I miss food

krispy1982

I loooove chips and salsa! Just cut up a whole grain tortilla and bake it! So good and way less sodium. Salsa is just veggies in some extra salt and vinegar - the calories are seriously not bad. There is always a way to include something or modify it. And going over or under once in a while won't wreck everything anyway.

maillemaker

Which is why you should weigh and measure all of your food. If you use a food scale to measure out a single serving of ice cream, it's only about 130-170 calories and you've got plenty of room in the rest of your day for other foods. And you still had your treat.

I'm at work and can't see your post, but I'd imagine the key words in your post are "NOT LOGGING".

I did weigh and measure my food for 5 months. Yes, once I blow my diet, I don't log. What is the point once you've blown it?

It is not really possible for me to weight out a 130-170 calorie scoop of ice cream. I do not have the willpower to do that. Once I have committed to eat ice cream, I eat as much as I want. It's like an alcoholic trying to just have one drink.

How hungry were you before meals? How hungry were you after you ate? Did you feel sated, full or stuffed? How hungry were you between meals? Were you eating at the same times/same quantities that you were when you were logging on MFP or were you using not logging as an excuse to eat the world?

I know that I am losing weight when I am hungry. When I am logging on MFP and sticking to the deficit diet, I am hungry, and generally cold also. My mouse hand goes cold. I always have physical symptoms when I am on a calorie deficit. It's kind of like having a low-grade toothache - it's always there in the back of your mind gnawing at you.

No, when I stop logging and eat "naturally", that is, eat what I want without thinking about it, I always eat a surplus. Hence the weight gain.

Also note that normally when I eat when I'm not logging I do not eat to satisfy hunger, though hunger is what triggers the start of eating. I eat to satisfaction. For example, I will eat a box of Oreo cookies or a bag of M&Ms not because I am hungry, but because of the pleasure derived from eating.

So dieting is a two-pronged problem. Ever-present hunger saps willpower until I blow it, and once I blow it I eat for the pleasure of eating.

maillemaker

So are you saying you stopped logging in March and then your weight started to go back up?

I stopped logging at the end of October with Halloween and Halloween candy.

Did you eat the same foods and not log them or did you eat different foods and not log them? I don't understand what that has to do with eating in moderation or not. You can choose to eat foods you like in moderation and log them, or choose to eat foods you like and not log them.

I went back to my old habits of eating whatever I wanted until I was satisfied.

I think what you are trying to say is that if you don't log it, then you are lacking in the self control to stop eating those foods you like. If that is what you are saying, then I think the answer is to keep logging. Not that you can't eat the foods you like. You just need to log them so you have some indicator of when to stop.

You are right, but the problem is the willpower. Once I blow the day's calorie count by eating a 600-1700 bowl or two of ice cream, there's little point in logging.

It still comes down to calories in vs calories out, but logging provides you quantitative data of how many calories are coming in vs going out.

Obviously. But once the willpower dam has broken, I don't log. What's the point of recording failure? I can look at the scale to see that.

deksgrl

I know that I am losing weight when I am hungry. When I am logging on MFP and sticking to the deficit diet, I am hungry, and generally cold also. My mouse hand goes cold. I always have physical symptoms when I am on a calorie deficit. It's kind of like having a low-grade toothache - it's always there in the back of your mind gnawing at you.

No, when I stop logging and eat "naturally", that is, eat what I want without thinking about it, I always eat a surplus. Hence the weight gain......


So dieting is a two-pronged problem. Ever-present hunger saps willpower until I blow it, and once I blow it I eat for the pleasure of eating.

I would suggest that this is because you are set at an unreasonably LOW calorie amount, just like the OP.

You are a man weighing around 280, and you are set at 1690 calories. Dude, I'm older than you, and I'm a woman, and I eat 1800 to lose weight. 1800 is the minimum a man should eat.

If you set yourself to a reasonable goal, you wouldn't be hungry all the time, and you would probably be able to indulge in some of the things you wanted without going overboard. You would have a sustainable weight loss and then be able to transition back to "non dieting" without the yo yo weight gain and forever quitting the "diet".

mccindy72

Which is why you should weigh and measure all of your food. If you use a food scale to measure out a single serving of ice cream, it's only about 130-170 calories and you've got plenty of room in the rest of your day for other foods. And you still had your treat.

It is not really possible for me to weight out a 130-170 calorie scoop of ice cream. I do not have the willpower to do that. Once I have committed to eat ice cream, I eat as much as I want. It's like an alcoholic trying to just have one drink.

[I know that I am losing weight when I am hungry. When I am logging on MFP and sticking to the deficit diet, I am hungry, and generally cold also. My mouse hand goes cold. I always have physical symptoms when I am on a calorie deficit. It's kind of like having a low-grade toothache - it's always there in the back of your mind gnawing at you.

