What are the first things you threw out when you started your WLJ?

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Replies

  • coffeexxeyes
    coffeexxeyes Posts: 35 Member
    edited August 2019
    I quit buying cereal, sweets, and eating sugary treats at work. I replaced them with a tasty protein shake which helped a ton with cravings. Also, much less wine!

    Ps: moderation is great, but what has worked best for me is keeping the sweets out of the house. When I want something special, I make it count. I don't bring home walmart cookies, instead, I'll go to a local bakery for a homemade treat. Yum. Skip the dove chocolates, go with an artisan chocolate bar from a local chocolatier once a week, etc.
  • GummiMundi
    GummiMundi Posts: 396 Member
    I threw out my laziness, and the negative thoughts that stopped me from taking action ("I can't do this, who am I kidding?"). Sure I can!
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,519 Member
    I didn't throw anything out. Just ate a bit less.
  • geauxtigerlily
    geauxtigerlily Posts: 75 Member
    The only things I’ve really cut out are foods that are advertised as “diet” foods: 100 calorie snack packs/bars, things like that. If I want a sweet treat, I’d prefer to just eat 2 real Oreos and put the bag away. If I need a filling snack, I go for something healthier like whole fruit or nuts.
    The low-cal options just leave me disappointed and hungry soon after.

    I do have a lot less soda, chips, bread, and cereal, but there’s still room for those sometimes in moderation.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,023 Member
    GummiMundi wrote: »
    I threw out my laziness, and the negative thoughts that stopped me from taking action ("I can't do this, who am I kidding?"). Sure I can!

    great answer
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited August 2019
    Nothing -- mainly what I had on hand were staple foods I'd consider healthy (if consumed in moderation, I used to have a too heavy hand with the olive oil), plus whatever I needed for the week (eggs, veg, fruit, meat, dairy). Never really kept snack foods at home or made them a big part of my diet (not that that would prevent any from losing, necessarily, and not having them didn't keep me from gaining).

    I bake less, buy less cheese (I have a weakness for interesting cheeses), and don't snack outside of meals. For a while I stopped buying ice cream, but I eventually started buying it more than I had before and just keeping it in the house and eating it in moderation (vs. the old impromptu purchase when I want a treat or to reward myself and then overdo it). I order in less and am more careful to watch portions at a restaurant. Something like pizza I still eat, but it was mostly an at a restaurant thing or maybe order in, so I certainly wouldn't toss it (I might be less likely to plan on ordering enough to have leftovers), and same with Indian food which used to be something I'd order more or eat out more).

    I don't find a lot of snack foods tempting partly because I don't like snacking -- right now my sister (who does enjoy snacking and has always been thin) has various crackers here that she likes plus her preferred cheddar (she doesn't live here, but comes by), and even if I didn't just think of them as her foods, I'd likely not be tempted since they aren't my favorites and I generally don't think about eating outside of mealtime now (unless a planned dessert). I have leftover candy from Halloween that's been here since and I don't think about it since I don't really like those kinds of chocolates that much.
  • Girlheidi
    Girlheidi Posts: 60 Member
    Alcohol - my motivation/self control is minimized greatly by beer and wine! Both go with chips and peanuts and cake - right? Since I knocked that on the head, I don't LNS any more and the weight has gone. Along with logging daily of course and being sensible on what I eat. It was a bit of a lifestyle change, but I was fed up being overweight. I know you can drink and just factor it in to daily calories, I just know I have no self resolve at times. So, it's been over a year now, I am still loosing and have some to go, but am now just marginally overweight according to my BMI. Win win all round for me.
  • kiela64
    kiela64 Posts: 1,447 Member
    I never really kept junk food in the house so even though I’ve cut it out of my diet for the most part, nothing got thrown out. I stopped buying fast food & junk food. However I don’t say no to a nice meal out and sharing a slice of cake on date night 😉 so I haven’t given up “all sweets” or “all meals out” just on my usual day-to-day I eat food prepared at home that I’ve measured.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,023 Member
    Girlheidi wrote: »
    Alcohol - my motivation/self control is minimized greatly by beer and wine! Both go with chips and peanuts and cake - right? Since I knocked that on the head, I don't LNS any more and the weight has gone. Along with logging daily of course and being sensible on what I eat. It was a bit of a lifestyle change, but I was fed up being overweight. I know you can drink and just factor it in to daily calories, I just know I have no self resolve at times. So, it's been over a year now, I am still loosing and have some to go, but am now just marginally overweight according to my BMI. Win win all round for me.
    Girlheidi wrote: »
    Alcohol - my motivation/self control is minimized greatly by beer and wine! Both go with chips and peanuts and cake - right? Since I knocked that on the head, I don't LNS any more and the weight has gone. Along with logging daily of course and being sensible on what I eat. It was a bit of a lifestyle change, but I was fed up being overweight. I know you can drink and just factor it in to daily calories, I just know I have no self resolve at times. So, it's been over a year now, I am still loosing and have some to go, but am now just marginally overweight according to my BMI. Win win all round for me.

