Dieting = Craving BAD foods

jonnythan

OP I'm in the moderation club, I abide by this rule.

Step one Calories in verses calories out
Step two is Macros
Step three is Micros

Step one is all about learning to balance calories, eat what ever you want but at a deficit. Don't worry about what the food is made of or how healthy it is or how many vitamins are in it. Simply look only at calories.

Step two comes when you are a master of eating in your calorie range and desire a specific way of eating for your goals. Weight lifters need more protein, Long distance runners need more carbs etc.

Step three happens when you have found a suitable ration of your protein fat and carbs. Then work on getting in nutrient dense foods that are high in your vitamins.

People who jump all the way to step three usually fail. Work your way there. Take your time.

This is a good post. I'll add that people often jump to Step Three, ignoring Step One and Step Two.

Strokingdiction

It certainly is possible to get the nutrients from elsewhere and in regards to is it preferable - that's subjective.

Agreed cutting fruit is probably unnecessary, but it is something that has worked for the poster above and she is sharing her experience.

I'm not sure it has worked for her. She's been here 4 years, has only made it halfway to her goal, and her vata dosha is still extremely out of balance. And she consumes honey daily, which is pretty much pure processed sugar and contains large amounts of fructose.

Think about that for a minute. She considers honey, which has a ton of fructose, medicinal and consumes it daily. However, she is telling other people to cut out fruit for a while because it has fructose.

Clearly whatever she's doing hasn't been all that effective.

Pretty much exactly how I was going to reply.

I'll add, just because something has worked for someone (though this hasn't worked for said poster) doesn't mean it makes good advice. VLCD have worked for some people. That doesn't make it a good advice. Bulimia has worked for some people to lose weight. That does not make it good advice. <insert unhealthy method here> has worked for some people. That does not make it good advice. In fact, sharing 'success' stories derived from poor methods can actually cause more harm than good, ie eating disorders, malnutrition and even death.

So yes, it's subjective and in that subjectivity, you have to exercise rational thought.

ndj1979

Cut out the sugar, I mean ALL fructose (HFCS, table sugar, fruit juice, anything with fructose) and even all fruit for a while. You will have to read labels like a hawk to make sure they do not have any added sugar. No processed foods. If you do this your body will detox from the sugar and return to your natural hunger signals. The cravings will get much better. After 8 weeks you can add back in some fruit but only eat fructose in the whole fruit so it is tempered by the fiber. Check out the book "Fat Chance" by Dr. Robert Lustig and a webite called "I Quit Sugar."
I totally disagree that there are no bad foods. Different foods effect you mentally and physically in different ways. When everyone decided that fat was bad they removed that from food and replaced it with sugar...and that's when everybody ballooned.
Whole food is good, processed food is bad.

Did you really just recommend a Lustig book? Really? Wow, I don't even know where to begin.

any sentence that starts with "cut out all sugar..." goes to ignore mode...

tennisdude2004

It certainly is possible to get the nutrients from elsewhere and in regards to is it preferable - that's subjective.

Agreed cutting fruit is probably unnecessary, but it is something that has worked for the poster above and she is sharing her experience.

I'm not sure it has worked for her. She's been here 4 years, has only made it halfway to her goal, and her vata dosha is still extremely out of balance. And she consumes honey daily, which is pretty much pure processed sugar and contains large amounts of fructose.

Think about that for a minute. She considers honey, which has a ton of fructose, medicinal and consumes it daily. However, she is telling other people to cut out fruit for a while because it has fructose.

Clearly whatever she's doing hasn't been all that effective.

Pretty much exactly how I was going to reply.

I'll add, just because something has worked for someone (though this hasn't worked for said poster) doesn't mean it makes good advice. VLCD have worked for some people. That doesn't make it a good advice. Bulimia has worked for some people to lose weight. That does not make it good advice. <insert unhealthy method here> has worked for some people. That does not make it good advice. In fact, sharing 'success' stories derived from poor methods can actually cause more harm than good, ie eating disorders, malnutrition and even death.

So yes, it's subjective and in that subjectivity, you have to exercise rational thought.

