"Junk" Food - Abstinence or Moderation?

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  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    As many have tried to explain to you multiple times, when you overly restrict it typically makes sustainability much more difficult. Plan your day include 1 serving or whatever it is you can fit of your ice cream serve that put the rest of the way.

    Really start working on your relationship with food, food is not good, bad, evil or whatever other label you want to give it... it's food. The main reason I have been successful this time is because I finally learned that 99% of what I thought I knew about dieting was wrong, by making a few small changes, learning portion control, learning moderation, and getting off my butt and moving I can lose weight, get healthier and not be miserable.

    Good luck
  • elleeebelle3
    elleeebelle3 Posts: 1
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    I have cut out all junk food from my diet. I don't eat chocolate, but sometimes I allow myself a serving of chocolate if I really do crave something. I'll eat it slowly and enjoy it. I am always looking for healthy recipes that are still sweet, that way I can satisfy my cravings. I do have moments where it's really hard, but when you see results, it's totally worth it!
  • Meerataila
    Meerataila Posts: 1,885 Member
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    I do better with abstinence, and now that I'm learning to substitute nuts, seeds, and fruits for salty and sweet snack foods, I'm even less interested in stuffing my face with cookies. I hope it continues! Yesterday I was a bottomless pit, though. But I didn't go do anything foolish like buy and eat a gallon of cheap ice cream.
  • gypsy_spirit
    gypsy_spirit Posts: 2,107 Member
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    As many have tried to explain to you multiple times, when you overly restrict it typically makes sustainability much more difficult. Plan your day include 1 serving or whatever it is you can fit of your ice cream serve that put the rest of the way.

    Really start working on your relationship with food, food is not good, bad, evil or whatever other label you want to give it... it's food. The main reason I have been successful this time is because I finally learned that 99% of what I thought I knew about dieting was wrong, by making a few small changes, learning portion control, learning moderation, and getting off my butt and moving I can lose weight, get healthier and not be miserable.

    Good luck

    This is the strategy I have used and finally been successful.
  • mandyosetti
    mandyosetti Posts: 72 Member
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    I cut out "junk food" for a little while knowing that I would incorporate it back into my diet in the future. I did it for about 2 months and now I have incorporated it back into my diet. The two rules I have for myself is that it does have to fit within my calorie budget and it doesn't come into the house. This helps to ensure that I only have one serving at a time and don't eat a whole big bag of chips or a tub of ice cream.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    What has been your approach and why? I chose to abstain when I started my weight loss journey due to what I thought was disordered eating triggered by certain junk foods (i.e. chips and candy). I was very "good" at restricting myself and abstaining completely from that stuff for a long time until about two weeks ago in which I've been binging almost non-stop.

    I realized after much self-reflection that the restriction led to obsession. I "couldn't" eat those junk foods so I started to binge on healthful foods. It was scary to accept that "out of sight, out of mind" didn't work for me. "Out of sight" only made it more ingrained in my thoughts, actually.

    I'm now thinking of working in "forbidden" foods to see how it could improve my broken relationship with eating. I actually bought some ice cream and it scares me that I also have the strong desire to eat the entire tub in one sitting (the desire that has always been with me). Counting calories and white knuckling self-control has gotten me pretty far in my journey towards health but I've been neglecting the emotional strings that are keeping me tied.

    Your post is timely.

    This morning I toyed with the idea of proclaiming today "Moderation Monday" and challenging my FL to find one food they have little control over to eat a portion that fits their cal goals.

    Guess I will do that next Monday.
  • Geloza
    Geloza Posts: 315 Member
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    Moderation. I'd drown myself if being fit meant I'd never see another plate of cheese fries or an apple fritter again. :sad:


    Apple fritter...... Mmmmmm..... :love:

    What have you done to me?!?! :laugh:
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I cut out "junk food" for a little while knowing that I would incorporate it back into my diet in the future. I did it for about 2 months and now I have incorporated it back into my diet. The two rules I have for myself is that it does have to fit within my calorie budget and it doesn't come into the house. This helps to ensure that I only have one serving at a time and don't eat a whole big bag of chips or a tub of ice cream.

