Finding the motivation

hublaur

Hello everybody!
I have not been taken really good care of myself an my body over the last few years and I realized I needed to make some changes in order to live a healthier life. Realizing this and actually doing it are two different things. During the last few years, I got in a habit of purging a lot. I was eating all the time even when I wasn't hungry and most of the time it wasn't healthy food. I just find it so hard to get rid of this habit and find motivation to not fall for the temptation of candy or chips or fast food. Please help me! I really want to make changes but I need some tips! Thank you!

laursoar

The biggest tip that I can give you is that it's going to be hard at first. The first couple of weeks will be a lot more difficult than once you get used to new habits. I still have tough days two months in sometimes, but I find it's a lot less frequent.

Start by finding substitutes for high calorie foods you like. Two of my favorite changes have been swapping PB2 powder (45 calories) instead of peanut butter (190 calories or so) and broccoli slaw sauteed (25 calories) instead of pasta (calories vary, but a lot more than that!). Don't go super extreme right away. I'd also suggest that you plan your days ahead in MFP. You can always change one thing for another later, but try to stick with what you plan. Think about when you tend to snack the most and account for that in your planning too. For example, I eat lower calorie but filling breakfasts and leave room for snacks scattered in-between meals. The more substituting you can figure out, the more snacks and stuff you can add in too, which lends itself toward helping you want to eat healthier to get more bang for the caloric buck. I did consciously scale back on nighttime snacking though, as I knew I tended to overeat there most. Now, I eat only one snack at night and drink tea when I'm done.