Agreed, but the poster wasn't suggesting anything unhealthy like VLCD. She was suggesting a temporary restriction strategy to get the OP the desired position of moderation.

Simply reducing portions to get to moderation doesn't work for everyone - some need to get there via a different route.

Surely the benefit of this being an open forum is the OP gets differencing choices to choose from and to see what's best for them.

KaelaLee88

They say it takes 12 weeks to form a new habit and for your choices to get easier.

Whether you are a "dirty" or "clean" eater, keep within your Macros. My Husband and I don't deprive ourselves of things we want to eat but we also only allow ourselves to eat what we can afford calorie wise.

For us, that involves portion control more than anything else and there is nothing wrong with that.

Weight loss involves eating at a deficient to your maintenance calories and it is the science of numbers in vs. Numbers out.

You can eat what you like (within reason) as long as you watch your Macros x

tennisdude2004

Cut out the sugar, I mean ALL fructose (HFCS, table sugar, fruit juice, anything with fructose) and even all fruit for a while. You will have to read labels like a hawk to make sure they do not have any added sugar. No processed foods. If you do this your body will detox from the sugar and return to your natural hunger signals. The cravings will get much better. After 8 weeks you can add back in some fruit but only eat fructose in the whole fruit so it is tempered by the fiber. Check out the book "Fat Chance" by Dr. Robert Lustig and a webite called "I Quit Sugar."
I totally disagree that there are no bad foods. Different foods effect you mentally and physically in different ways. When everyone decided that fat was bad they removed that from food and replaced it with sugar...and that's when everybody ballooned.
Whole food is good, processed food is bad.

Did you really just recommend a Lustig book? Really? Wow, I don't even know where to begin.

any sentence that starts with "cut out all sugar..." goes to ignore mode...

Oh if only it was that easy to get on your ignore list - I would start all my posts with that phrase.

lindsey1979

I also found the "detox" approach very helpful. Initially, I focused on nutrient dense proteins, good fats and vegetables for several weeks. I had/ve a considerable sweet tooth, so to help with that, I opted for occasional fruit or dark chocolate. I was eating deeply satiating foods, so even when I got cravings, I was rarely actually hungry -- which helped a lot with the cravings.

I was shocked by how much my taste buds/cravings had changed after 4 weeks. I still LOVE certain desserts and pastries -- like there is a cupcake place that makes these amazing miniature vanilla cupcakes -- but I found a lot of them to no longer appealing. Actually it was a little disappointing, but also liberating. Some desserts I still love -- like the little cupcakes, cheesecake, creme brule -- but a lot of the cakes, cookies and pastries just don't do it for me anymore. Same with milk chocolate -- now it just tastes super sweet to me and not as chocolate-y and I opt for dark chocolate instead and find that far more satisfying.

I do believe that there is an addictive quality to certain combinations -- especially sugar-fat combinations. They spark certain pleasure centers in the brain, and like all drugs, you adapt and have to take bigger and bigger hits to get the same satisfaction/pleasure. Just like booze. If you have a higher tolerance, you've got to drink a lot more to get buzzed. So, what I did, is just greatly lower my sugar/sweets tolerance by not eating it that much anymore. So, when I do indulge, I get a lot of satisfaction from those I like and many of the others just aren't that great anymore. I think a lot of cravings are symptoms of withdrawal -- whether it's for sugar, nicotine, booze or drugs.

An interesting book that talks about this, in part, and about how different entities have used this knowledge to manipulate eating habits is Mindless Eating. Really fascinating book.

For me personally, this way of eating has cut down on my carvings by a HUGE amount. After a few months of eating this way, I rarely had strong cravings for sweets anymore (it's been in the years level now). And fruit tastes soooo much better! And most desserts just aren't that appealing to me anymore -- though some still are. I just know where to get the most bang for my buck now.

rml_16

Cut out the sugar, I mean ALL fructose (HFCS, table sugar, fruit juice, anything with fructose) and even all fruit for a while. You will have to read labels like a hawk to make sure they do not have any added sugar. No processed foods. If you do this your body will detox from the sugar and return to your natural hunger signals. The cravings will get much better. After 8 weeks you can add back in some fruit but only eat fructose in the whole fruit so it is tempered by the fiber. Check out the book "Fat Chance" by Dr. Robert Lustig and a webite called "I Quit Sugar."
I totally disagree that there are no bad foods. Different foods effect you mentally and physically in different ways. When everyone decided that fat was bad they removed that from food and replaced it with sugar...and that's when everybody ballooned.
Whole food is good, processed food is bad.