    Amen with that! I was a big Margarita drinker and Mexican food is my favorite...those Margaritas pack in some calories too. and then dont even get me started on the free chips and salsa! haha I haven't touched a drop of alcohol since I started WLJ and feel so much better all around.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    I started my weight loss journey after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, so the first thing I needed to do was get my blood sugar levels under control. I tested my blood a lot in the first few months and stopped cold turkey eating foods which spike my blood sugar levels, including soda, most sweets, and most products with refined flour. Different diabetics have different reactions to the same foods, which is why testing is important - for example, fruit is high in sugar, but doesn’t spike me, and neither do potatoes, but anything with white flour or rice will send my levels through the ceiling. Some diabetics find the opposite.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,242 Member
    Another one here who threw out nothing.
    I still eat same foods as before - just some less often and/or in smaller portions.

    The only thing I stopped altogether was regular soda - swapped to diet.
  • paniologal
    paniologal Posts: 53 Member
    I never really gave anything up. I just consumed a lot less of it.

    However I did pretty much have given up all sugary drinks. No more milkshakes, frappes, juice, etc. Very little milk. I don’t like to drink my calories unless it’s a smoothie or protein shake.

    I have gotten really good about balancing myself to maintain weight. I’ll have cheeseburgers, just not every day of the week. And the next day I will have fish and broccoli.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    I threw every dieting book/companion cookbooks and dieting dogma out with the bathwater. I started tracking my data points here and simplified my life.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    paperpudding wrote: »
    Another one here who threw out nothing.
    I still eat same foods as before - just some less often and/or in smaller portions.

    The only thing I stopped altogether was regular soda - swapped to diet.

    Yeah, I would have quit sugary soda or other drinks with lots of cals if I had consumed any on a frequent basis. I just happen to have switched out regular for diet years ago, and only rarely consume fruit juice, so my habits there did not change.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    Another one here who threw out nothing.
    I still eat same foods as before - just some less often and/or in smaller portions.

    The only thing I stopped altogether was regular soda - swapped to diet.

    Yeah, I would have quit sugary soda or other drinks with lots of cals if I had consumed any on a frequent basis. I just happen to have switched out regular for diet years ago, and only rarely consume fruit juice, so my habits there did not change.

    I think there is a difference between deciding that something has to be banned and allowing habits to change over time and experience. I have made it a practice to very seldom drink calories but I never actually declared soda or anything else as "off limits".

    There are definitely things that have fallen by the wayside for me. I haven't had a Big Mac in at least 18 months. If I craved one enough I would put a plan together to fit one in but I am not sure if or when that is happening. Truth is when I was gaining weight my calorie standards were much lower and I often ate things I didn't really find to be a truly rewarding food experience. Now that I am pickier if I realize if I need something quick and less satisfying to pick lower calorie options. Of course sometimes life can be really messy and I just need calories in any form but luckily that does not happen that often. I did once unintentionally prove that you could lose weight eating mainly pizza for a week though...

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    The only thing I cut out was soda...other than that, I was never really a big "junk food" guy. I focused way more on what I could add to have a healthier all around diet than cutting things out.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited August 2019
    NovusDies wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    paperpudding wrote: »
    Another one here who threw out nothing.
    I still eat same foods as before - just some less often and/or in smaller portions.

    The only thing I stopped altogether was regular soda - swapped to diet.

