how do I eat "less healthy" foods in moderation?

naomiebluer

I'm always so proud of people who know that we have to have a treat now and then or we can't succeed. I agree with most that portioning and planning are key. Cutting back on sodium and sugar does reset your pallet.. it! Also. I find that challenging the " munches" with the question of wether or not I'm really hungry or wether or not the treat is worth the calories and eat only things that you really enjoy!

Jade0529

omg that kitchen safe is hilarious! I don't think that would work me, if I had it and wanted it, I'd break that thing to get at it!

I try to not buy temptations, but yeah I have wine so I drank some tonight and my husband went for "snacks" and I was tempted so got him to get me a small bag of that "smartfood" popcorn, ie crack in a bag

Depression and loneliness not so much, but I realized tonight that drinking wine I think makes me sad/reflective?

CallMeCupcakeDammit

This is one of my favorite posts on this site. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/925464-fitting-it-in-giggity It will show you how to fill in your diary and still make room for treats. I'm also a pre-logger, although weekends are iffy, but I do best when I pre-log. I weigh my ice cream, and sometimes I just have one big spoonful, close up the container and put it away. I put the container on the scale, zero it out, scoop out a spoonful and log that number. I stopped eating Pop Tarts for the longest time, and then I decided I was going to eat them again after seeing my friends talk about them here. I keep a zip close baggie in the box, so I have no excuse for "having" to eat that second one so it's not lonely.

Edited for punctuation.

lisawinning4losing

I've been doing the prelogging thing and it seems to be helping me a lot. I pretty much have the rest of the week planned out.

J3nnyBeanz

I agree with the planning. When I buy something that is going to be in our house and I will be just sitting there to eat, as soon as I get home from the store I take out my food scale and portion out the whole package and put it into individual bags and I label the calories. I find that when I am aware of my portion size and how many calories I'm eating with each one, I'll stop at one portion and think twice about having any more.

Jade0529

I am going to read the rest of this in the morning. I do very much appreciate all the helpful input. Thank you again.

jayliospecky

It takes time. For a while I had to just not buy Nutella, as it was one of those foods that I would just sit down with a spoon and poof! the whole jar was gone.

I ADORE chocolate, however, so I fit it into my life. I go for things like lindt truffles or more recently I bought the little squares of dark chocolate from Costco. Or there are the godiva truffles. The lindt are 80 cals each, the costco dark choc. squares are 34 cals each, godiva ones are usually around 40 or 50 cals each. This makes it quite easy to fit one or two into every day.

And like Achrya, I often log my chocolate or ice cream (or frozen yogurt) right away, so I know I will have room for it in my day. I tend to save my "treat" foods for the end of the day, as I like to know I have that to look forward to.

I also tell myself that I can always have more another day. I grew up in one of those homes where certain foods didn't happen often, and when they did everybody ate as much as they could as quickly as they could, before it was all gone. So if the cookie jar is almost empty, I tell myself "It's OKAY. You can always make/buy more."

I've slowly gained more control, although I have my moments. I can even buy Nutella from time to time.

PDarrall

Don't keep bad foods in the house or at your desk at work- This makes getting to bad foods more work. They are not banned, but you have to go on a trip.

Only buy one bad snack at a time - never buy more than one from a supermarket. If you buy a pack of 4, instantly throw 3 away. It will strangely save you money this advice.

Always keeps good snacks around.

These two tips make a drastic change to snacking, but also ban nothing from your diet.

Sweetnothing78

I agree with the weighing it on a food scale. It helps to see the correct portion a few times.

shortt123

I know, I wish I could practice what I preach as well! I have to do better to keep focused & remember that healthy feels better than it tastes....but ohhhh in that moment when I want a sweet (like pudding, sliver of cake (made by a family member) or muffin--something w that darn cakey texture) it's hard to just take a bite....for me anyway. I think that doing something w your hands, other than eating, could help...I gotta try this in my evenings. Whether it's draw, write, laundry, play a game, walk, google lol, anything that helps change your focus from food/eating...

ckish

The better food choices I make the easier it is to continue to make good choices. There are some foods that if I start eating them I will have a hard time stopping myself from eating every last crumb so I make sure that I carefully control my access to them so I can eat all of it when i do have it. Other foods are easier for me to stop after a serving. I try not to have a "treat" everyday. I strive for 2-3 times a weak max.

Jewlz280

It takes time. For a while I had to just not buy Nutella, as it was one of those foods that I would just sit down with a spoon and poof! the whole jar was gone.

I ADORE chocolate, however, so I fit it into my life. I go for things like lindt truffles or more recently I bought the little squares of dark chocolate from Costco. Or there are the godiva truffles. The lindt are 80 cals each, the costco dark choc. squares are 34 cals each, godiva ones are usually around 40 or 50 cals each. This makes it quite easy to fit one or two into every day.

And like Achrya, I often log my chocolate or ice cream (or frozen yogurt) right away, so I know I will have room for it in my day. I tend to save my "treat" foods for the end of the day, as I like to know I have that to look forward to.

I also tell myself that I can always have more another day. I grew up in one of those homes where certain foods didn't happen often, and when they did everybody ate as much as they could as quickly as they could, before it was all gone. So if the cookie jar is almost empty, I tell myself "It's OKAY. You can always make/buy more."

I've slowly gained more control, although I have my moments. I can even buy Nutella from time to time.