Did you really just recommend a Lustig book? Really? Wow, I don't even know where to begin.

any sentence that starts with "cut out all sugar..." goes to ignore mode...

Oh if only it was that easy to get on your ignore list - I would start all my posts with that phrase.

If that's how you feel, the solution is simple: Put him on YOUR ignore list.

Maybe if you ate more sugar, you would have thought of that ...

jonnythan

Cut out the sugar, I mean ALL fructose (HFCS, table sugar, fruit juice, anything with fructose) and even all fruit for a while. You will have to read labels like a hawk to make sure they do not have any added sugar. No processed foods. If you do this your body will detox from the sugar and return to your natural hunger signals. The cravings will get much better. After 8 weeks you can add back in some fruit but only eat fructose in the whole fruit so it is tempered by the fiber. Check out the book "Fat Chance" by Dr. Robert Lustig and a webite called "I Quit Sugar."
I totally disagree that there are no bad foods. Different foods effect you mentally and physically in different ways. When everyone decided that fat was bad they removed that from food and replaced it with sugar...and that's when everybody ballooned.
Whole food is good, processed food is bad.

Did you really just recommend a Lustig book? Really? Wow, I don't even know where to begin.

any sentence that starts with "cut out all sugar..." goes to ignore mode...

Oh if only it was that easy to get on your ignore list - I would start all my posts with that phrase.

If that's how you feel, the solution is simple: Put him on YOUR ignore list.

Maybe if you ate more sugar, you would have thought of that ...

Carb intake is strongly correlated with brain function. Just putting that out there.

KombuchaCat

It certainly is possible to get the nutrients from elsewhere and in regards to is it preferable - that's subjective.

Agreed cutting fruit is probably unnecessary, but it is something that has worked for the poster above and she is sharing her experience.

I'm not sure it has worked for her. She's been here 4 years, has only made it halfway to her goal, and her vata dosha is still extremely out of balance. And she consumes honey daily, which is pretty much pure processed sugar and contains large amounts of fructose.

Think about that for a minute. She considers honey, which has a ton of fructose, medicinal and consumes it daily. However, she is telling other people to cut out fruit for a while because it has fructose.

Clearly whatever she's doing hasn't been all that effective.

Pretty much exactly how I was going to reply.

I'll add, just because something has worked for someone (though this hasn't worked for said poster) doesn't mean it makes good advice. VLCD have worked for some people. That doesn't make it a good advice. Bulimia has worked for some people to lose weight. That does not make it good advice. <insert unhealthy method here> has worked for some people. That does not make it good advice. In fact, sharing 'success' stories derived from poor methods can actually cause more harm than good, ie eating disorders, malnutrition and even death.

So yes, it's subjective and in that subjectivity, you have to exercise rational thought.

I've been up and down with my weight for years. When I first joined MFP I lost 25 lbs, then slipped back into old habits and gained it all back and more. Just counting calories wasn't enough. I had to rethink my relationship with food and heal myself. I've certainly done alot wrong in the weightloss department.
The low fructose thing is fairly new for me. Since I began the weight has been going down and the cravings have subsided quite a bit. I still have them but it feels like I actually have a normal appetite. I eat fruit but stay away from fruit juice. I reduced honey from up to 2 tablespoons/day to 1/4-1/2 tsp/day. I was vegan but now eat some meat, fish and dairy and I am not saying to cut out any food group. I'm just suggesting that reducing the added sugar might help.

tennisdude2004

Cut out the sugar, I mean ALL fructose (HFCS, table sugar, fruit juice, anything with fructose) and even all fruit for a while. You will have to read labels like a hawk to make sure they do not have any added sugar. No processed foods. If you do this your body will detox from the sugar and return to your natural hunger signals. The cravings will get much better. After 8 weeks you can add back in some fruit but only eat fructose in the whole fruit so it is tempered by the fiber. Check out the book "Fat Chance" by Dr. Robert Lustig and a webite called "I Quit Sugar."
I totally disagree that there are no bad foods. Different foods effect you mentally and physically in different ways. When everyone decided that fat was bad they removed that from food and replaced it with sugar...and that's when everybody ballooned.
Whole food is good, processed food is bad.

