what have you given up and what have you added

jchatten87

Haven't really given up anything... Just cut down on everything MASSIVELY. I now drink a lot more water. I still have alcohol as I like a glass of wine in the evening! But I guess I have stopped eating red meat, it just kind of happened with all the chicken and vege dinners I've been eating!

StaciMarie1974

I have (mostly) given up fried food. Not to say I'll never have anything fried again, but it will never be a regular part of my life again. Most foods can be just as tasty baked anyhow.

I have added many more vegetables. Was the picky eater growing up, you know the kid that doesn't like anything green and won't even try much of it? I was missing out!

willrun4bagels

Haven't given up anything, just less of it.

I've added heavy lifting at 5am. :drinker:

Zoe_lifts

I gave up soda and 'unhealthy' things. I just got into good habits.
I can have a treat every now and then if it fits into my calorie goal, but i found so many healthy yummy things ! i'm not even craving processed foods anymore.
I used to have kiddo cereals for breakfast, the chocolate and sugary stuff.. With whole milk, for a hot meal i ate whatever my mum made for me, and lunch/dinner i had cereal again, a big sub, or freezer meals like pizza, mac n cheese, lasagna, ...
Snacks were pastries or other stuff from the bakery around the corner of the street at work.
I just never want to go back there again..
I added a lot of fruit, yoghurt, 'healthy' granola and whole foods to my diet.
Also steamed veggies and oven baked potatoes are awsome !

kamaperry

Me? Fast food, soda including diet. Most fruits except for the occasional berry, all potatoes, sweet and white, All breads, pastas, grains, ect.
I have never felt better and my blood sugar levels are great!
What I have added: Butter(not the fake stuff), bacon, chorizo, good fatty cuts of pork and beef, heavy cream, pork rinds, lots of eggs and cheese. Moderate amount of veggies and protein, and work on getting my fat in everyday.

binniesmart

Given up: Diet sodas and artificial sweeteners in drinks, white bread(for the main part), most pork products: bacon doesn't do it for me any more. Chocolate(sweet tooth diminishing) and ice cream(need to, a work in progress)
Added: Avocados, nut butters, greek yogurt, blueberries, seeds, aubergines, smoothies!

jkal1979

I haven't given it up completely, but I have cut down a lot on Mt. Dew. I used to drink it almost daily, now I have it once or twice a month. It's been replaced with flavored sparkling water.

Guns_N_Buns

Haven't given up anything; I just acknowledged what's not-so-great, so I cut it out substantially.

Biggest cut would be juices and diet coke.

I've always been an eater of most things, so I haven't added anything new. Biggest thing I "added" is just moderation and incorporated a mentality of eating for nutrition and not out of boredom.

greentart

Given up indefinitely:
Soda (diet or regular). Wasn't hard for me and have no need for it.
Yolks. I'm actually fine eating scramble of egg whites, and don't miss the yolks.
Fast food. I never ate a lot of it to begin with and would be perfectly fine not eating it again.

Given up temporarily:
Alcohol. Will drink again, in moderation, hopefully some time.
Pasta. Temporarily given up, will eat it again.
Bread. I can't control myself around white bread, pizza etc. so for now it's gone.

Added:
Sweet potatoes
Grapefruit
Always liked smoked salmon, but now I eat a lot more

Why would you give up egg yolks? That's where all the protein is!!

And calories. There is less protein in egg whites but still some. I find I'm just as full on three egg whites as I am on three whole eggs, but at much less calories.

Less calories doesn't mean healthier though. By saving roughly 54 calories per egg, you're also missing out on healthy cholesterol, Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, most of the Calcium, most of the Folate, and all of the Omega-3s that eggs have to offer.

It's not all about calories....

troelsandtheis

Soda for sure. Other things I'll have in moderation,but bread and meat very rarely. I'm almost a vegetarian but it's mainly because I don't want to eat anything I don't know had a happy life so I will make exceptions if I know the source and welfare of the animal.

