg and started binge eating. Point is from 15 years old to 19 I tried all type of ways to lose weight and I couldn’t sustain it. That’s my biggest problem, so this time I’m setting this as a lifestyle change and not a diet . I have to lose 60 kgs KGS that’s right. I’m pretty determined this time , started from Jan 1 and till now haven’t slack. I’m doing small exercises like walking and playing badminton. My target is to lose all the weight in 2 years time, even after achieving I’m still going to continue eating clean. ❤️❤️

    "Lifestyle change" and "eating clean" are fitspo buzzwords that cause more harm than good and more failures than successes.

    Please read the replies to your threads again, and note that "woo" here means pseudoscience and bad advice.

    You don't need to change your lifestyle. You're awesome, and have shown great willingness to learn to use MFP from successful people.

    You just need to keep using the forums to learn about eating things you like while sticking to your calorie limit.

    The only "change" needed is to use this app a bit more and use Facebook (for example) a bit less.

    Best wishes. xo
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    Reading all of your replies and I’m learning so much from these new infos , I’ll try to enjoy eating some junk foods while I’m on this journey. For now , I’ll just eat some good food until I get some cravings and then I’ll plan to save some calories for pizza slices. Thank you guys for giving me some good advices ❤️❤️

    I'm glad you're still here and didn't get scared off by all the different advice!

    Good luck, just keep logging and you'll get there. Logging really helps you learn which foods are worth the calories to you.
  • vanityy99
    vanityy99 Posts: 2,583 Member
    edited January 2019
    The thing is that I’ve been so fixated on counting calories and all that pizza is literally a demon in my head but pizza is the only thing I enjoy the most. I’m sold for pizza . So it’s really a hard thing to do by not eating it . I feel like my entire life I’ve been consuming pizza so when I restrict myself from eating it , it drives me nuts and I eventually give up the whole diet plan . Sigh . I have a lot of new thinking to do

    That’s why some people don’t count calories, it can become a fixation, obsession that can lead into an eating disorder. These ppl know if they can eat 1200cals and lose weight why not eat 500 cals and lose weight faster and god forbid you go over 500. It can lead into a underlying problem for some or be one if you already have one.


    I don’t count calories but I know that I can have a pizza just not three + Basically everything in moderation.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,616 Member
    Orphia wrote: »
    For those who asked what’s my current age and all , I’m 19 now , since I was young my mom fed me a lot of food when I say a lot I mean A LOT. I’m the only child so I’m really spoiled 😂😂😂😂( hey it comes with a lotta pressure too) . So I was overweight when I was 14 years old and I hadn’t gotten my period till I was 15 ( did a lot of squats and bam) . I lost about 10 kg with that diet and I worked so hard at the gym. After that failed , I regained back 20kg and started binge eating. Point is from 15 years old to 19 I tried all type of ways to lose weight and I couldn’t sustain it. That’s my biggest problem, so this time I’m setting this as a lifestyle change and not a diet . I have to lose 60 kgs KGS that’s right. I’m pretty determined this time , started from Jan 1 and till now haven’t slack. I’m doing small exercises like walking and playing badminton. My target is to lose all the weight in 2 years time, even after achieving I’m still going to continue eating clean. ❤️❤️

    "Lifestyle change" and "eating clean" are fitspo buzzwords that cause more harm than good and more failures than successes.

    Thank you for saying that!! :)


    For me, moving to Australia and living for a year in a small cabin off the grid was a "lifestyle change".

    Eating slightly less was a minor adjustment.

  • UmaMageswarymfp
    UmaMageswarymfp Posts: 280 Member
    Reading all of your replies and I’m learning so much from these new infos , I’ll try to enjoy eating some junk foods while I’m on this journey. For now , I’ll just eat some good food until I get some cravings and then I’ll plan to save some calories for pizza slices. Thank you guys for giving me some good advices ❤️❤️

    I'm glad you're still here and didn't get scared off by all the different advice!

    Good luck, just keep logging and you'll get there. Logging really helps you learn which foods are worth the calories to you.

    Thank you, appreciate your kind words
  • UmaMageswarymfp
    UmaMageswarymfp Posts: 280 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Reading all of your replies and I’m learning so much from these new infos , I’ll try to enjoy eating some junk foods while I’m on this journey. For now , I’ll just eat some good food until I get some cravings and then I’ll plan to save some calories for pizza slices. Thank you guys for giving me some good advices ❤️❤️

    I’m happy that you are reading what people wrote and are trying to take it on board. But you’re still calling food “junk” and “good” which suggests you’ve missed a lot of what people are saying. There is no good food and bad food. It’s all just food. Waiting till you have a craving you can’t suppress may mean you still overdo it. Figure out how to work little treats in every day. Plan for the pizza next week, regardless of the cravings. It’s easier to stop at 2 slices when it’s your plan and not an itch you’re trying to scratch.

    Alright , I will 💜
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Reading all of your replies and I’m learning so much from these new infos , I’ll try to enjoy eating some junk foods while I’m on this journey. For now , I’ll just eat some good food until I get some cravings and then I’ll plan to save some calories for pizza slices. Thank you guys for giving me some good advices ❤️❤️

    I’m happy that you are reading what people wrote and are trying to take it on board. But you’re still calling food “junk” and “good” which suggests you’ve missed a lot of what people are saying. There is no good food and bad food. It’s all just food. Waiting till you have a craving you can’t suppress may mean you still overdo it. Figure out how to work little treats in every day. Plan for the pizza next week, regardless of the cravings. It’s easier to stop at 2 slices when it’s your plan and not an itch you’re trying to scratch.

    OP, this is a better explanation of what I meant by staying ahead of my cravings. As I mentioned, I am not a person that needs daily treats but I usually do require that I have something planned for the same week. That is not to say that I don't sometimes have a small treat. I ate 80 calories worth of Cheese Puffs yesterday. I bought several small bags and I will enjoy them a half bag at a time off and on in the next 2 weeks. I am testing my discipline with them because in the past I have had a hard time stopping with this particular snack... so far so good.

    As far as food labeling goes I still think there is progress. Even though I will eat whatever I still slip up and call food that I need to moderate by negative terms occasionally. These are terms I have heard my entire life and it is not easy to unlearn them.

    It may not happen overnight but it is really important that you try and separate yourself from any guilt you feel eating treat type food. These are not things to avoid they are things to enjoy in moderation.

    There is no way for me to know how much but some of the weight I gained was a definite result of eating what is normally considered "healthy" food. Calories are calories and if you eat too much, like I did, of anything you will gain.