Did you really just recommend a Lustig book? Really? Wow, I don't even know where to begin.

any sentence that starts with "cut out all sugar..." goes to ignore mode...

Oh if only it was that easy to get on your ignore list - I would start all my posts with that phrase.

If that's how you feel, the solution is simple: Put him on YOUR ignore list.

Maybe if you ate more sugar, you would have thought of that ...

I eat enough sugar thanks.

My comment was a wee bit of sarcasm, maybe someone is being a bit sensitive.

rml_16

Cut out the sugar, I mean ALL fructose (HFCS, table sugar, fruit juice, anything with fructose) and even all fruit for a while. You will have to read labels like a hawk to make sure they do not have any added sugar. No processed foods. If you do this your body will detox from the sugar and return to your natural hunger signals. The cravings will get much better. After 8 weeks you can add back in some fruit but only eat fructose in the whole fruit so it is tempered by the fiber. Check out the book "Fat Chance" by Dr. Robert Lustig and a webite called "I Quit Sugar."
I totally disagree that there are no bad foods. Different foods effect you mentally and physically in different ways. When everyone decided that fat was bad they removed that from food and replaced it with sugar...and that's when everybody ballooned.
Whole food is good, processed food is bad.

Did you really just recommend a Lustig book? Really? Wow, I don't even know where to begin.

any sentence that starts with "cut out all sugar..." goes to ignore mode...

Oh if only it was that easy to get on your ignore list - I would start all my posts with that phrase.

If that's how you feel, the solution is simple: Put him on YOUR ignore list.

Maybe if you ate more sugar, you would have thought of that ...

I eat enough sugar thanks.

My comment was a wee bit of sarcasm, maybe someone is being a bit sensitive.

Perhaps someone is ...

tennisdude2004

Cut out the sugar, I mean ALL fructose (HFCS, table sugar, fruit juice, anything with fructose) and even all fruit for a while. You will have to read labels like a hawk to make sure they do not have any added sugar. No processed foods. If you do this your body will detox from the sugar and return to your natural hunger signals. The cravings will get much better. After 8 weeks you can add back in some fruit but only eat fructose in the whole fruit so it is tempered by the fiber. Check out the book "Fat Chance" by Dr. Robert Lustig and a webite called "I Quit Sugar."
I totally disagree that there are no bad foods. Different foods effect you mentally and physically in different ways. When everyone decided that fat was bad they removed that from food and replaced it with sugar...and that's when everybody ballooned.
Whole food is good, processed food is bad.

Did you really just recommend a Lustig book? Really? Wow, I don't even know where to begin.

any sentence that starts with "cut out all sugar..." goes to ignore mode...

Oh if only it was that easy to get on your ignore list - I would start all my posts with that phrase.

If that's how you feel, the solution is simple: Put him on YOUR ignore list.

Maybe if you ate more sugar, you would have thought of that ...

Carb intake is strongly correlated with brain function. Just putting that out there.

That would explain a lot, thanks I will take that into consideration when reading your posts. Maybe if you fuelled your brain with some ketones it would have some positive impact.

Ohhhh wait I get it you meant my brain! You are a funny guy. Lol

jonnythan

That would explain a lot, thanks I will take that into consideration when reading your posts. Maybe if you fuelled your brain with some ketones it would have some positive impact.

