Just Say No....To Bad Choices

ThatCookieGurl

With the weekend and holidays coming up, there are a bunch of bad choices and influences and pressure to eat junk and my lame self has such a hard time saying no to tasty things, especially when it is offered by family. So, my question is do you have any advice to stay on track and tell people no? For me, I tend to over indulge when I say yes.

Theoldguy1

Think of what is going to make you happier in January, not gaining holiday weight or the faint memory of very temporary joy from overindulging.

Best of luck.

JAC581

With Thanksgiving coming up, I'm allowing myself one portion of each of my two favorites, sweet potato casserole and pecan pie. That way I can indulge a little without going overboard. I only get to have each of those once a year and I don't want to miss out on them completely. I think setting a limit beforehand may be helpful in preventing overindulgence.

Chef_Barbell

For me, Thanksgiving is one day. Christmas is one day. This year I will not treat it like one long month of debauchery. Leftovers will mostly be given away and the rest I will weigh and portion until gone.

Diatonic12

Generally speaking about my past experience with clean eating: @leekatelynne0659

Eating dirty or super clean is meaningless in the big picture. Super clean eating assigns moral judgment to foods but in the long run it doesn't help anyone lose weight. It overcomplicates the process. When we start overthinking every morsel of food we can start drifting off into a very narrow way of eating and living.

Clean or dirty eating. We are not better because we eat clean. Framing extra special foods as clean becomes a moral high ground to stand on. These beliefs lead to a health halo effect. Clean eating is a made-up rule.

Eating clean. Did it change everything for you then? Not for me.

There's only choices and consequences. Doing things you don't want to do all in the name of weight loss is the recipe for eating it all back. Dieting dogma only digs us into a much deeper hole with food.

Rid yourself of dieting rules and regulations. Good or Bad. Clean or Dirty. Eat the foods you enjoy. Every. Single. Day. We can learn to moderate ourselves with food by measuring and tracking our data points. It takes practice but this all or nothing approach to food doesn't last. It may not be now but the blowback is always running in the background of your mind whether you heed it or not.

When you're not looking, dieting blowback will show right back up on your doorstep. All or Nothing is already working on your head so you've got to change your strategy. Harness your brain like a stubborn mule and use it like a tool. Don't listen to it just harness it and work it. Every. Single. Day.

Diatonic12

I don't say anything about the disagrees but someone has been disagreeing with everything I say. They even come up behind me so they can disagree with the old ones. That takes a lorra lorra time. The disagrees don't move me. Disagreeing with my personal experience is your right but I kinda know who you are so there's that. Apparently, everything I say is giving someone a really big pinch but I'm going on. Our mileage will always vary. The OP, we're friends, too.

SharpWellbeing

Tasty doesn't have to be unhealthy Planning definitely helps. Making a calorie allowance for treats on a weekend is another strategy.

Dogmom1978

Diatonic12 wrote: »

Generally speaking about my past experience with clean eating: @leekatelynne0659

Eating dirty or super clean is meaningless in the big picture. Super clean eating assigns moral judgment to foods but in the long run it doesn't help anyone lose weight. It overcomplicates the process. When we start overthinking every morsel of food we can start drifting off into a very narrow way of eating and living.

Clean or dirty eating. We are not better because we eat clean. Framing extra special foods as clean becomes a moral high ground to stand on. These beliefs lead to a health halo effect. Clean eating is a made-up rule.

Eating clean. Did it change everything for you then? Not for me.

There's only choices and consequences. Doing things you don't want to do all in the name of weight loss is the recipe for eating it all back. Dieting dogma only digs us into a much deeper hole with food.

Rid yourself of dieting rules and regulations. Good or Bad. Clean or Dirty. Eat the foods you enjoy. Every. Single. Day. We can learn to moderate ourselves with food by measuring and tracking our data points. It takes practice but this all or nothing approach to food doesn't last. It may not be now but the blowback is always running in the background of your mind whether you heed it or not.

When you're not looking, dieting blowback will show right back up on your doorstep. All or Nothing is already working on your head so you've got to change your strategy. Harness your brain like a stubborn mule and use it like a tool. Don't listen to it just harness it and work it. Every. Single. Day.

No clue why this got 2 disagrees. I’m old (ish) and have tried all or nothing about 7 million times and shocker! It fails EVERY time. Even if I lose weight, when the “diet” ends, I return to eating all the things I deprived myself of before. I don’t learn how to eat in moderation via all or nothing.

