The balance between eating healthy and enjoying things.

kariebo

I do not restrict myself too much -- which is probably why some of my weight isnt falling off as quickly as I would like -- BUT i just dont see the point in restricting myself so much that I am miserable. I love to cook and eat all sorts of stuff. I do try to account for it by adjusting the other things i eat during the day... or the amount of food i am indulging in. Personally, if I cut out all of my favorite foods I would probably fail at this. I do sometimes go out of my way to get certain foods that arent as good for me -- on purpose-- to train myself to only eat a certain amount or learn that I can enjoy all kinds of things .. just in moderation. Now as far as cakes and sweets go.. since Im not a big sweets person its much easier to eat a smaller slice of cake.. or none at all... but those french fries are calling my name!! if I get fast food, i try to make it as healthy as I can -- but if I genuinely crave something, i get it (after I have tried drinking water and waiting to see if it will pass). With me, if I crave something really badly, it will not go away until i get it... so i only get a little bit, maybe like a small fry instead of a supersized one.

as far as balancing life -- i find this very hard. I work full time and have 3 kids all 5 and under. I also have a one hour commute to work and again from work. Then I squeeze in an hour of exercise 5 days a week. Pair this with trying to make a good dinner, spending time with the kids... and doing the general everyday household duties and all... its stressful. I am trying to balance things a lot better between family and work and self-health... I plan on doing most stuff with my kids on the weekends.. which means more go-go-go for me ... its very hard to find a time to rest and recharge. My husband is a huge help to me though, we work through both our scheudles and find time to fit everything in ... but its not easy and I feel like I am missing a lot by not spending every spare moment that I have iwth my kids -- a working mothers guilt. I just keep in mind that I am doing the best I can and sometimes my best requires I look after myself so that i can be a better person for my kids. Its a tough spot that a lot of people are in.

BG10708

I love my food. I am losing weight slowly but surely (averaging a pound per week) and enjoying every bite that I eat. I used to do a lot of mindless eating - the chocolate biscuits have disappeared and only the empty packet remains so I must have eaten them sort of scenario.

My rule is that I have to really stop and enjoy what I eat and as a result I find that I need less to satisfy me. I don't waste calories on a food that is "just OK". If I am going to have fries then they will be steak fries from a local restaurant that I reeeeelllly enjoy and not a poor substitute from somewhere else. If it is cheesecake then it has to be my White Chocolate Raspberry cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.

I have seen it suggested in various places that if we are "good" most of the time 80-90% then we could/should indulge the other 10% of the time. Luckily I actually love veggies and other good stuff so that helps, but I always budget for a chocolate indulgence EVERY day. Life is just too short to deny myself chocolate!

slappymcgee

I have one day a week where I allow myself an indulgent meal. I have found that after I eat some of these meals I feel physically terrible, bloated, tired, etc. It sort of makes me wish I didn't eat it, even though I thoroughly enjoyed every bite.

Now, I still have one meal a week that I splurge on, but usually it is something extremely decadent and not so junky. No more taco bell, but a nice meal at the Korean place for veggies and Korean BBQ. Must better trade off, and better use of my excess calories than to waste it on Dairy Queen, or Taco Bell.

judtod

I am one of the people who can't be very restrictive. If I do, I will feel deprived, rebel and then give it all up. I have set my calorie count to lose slowly, but easily. Also, any day I have extra calories I put them in my "calorie bank" and use them later. So if I am going on vacation I will eat a little less and exercise more, so I have lots of calories to spend and don't feel deprived. The feeling of deprivation will stop me from continuing.

cersela

I eat healthy meals, and I have a reasonable portion of junk food as a snack. I eat chips, chocolate, ice cream, brownies ect once or twice a day. I don't eat wheat or dairy because both give me digestive issues, I don't eat meat for personal reasons so all together that made a vegan diet. For me, the way I eat is sustainable because I am not depriving myself of anything. I don't recommend giving up anything that you enjoy, just to enjoy things in moderation.

quattroUnodos

There is a number for you to live by. Well, technically 4. There is nothing more to this game and this site gives you the tools to count every calorie you consume.