Also note that normally when I eat when I'm not logging I do not eat to satisfy hunger, though hunger is what triggers the start of eating. I eat to satisfaction. For example, I will eat a box of Oreo cookies or a bag of M&Ms not because I am hungry, but because of the pleasure derived from eating.

So dieting is a two-pronged problem. Ever-present hunger saps willpower until I blow it, and once I blow it I eat for the pleasure of eating.

Read what you wrote here.

You have a lot of negatives like "it's not possible." That kind of negative thinking sets up up for failure. You tell yourself that once you have one setback you might as well just give up, rather than looking ahead to the next day as an opportunity to start anew.
and it is possible for you to weight out one serving of ice cream, you just choose not to. You know, in your own mind, that you can put that single serving of ice cream in the bowl, put the rest back in the freezer, and go sit down and eat what you served yourself. You just look at the small serving in the bowl and tell yourself that you want more than what you've served yourself.

Your first steps are going to be changing the way you think about what your goals are and what you want. Do you want a few small bites of something that tastes good and to lose weight? Or do you want to stay at your current weight and keep eating whatever is in front of you until it is gone? whether it is a small bowl of ice cream, or the entire container, eventually you will reach the end of it.

Just try the small bowl one time and see how it goes. You don't have to do it every time, just build up to learning moderation. Sit down with your small serving (put it in a ramekin or a small bowl so it looks like a larger serving), use a small spoon, and take little bites. Let each bite melt in your mouth. Think about the taste while it's melting, don't rush through each bite to the next. Sometimes you can get more pleasure out of that experience than you can out of eating a large bowl mindlessly while watching TV or reading.

Camera_BagintheUK

I miss the Friday night bottle of wine :ohwell: It's a rare treat now. (well, bit more regular since Christmas but in general, avoided).

auddii

Which is why you should weigh and measure all of your food. If you use a food scale to measure out a single serving of ice cream, it's only about 130-170 calories and you've got plenty of room in the rest of your day for other foods. And you still had your treat.

It is not really possible for me to weight out a 130-170 calorie scoop of ice cream. I do not have the willpower to do that. Once I have committed to eat ice cream, I eat as much as I want. It's like an alcoholic trying to just have one drink.

[I know that I am losing weight when I am hungry. When I am logging on MFP and sticking to the deficit diet, I am hungry, and generally cold also. My mouse hand goes cold. I always have physical symptoms when I am on a calorie deficit. It's kind of like having a low-grade toothache - it's always there in the back of your mind gnawing at you.

Also note that normally when I eat when I'm not logging I do not eat to satisfy hunger, though hunger is what triggers the start of eating. I eat to satisfaction. For example, I will eat a box of Oreo cookies or a bag of M&Ms not because I am hungry, but because of the pleasure derived from eating.

So dieting is a two-pronged problem. Ever-present hunger saps willpower until I blow it, and once I blow it I eat for the pleasure of eating.

Read what you wrote here.

You have a lot of negatives like "it's not possible." That kind of negative thinking sets up up for failure. You tell yourself that once you have one setback you might as well just give up, rather than looking ahead to the next day as an opportunity to start anew.
and it is possible for you to weight out one serving of ice cream, you just choose not to. You know, in your own mind, that you can put that single serving of ice cream in the bowl, put the rest back in the freezer, and go sit down and eat what you served yourself. You just look at the small serving in the bowl and tell yourself that you want more than what you've served yourself.

Your first steps are going to be changing the way you think about what your goals are and what you want. Do you want a few small bites of something that tastes good and to lose weight? Or do you want to stay at your current weight and keep eating whatever is in front of you until it is gone? whether it is a small bowl of ice cream, or the entire container, eventually you will reach the end of it.

Just try the small bowl one time and see how it goes. You don't have to do it every time, just build up to learning moderation. Sit down with your small serving (put it in a ramekin or a small bowl so it looks like a larger serving), use a small spoon, and take little bites. Let each bite melt in your mouth. Think about the taste while it's melting, don't rush through each bite to the next. Sometimes you can get more pleasure out of that experience than you can out of eating a large bowl mindlessly while watching TV or reading.

When I would binge on stuff, I didn't do well having it in the house at all. Instead, I'd get some as a treat by going out somewhere. There's a really great gelato place in town that actually weighs out 3oz for a serving. So, I know exactly how much I'm getting, and they have good product control (their actual reason for weighing). But, it's a way for me to have it in moderation. After doing this for a few years, I can now have ice cream in my house again without devouring it. I do still weigh out one serving. I also try to get something that is very flavorful, so that I feel like it really is enough when I only have one serving. (Currently Scotchy Scotch Scotch is in my freezer, and one serving is enough butterscotch for one sitting. For sure.)

likitisplit

How hungry were you before meals? How hungry were you after you ate? Did you feel sated, full or stuffed? How hungry were you between meals? Were you eating at the same times/same quantities that you were when you were logging on MFP or were you using not logging as an excuse to eat the world?