    I think that this is a really good method too. When I first started changing the way I ate earlier this year, I didn't cut out junk food entirely but I did pick one day of the week when I allowed myself to have two "treats" from the following categories: sweets, alcohol, and grains (bread/pasta.) Once I got to the point where I didn't feel like I would eat an entire sleeve of saltines if I tried to eat just one, I started adding things back in a bit more. Nowadays I can keep my chocolated covered almonds in the house without fearing that I will eat the entire bag in one sitting. So I think that abstinence can be good if you see it as a way to strengthen your muscles of self-restraint as opposed to looking at certain foods as bad.
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,375 Member
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    As many have tried to explain to you multiple times, when you overly restrict it typically makes sustainability much more difficult. Plan your day include 1 serving or whatever it is you can fit of your ice cream serve that put the rest of the way.

    Really start working on your relationship with food, food is not good, bad, evil or whatever other label you want to give it... it's food. The main reason I have been successful this time is because I finally learned that 99% of what I thought I knew about dieting was wrong, by making a few small changes, learning portion control, learning moderation, and getting off my butt and moving I can lose weight, get healthier and not be miserable.

    Good luck

    This is the strategy I have used and finally been successful.

    Mine, too. And this post was a huge help for me. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/925464-fitting-it-in-giggity I focused on the numbers, and I didn't want to do anything to mess them up. Now that I'm in control, I don't worry about it so much if I'm over a day or two.
  • AnotherDani
    AnotherDani Posts: 5 Member
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    For me, a combination of abstinence and moderation, for set periods of time works well.

    I know, without a doubt that I can do ANYTHING for a week. I work with my dietician to and set weekly goals for myself and food. I don't necessarily have the same goals every week, though I often decide a particular goal is positive for me, and it makes a repeat appearance. The goals are sometimes environmental in nature (removing or adding particular foods from my home), adding structure to my daily life, or food restrictive.

    Here are a couple examples:

    I choose one food from my pantry that was a high calorie, low volume, and something I tended to snack on. I went home, and threw it away (I choose tortilla chips). Along with that goal, she asked me to select, and prepare healthy snacks to be kept in my fridge at eye level. That way when I wanted something to snack on, I would have something readily available, at eye level, that was healthy. I chose blueberries. I prewashed and measured blueberries into one cup Tupperware containers. What do you know - I actually haven't missed the tortilla chips (which were previously a staple snack), and I'm eating quite a few blueberries. I also ended up adding half cup serving of cottage cheese and half cup servings of Greek yogurt. It's relatively easy not to overeat, because it's pre-portioned. While I could certainly have more if I wanted, it's a conscious decision I make to go BACK to the refrigerator.

    Harder example: I love wine and beer. Enjoying a cold one (or more) on the patio after work, or having a glass (or more) of wine with dinner was my norm. I cut back, make sure I wasn't exceeding my caloric intake - but I wasn't loosing weight the way I wanted to. My dietician challenged me to go one week without having any alcohol. She didn't want me to try to moderate, because she wanted me to set an easy to know, easy to track, yes or no goal. That was a *hard week. Suddenly because I said I wouldn't have any, I wanted it all the more. I persevered though, and went one week with no alcohol. I lost 3lbs that week.

    Instead of completely denying myself the next week, I limited myself to one alcoholic beverage. I found by limiting myself, I planned for when I would enjoy my drink, and I savored it far more than I would have otherwise. I'm not mindless drinking, the way I used to mindlessly eat.

    Bottom line, when I need to "reset" myself - I abstain for a week. I might choose to continue that goal for additional weeks, but each commitment is one week at a time. When I'm ready, I move to moderation.
  • candistyx
    candistyx Posts: 547 Member
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    I eat what I want. If I want it and I don't have calories left I simply earmark it for tomorrow.

    My favourite fact is that barring my untimely death the things I want will still be around tomorrow for me to enjoy.

