When Habits Creep Back In

brendaanguiano2019

This post is to keep myself accountable as I maintain my weight loss. I've noticed that some unhealthy choices are creeping back in in times of fatigue or stress. Giving up processed white flour and sugar helped tremendously, and now, I'm allowing them a place on my plate more often than is comfortable. If you are also learning to live with your new lifestyle, I understand the daily habits it takes and how little things can creep in slowly. Thanks and any ideas to ward this off are welcomed. I do higher protein, lower carb, low sugar and my body likes that. ( not keto, though. )

tomcustombuilder

There is no reason to completely eliminate things from your diet that you enjoy. It’s fine to have a few things that have sugar or white flour in them. The only diet that will work long-term is going to be one that you don’t eliminate things that you love. You just need to minimize those things.

penguinmama87

tomcustombuilder wrote: »

There is no reason to completely eliminate things from your diet that you enjoy. It’s fine to have a few things that have sugar or white flour in them. The only diet that will work long-term is going to be one that you don’t eliminate things that you love. You just need to minimize those things.

Yes.

When I start to slip (which for me means, feeling like I literally cannot stop myself from putting the food in my mouth) it usually means one of two things: I am not eating enough (deficit is too big), or I'm not getting enough sleep. There are other reasons too that might apply to others; I discovered mine through experience, patience, and having to be really honest with myself.

I do make room for small culinary pleasures every day though there have been times where that was risky because I was so tempted to overeat them that it was better to just avoid. But over time that became less of an issue and I could have things around without overeating them. You know yourself (or can learn yourself better), so I would just caution over perhaps feeling like you cannot control yourself around certain foods. It might be wiser to avoid them for now until you can have a more temperate response to them, but to allow them that power over you forever has the potential to backfire, IMO.

CrazyMermaid1

Everyone is different but After 5 years of maintaining there are chocolate based foods I simply can’t handle. In my case Better to avoid them entirely. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make to maintain.

ruqayyahsmum

penguinmama87 wrote: »

tomcustombuilder wrote: »

There is no reason to completely eliminate things from your diet that you enjoy. It’s fine to have a few things that have sugar or white flour in them. The only diet that will work long-term is going to be one that you don’t eliminate things that you love. You just need to minimize those things.

Yes.

When I start to slip (which for me means, feeling like I literally cannot stop myself from putting the food in my mouth) it usually means one of two things: I am not eating enough (deficit is too big), or I'm not getting enough sleep. There are other reasons too that might apply to others; I discovered mine through experience, patience, and having to be really honest with myself.

I do make room for small culinary pleasures every day though there have been times where that was risky because I was so tempted to overeat them that it was better to just avoid. But over time that became less of an issue and I could have things around without overeating them. You know yourself (or can learn yourself better), so I would just caution over perhaps feeling like you cannot control yourself around certain foods. It might be wiser to avoid them for now until you can have a more temperate response to them, but to allow them that power over you forever has the potential to backfire, IMO.

Hell yeah, when I've been struggling to sleep my brain trys to convince me we will be fine if I mainline sugar.
I will get myself a triple espresso coffee and drink it while nibbling a biscuit. Caffeine will get me through the day and my brains happy with the slowly eaten biscuit lol

brendaanguiano2019

Thank you. For me, I allow myself a few items that used to trigger overeating if I'm not mindful, but now I can control a bit better. For example, a dessert or a sub roll- I do have it once per week or so! I feel glad I can live and be around these foods and watch the portion. That works well. However, I bought my oldest some trail mix ( 2 bags) and that particular mix is not portioned and is SO addicting/ binge promoting to me. I found myself grazing repeatedly, to the point where it was kind of not in my power to stop going back. The comment regarding maybe not buying certain things for a little while especially spoke to me. I have ice cream in the freezer and cookies- I'm ok with that. But the trail mix is a stressor to a point that right now, I'm not ready to have bags of it nearby. Thank you all for the insight!

mtaratoot

I have finally started to add cheese back into my diet. For the longest time, if I ate any, I'd eat too much. I'm not sure what finally changed; maybe I did actually foster good habits long enough that I now can buy some very good cheese and weigh myself an appropriate portion, enjoy it, and not go back for (much) more. I am still very cautious about bringing potato chips back; sometimes I can serve myself two servings (because nobody can eat just one) and be good with it. Other times, I go for half the bag or more - three to five servings. Essentially I will make up for the extra calories over the next several days, but it feels really good to be able to just have what I think is OK and then stop.