I know that I am losing weight when I am hungry. When I am logging on MFP and sticking to the deficit diet, I am hungry, and generally cold also. My mouse hand goes cold. I always have physical symptoms when I am on a calorie deficit. It's kind of like having a low-grade toothache - it's always there in the back of your mind gnawing at you.

No, when I stop logging and eat "naturally", that is, eat what I want without thinking about it, I always eat a surplus. Hence the weight gain.

Also note that normally when I eat when I'm not logging I do not eat to satisfy hunger, though hunger is what triggers the start of eating. I eat to satisfaction. For example, I will eat a box of Oreo cookies or a bag of M&Ms not because I am hungry, but because of the pleasure derived from eating.

So dieting is a two-pronged problem. Ever-present hunger saps willpower until I blow it, and once I blow it I eat for the pleasure of eating.

Yeah. Your calories are too low. You need to bump them up by 100 until you are at a point where you are neither hungry nor full between meals. Thinking about food all the time is a huge willpower drain.

I gained a bunch of weight while I was nursing through this. I'd try to eat "normal" portions and end up starving and eating everything in sight. When I got on MFP, I realized that I needed to eat 2800 calories a day...which is A LOT of food, but it's not all the food. Once I started eating what I needed, the gorging stopped.

Once I started enjoying the body I live in, through an active lifestyle, I started making more disciplined choices, because my body was worth the effort.

There's no such thing as blowing your diet, really. What you eat at this meal really has nothing to do with what you choose to eat in the future.

Have you ever forgotten to brush your teeth? How many months did it take you to start brushing your teeth again?

amyg39

Don't we all?...but the results are worth it. Keep up the good work! You can incorporate SMALL portions of those items every once in awhile, just watch your caloric intake and exercise; OCCASIONAL indulgences will help you succeed. You just have to practice a little self control so you don't over indulge or indulge too often. A "diet" doesn't work if you are miserable doing it. You MUST maintain a healthy balance of calories, exercise, healthy foods and (every so often foods you just want). It is a lifestyle that you have to maintain, once you have reached your goals. So, my philosophy is...if you miss something too much...your diet is unsustainable. Take care, make healthy choices, but don't be afraid to enjoy something "off the diet" sometimes.

I caution you though, if you indulge one meal, make sure you get back on track for next meal and for a reasonable time thereafter; don't just say...welll I blew it for today...so I am going to continue to enjoy these bad for me foods until tomorrow (or Monday or Whatever you consider a time constraint)...get right back on. It might do you some good to do that.

Enjoy it. Train yourself to pay attention to all of the factors of your diet.

QuietBloom

Which is why you should weigh and measure all of your food. If you use a food scale to measure out a single serving of ice cream, it's only about 130-170 calories and you've got plenty of room in the rest of your day for other foods. And you still had your treat.

I'm at work and can't see your post, but I'd imagine the key words in your post are "NOT LOGGING".

I did weigh and measure my food for 5 months. Yes, once I blow my diet, I don't log. What is the point once you've blown it?

It is not really possible for me to weight out a 130-170 calorie scoop of ice cream. I do not have the willpower to do that. Once I have committed to eat ice cream, I eat as much as I want. It's like an alcoholic trying to just have one drink.

How hungry were you before meals? How hungry were you after you ate? Did you feel sated, full or stuffed? How hungry were you between meals? Were you eating at the same times/same quantities that you were when you were logging on MFP or were you using not logging as an excuse to eat the world?

I know that I am losing weight when I am hungry. When I am logging on MFP and sticking to the deficit diet, I am hungry, and generally cold also. My mouse hand goes cold. I always have physical symptoms when I am on a calorie deficit. It's kind of like having a low-grade toothache - it's always there in the back of your mind gnawing at you.

No, when I stop logging and eat "naturally", that is, eat what I want without thinking about it, I always eat a surplus. Hence the weight gain.

Also note that normally when I eat when I'm not logging I do not eat to satisfy hunger, though hunger is what triggers the start of eating. I eat to satisfaction. For example, I will eat a box of Oreo cookies or a bag of M&Ms not because I am hungry, but because of the pleasure derived from eating.

So dieting is a two-pronged problem. Ever-present hunger saps willpower until I blow it, and once I blow it I eat for the pleasure of eating.

You being cold means you are not eating enough. It is common for people doing IF to feel cold during a fast, but it shouldn't be something you notice when doing a reasonable calorie deficit.

ETA: Is the OP still around? Or has this thread been completely hijacked? :laugh:

WinoGelato

So are you saying you stopped logging in March and then your weight started to go back up?

