What "clicked" or changed?

emmies_123

So far I have made a fairly good job at making exercise a habit, and reducing my calories. But i'm struggling with the nutrition changes. I know I should make some, and care more about what i eat, but my brain fights this change like a small child fights bedtime.

How did you get started on nutrition watching? What "clicked" for you?
Below are details of where I'm at now. TO help with those giving advice.

Lifestyle:
-Work M-F, out of house 10 hours a day
-Reduce eating at weekends by waking up a bit later, seeing if i can skip breakfast entirely
-Workout (low intensity) at home 5 days a week, 1 boot camp class a week. 20-40 mins a day.

Current meals (creature of habit, largely the same every day):
-Breakfast = prepackaged breakfast burritos. (Used to be choc fudge pop tarts)
-Lunch = Pasta with random sauce and parm cheese. I use veggie pasta brand, and use very little sauce (maybe .2 cups. just enough to flavor, not enough to have loose fluid)
-Dinner = tyson chicken nuggets & edamame (with salt), OR fish sticks and fries (weigh serving sizes)
-Snacks: crackers, brookside choc fruit. Dessert at night of wrapped chocolates, cupcakes if special event

Excuses my brain comes up with:
-I don't like un-breaded meat. Very picky about fish flavor (usually get tilapia, must be more breadcrumbs than fish)
-takes too long to make a thing instead of heating up bagged stuff
-hate cooking, even if just once to prep for week
-Can't cut sugar out of my life completely. Almost always within sugar macro so not super worried, other than this is an "easy" thing to change
-Reading labels is frustrating, don't wanna (petulant child brain usually crosses arms at this thought)
-not a fan of fruits/veg. have to buy in bulk and don't eat fast enough, it goes bad
-what i eat fills me up perfectly to keep in calorie budget / eliminate snacking. don't wanna mess with it
-Your stomach is behaving lately, don't mess with it (have GI tract issues with food triggers. currently bothered by pineapple, onion, and excessive tomato in sauce. also have tree nut allergy)
-That kinda change would make you miserable, life is too short, etc in this vein.

Reasons I know logically I should change habits:
-Fruit and veg is healthy for you
-Grilled meat with no breadcrumbs is healthier
-processed things can be bad for you

emmies_123

I should add, per MFP my daily goal is 1200. If i don't splurge on dessert, I usually eat 1000-1150 a day.

RelCanonical

I just did more of what I liked that aligned with my goals, and then experimented with new things until I found more things I liked. I knew I liked certain vegetables and fruit, so I just chose them more often. I treat it as constant improvement rather than an end "perfect" goal, because it really doesn't exist and I'm setting myself up to get burnt out.

SueSueDio

Buy frozen fruit and veg instead of fresh - it's more economical (and frozen at its peak, so just as healthy) and will last for months, allowing you to just add a little bit to your meals without worrying about wasting expensive produce.

Make a deal with yourself that you'll try one new "healthier" recipe each week, and if you don't like it you don't have to make it again. I dislike cooking in general, but have found a few things that are relatively quick and easy to make. I also like using my slow cooker - it's easy to throw a bunch of ingredients in there and make something that will give me a ton of leftovers for lunches over the next few weeks.

Also, try sites like skinnytaste.com for ideas on how to make your favourite foods lower in calories. (This would involve cooking, but perhaps you can try that "one new thing a week" with some recipes from here.)

At the end of the day, if you're happy with the way you eat and your health is good, don't sweat it too much. Calories are king for weight loss, but obviously nutrition is important for health. You don't have to change everything at once, but try making little changes here and there to improve your nutritional choices. If you don't like it, change something different until you reach a balance you can live with... but at some point the petulant inner child has to learn to compromise!

emmies_123

Oh SueSue I wish I could be that easy.

Frozen fruit - consistency change bothers me? I've tried frozen strawberries/raspberries/blueberry mix, thawed out weird. I do like fruit chips, but then there is the salt and stuff so not sure if that is healthier.

Cooking - I already had a NY-2019 Resolution in place to cook once a week (including crock pot). Guess how many times I have =P Just not enough mental energy in the day to do everything I 'should' do...maybe I will try to buckle down and really commit to cooking more over the summer.