That's what it's all about as you point out - habits. Keep working on the good ones, and when the "bad" ones creep back, just stop and observe. If you have to give in, don't beat yourself up about it. Just figure out how to adjust the next few days to account for it and try to do better next time and most of all STICK TO IT!

penguinmama87

brendaanguiano2019 wrote: »

Thank you. For me, I allow myself a few items that used to trigger overeating if I'm not mindful, but now I can control a bit better. For example, a dessert or a sub roll- I do have it once per week or so! I feel glad I can live and be around these foods and watch the portion. That works well. However, I bought my oldest some trail mix ( 2 bags) and that particular mix is not portioned and is SO addicting/ binge promoting to me. I found myself grazing repeatedly, to the point where it was kind of not in my power to stop going back. The comment regarding maybe not buying certain things for a little while especially spoke to me. I have ice cream in the freezer and cookies- I'm ok with that. But the trail mix is a stressor to a point that right now, I'm not ready to have bags of it nearby. Thank you all for the insight!

Trail mix is very easy to overeat! You're not alone!

One thing I've done with things that come in large packages to lower temptation to just eat it all (or a lot more than I should) is to pre-package them myself in individual servings, using small containers or baggies. It doesn't always stop me at one, but it does give me more opportunities to rethink what it is I'm doing, rather than one large bag I'm just reaching into over and over and over. There's a lot of different "tricks" you can use for things stored in your home - put things on high shelves, or behind a closed door, or in the freezer so it has to thaw before you can eat it, or even locking things up (even if you know the combination or have access to the key, you still have to decide it's worth it to go through the hassle of unlocking - you have more time to change your mind and decide, "hey, I don't actually want that right now.") If things just sit out in plain sight and easily accessible, they're more tempting and it's easier to eat too much before your brain says "stop."

I don't use it much now (for myself) but I used to use a "food safe" with some frequency; it's a container that locks on a timer, and it will not open before that timer is up, no matter what. Your only option is to break the container if you want to get inside it before the time is up, and it's expensive enough that I didn't want to waste the money by breaking it! It's kind of embarrassing, but it did teach me that even though I sometimes felt like I would, I wasn't going to die if I couldn't have that piece of candy that exact minute I wanted it, and had to wait until after dinner when the lock would come undone. By the time it unlocked, the fit had passed and I could have just one, reset the lock for another 24 hours, and then I felt fine.

(Now I use it to keep my kids out of the snacks that are specifically for school lunches, not munching on at home. )

neanderthin

I'm low carb as well and have maintained this way for a dozen years and I hear you about white (highly refined) flour and sugar, and periodically I've had to battle through a few bouts myself, but health should trump desire. Saying that, there's refined carbs and then there's refined carbs. For example, pastry is probably something that should be reduced greatly and if it's a big trigger then altogether is probably a wiser move. On the other hand semolina in a good imported Italian pasta with some protein like bacon, egg and fat like a cheese for a carbonara for example is less likely to spike insulin to the point where you crash shortly after or a decent high fat yogurt with berries and a drizzle of local honey, maybe lol. Don't be discouraged, health is more important than continuing to be a tied to the foods that put you in this position to begin with. Cheers

cmriverside

@penguinmama87 that timed lock box idea is genius.

penguinmama87

cmriverside wrote: »

@penguinmama87 that timed lock box idea is genius.

Thanks! I've heard it's been useful for people to limit drinking and smoking as well. One major drawback is it can't be used in the fridge or freezer; only at room temperature (at least this one, which is what I have - looks like there are other options too. Part of the point of it is that it's expensive enough to not break it, but I will say this is much more than I paid for it - not sure what the price point might be at other retailers.)

