Weight Loss Struggles

sailorguy81

I think I'm actually doing pretty good, but here are my challenges.

During the week, when I'm on my schedule; work, workout, eating at regular intervals. I seem to do quite well. I eat my daily diet regimen and get to the gym most of the time. There are the occasional misses due to meetings or whatnot, but I get in there at least 4-5 times a week which is great. I do quite a bit, I do a weight workout combines with 45min of moderate/intense cardio (500/cal minimum) and stretch and go home.

My diet stays on track with or a little under MFP weight-loss cal goals.

Here is it, during the weekends. Usually I do ok, I do my normal meals, etc. But our society is driven around food and socializing around food. I eat or we cook meals for friends or we go out, etc. It's killing me slowly. I can't find good options when I go out, or I just succumb to my urges.

This holiday weekend I blew it up on homemade Mac/Cheese. A weakness of mine. It's all gone now. I'm sorry I didn't just throw it out when the BBQ was over.

What do people recommend? Should I just toss the stuff that I can't have self-control over? The salty/fatty delicious stuff?

I also have a partner, who does not have weight struggles and I don't want to deprive them of things they enjoy. I'm generally ok with not eating that junk, but this weekend was a complete bust.

MMarvelous

Have you checked out the recipe section of MFP. Search the forums for websites that give HEALTHY recipes. At pot lucks, cook-outs and other events, take (2) dishes and eat before you attend the events. Hope this helps.

Sarauk2sf

There is nothing wrong with averaging out your calories over the week (within reason) - so, assuming you have a reasonable calorie target inthe first place - take 100 -200 from your weekdays and add them to the weekend allowance. You will still need to monitor and not go 'crazy' over the weekend, but at least you can socialize and not worry too much.

Just a suggestion.

Sarah_Wins

I think I'm actually doing pretty good, but here are my challenges.

During the week, when I'm on my schedule; work, workout, eating at regular intervals. I seem to do quite well. I eat my daily diet regimen and get to the gym most of the time. There are the occasional misses due to meetings or whatnot, but I get in there at least 4-5 times a week which is great. I do quite a bit, I do a weight workout combines with 45min of moderate/intense cardio (500/cal minimum) and stretch and go home.

My diet stays on track with or a little under MFP weight-loss cal goals.

Here is it, during the weekends. Usually I do ok, I do my normal meals, etc. But our society is driven around food and socializing around food. I eat or we cook meals for friends or we go out, etc. It's killing me slowly. I can't find good options when I go out, or I just succumb to my urges.

This holiday weekend I blew it up on homemade Mac/Cheese. A weakness of mine. It's all gone now. I'm sorry I didn't just throw it out when the BBQ was over.

What do people recommend? Should I just toss the stuff that I can't have self-control over? The salty/fatty delicious stuff?

I also have a partner, who does not have weight struggles and I don't want to deprive them of things they enjoy. I'm generally ok with not eating that junk, but this weekend was a complete bust.

Honestly, I don't know how you do it with a partner that doesn't follow the same way of eating. For me it was much easier because I live alone and simply threw out EVERYTHING not allowed on my diet the day I decided to start. When I go out, I simply scan the menu for allowable foods and ask for substitutions for inappropriate sides. I will not even read the description of a meal that I cannot have. It's tough to be disciplined enough to shed this kind of weight, so for me it comes down to motivation and dedication. How much do you really want it?

jadedone

I have decided 2 rules for going out:
1. I schedule in 1-2 cheat meals a week. I don't try to stay in my typical calorie range for an average meal. So far I have only exceeded my calories for the day maybe 5 times this year when I had a cheat
2. Portion size. I try to just eat less, even if I am getting something less healthy. I make a pact to eat half of my entree. And I try to eat all of the veggies first. I find that one of the best things about eating as a social event, is that you end up talking a lot and eating slowly. So I am really aware of my fullness.
3. Share with the table. I force everyone to try my entrees. I give away half of my dessert. It helps with portion control, and I can still try the stuff I wanted.
4. Budget a few extra calories by eating less earlier or exercising more

My philosophy is, this is something that you'll be doing the rest of your life, and I know I certainly don't plan on not eating out or having dessert for the rest of my life, so I need to find adaptations that work for me. Smaller portions, sharing and preparing (budgeting) calories are all techniques that work for me.

Raeca89

This is AWESOME advice and (almost) exactly what I was going to say! :P The only one I don't do is #1. The one thing I do do though is be aware that MFP is more a set of calorie guidelines versus set in stone. I don't let myself feel bad if I go over 100 or so calories in a day. I become more aware the following days though and take closer care to stick to my limit.

As for keeping to your diary SailorGuy, I would suggest the same thing that Jadedone suggested. It's amazing how big portion sizes are at restaurants and I have found that going in knowing that I will take half home really lets me eat those foods that I love and not feel deprived because I'm always comfortably full at the end of the meal AND have an amazing lunch for the next day :P The budgeting thing really helps too when I KNOW I'm going to eat a big meal at an amazing restaurant later