You are right, but the problem is the willpower. Once I blow the day's calorie count by eating a 600-1700 bowl or two of ice cream, there's little point in logging.

It still comes down to calories in vs calories out, but logging provides you quantitative data of how many calories are coming in vs going out.

Obviously. But once the willpower dam has broken, I don't log. What's the point of recording failure? I can look at the scale to see that.

For me personally, seeing the numbers I log, even when I am over, helps motivate me to get me back on track. This is the first time in my life that I've ever counted calories, and I am an analytical, numbers driven, goal oriented person. Seeing the numbers add up on MFP throughout the day helps me think through my choices for the rest of that day. When I do go over, and that happens on a regular basis, seeing where I have gone over helps me make better choices for the next time. One thing I have started doing is logging anything that isn't part of my actual meal, as a snack. Even if it is the wine I am drinking with my dinner, or the candy bar I have after lunch, I list those as snacks because then it is easy for me to look and say, "wow, I had 700 calories of snacks that day, no wonder I was over by 500 calories today". I'm much more likely to omit the wine the next day, than I am to drastically change the composition of my meals themselves, although sometimes I do that too.

I really don't know what to say about your comments that you have to eat an entire bag of oreos or an entire container of ice cream if you have even a little taste. I don't have that problem, with really any food. I am one of the ones who believes it is possible to eat all the same foods you ate before starting this journey/lifestyle change/diet and just eat smaller quantities of them or eat the same quantities but less frequently. An entire gallon of ice cream or a bag of cookies doesn't even sound appealing to me. After lunch today I wanted chocolate. I could have had an entire candy bar. I could have had 3 of them. I went to our candy store at work and chose one fun size hershey bar, and now my chocolate craving is gone. Going back to get more doesn't even occur to me.

Tonight I will have pizza, and beer. I will probably go over my calories for the day. I will probably still be under for the week, but maybe not, I've been close to goal every day. If I just stopped logging right now because I know I'm going to go over, then I wouldn't realize when I looked at the weekly average that I'm still under my goal. Or over my weekly goal but under my maintenance. Or over my maintenance but by a minimal amount such that I can make up for it next week. By not logging, even when you are over, that is when I think it is easy to say, "to h*ll with it, I can eat whatever I want, I already blew it". It's all math at the end of the day and there are a lot of calories in a week to play with, even if you are seriously restricting!

likitisplit

I think she bailed after the first 10 pages. I think there's been lot of good, constructive discussion that relates to the initial post.

deksgrl

You being cold means you are not eating enough. It is common for people doing IF to feel cold during a fast, but it shouldn't be something you notice when doing a reasonable calorie deficit.

Yes, he's seriously trying to eat too few calories.

amyg39

I think people are just trying to be supportive of you..and helpful. YAY! You are lower than your goal weight...that is fantastic! but, I think, people were just trying to help and didn't intend to offend. Hate that you took it that way.

It is great that we all get to lift each other up and support and help through this. It isn't easy...as you, obviously, know (since you have done so well) but it is good to have non-judgemental "friends" in the same boat who can give you encouragement and motivation and information that you may not know. Unfortunately,in this forum, it is very difficult to tell if someone is looking for encouragement,motivation or advice. Please try to take it to heart that the people who commented meant nothing but to help you through something that seemed difficult for you, based on your words.

likitisplit

So are you saying you stopped logging in March and then your weight started to go back up?

You are right, but the problem is the willpower. Once I blow the day's calorie count by eating a 600-1700 bowl or two of ice cream, there's little point in logging.

It still comes down to calories in vs calories out, but logging provides you quantitative data of how many calories are coming in vs going out.

Obviously. But once the willpower dam has broken, I don't log. What's the point of recording failure? I can look at the scale to see that.

For me personally, seeing the numbers I log, even when I am over, helps motivate me to get me back on track. This is the first time in my life that I've ever counted calories, and I am an analytical, numbers driven, goal oriented person. Seeing the numbers add up on MFP throughout the day helps me think through my choices for the rest of that day. When I do go over, and that happens on a regular basis, seeing where I have gone over helps me make better choices for the next time. One thing I have started doing is logging anything that isn't part of my actual meal, as a snack. Even if it is the wine I am drinking with my dinner, or the candy bar I have after lunch, I list those as snacks because then it is easy for me to look and say, "wow, I had 700 calories of snacks that day, no wonder I was over by 500 calories today". I'm much more likely to omit the wine the next day, than I am to drastically change the composition of my meals themselves, although sometimes I do that too.