    Although years ago I had panic that my favourite cake would be pulled from the market and I'd never get to eat it again... weird.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    Moderation. :drinker:

    Got to have my chocolates, cookies, ice cream, etc. :bigsmile:
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    For me, it's a combination of the two. I've learned that I just can't keep some things in the house or I'll get derailed. For other things, I portion them out into single serving bags when I get home from the store. It's far too easy to sit and eat a half a bag of cheese and caramel popcorn if I have the whole bag on my lap.

    Rather than have my trigger foods around I've tried to substitute things that are a little more healthy, and portion controlled, that I also like. 100 calorie bags of popcorn, sugar free popsicles, individually wrapped candies, etc.
  • rowlandsw
    rowlandsw Posts: 1,166 Member
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    Moderation is the key, if you cut it out totally your cravings find new ways to cause issues. It's why you see people living to 110 despite eating what the health police say are "evil".
  • PhearlessPhreaks
    PhearlessPhreaks Posts: 890 Member
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    A little bit of both has been my strategy. There are certain things I can't keep around (chips and cookies) because I haven't yet gained (cultivated, more like) the ability to "just have one". However, I do keep two things stocked at all times to help with salty/crunchy as well as sweet cravings; cashews and good quality dark chocolate. I find that incorporating them into my diet on a regular basis helps keep me from feeling deprived, as well as steer clear of the more 'dangerous' items.
  • buzz3d269
    buzz3d269 Posts: 87 Member
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    When I first started, strictly abstinence - I removed all "junk" food from the house, and stuck to getting my head around calorie goals etc. As I've gone on though, I've slowly re-introduced junk food back into my life.

    Now that I'm used to and understand calorie restriction, there are a few things I'm unlikely to reintroduce - eg I don't particularly LOVE ice cream (don't hate it either!), but when the family would have a chocolate ice-cream after dinner, I would also have one. Not anymore, more because I know there are yummier things I can partake in, and it's a "waste" of calories to eat something you don't truly want.

    It's a tricky one - for the most part, the motivation of seeing the numbers on the scale go down are enough for me to stick to my goals for how many calories to eat, but I know plenty of people who can't be around certain foods, so for them they have to go with abstinence, otherwise they just eat it all. Good luck!
  • amyk0202
    amyk0202 Posts: 667 Member
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    Another one for moderation. I eat ice cream nearly every day. My key is to plan out my food in advance. If I plan my day carefully, I can generally fit in a treat at the end of the day. If I don't plan everything out, I will often get to the end of the day & don't have any room for my ice cream--not good. The other thing I am good about is actually weighing out my portions on a food scale. If I eat tortilla chips with dinner, I used to use one whole chip to scoop up each bite--lots of chips eaten that way. Now I weigh out a portion & crumble it up & mix it in to the dish--I still get chip with each bite, but don't go over my calories. It's all in the planning. I have a huge sweet tooth & abstinence would make me lose the will to live.
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    I think the problem with making food "forbidden" can make them even more tempting and may cause some people to go off the rails with it later on down the road which seems to have happened to you. I think you can find a way to have it in moderation. Allow yourself to have it but don't allow yourself to keep large amounts of it in the house.

    If I want ice cream, I go to the corner store and get a single serving. That way I can have my ice cream but there isn't a carton sitting in the freezer to tempt me. I do the same thing with pizza. Instead of bring a whole one home I go to a by the slice place and get a couple slices and a side salad.
  • GreatDepression
    GreatDepression Posts: 347 Member
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    I was trying to adopt the "nutritionism" approach to eating in which I only eat food that has a lot of nutritional value. Of course this meant that all junk and processed foods had to be cut out. I did well for a while and I felt like I was moving closer to my weight goal but I was in a lot of emotional turmoil. Junk food had so much power over my thoughts and it took too much will-power to abstain day after day.

    I used to be staunchly against sugar and highly processed foods but I'm now starting to see their potential place in a healthy body, mind and spirit. Yes, I said healthy while referring to nutritionally-bankrupt junk food.

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