Ugh, friends can be terrible for a diet. Motivation?

mrczk

Alright, I have a little rant/bad day story/need for motivation.

I am a university student and I live at residence, and my god, is it hard to diet, or just say no.

Today two of my friends came from Edmonton to my town, so I took them to my favourite university pub. Of course I downed a brunch in the matter of seconds - bagel, fruit salad, sweet potato fries, oh boy.

And, when I parted them, my other friend came over with CHOCOLATE. ZUCCHINI. BREAD. I couldn't. It...ugh, it reminded me of my childhood and of home and UGH.

The I felt bad about myself and ate three Halloween-sized chocolate bars because I was lonely.

Long story short, can't say no, indulge too hard, die by end of day. I need to get motivated again, run a little more, a little faster, go a little harder, but dreams of that mid-diet treat are haunting me. I THOUGHT I WAS IMMUNE. I THOUGHT NOTHING COULD KILL ME. Time to wean myself off of chocolate once again, i guess...sigh.

Any motivation for a poor student? I need an upper for my recent diet downs. Any tips on killing offers, eating out, and lonely eating?

xo jules

DreamiJeani

hmm. thats a tough one. You DO have going for you that you are 18 and have that crazy metabolism thing going for you

Maybe you could ask those same friends to go for a walk/run with you?

Allow yourself the indulgences once in awhile (I eat at this great BBQ place ONCE A MONTH) Its my monthly calorie splurge and its planned so I dont go crazy. Im not a perfect eating out person yet, but Im working on it with baby steps. Im keeping track of how many days I can go without eating out on my calender. little non food rewards established and goals.

My hubs is on deployment so i TOTALLY know about lonely eating. I've had nights where I ate an entire bag of Quaker crisps. or a whole bag of popcorn, or maybe a steak....lol yes a steak. I can stand in front of the fridge and not know exactly what Im craving so I jsut eat til its gone. Lately though I've found that keeping fruit, and pretzels, and other HEALTHY snack on the counter in plain site has helped me make better choices. Also keeping cold water in teh fridge helps me try to see if Im ACTUALLY thirsty instead of hungry.

Does your school have a gym? USE IT while its free! lol

walk everywhere, save gas money (and the environment!) and burn calories

Most importantly dont feel too bad if you have a bad day. Two steps forward and one step back is still one step forward.

emgett

Ooh, that sounds familiar. It doesn't help that my roommates are super thin, yet eat considerably more than me!

My advice? Decide exactly what you're going to eat before you go out, promise yourself you'll stick with it, and then eat it SLOWLY. That way, you'll A) feel full after eating less (since the "fullness" signal will make it to your brain) and not be left staring at an empty plate while your friends dig into dessert.

Additionally, maybe look up the nutritional information of the foods you know you're going to want to eat... it's amazing how much less appetizing a dish looks when you know how high calorie/ unhealthy it is!

A final option isn't great for comfort and self-esteem, but if you're desperate you could try wearing pants that are just a bit too tight around the waist (assuming that you carry your weight there, and not mostly in your hips/thighs). I find that feeling the top of my jeans dig slightly into my belly fat greatly reduces my appetite.

blueandigo

I stay on campus as well and I almost never get anything to eat that accommodates to my needs(I am vegetarian). With me working out it is hard to get full even when I have some foods in my room, but they are ramen, mac, and oatmeal. I am also a picky eater. I don't exactly have any friends that I workout with or eat with and what not soooooooo. Get rid of your friends, at least that is what I do. No one does me any good and they can't take care of you, only you can.

Hernandeak11

I explained to my roommate what I'm going through diet/fitness-wise, and he's pretty supportive of it. He pokes fun of me when I look at labels grocery shopping, but that's about it.

Most of my other friends really don't notice

SmashleeWpg

I find being up front with all of your friends is a great way to get them on the same page in terms of supporting your plan. I've told all of my friends that for the next xx number of months, if they want to see me it will be because they're joined me at the gym or in a yoga class, or because we've gone outside for a walk/run/whatever. I told them not to bother asking me out unless it's for coffee/tea, and that I most definitely will not be joining anyone for dinner unless it's at MY house and we're eating healthy eats. I see the benefits as twofold; I'm losing weight, AND saving money ... all the more to spend on NEW clothes when I get back to where I want to be! Putting your intentions out there helps you stay accountable, and it holds your friends accountable to a certain extent too!