I really don't know what to say about your comments that you have to eat an entire bag of oreos or an entire container of ice cream if you have even a little taste. I don't have that problem, with really any food. I am one of the ones who believes it is possible to eat all the same foods you ate before starting this journey/lifestyle change/diet and just eat smaller quantities of them or eat the same quantities but less frequently. An entire gallon of ice cream or a bag of cookies doesn't even sound appealing to me. After lunch today I wanted chocolate. I could have had an entire candy bar. I could have had 3 of them. I went to our candy store at work and chose one fun size hershey bar, and now my chocolate craving is gone. Going back to get more doesn't even occur to me.

Tonight I will have pizza, and beer. I will probably go over my calories for the day. I will probably still be under for the week, but maybe not, I've been close to goal every day. If I just stopped logging right now because I know I'm going to go over, then I wouldn't realize when I looked at the weekly average that I'm still under my goal. Or over my weekly goal but under my maintenance. Or over my maintenance but by a minimal amount such that I can make up for it next week. By not logging, even when you are over, that is when I think it is easy to say, "to h*ll with it, I can eat whatever I want, I already blew it". It's all math at the end of the day and there are a lot of calories in a week to play with, even if you are seriously restricting!

This is really key. Even if you go over a thousand or more calories in a day (and I have), it's still possible to maintain for the week. I've noticed that a lot of people who commit to log everything become surprised at how little they actually go over. I'm also surprised at how much that those little failures add up over time.

It's probably not the tub of ice cream that makes you fat. It's the bag of chips that you eat each day afterwards because you just don't care anymore.

maillemaker

I would suggest that this is because you are set at an unreasonably LOW calorie amount, just like the OP.

You are a man weighing around 280, and you are set at 1690 calories. Dude, I'm older than you, and I'm a woman, and I eat 1800 to lose weight. 1800 is the minimum a man should eat.

If you set yourself to a reasonable goal, you wouldn't be hungry all the time, and you would probably be able to indulge in some of the things you wanted without going overboard. You would have a sustainable weight loss and then be able to transition back to "non dieting" without the yo yo weight gain and forever quitting the "diet".

The 1690 calorie goal was set by MFP given my fitness profile and a goal of 2 pounds per week weight loss. I lost 30 pounds over 213 days, or 30.43 weeks. that works out to about one pound per week.

This is a reasonable weight loss goal, right?

You have a lot of negatives like "it's not possible." That kind of negative thinking sets up up for failure. You tell yourself that once you have one setback you might as well just give up, rather than looking ahead to the next day as an opportunity to start anew.
and it is possible for you to weight out one serving of ice cream, you just choose not to. You know, in your own mind, that you can put that single serving of ice cream in the bowl, put the rest back in the freezer, and go sit down and eat what you served yourself. You just look at the small serving in the bowl and tell yourself that you want more than what you've served yourself.

Oh, sweetie, you clearly don't understand what this is like.

Of course it's all a matter of "choosing not to". That is what willpower is all about. You've got to have the will to choose not to do the bad thing. You can know this all you want, it doesn't make it any easier to actually do it.

I'm telling you, as someone who has done this diet roller coaster many times over my lifetime, that eventually, I break. Every time. And I do not have the willpower to take the ice cream container out of the refrigerator and have just a 100 calorie serving. I just don't. It's like telling a gambling addict to just play one game of slots, or telling an alcoholic they can go ahead and drink in moderation.

Your first steps are going to be changing the way you think about what your goals are and what you want. Do you want a few small bites of something that tastes good and to lose weight? Or do you want to stay at your current weight and keep eating whatever is in front of you until it is gone? whether it is a small bowl of ice cream, or the entire container, eventually you will reach the end of it.

Once I break, what I want is the food pleasure. It's immediately attainable.

Just try the small bowl one time and see how it goes. You don't have to do it every time, just build up to learning moderation. Sit down with your small serving (put it in a ramekin or a small bowl so it looks like a larger serving), use a small spoon, and take little bites. Let each bite melt in your mouth. Think about the taste while it's melting, don't rush through each bite to the next. Sometimes you can get more pleasure out of that experience than you can out of eating a large bowl mindlessly while watching TV or reading.

This is like telling an alcoholic it's OK to drink if they just stretch out their drinks, or a gambling addict that it's OK to gamble as long as they play games that last a long time. It just doesn't work that way. You can't put yourself in a tempting situation or you are playing with fire.

maillemaker

eah. Your calories are too low. You need to bump them up by 100 until you are at a point where you are neither hungry nor full between meals. Thinking about food all the time is a huge willpower drain.

I only lost one pound per week over 213 days. If I upped my calories this would be even less and even less worth the effort.

likitisplit

Which is why you should weigh and measure all of your food. If you use a food scale to measure out a single serving of ice cream, it's only about 130-170 calories and you've got plenty of room in the rest of your day for other foods. And you still had your treat.

It is not really possible for me to weight out a 130-170 calorie scoop of ice cream. I do not have the willpower to do that. Once I have committed to eat ice cream, I eat as much as I want. It's like an alcoholic trying to just have one drink.