Ohhhh wait I get it you meant my brain! You are a funny guy. Lol

Don't you mean keytones?

tennisdude2004

Cut out the sugar, I mean ALL fructose (HFCS, table sugar, fruit juice, anything with fructose) and even all fruit for a while. You will have to read labels like a hawk to make sure they do not have any added sugar. No processed foods. If you do this your body will detox from the sugar and return to your natural hunger signals. The cravings will get much better. After 8 weeks you can add back in some fruit but only eat fructose in the whole fruit so it is tempered by the fiber. Check out the book "Fat Chance" by Dr. Robert Lustig and a webite called "I Quit Sugar."
I totally disagree that there are no bad foods. Different foods effect you mentally and physically in different ways. When everyone decided that fat was bad they removed that from food and replaced it with sugar...and that's when everybody ballooned.
Whole food is good, processed food is bad.

Did you really just recommend a Lustig book? Really? Wow, I don't even know where to begin.

any sentence that starts with "cut out all sugar..." goes to ignore mode...

Oh if only it was that easy to get on your ignore list - I would start all my posts with that phrase.

If that's how you feel, the solution is simple: Put him on YOUR ignore list.

Maybe if you ate more sugar, you would have thought of that ...

I eat enough sugar thanks.

My comment was a wee bit of sarcasm, maybe someone is being a bit sensitive.

Perhaps someone is ...

Lol. If I was the sensitive type I would do what most others do and follow the herd.

tennisdude2004

That would explain a lot, thanks I will take that into consideration when reading your posts. Maybe if you fuelled your brain with some ketones it would have some positive impact.

Ohhhh wait I get it you meant my brain! You are a funny guy. Lol

Don't you mean keytones?

Oh that's a forum violation.

jonnythan

Lol. If I was the sensitive type I would do what most others do and follow the herd.

What herd? The "herd" in the fitness and nutrition industry is very strongly anti-sugar, anti-processed food.

incantarix

It's insane how a thread can change from page 1 to the last page:

page 1; "Can someone help me with my food cravings?"

page 6: "I'm putting you on ignore! Maybe if YOU would blah blah blah, then YOU could blah blah blah!!!!"

Wow, I thought people came here for help, not a ride on the wahmbulance.

I'm exhausted.

tennisdude2004

Lol. If I was the sensitive type I would do what most others do and follow the herd.

What herd? The "herd" in the fitness and nutrition industry is very strongly anti-sugar, anti-processed food.

Not on MFP. Pro sugar I think you will find.

You should do a survey on a separate thread (serious suggestion)

Sugar food or bad - I bet the result will strongly be on the side of good on the MFP forum.

rml_16

It's insane how a thread can change from page 1 to the last page:

page 1; "Can someone help me with my food cravings?"

page 6: "I'm putting you on ignore! Maybe if YOU would blah blah blah, then YOU could blah blah blah!!!!"

Wow, I thought people came here for help, not a ride on the wahmbulance.

I'm exhausted.

I PM'd my response to the OP. From her response, I'm pretty sure I helped her quite a bit.

rml_16

Lol. If I was the sensitive type I would do what most others do and follow the herd.

What herd? The "herd" in the fitness and nutrition industry is very strongly anti-sugar, anti-processed food.

Not on MFP. Pro sugar I think you will find.

More like "pro common sense."

Strokingdiction

Lol. If I was the sensitive type I would do what most others do and follow the herd.

What herd? The "herd" in the fitness and nutrition industry is very strongly anti-sugar, anti-processed food.

Not on MFP. Pro sugar I think you will find.

More like "pro common sense."

or pro rational thought.

RawIndian

I recommend that you consume lots of fruits and vegetables. Go raw as much as possible for each meal.

It worked wonders for me with respect to junk food craving. (But you will still crave fruits and veggies though which is OK)

Bottomline your food cravings for "health damaging" foods will simply disappear.

Try it.

tennisdude2004

Lol. If I was the sensitive type I would do what most others do and follow the herd.

What herd? The "herd" in the fitness and nutrition industry is very strongly anti-sugar, anti-processed food.

Not on MFP. Pro sugar I think you will find.

More like "pro common sense."

Maybe from the members as a whole but not from the people on this page (and yes I include myself for fairness).

jonnythan

Lol. If I was the sensitive type I would do what most others do and follow the herd.

What herd? The "herd" in the fitness and nutrition industry is very strongly anti-sugar, anti-processed food.

Not on MFP. Pro sugar I think you will find.