I downloaded a book called How To Eat and it's really brilliant though very UK centric, the only downside is now I'll learning the ethics of lots of foods that I love and I'm like DAMN, I don't want to give that up. soya products for example are incredibly bad for the surrounding environment where they are grown, at that one only means for me switching to almond milk.

But yes, soda is the only thing I consider an evil in my old diet.

troelsandtheis

Oh yeah, and I added tomato juice. I love it! It's meant to be very good post exercise in refuelling and helping you recover quicker too.

Karababy51

The only thing I've given up completely is regular soda. I used to drink a 6 pack of 20 oz RC Cola bottles, if not more, a day. Now I keep a 1.5 L jug of water with me at all times and try to drink at least two per day.

I've added quite a few new things to my diet and lifestyle including:

#1 Best addition, a digital kitchen scale!
Greek 100 2x protein yogurt - I have one every day when I get up along with my coffee and water.
Biotin supplement - I take one every day along with my usual multi-vitamin now.
Baby spinach - I use that instead of or in addition to iceberg lettuce in my sandwiches and salads. Sometimes I'll chop some up and put it in an omelet.
Kashi GoLean Crisp & Fiber One 80 Chocolate cereal - Both delicious and full of fiber, love them with raspberries.
More fruit - Always loved fruit, but I've added more to my diet instead of just bananas. I'm crazy about raspberries and sometimes have a cup of slightly thawed frozen for a snack. I try to eat one banana a day. I bought a mango for the first time ever and can't wait to try it as soon as it's ripened. Had a muskmelon a couple weeks ago for the first time in decades, it was delicious, need to buy another one. Same goes for pears, have a newly ripened one waiting in the fridge to devour. Other fruits I enjoy more now are apples, blueberries, navel oranges and I'll occasionally infuse my water with lemon slices. Oh! We also have a multitude of black raspberry canes on our property and we picked a quart last night to enjoy.
Swiss & Havarti cheese thin slices - I still like American cheese on my burgers though, but I love these on my sandwiches and tuna melts.
Extra lean ground beef - I use this now instead of fattier ground beef for burgers and casserole dishes such as goulash, spaghetti, lasagna, etc.
100% whole wheat English muffins - Love these for homemade mini-pizzas or 'breakfast' sandwiches.
8 Grain Pita Pocket thins (only 100 cals ea.) - This is a brand new addition I just bought for the first time. I LOVE them! I baked one stuffed with pizza fixings last night and it was yummilicious!
Grilled veggies - Never did that before. So far I've done brussel sprouts, broccoli and asparagus. Delicious! I need to eat more veggies. I don't think I eat near as much as I should.

I'm sure there's more foods I've added to my diet, but can't think of what else at the moment.

The last, but not least, thing I've added just recently is walking/running. I've been trying to do brisk walking and slow jogging intervals for 60 minutes a day 3-4 times a week. So far it's been going good.

Do I plan on keeping all these changes for the rest of my life? 100% Yes!

Saramelie

I've given up being lazy, sitting on my *kitten* all day long while it got bigger and I've given up eating massive portions of everything. I've also given up lying to myself about how much I was really consuming.

I haven't given up any of the food I like. I haven't given up going out to eat or fried food or anything like that. It all has it's place in a balanced diet.

You nailed dit!

Sabine_Stroehm

So as we all either change our lifestyle or diet I am curious what has been given up and will you ever eat it again or drink it. What have you added. And do you plan on a lifetime like this or just till you lose your weight?

Myself-I have given up Soda and flavored water with artificial sweeteners. I do not plan on ever having that again. 30 days of water and 1 ice tea a day.So I find it duable.

Pork products-as I got gout last year. I do occasionally still a slice of bacon at work-But at home I eat turkey bacon.

Red meat-Bow here I cheat and eat a once every now and again-We go to a buffet on saturdays and I get 2 bites of prime rib. I love ribeyes but Choose not to eat it.