[I know that I am losing weight when I am hungry. When I am logging on MFP and sticking to the deficit diet, I am hungry, and generally cold also. My mouse hand goes cold. I always have physical symptoms when I am on a calorie deficit. It's kind of like having a low-grade toothache - it's always there in the back of your mind gnawing at you.

Also note that normally when I eat when I'm not logging I do not eat to satisfy hunger, though hunger is what triggers the start of eating. I eat to satisfaction. For example, I will eat a box of Oreo cookies or a bag of M&Ms not because I am hungry, but because of the pleasure derived from eating.

So dieting is a two-pronged problem. Ever-present hunger saps willpower until I blow it, and once I blow it I eat for the pleasure of eating.

Read what you wrote here.

You have a lot of negatives like "it's not possible." That kind of negative thinking sets up up for failure. You tell yourself that once you have one setback you might as well just give up, rather than looking ahead to the next day as an opportunity to start anew.
and it is possible for you to weight out one serving of ice cream, you just choose not to. You know, in your own mind, that you can put that single serving of ice cream in the bowl, put the rest back in the freezer, and go sit down and eat what you served yourself. You just look at the small serving in the bowl and tell yourself that you want more than what you've served yourself.

Your first steps are going to be changing the way you think about what your goals are and what you want. Do you want a few small bites of something that tastes good and to lose weight? Or do you want to stay at your current weight and keep eating whatever is in front of you until it is gone? whether it is a small bowl of ice cream, or the entire container, eventually you will reach the end of it.

Just try the small bowl one time and see how it goes. You don't have to do it every time, just build up to learning moderation. Sit down with your small serving (put it in a ramekin or a small bowl so it looks like a larger serving), use a small spoon, and take little bites. Let each bite melt in your mouth. Think about the taste while it's melting, don't rush through each bite to the next. Sometimes you can get more pleasure out of that experience than you can out of eating a large bowl mindlessly while watching TV or reading.

When I would binge on stuff, I didn't do well having it in the house at all. Instead, I'd get some as a treat by going out somewhere. There's a really great gelato place in town that actually weighs out 3oz for a serving. So, I know exactly how much I'm getting, and they have good product control (their actual reason for weighing). But, it's a way for me to have it in moderation. After doing this for a few years, I can now have ice cream in my house again without devouring it. I do still weigh out one serving. I also try to get something that is very flavorful, so that I feel like it really is enough when I only have one serving. (Currently Scotchy Scotch Scotch is in my freezer, and one serving is enough butterscotch for one sitting. For sure.)

This is why I always get premium ice cream - it's got to satisfy me with a serving and an off-brand isn't going to do that.

And, I'm telling you, these bowls are the bomb: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90133487/

QuietBloom

I would suggest that this is because you are set at an unreasonably LOW calorie amount, just like the OP.

You are a man weighing around 280, and you are set at 1690 calories. Dude, I'm older than you, and I'm a woman, and I eat 1800 to lose weight. 1800 is the minimum a man should eat.

If you set yourself to a reasonable goal, you wouldn't be hungry all the time, and you would probably be able to indulge in some of the things you wanted without going overboard. You would have a sustainable weight loss and then be able to transition back to "non dieting" without the yo yo weight gain and forever quitting the "diet".

The 1690 calorie goal was set by MFP given my fitness profile and a goal of 2 pounds per week weight loss. I lost 30 pounds over 213 days, or 30.43 weeks. that works out to about one pound per week.

This is a reasonable weight loss goal, right?

You have a lot of negatives like "it's not possible." That kind of negative thinking sets up up for failure. You tell yourself that once you have one setback you might as well just give up, rather than looking ahead to the next day as an opportunity to start anew.
and it is possible for you to weight out one serving of ice cream, you just choose not to. You know, in your own mind, that you can put that single serving of ice cream in the bowl, put the rest back in the freezer, and go sit down and eat what you served yourself. You just look at the small serving in the bowl and tell yourself that you want more than what you've served yourself.

Oh, sweetie, you clearly don't understand what this is like.

Of course[/u] it's all a matter of "choosing not to". That is what willpower is all about. You've got to have the will to choose not to do the bad thing. You can know this all you want, it doesn't make it any easier to actually do it.

I'm telling you, as someone who has done this diet roller coaster many times over my lifetime, that eventually, I break. Every time. And I do not have the willpower to take the ice cream container out of the refrigerator and have just a 100 calorie serving. I just don't. It's like telling a gambling addict to just play one game of slots, or telling an alcoholic they can go ahead and drink in moderation.

Your first steps are going to be changing the way you think about what your goals are and what you want. Do you want a few small bites of something that tastes good and to lose weight? Or do you want to stay at your current weight and keep eating whatever is in front of you until it is gone? whether it is a small bowl of ice cream, or the entire container, eventually you will reach the end of it.