You should do a survey on a separate thread (serious suggestion)

Sugar food or bad - I bet the result will strongly be on the side of good on the MFP forum.

The idea that anti-sugar, anti-processed food adherents or proponents are vastly outnumbered on MFP is ridiculously laughable. If anything it's the other way around.

There is of course a vocal, active IIFYM subset on MFP. It's not just coincidence that they represent a large portion of the members who have found long-term success.

sarahliftsUP

There's a huge difference in dieting and having a diet. Those successful in weight loss don't diet, they simply have a diet!

Omit these words from your vocabulary: bad foods, cheat food, cheat meal, cheat day. It is giving too much power over food and then makes you feel naughty for having it! I call foods that aren't necessarily the best for me 'treats'. I'll eat my eggs for breakfast, salad for lunch, etc. and if I want a serving of ice cream or some nachos one day, then I'm going to have them! And it's not willpower or cheating, it's called being realistic and having a diet!

tennisdude2004

It's insane how a thread can change from page 1 to the last page:

page 1; "Can someone help me with my food cravings?"

page 6: "I'm putting you on ignore! Maybe if YOU would blah blah blah, then YOU could blah blah blah!!!!"

Wow, I thought people came here for help, not a ride on the wahmbulance.

I'm exhausted.

I PM'd my response to the OP. From her response, I'm pretty sure I helped her quite a bit.

If that's the case and your suggestions sounded of interest to her then good. That's the outcome that it should be from people looking for help.

lindsey1979

Lol. If I was the sensitive type I would do what most others do and follow the herd.

What herd? The "herd" in the fitness and nutrition industry is very strongly anti-sugar, anti-processed food.

Not on MFP. Pro sugar I think you will find.

You should do a survey on a separate thread (serious suggestion)

Sugar food or bad - I bet the result will strongly be on the side of good on the MFP forum.

The idea that anti-sugar, anti-processed food adherents or proponents are vastly outnumbered on MFP is ridiculously laughable. If anything it's the other way around.

There is of course a vocal, active IIFYM subset on MFP. It's not just coincidence that they represent a large portion of the members who have found long-term success.

Do you have any numbers to back that up? I'd be very interested to see some data on what has worked and not worked for folks on IIFYM, vegan, etc. or just generally for those on MFP -- even though I understand the inherent problems with self-reporting.

jonnythan

Lol. If I was the sensitive type I would do what most others do and follow the herd.

What herd? The "herd" in the fitness and nutrition industry is very strongly anti-sugar, anti-processed food.

Not on MFP. Pro sugar I think you will find.

You should do a survey on a separate thread (serious suggestion)

Sugar food or bad - I bet the result will strongly be on the side of good on the MFP forum.

The idea that anti-sugar, anti-processed food adherents or proponents are vastly outnumbered on MFP is ridiculously laughable. If anything it's the other way around.

There is of course a vocal, active IIFYM subset on MFP. It's not just coincidence that they represent a large portion of the members who have found long-term success.

Do you have any numbers to back that up? I'd be very interested to see some data on what has worked and not worked for folks on IIFYM, even though I understand the inherent problems with self-reporting.

No numbers, no. If someone compiled numbers, however, I'm fairly confident that you'd see a distinct trend. I've found similar trends in real life as well as on MFP.

charkendrick

I recommend a book called "Diet Rehab." I'm reading it now and it's explaining why I've been addicted to food all my life. According to the author some people are low in serotonin and some in dopamine and that's what makes us crave high fat and sugary foods. It has nothing to do with "willpower" and everything to do with our brains. This makes sense to me as I have a tendency to be addicted to EVERYTHING. I'm seven years sobers as an alcoholic and as soon as I stopped drinking I turned to my other favorite drug of choice--food-- and gained over seventy pounds. I'm not saying this applies to you but it just made me feel good to read because it allowed me to stop beating myself over my inability to use my willpower to stop binge eating and just know that like my other struggles it would take a one day at a time approach and to give myself a break. The author is not big on counting calories, however, and I don't feel the need to do everything he says, but it's given me a new way to look at my issues. Thought this might help you.