MelanieCN77

Start small - pick one habit you have that is bothering you and alter that and only that. For me it was adding vegetables to my meals. I called it "eat a damn vegetable." For lunch and dinner I just made myself eat a large serving of vegetables with whatever else I had planned. 10lbs came off doing just that, before I even started tracking.

NovusDies

emmies_123 wrote: »

So far I have made a fairly good job at making exercise a habit, and reducing my calories. But i'm struggling with the nutrition changes. I know I should make some, and care more about what i eat, but my brain fights this change like a small child fights bedtime.

How did you get started on nutrition watching? What "clicked" for you?
Below are details of where I'm at now. TO help with those giving advice.

Lifestyle:
-Work M-F, out of house 10 hours a day
-Reduce eating at weekends by waking up a bit later, seeing if i can skip breakfast entirely
-Workout (low intensity) at home 5 days a week, 1 boot camp class a week. 20-40 mins a day.

Current meals (creature of habit, largely the same every day):
-Breakfast = prepackaged breakfast burritos. (Used to be choc fudge pop tarts)
-Lunch = Pasta with random sauce and parm cheese. I use veggie pasta brand, and use very little sauce (maybe .2 cups. just enough to flavor, not enough to have loose fluid)
-Dinner = tyson chicken nuggets & edamame (with salt), OR fish sticks and fries (weigh serving sizes)
-Snacks: crackers, brookside choc fruit. Dessert at night of wrapped chocolates, cupcakes if special event

Excuses my brain comes up with:
-I don't like un-breaded meat. Very picky about fish flavor (usually get tilapia, must be more breadcrumbs than fish)
-takes too long to make a thing instead of heating up bagged stuff
-hate cooking, even if just once to prep for week
-Can't cut sugar out of my life completely. Almost always within sugar macro so not super worried, other than this is an "easy" thing to change
-Reading labels is frustrating, don't wanna (petulant child brain usually crosses arms at this thought)
-not a fan of fruits/veg. have to buy in bulk and don't eat fast enough, it goes bad
-what i eat fills me up perfectly to keep in calorie budget / eliminate snacking. don't wanna mess with it
-Your stomach is behaving lately, don't mess with it (have GI tract issues with food triggers. currently bothered by pineapple, onion, and excessive tomato in sauce. also have tree nut allergy)
-That kinda change would make you miserable, life is too short, etc in this vein.

Reasons I know logically I should change habits:
-Fruit and veg is healthy for you
-Grilled meat with no breadcrumbs is healthier
-processed things can be bad for you

Fruit and veg are good for you. Nothing wrong with eating breaded meat. Processed things being bad for you is an unproven myth at this point. Sugar/carbs are irrelevant unless your doctor tells you otherwise.

Some people assume that because they eat a certain way that the internet and media is down on right now that they are unhealthy. Have you been told you are unhealthy by a doctor? If not, there is no reason to overhaul your way of eating. Try a few small things here and there and see what sticks.

emmies_123

NovusDies wrote: »

Fruit and veg are good for you. Nothing wrong with eating breaded meat. Processed things being bad for you is an unproven myth at this point. Sugar/carbs are irrelevant unless your doctor tells you otherwise.

Some people assume that because they eat a certain way that the internet and media is down on right now that they are unhealthy. Have you been told you are unhealthy by a doctor? If not, there is no reason to overhaul your way of eating. Try a few small things here and there and see what sticks.

I have not been told I'm unhealthy by doctor. I get blood tests done regularly due to thyroid issues, and they always run scan of all data (vitamins, cholesterol, etc), and I'm healthy in that regard.

None of my GI tract triggers are carb/sugar related. Just believing the hype that I should cut down on these things...

emmies_123

MelanieCN77 wrote: »

Start small - pick one habit you have that is bothering you and alter that and only that. For me it was adding vegetables to my meals. I called it "eat a damn vegetable." For lunch and dinner I just made myself eat a large serving of vegetables with whatever else I had planned. 10lbs came off doing just that, before I even started tracking.

Yes, I need to "eat a damn vegetable" =P I used to like them more as a kid than I do as an adult, although I was never forced to eat them. Luckily I have a taste for edamame, otherwise nothing green would enter our house.