Once I break, what I want is the food pleasure. It's immediately attainable.

Just try the small bowl one time and see how it goes. You don't have to do it every time, just build up to learning moderation. Sit down with your small serving (put it in a ramekin or a small bowl so it looks like a larger serving), use a small spoon, and take little bites. Let each bite melt in your mouth. Think about the taste while it's melting, don't rush through each bite to the next. Sometimes you can get more pleasure out of that experience than you can out of eating a large bowl mindlessly while watching TV or reading.

This is like telling an alcoholic it's OK to drink if they just stretch out their drinks, or a gambling addict that it's OK to gamble as long as they play games that last a long time. It just doesn't work that way. You can't put yourself in a tempting situation or you are playing with fire.

Alcoholics and gamblers CHOOSE to indulge. It has been shown that, given enough incentive (monetary in one study), an alcoholic can abstain just fine.

mccindy72

I would suggest that this is because you are set at an unreasonably LOW calorie amount, just like the OP.

You are a man weighing around 280, and you are set at 1690 calories. Dude, I'm older than you, and I'm a woman, and I eat 1800 to lose weight. 1800 is the minimum a man should eat.

If you set yourself to a reasonable goal, you wouldn't be hungry all the time, and you would probably be able to indulge in some of the things you wanted without going overboard. You would have a sustainable weight loss and then be able to transition back to "non dieting" without the yo yo weight gain and forever quitting the "diet".

The 1690 calorie goal was set by MFP given my fitness profile and a goal of 2 pounds per week weight loss. I lost 30 pounds over 213 days, or 30.43 weeks. that works out to about one pound per week.

This is a reasonable weight loss goal, right?

You have a lot of negatives like "it's not possible." That kind of negative thinking sets up up for failure. You tell yourself that once you have one setback you might as well just give up, rather than looking ahead to the next day as an opportunity to start anew.
and it is possible for you to weight out one serving of ice cream, you just choose not to. You know, in your own mind, that you can put that single serving of ice cream in the bowl, put the rest back in the freezer, and go sit down and eat what you served yourself. You just look at the small serving in the bowl and tell yourself that you want more than what you've served yourself.

Oh, sweetie, you clearly don't understand what this is like.

Of course[/u] it's all a matter of "choosing not to". That is what willpower is all about. You've got to have the will to choose not to do the bad thing. You can know this all you want, it doesn't make it any easier to actually do it.

I'm telling you, as someone who has done this diet roller coaster many times over my lifetime, that eventually, I break. Every time. And I do not have the willpower to take the ice cream container out of the refrigerator and have just a 100 calorie serving. I just don't. It's like telling a gambling addict to just play one game of slots, or telling an alcoholic they can go ahead and drink in moderation.

Your first steps are going to be changing the way you think about what your goals are and what you want. Do you want a few small bites of something that tastes good and to lose weight? Or do you want to stay at your current weight and keep eating whatever is in front of you until it is gone? whether it is a small bowl of ice cream, or the entire container, eventually you will reach the end of it.

Once I break, what I want is the food pleasure. It's immediately attainable.

Just try the small bowl one time and see how it goes. You don't have to do it every time, just build up to learning moderation. Sit down with your small serving (put it in a ramekin or a small bowl so it looks like a larger serving), use a small spoon, and take little bites. Let each bite melt in your mouth. Think about the taste while it's melting, don't rush through each bite to the next. Sometimes you can get more pleasure out of that experience than you can out of eating a large bowl mindlessly while watching TV or reading.

This is like telling an alcoholic it's OK to drink if they just stretch out their drinks, or a gambling addict that it's OK to gamble as long as they play games that last a long time. It just doesn't work that way. You can't put yourself in a tempting situation or you are playing with fire.

It's not the same. Alcoholics can live without drinking alcohol. Food addicts can't live without food.

I live with a food addict. He's learning.

I'm saddened that you aren't ready to try yet.

maillemaker

You being cold means you are not eating enough. It is common for people doing IF to feel cold during a fast, but it shouldn't be something you notice when doing a reasonable calorie deficit.

I was following the MFP guidelines for a target of 2-pounds per week. Over 213 days I lost 30 pounds, or an average of 1 pound per week.

This seems reasonable to me. I think if I ate much more than that I would be at maintenance.

favoritenut

In time you will learn to savor and enjoy these items in moderation and no longer need to gorge on them to feel satisfied.

I like this, I am getting there!

likitisplit

eah. Your calories are too low. You need to bump them up by 100 until you are at a point where you are neither hungry nor full between meals. Thinking about food all the time is a huge willpower drain.

I only lost one pound per week over 213 days. If I upped my calories this would be even less and even less worth the effort.