MelodyandBarbells

penguinmama87 wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

@penguinmama87 that timed lock box idea is genius.

Thanks! I've heard it's been useful for people to limit drinking and smoking as well. One major drawback is it can't be used in the fridge or freezer; only at room temperature (at least this one, which is what I have - looks like there are other options too. Part of the point of it is that it's expensive enough to not break it, but I will say this is much more than I paid for it - not sure what the price point might be at other retailers.)

I’ve had the Kitchen Safe for years now and kept candy in the house for just as long 😆 I think I discovered the other end of its temperature rating by leaving it in my car one summer (for days/weeks, I think). I emailed the manufacturer but he just wanted a few quick pics and videos of the failure mode and sent me a replacement.

cmriverside

penguinmama87 wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

@penguinmama87 that timed lock box idea is genius.

Thanks! I've heard it's been useful for people to limit drinking and smoking as well. One major drawback is it can't be used in the fridge or freezer; only at room temperature (at least this one, which is what I have - looks like there are other options too. Part of the point of it is that it's expensive enough to not break it, but I will say this is much more than I paid for it - not sure what the price point might be at other retailers.)

That's too bad that it can't be stored other than at room temp.

Probably for the best, I had mentally already figured out my way(s) to defeat it.

sollyn23l2

cmriverside wrote: »

penguinmama87 wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

@penguinmama87 that timed lock box idea is genius.

Thanks! I've heard it's been useful for people to limit drinking and smoking as well. One major drawback is it can't be used in the fridge or freezer; only at room temperature (at least this one, which is what I have - looks like there are other options too. Part of the point of it is that it's expensive enough to not break it, but I will say this is much more than I paid for it - not sure what the price point might be at other retailers.)

That's too bad that it can't be stored other than at room temp.

Probably for the best, I had mentally already figured out my way(s) to defeat it.

I just looked up Kitchen Safe (a food lock box) on Amazon, and they stated it can be put in the refrigerator, but not the freezer

MelodyandBarbells

cmriverside wrote: »

penguinmama87 wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

@penguinmama87 that timed lock box idea is genius.

Thanks! I've heard it's been useful for people to limit drinking and smoking as well. One major drawback is it can't be used in the fridge or freezer; only at room temperature (at least this one, which is what I have - looks like there are other options too. Part of the point of it is that it's expensive enough to not break it, but I will say this is much more than I paid for it - not sure what the price point might be at other retailers.)

That's too bad that it can't be stored other than at room temp.

Probably for the best, I had mentally already figured out my way(s) to defeat it.

One workaround is to use some other lockable box for hot or cold storage, and then lock its key in the kitchen safe. It’s just you lose a cute, transparent, convenient electronic lock box, adding that extra hassle into retrieving the item. Feature or bug? User’s call 🙃

ahoy_m8

God, trail mix is the WORST! It's my kryptonite. OP, I think you nailed it with fatigue and stress. No kind of willpower can match ghrelin and leptin. They are powerful hormones. Also trying to maintain a deficit that is too aggressive is a binge waiting to happen. For me, anyway.

Habits, though, that's more nuanced territory. I truly believe that it's habits that carry us in our weakest, most depleted moments -- for better or worse. Habits take time and effort to change, of course, but I think OP you are writing more specifically about the energy to maintain a desirable habit. It sounds like you have dialed in on the macro mix that works for you -- good on ya. Cognitive assent to what you know works is different from in-the-moment decisions. I often make in the moment decisions that I know, in that moment, aren't a great idea. Yet I do it anyway.

I visualize maintaining habits like riding a bike. Sometimes on a downhill stretch you can coast an amazing long time without peddling. It's easy to maintain. On long flat stretches, though, you can get away with coasting only for so long before you have to start putting in the peddling effort again. And sometimes you are just on an uphill grade and it feels like lots of continuous effort. Sometimes my habits carry me, and sometimes I put tons of effort into maintaining the habits I desire. Habits are not static. They require periodic effort to maintain. In my experience, anyway.