OFFMYBUTT

I always try to drink a couple of large glasses of water before the food reaches the table. I helps me to feel full and I eat less, then I just take the left overs home, most of the time forgetting about them in the fridge and tossing them later. Plus I try to pay attention to what is going in the old pie hole, eating slowly, and let friend pick off my plate. The more they eat the less I eat. Hope this helps.

jenilla1

I don't deny myself any of my favorite foods. This is a lifestyle for me, not a diet, so it has to be something I'm willing to live with forever. You can have that chocolate if you want it. Just make sure it fits within your calories. If it doesn't, go work out and earn it! Good luck! :flowerforyou:

P.S. When people offer you food you don't need/want, tell them you just ate and there's no more room...

irefusetoquit

Hey Jules. College is challenging for nutrition because there are always food temptations - desserts, carbs, bread, etc.

The fruit salad and sweet potato fries are good. The fruit salad is healthy, and the sweet potato fries give you that sweet taste and theyr'e not as bad as regular french fries. So that was a good choice!!

Lemme tell ya.

WE'RE HUMAN! Okay? Food temptations DO exist! I see them all the time at my parents and relatives house. The challenge is dealing with them to stick with your nutrition goals. I've done it, and so can you.


As far as tips, here's what I suggest.

- Killing offers from friends (sweets, carbs, etc).
You KNOW the foods are there to tempt you and throw you off track. Politely thank them for the offer, but let them know that you're on a workout/nutrition plan and you need to stick to it to accomplish your goals. That will start up a conversation because they'll ask "what goals? What do you want to accomplish?"

- Chocolate
Simple - JUST SAY NO!
Ok.
Seriously, if I have any type of chocolate, I need to deserve it. Meaning that if I eat consistently clean/nutritious meals, workout consistently, hydrate daily, and keep in my caloric goals - THEN I get ONE treat. Yes, ONE! As in 1 of the 6 temptations on the plate.

I research a lot. 1 small piece of chocolate can be 56 calories, or it can be 350 calories. Check it on myfitnesspal. It'll be there. If I see that the "snack" is to high in calories, I won't touch it.

- Lonely eating
Ok, THIS one is a challenge becuase it all comes down to one thing. YOU! You are in control of what you put in your mouth. Nobody force-fed you the food. You CHOSE to do it.

As a guy, do I have moments where I'm not doing anything, life is quiet, and I just grab a bag of hchips and chomp away? YES! I'm human! But when I do - I LOG IT! If I pick up a piece of food and eat it, I grab my phone to log what it was that I ate because:
a) I want to know the calorie breakdown for it
b) I want to know if I can eat it again OR I'll have to avoid it


Jules, there will always be food temptations in life. DreamJeani said it right - ask those friends to go for a walk/run with you and keep you company. This way you're doing two things at once - a good cardio workout, and spending time with your friends. This way, there's no food temptation. Oh, and bring a bottle of water with you to stay hydrated.

Hope that helps.

Take care,
James

Shelbert79

I usually try to view a menu online before I go anywhere, that way I know what I can eat or what 'healthier' choices the restaurant has. I do allow myself a little lee-way, like I will have a cheddar bay biscuit at Red Lobster...can't say 'no' to that. But today I had to turn down lunch with a few friends because where they wanted to eat, I wouldn't have been able to get anything healthy. It sucked but I WANT this weight loss/healthier lifestyle SO bad. I keep telling myself "I CAN DO THIS", no matter how many times my friends and family say "you look fine" or "it won't kill you to have some pizza". Sometimes I don't think they take what I'm doing seriously, they think it's a fad but I've never wanted a change more than I want this. And WE can ALL do this!

simplyychaos

I'm a college student to and what helped me out the most when eating at a dining hall would always be to eat a salad before I even got up to get anything else. It made me realize if I was still hungry or not before I debated eating a burger or mounds of pasta.

As for lonely eating I can related to you here as well. I now live in an apartment and most of the time my friends are out with their boyfriends or something and I'm left alone (like this weekend) and what helps me even more is getting myself out of the house. Going to the library simply to just read to go online - whatever keeps me away from food. Or going to the gym for longer amounts of time (2-3 hours) but doing really low impact things, like slowly peddling on a bike for a little while and then just simply walking on the treadmill (no incline or anything) just to pass the time and still be healthy.