MelanieCN77

Edamame aren't what I would reach for for filling veg that doesn't break the calorie bank. They are more of a bean. Zucchini, eggplant, sprouts, broccoli/broccolini are my go-to. Plenty of people who don't think they like veg are likely cooking them in a way that doesn't capitalize. Search up the "for the love of produce" thread and try some out, you never know. At some point though, you'll have to decide if you want to actually try to eat veg and complain about it, or just forget the whole thing. Nobody can help you change things if you have ready reasons why you don't want to.

peachvine29

I think your tastes can change when you start eating differently/healthier.

I used to eat a ton of takeout Chinese, fast food, and frozen pizzas. Yummy, but made me feel so bloated, sluggish, and ultimately 60 pounds overweight.

I encourage you to branch out slowly. I love skinnytaste.com, every recipe from there has been very good to amazing. Now I cook a lot, and make healthy choices when I don't. I love how healthy food makes me feel

emmies_123

Will definitely have to check out skinny taste

NovusDies

The first and probably easiest thing you could do is add a fiber supplement to your diet. If you do this go slow.

You could also look for ways that parents get picky kids to eat vegetables and see if there is a trick that might apply to yourself. That is not meant to be a dig on you, btw.

If your doctor is not complaining you don't have to rush. A few small changes here and there should lead to more over time.

I often wonder if the stress of worrying about health with regard to what is eaten is worse for some people than the actual way they eat.

emmies_123

No offense taken Novus, I describe myself as a picky kid =P

I def stress about things more than I should. Currently I"m starting to worry about food (started going to gym that focuses on nutrition and the comments are just adding up to make me wonder if i do enough).

Also stress about am i doing the right exercise, or enough exercise. Are my results too slow, or should i be happy i move at all...to a degree that i do actually see therapist about anxiety and self-esteem issues.

Katmary71

Vegetables are great roasted. Many can be grilled too.

For me, I've been focusing on half a plate of vegetables either roasted, sauteed, or stir-fried with olive oil and experiment with spices. I also have a big salad with chicken or tuna each day for lunch. I'm making a conscious effort to eat enough protein so that comes next. I'd rather have more veggies than a carb so I tend to skip that and save it for light ice cream after dinner. There's something about having a fridge full of colorful produce that makes me happy, I'm weird like that!

NovusDies

emmies_123 wrote: »

No offense taken Novus, I describe myself as a picky kid =P

I def stress about things more than I should. Currently I"m starting to worry about food (started going to gym that focuses on nutrition and the comments are just adding up to make me wonder if i do enough).

Also stress about am i doing the right exercise, or enough exercise. Are my results too slow, or should i be happy i move at all...to a degree that i do actually see therapist about anxiety and self-esteem issues.

You need a clearly defined goals instead of just listening to all the noise. Keep them simple and just out in front of where you are. Like if you can use a fitness machine for 20 minutes shoot for 30. All any of us can really do is try to make a future version of ourselves a little better than the current model (other than getting older in the process). The same can be applied to nutrition. Perhaps adding an additional serving of vegetables 3 days a week or something.

dewd2

emmies_123 wrote: »

No offense taken Novus, I describe myself as a picky kid =P

I def stress about things more than I should. Currently I"m starting to worry about food (started going to gym that focuses on nutrition and the comments are just adding up to make me wonder if i do enough).

Also stress about am i doing the right exercise, or enough exercise. Are my results too slow, or should i be happy i move at all...to a degree that i do actually see therapist about anxiety and self-esteem issues.

Gyms are where "BroScience" originated. Many times they push nonsense in an effort to sell you something or they just heard the same myths so much they just believe them. This is true of the patrons and the trainers (sometimes the trainers are worse). Take everything you hear at the gym with a huge grain of salt (unless you have high blood pressure of course ).

emmies_123

Thank you everyone. I think i'm going to add a mini goal of trying to have veggies 2 times a week. And try to cook twice a month, starting July.

Thanks for the perspective check Dewd2, on the gym fluff. The comments were coming from a trainer, anti carb and sugar primarily.

I also had a therapy session this morning and discussed all my initial quesitons with therapist. She basically said what y'all did, I only need to be a better me, not a goddess. Take everything with a grain of salt and focus on my own happiness, regardless of media "science." She also pointed out that i seem to be at a low with self-esteem and anxiety in general, and that may be coloring my fears/decisions this week.

LyndaBSS

You're already a goddess.