THIS. At one point in time, I DID feel like if I was around food, I wanted to eat it all and eat it NOW. But now... Now I remind myself I am grown and there are stores EVERY WHERE and if I want more, then I can make or buy more. It just clicked one day. I can't remember what I was going to eat, but I was about to eat something and I thought, "Why am I eating this? I have more downstairs. I'm full now. And if I want it tomorrow, even for breakfast, I can have it." Since then, it has been MUCH easier to walk away. Not to mention, it's allowed me to enjoy food again! No snarfing something just to eat it. It gets easier as time goes by, so don't beat yourself up too badly. It sounds like you are on the right path -- just keep truckin'!

shaynepoole

I know I have to stop labeling food. I agree! I am trying to work on it. I grew up being hated for who I was, my mother did terrible mind tricks of telling me not to eat certain things because I was fat (I never was) and then buying my favorite snacks and monitoring if I ate them or not and how much. She would reprimand me If I ate more than what she considered to be "acceptable" (more than 1 square of chocolate or 1 cookie for example was "bad" )

I know that I am an adult now, and that I have control of my life and my choices. Baby steps. I am working on that messed up thinking space

I will try prelogging when I can. Thank you

My mother was very weight conscious as well - monitoring everything I ate to make sure I did not get fat... or would reprimand me for getting fat while I was visiting grandparents/other people/anywhere out of her sight. Of course the inevitable outcome is when you get away from that, you get fat.

I started off abstaining from certain foods because I had to... now I try to work them back in - in proper serving sizes and within my calorie guidelines.

I try to get foods that are already pre-portioned -- like the Healthy choice frozen yogurt 100 calorie cups vs buying a pint of ice cream

When I cook, I measure/weight out the servings so that I only have 1 serving on my plate and the rest goes into tupperware already measured out in a serving size in the fridge or the freezer depending on

Eventually, when you feel more confident in your ability to resist having more than 1 serving, I would then introduce those trigger foods back in.

Mine were salty snacks. I currently have a cabinet filled with snacks but I have trained myself to take a serving size and stop - and it is enough

I quite frankly like the new body better than the old one and I want to keep it for a while

but it is always going to be a work in progress and it is not easy

EvenThatNameIsTaken

I think it is like planned self control. You can predict when you will be weak (when the whole bag is sitting there open and you've just had some and it's yummy) and you make preparations for that moment. For me it is to buy those indulgent things in very small packages so that the temptation isn't even there to continue because it's gone before I can do too much damage.

Similar to earlier post about getting out a portion and putting the rest away.. It's about making it harder for yourself to have more.

Out shopping today I ended up in the crispy thin crackers section, I just love crispy stuff and can just keep eating and eating them, I am pretty sure i just started drooling looking at all the pictures on the boxes. Anyway the smallest box there was 3 servings, 120 cals each serving. So even if i ate the whole thing, it wouldn't make or break my whole process. I had someone to share it with so it ended up fitting into my day and i got that really satisfying feeling of 'i ate it all,' just modified to a smaller package^^

I am not always this smart about my choices (especially at parties,etc where there are plates of food just sitting, available), but i'm improving. It takes time and vigilance and practice for sure.

SilverOnTheTree

All the portion-size advice here seems good.

I found (still find) the most difficult habit to break is buying junk food from the supermarket in the first place. I tend to buy more of whatever I got last time, especially if it's 'on sale'. For a while last year that was fresh fruit and chick peas, but recently compulsive salty-snack buying has crept back in. Once it's in the pantry, it's far too easy to access.

For a while, I had an arrangement a friend who lived two doors down: I could store all my junk food in his pantry, which meant I could only access it during social hours. It was like the timer-food-safe idea.

Now, I try to cut the crispy/salty treats with a healthier or less calorific addition: potato chips with cottage cheese, or chocolate with coffee. But you have to make sure that doesn't push your calories over too!

Dewymorning

Well I do water down my wine so I guess it's not so bad.

It's nice to read that I am not alone. Sometimes I read all the success stories on here and while I am really happy for them, I struggled with HOW did they overcome all their demons to get there? And I find it hard to see myself at the end sometimes

A successful horse rider is not the one who never fell off the horse, but the one who fell off many times, but got back on everytime.

We all have our struggles, some more difficult than the other. The successful people on this site are the ones who kept going even when they 'failed'.

turtleball

omg that kitchen safe is hilarious! I don't think that would work me, if I had it and wanted it, I'd break that thing to get at it!

darn! everyone I show this to is saying that, they dont need a kitchen safe to stop them they need superman lol.

Francl27

For me, I prelog everything I eat. So I'll have a 100 chocolate bar... and if I want another, I'll log it first... then I'll see if it leaves me enough calories for the day or not. If not, I ask myself if it's really worth not having dinner for another chocolate bar. Often... no.

The key is to enjoy your treat while telling yourself - I'll only have one. I've found that often I'm in the mindset that while I eat my chocolate bar... I'm already thinking about the next one. Got to nip that in the bud. Take smaller bites, enjoy it, and tell yourself you're having only one.

Still a work in progress here, but I've made it work so far.

Jade0529

I wasn't in a great place last night. I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words, ideas and support. Today is a new day with no mistakes in it Resetting the switch and moving on.

It's lovely to be able to have a place to turn to and freak out a little and have people that understand.

verasdaughter

Instead of buying a whole bottle if wine or a whole box if cookies just buy an individual bottle of wine. They now have small one serving bottles. Or get one cookie/cupcake from the bakery. Also I try to split things like that with my husband. If it fits into your allottef calories why not.