    Yeah, I would have quit sugary soda or other drinks with lots of cals if I had consumed any on a frequent basis. I just happen to have switched out regular for diet years ago, and only rarely consume fruit juice, so my habits there did not change.

    I think there is a difference between deciding that something has to be banned and allowing habits to change over time and experience. I have made it a practice to very seldom drink calories but I never actually declared soda or anything else as "off limits".

    There are definitely things that have fallen by the wayside for me. I haven't had a Big Mac in at least 18 months. If I craved one enough I would put a plan together to fit one in but I am not sure if or when that is happening. Truth is when I was gaining weight my calorie standards were much lower and I often ate things I didn't really find to be a truly rewarding food experience. Now that I am pickier if I realize if I need something quick and less satisfying to pick lower calorie options. Of course sometimes life can be really messy and I just need calories in any form but luckily that does not happen that often. I did once unintentionally prove that you could lose weight eating mainly pizza for a week though...

    I think that makes sense depending on the person. I mostly don't think fruit juice is worth the cals (vs. just having fruit), but I have it if I feel like it (mostly at breakfast when traveling).

    I did just decide one day (when I was in college, so not recently) that I wasn't drinking caloric soda when diet existed, and if I drank a lot of it I'd find it easier to quit entirely (or switch) than just drink one a day or something like that, but I am someone who tends to always be drinking a beverage (coffee, water, whatever) and does so kind of mindlessly, and I no longer even like sugary soda at all (I like Diet Coke and some others, though!). I struggle with moderating coffee (I drink it black, so not a calorie issue) and find it easier to just take a break for a while or have a hard rule about drinking after a certain time other than as a restaurant dessert replacement on occasion than try to moderate.

    More generally, I do find it easier to not declare foods off limits but just decide if the cals are worth it to me (I guess in my mind I just think of caloric soda as something unlikely to ever be worth the cals). There are foods I haven't happened to eat for years that aren't off limits, they just aren't foods I ever want given the cals and the alternatives.

    Like you, a lot of my excess eating when fat was more about mindless eating -- something was there (usually at work) and not that great but eh, why not. Now I'm more picky, and if I decide to use cals on something and it's not that good I get much more annoyed! ;-)
  • caramelgyrlk
    caramelgyrlk Posts: 1,112 Member
    Regular Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew because I could drink almost a case a day. I had a serious addiction.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    I agree with @Lillymoo01 that my diet morphed over time, I didn't do a radical overhaul.

    I did throw out sleeping in. Who knew I'd enjoy hitting the gym at 4:30 a.m.?!? :o
  • Kathryn247
    Kathryn247 Posts: 570 Member
    Expectations and old habits.

    What I thought was a reasonable meal and what was actually reasonable for my calorie and nutrition needs were very different. Having a (large) dessert after every (large) meal added up fast.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 2,062 Member
    I didn't really throw anything out, but what I started purchasing changed a bit after buying a food scale and getting more honest with what I was consuming and realizing that sometimes tiny amounts added up very quickly! Moving a couple months ago changed things up yet again as my living situation changed dramatically and what I want/need/what works now is radically different than it was the past 2 years.

  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I threw out the belief that I had to throw anything out. I eat more variety now that I am losing weight, not less. I still eat pretty much all of the things I used to eat, just less frequently, and I balance it with more calorie and nutritionally friendly choice. But if I like it, I've eaten it since my journey began.
  • Suuzanne37
    Suuzanne37 Posts: 114 Member
    edited August 2019
    At the beginning, it was more “putting aside” food that I had difficulty calculating the calories of such as rice; especially when eating out. By the time I came up to speed (dry vs. cooked); I was mostly eating cauliflower rice (I love it; I only eat what I love).

    Otherwise; I have what I like in moderation. I’ll eat 1/2 of a danish, but I weigh it before and record it. If I feel for cake; I’ll buy it a Starbucks, believe me, it’s a wake up call to see what a 430 calorie serving of banana loaf looks like. I record it; eat it, enjoy it, and move along:-).

    I don’t drink my calories; I have water or black coffee. Most of my diet is fruit and vegetables, and has always been; in the past, I use to eat too much of it.

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