How to think of food "rehab"

fitmek

Goal #1--stop eating out!!
Goal #2--get it through my head that food has to be perfect for every meal, and just eat SOMETHING that is decent that fills me up and is within my calorie goals.

I wish I could be one of those people that dont have this amazing vision of how food is supposed to be, at every meal. Truth is...no one has time to make a perfectly awesome meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I know all this, but yet, the appeal to eating out is still there. It's such a mental thing. Friday night...woo hoo its friday night, lets order out! Saturday night...woo hoo, its the weekend, lets order out. Sunday....blah, something in the crockpot...guess the weekend is coming to an end.
How did you change your thought process to start getting creative with foods and meals at home, and to make sure you made the effort to want to eat at home. I know eating at home is so much better for me and my family, and it saves so much money. It's just changing my mind set! Losing these last 10 pounds is more important to me than having a take out dinner a few nights a week, but for some reason, my brain likes to work against me! Please tell me i'm not the only one that has had to completely change their thought process on food and eating out? What tips do you have if you have overcome it?

nikkiclaire123

make a big batch of healthy curries or soups or my fave, turkey meatballs and burgers. and freeze them in portions. that way, when it comes to friday night and no one can be bothered, i just pull out some yummy, low cal food and cook that, its so easy.

Greenrun99

Goal #1 = Unrealistic
Goal #2 = Somewhat

You can still lose weight and eat good food, you just have to be more mindful of what your eating.. you can go out 2 nights, just maybe only eat half of your plate or get something healthier... you don't have to eat bland food with no taste just because you want to lose weight..
Some people stop eating when they even feel like they are getting hungry, or work out more on days you want to go out to build up more calories.. cutting out good tasting food and expecting you to live like that is just impossible, and impossible = fail

beachlover317

My question would be: Why not eat out? As long as you know the calorie count of the food and don't stray too far off your plan, you can still be successful. A good rule is to look at your weekly totals and not fixate on every day, every meal. It's being done by so many people that are losing weight on MFP.

All or nothing "dieting" is why so many people fail. Learn to live your plan - but make it realistic or you will quit.

annakdavis

I use to love eatting out. I could find healthy choices- and it was fun. The thing is that I am one of those people that weigh myself daily. Eatting at Olive Garden not only makes my rings tight- but the scale goes up at least 5lbs, or more- and takes me a whole week to get the sodium out of my system. I have yet to find anything- Subsway, Sushi, Cheeseless pizza, etc- that does not result in an instant gain from salt. I know that it is just sodium, and not fat- but I hate the feeling. I even hate eatting at other peoples houses now. None of this has to do with the accuracy of being able to count my calories- I just hate how much salt is in everything.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

beachlover317

I use to love eatting out. I could find healthy choices- and it was fun. The thing is that I am one of those people that weigh myself daily. Eatting at Olive Garden not only makes my rings tight- but the scale goes up at least 5lbs, or more- and takes me a whole week to get the sodium out of my system. I have yet to find anything- Subsway, Sushi, Cheeseless pizza, etc- that does not result in an instant gain from salt. I know that it is just sodium, and not fat- but I hate the feeling. I even hate eatting at other peoples houses now. None of this has to do with the accuracy of being able to count my calories- I just hate how much salt is in everything.

Well that just sounds extreme and unhealthy.

I used to be that way when I first started on MFP. I've had to re-think how I look at food. I refuse to spend the rest of my life not eating out or not eating at a friend's house because of short lived sodium/water retention. It's a hard thing to overcome, but finally - I am finding a healthier relationship with food. I just can't let it have that much control over me - ever again. Just my opinion, of course.

fitmek

My question would be: Why not eat out? As long as you know the calorie count of the food and don't stray too far off your plan, you can still be successful. A good rule is to look at your weekly totals and not fixate on every day, every meal. It's being done by so many people that are losing weight on MFP.

All or nothing "dieting" is why so many people fail. Learn to live your plan - but make it realistic or you will quit.

I feel like this is a mental thing for me. I need to re-train my brain so that I'm craftier at home when it comes to cooking and using what i have. Eating out once or twice a week won't hurt, but 7-12.00 every day is adding up fast...plus its a crutch!

cwolfman13

I'm a foodie and enjoy cooking...and I cook like a boss, so most of what I prepare is far better than I could get out. When we eat out, it's usually a special occasion and usually a high end restaurant with a chef and staff that can cook far better than I can.

lcfairbairn74

Batch cooking is your friend as has already been suggested. I cook up 4 servings of a meal, whether it be spaghetti bolognese or curry and freeze 3 servings of it. That way, when I am busy, I just defrost a serving of it for dinner. I've already calculated the calories and saved it as a meal on here, so I don't even have to figure that out! It makes your meals convenient, which is what your hurdle is when ordering take out!

endoftheside

One thing that helped my family with #1 was to put aside the money we saved from not eating out so much, and use it toward a mini-vacation whenever we've saved enough. Most recently it paid for a hotel night and tickets to a theme park. We still occasionally eat out for convenience or as a special occasion, and it is more enjoyable now because it really *is* a treat instead of a "well, we always eat out on the weekend or when working late" kind of thing. Most of the food we would eat out I can make better and with higher quality ingredients at home, so from that perspective there is no comparison (I am talking run of the mill eating out, not $100 a plate gourmet). At least with the moderately priced chains, the food quality is pretty darn low and contains an insane amount of sodium, plus other ingredients I would prefer not to eat, so even a sandwich I make at home with homemade bread and a slice of meat from the roast I bought at the farmer's market is going to far exceed what you would get at almost any restaurant. That kind of thinking helps me with #2 as well.

fitmek

One thing that helped my family with #1 was to put aside the money we saved from not eating out so much, and use it toward a mini-vacation whenever we've saved enough. Most recently it paid for a hotel night and tickets to a theme park. We still occasionally eat out for convenience or as a special occasion, and it is more enjoyable now because it really *is* a treat instead of a "well, we always eat out on the weekend or when working late" kind of thing. Most of the food we would eat out I can make better and with higher quality ingredients at home, so from that perspective there is no comparison (I am talking run of the mill eating out, not $100 a plate gourmet). At least with the moderately priced chains, the food quality is pretty darn low and contains an insane amount of sodium, plus other ingredients I would prefer not to eat, so even a sandwich I make at home with homemade bread and a slice of meat from the roast I bought at the farmer's market is going to far exceed what you would get at almost any restaurant. That kind of thinking helps me with #2 as well.

Thank you....I agree with this. If I eat out during the day, its usually a grilled chicken salad somewhere or wrap--occasionally a cookie
I need to get some discipline and some consistency--that's all. You know, the two hardest things to "get"