One pound per week is AWESOME. Are you kidding? Yes, the weight loss will be less. There also won't be a lot of effort. I got bored of tracking, but my biggest challenge was remembering to get something healthy for my 3pm snack.

My advice would be to go on maintenance for three months. Log EVERYTHING. See what maintenance feels like. Get used to it. Cut back from there.

If you are hungry and cold at maintenance, then you need to start getting checked out because that isn't normal.

mccindy72

In time you will learn to savor and enjoy these items in moderation and no longer need to gorge on them to feel satisfied.

I like this, I am getting there!

:flowerforyou:

maillemaker

I really don't know what to say about your comments that you have to eat an entire bag of oreos or an entire container of ice cream if you have even a little taste. I don't have that problem, with really any food. I am one of the ones who believes it is possible to eat all the same foods you ate before starting this journey/lifestyle change/diet and just eat smaller quantities of them or eat the same quantities but less frequently. An entire gallon of ice cream or a bag of cookies doesn't even sound appealing to me. After lunch today I wanted chocolate. I could have had an entire candy bar. I could have had 3 of them. I went to our candy store at work and chose one fun size hershey bar, and now my chocolate craving is gone. Going back to get more doesn't even occur to me.

This is why I think a lot of people in these forums don't understand or believe in the idea of food addiction. The idea of eating for pleasure, and trying to maximize the pleasure by maximizing the eating, simply does not compute for them.

You see when I go to the store and break down and buy candy I'm going to make it the biggest bang for the buck I could get - I'd go for the King Size. The whole attitude has always been "in for a penny, in for a pound".

It's never just about "satisfying a craving". It's about once you've given into the craving maximizing the pleasure.

I could, and have, easily eat a quarter gallon of ice cream at one sitting. That's two normal sized bowls for me. Nothing to it. And I'd eat that for desert after dinner.

parkscs

Maillemaker, can you just avoid having those foods in the house and if you must indulge in those foods, make a special trip just for them (and don't buy the jumbo size container). For example, if don't have a giant bag of M&M's sitting around the house, you don't have the option of eating an entire bag of M&M's unless you get in the car, drive to the grocery, and buy a large bag of M&M's first. To that end, just buying a smaller bag and treating yourself to those if you have to indulge may be the way to go. I suspect it will be a lot easier to resist eating more of a particular food if you have to drive out and buy more of that food first, versus putting the giant bag of M&M's back in the cupboard.

It's one thing to say you are giving up Oreos entirely (although personally I'm not convinced that's the worst thing you could do, but that's a different discussion), but even if you eat them in moderation, I wouldn't advocate stockpiling them in your house if you know you have a problem with them.

Edit to add:

The whole attitude has always been "in for a penny, in for a pound".

And this is why logging it is so important. If you're going to eat the king size bag of M&M's, fine, but force yourself to put it on your food log first and then look at it. Look at the calories and look at what it does to your daily macros. Don't let yourself just fall off the wagon of logging your food just because you're cheating. Force yourself to log it and, with the numbers right in front of your face, ask yourself whether you really want to do this.

emstethem

I had cheese stuffed crust pizza last night and it was amazing!!! Just because you "fall off the wagon" doesn't mean you are doomed...pick yourself back up, dust it off, and start making healthy choices again. Don't let one bad day become a bad year...It doesn't have to!!! Just try ...and try again. I've been there and done that, hun, you are NOT alone!!! Dust it off...you won't regret it....

mccindy72

Maillemaker, can you just avoid having those foods in the house and if you must indulge in those foods, make a special trip just for them (and don't buy the jumbo size container). For example, if don't have a giant bag of M&M's sitting around the house, you don't have the option of eating an entire bag of M&M's unless you get in the car, drive to the grocery, and buy a large bag of M&M's first. To that end, just buying a smaller bag and treating yourself to those if you have to indulge may be the way to go. I suspect it will be a lot easier to resist eating more of a particular food if you have to drive out and buy more of that food first, versus putting the giant bag of M&M's back in the cupboard.

It's one thing to say you are giving up Oreos entirely (although personally I'm not convinced that's the worst thing you could do, but that's a different discussion), but even if you eat them in moderation, I wouldn't advocate stockpiling them in your house if you know you have a problem with them.

:drinker:

likitisplit

I would suggest that this is because you are set at an unreasonably LOW calorie amount, just like the OP.

You are a man weighing around 280, and you are set at 1690 calories. Dude, I'm older than you, and I'm a woman, and I eat 1800 to lose weight. 1800 is the minimum a man should eat.

I was at 2300 when I was 215 and I was losing more than a half pound a week. I was also not starving and cold.

_Zardoz_

Wow this thread has now turned into excuse central Whatever happened to willpower and personal responsibility. What a sad and tragic thread. Stop making excuses and do something about it if you cant control your food intake go and see a health professional that can help you.