Now, I eat what I want, when I want and I exercise portion control. I love Oreos. Now I eat 2 double stuff oreos when I have them instead of the 6 or 8 I used to eat. If I want pizza, I have 1 or 2 slices instead of the 4 I would eat before. And yes, some weeks I go over on calories. Some weeks I don’t lose at all. But, I’ve lost about 1/2 of the weight so far and I know that this is sustainable and I can finally keep it off this time. 😊

Diatonic12

@Dogmom1978

@leekatelynne0659 Do you know how many people are maintaining their weight loss at the 2 year mark. At the 5 year mark the percentages are even smaller. There's the Honeymoon Phase of weight loss where everything is going your way. That's often followed by the rebound weight gain with friends phase when everything is conducted so brutally strict right out of the chute taking it right UP to the very day when you start eating it all back on autopilot by remote control.

You don't even know how that happens but the brain doesn't stop you one single time during the eating it all back cycle. Your brain allows you eat it all back until you've reached the highest weight you've ever been and then some.

Rebound weight gain with friends.

Perfectionism is the driver behind the All or Nothing approach to food. It will drive, drive, drive until your body says I've had enough of perfectionism. Then comes the eating it all back phase followed by I'm back, I'm back.
I've ate it all back and I'm starting over and over and over again because Life Happens.

I know the backroads of this forum. I'm familiar with the members who've been maintaining for a very long time.
Some of them have learned some really tough lessons the hard way. They're not willing to give up all of their hard earned progress by falling right back into the same old habits that brought them here in the first place.

Jruzer

I will feast on Thanksgiving day and a few days around Christmas. I'll have plenty of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, cookies at Christmas, and strong ale and dark.

Then, when the feasting time is done, I'll pick back up on eating how I normally do, probably cutting back a bit extra for the next several weeks to drop the few pounds I'll certainly pack on.

Losing weight (and maintaining weight loss) doesn't have to be an endless slog.

yirara

I don't care about either to be honest. Thanksgiving is not a thing here, and Christmas is useless if you live alone. To be honest, I usually prefer to work over Christmas, but as I still have 14 full vacation days left and can normally only bring 5 over to the next year I need to find time to take more days off, probably between Christmas and new year then *sigh* /grumpyOldGit

psychod787

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

Think of what is going to make you happier in January, not gaining holiday weight or the faint memory of very temporary joy from overindulging.

Best of luck.

^^^^^
This is why I get along with you. I think we have to take a long look at ourselves. Is it worth it? Indulge some, but pick an indulgence that is worth it and leave the others alone. There will be more holidays.

globalc00

Because of life events, I don’t believe in eating at maintenance. There is always an occasion around the coroner. So might as well bank calories daily and look at the weight/body fat gain loss at a weekly monthly or quarterly basis. Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away. Save 100-150 per day and you can enjoy thanksgiving. Day after thanksgiving start saving again and you can have a nice Christmas and new year. After new year. Maybe there are birthdays or valentines or vacation. Point is just like money. Save money and calories for your vacation.

And don’t weight your self after thanksgiving. Wait 1 or 2 weeks. No need to panic the day after. Just stick to your routine.

Theoldguy1

psychod787 wrote: »

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

Think of what is going to make you happier in January, not gaining holiday weight or the faint memory of very temporary joy from overindulging.

Best of luck.

^^^^^
This is why I get along with you. I think we have to take a long look at ourselves. Is it worth it? Indulge some, but pick an indulgence that is worth it and leave the others alone. There will be more holidays.

Yep gotta look at the big picture. Eat grandma's pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, heck eat 2 pieces, you'll be fine, it's one day. Get into the crappy store bought candy, cookies, etc. that show up at work from Halloween until New Years daily, probably going to have an issue.

missysippy930

I’ve never had an issue with anyone pushing me to eat something when I’ve declined. I’ll admit, it’s tempting at times, but, I’ll still choose what, when, and how much I have to eat. It’s all on me, no one else. Personal choices. That’s what weight loss, and maintaining a healthy weight is about.

Diatonic12

@missysippy930 No one has to live in our body. It's about the only thing that really does belong to us. There's only choices and consequences.

NovusDies

leekatelynne0659 wrote: »

With the weekend and holidays coming up, there are a bunch of bad choices and influences and pressure to eat junk and my lame self has such a hard time saying no to tasty things, especially when it is offered by family. So, my question is do you have any advice to stay on track and tell people no? For me, I tend to over indulge when I say yes.

What will good choices accomplish for you in time?

What will bad choices DO to you in time?


However, part of managing yourself through the process and life is knowing when to take your foot off the gas. I do this on holidays and vacations. I do not consider them bad choices. I consider them effective management.