Gluten in most items-this is due to my Hubby has celiacs and I rather eat and cook one time so I have to be careful of gluten in products

Processed foods-I do not purchase ready to eat or boxed items anymore-and hopefully never will again

My additions have been fresh fruit and veges-Grill alot of veges-And eat fruits I do not like-I do cheat and blend them.

I hope my lifestyle will be a permanent thing. I have never felt so good.

I'm not sure how long you're doing this, but what you describe here is not sustainable. Unless you have extreme willpower, you probably won't succeed (sorry to be so blunt :frown: ). Instead, cut out one thing at a time, stick to it for a few weeks and try the next thing.

If you prove me wrong, good for you

Curious which (or is it all?) of this YOU find unsustainable?

DebTavares

I have celiac disease so I had to give up gluten 8 years ago. I feel so much better!!! I also don't eat any dairy because it seriously grosses me out - not sure why. Because I don't eat dairy and because gluten free carbs are also low in protein (I know it's still not a full protein) I found it hard to get enough of it so I recently started consuming whey protein powder. This kinda grosses me out too probably because it's dairy based, but I can tolerate it.

I started my weight loss journey at the end of November and lost 13 pounds until the end of January. I felt great doing this. I did not count calories in the traditional sense, but I nonetheless cut my calories by creating rules for myself. Things like not drinking my calories, having one slice of toast instead of 2 for breakfast, having one slice of pizza instead of half of an entire pizza, etc. With these new rules I was able to lose the 13 pounds, but stopped losing in February. From February till last week I did not create any rules but kept up with the ones I created and did not gain any weight as a result. Yay! Success! My rules had now become habits and I was able to maintain my weight loss with relative ease. Last week I decided that I wanted to start losing again so I created some new rules. I ended up losing a little too much so I pulled back on some of the new rules. I want to lose weight but I don't want to feel awful in the process. I felt exhausted.

So while I don't count calories in the traditional sense, I'm still cognizant of the calories in various foods. I'm very visual so I try to visualize servings, etc. My hunger fullness cues are broken so I have to space my meals apart or I'll end up eating too much too soon.

My new rules include adding exercise and more protein.

And even though I don't count calories, I still find this site very useful and I still consider what I'm doing a diet. It's a diet as long as your body isn't able to tell you when to stop eating. Most of us who are overweight have broken hunger fullness cues unfortunately.

So basically my plan is to stick to the new rules until I stop losing and then re-evaluate and create new rules. I don't like losing weight quickly anyway because my body is very sensitive to it. Just this last week I felt awful, tired and saw more hair on my comb.

My ultimate goal is to make this as easy and natural as possible because I have major diet fatigue. In the past I would go on crash diets and do crazy amounts of exercise, but I would always gain it back and I never felt good doing it. Always tired and hair falling out.

Anyway, good luck to everyone on your journeys.

albayin

I have given up on arguing with people on any subject related to fitness and weight loss.
I have added new perspectives on my weight training result.

zeussmith718

given up: soda, fast food, chips, greasy foods

cut down: beer, processed foods

added: more veggies, fruits, more exercise

errollmaclean

I haven't given up anything. Added a lot more knowledge... and creamsicles

lauranelson779

Given up: chocolate, red wine and processed meat (all migraine triggers but I didn't realize until I cut them out what it was like to not have a migraine. I use to have a square of chocolate with my afternoon coffee every day and it wasn't until I cut it out that I noticed how fantastic people must feel regularly)

Reduced: all white carbs. If we are eating at someone else's I will not turn it down but at home and when I eat out I only serve/have brown or whole grain

Added: a garden, we are so busy tring to eat all the veg from the garden faster then the bunnies can get them I don't have nearly as much room for any other food.

jemhh

I gave up most TV watching in favor of picking up more activity. That's pretty much it. I reduced the amount of added sugars and grains in my diet but not to the point of giving them up.