Eating healthy is not avoiding pizza. Eating healthy is not eating salad, raw vegetables, nuts and lean meat. Eating healthy is living by these number(s).

When I was on a 1300-1400 calorie a day diet (with 1-2 hours daily exercise), I did run into these cravings and found resisting eating during the day and mostly eating at night helped a bit. The real problem with hunger is the insomnia it can cause. When I was a wrestler I would toss and turn for hours the night before a weigh in.

islandnutshel

I have been working on changing my cravings, and it works. I was practically drooling at the farmers market yesterday with all the beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables.
But food and friendship and occasions go hand in hand. So when a friend needed a ben and jerrys binge I was there for her. I knew it was coming, exercised my *kitten* off and ate fruit and veg all day so that it came under my limit.
My husband likes a chinese dinner date, we still do that about once a month, with the same preparations(exercise & eat light)
My favorite was the sushi binge. I had a friend over we went hiking up a mountain, came back and made as much sushi as we could eat.
In all I haven't felt deprived. I did have a hard time in the ferry lineup parked next to the fish and chip truck, but lucky I had a snack bag of treats to keep me distracted.
Balance problems, yes i have them too, but more with focus on this "program" versus looking after my house and home. But my husband hasn't complained and my dog is loving all the walks.

amelia_atlantic

I agree with most everyone else.

For me, the key to balance was education. Once I learned (and memorized!) what portion sizes were and how many calories were in a lot of my favorite unhealthy foods, it became easier to restrict.

A slice of pizza is about 400 calories (give or take) so I'll indulge in one and have a giant salad and WATER. Don't ever deprive yourself, just remember your limits!

vbrent07

I think I have found more balance with what I eat then I did a few years ago but I could never totally give up junk food! The best thing I have done is eat in moderation because if I try to totally quit a certain food I end up craving it more and going on a binge. I do get made fun of when I just eat 1 cookie or count a serving size of chips but being aware of what I eat without denying myself of those foods has really helped me!

DeadMarsha

I try to find balance with these two ideas:

1) Everything in Moderation

2) Be Grateful

The purpose of food is to fuel your body. The gift of food is the wonderful variety of flavors and textures and pairings and art involved in preparing, tasting, and enjoying it! I am grateful that I get to taste and enjoy everything. But I also know that if I abuse that gift, it will come back to hurt me and I won't truly enjoy it (mindless eating, eating out of boredom, eating while watching tv, etc). Same with fitness. I'm very grateful that my body is relatively healthy and can take me places that not everyone is lucky enough to get to or do. The proper use of that gift is to take care of it with proper diet & exercise! The proper use of the gift of taste & food is to enjoy it fully and not take advantage of it! Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.

girlinahat

I believe I have struck a nice balance. I lost 30 pounds and am maintaining now. I am a foodie at heart, an adventurous eater, and an avid home cook. I generally eat my definition of "clean" which means I don't eat much processed/boxed foods and I stay away from artificial sweeteners, preservatives, additives, food dyes, etc. Being that I love to cook, this isn't an issue on a day to day basis as I make most of my own food. I do love to travel and I love sampling different cuisines. When I am in travel mode, I eat what I want but just not loads of it- the old moderation mantra. If I have a huge warm buttered lobster roll for lunch, my dinner will be lighter and more sensible from a health standpoint. If I know I am going out to a steakhouse for dinner and will be chowing on red meat and creamed spinach, I eat a light lunch. Same thing for any high cal foods (fried food, greasy food, whatever).

It really hasn't been difficult to strike that balance. I generally eat healthy and with regular sized portions most of the time, so the indulgence here and there doesn't do any harm. If I want ice cream, I'll have the ice cream. One proper serving of ice cream isn't a big deal or that many calories in the grand scheme of things (like 250 cals for a 1/2 cup or so). The slippery slope is when people can't eat in moderation and a serving of ice cream equals a pint. That's just being piggish and that is what needs to be controlled. Once you master moderation, the balance is easy to strike.

^^ this.

with a caveat. When you want ice cream, don't just dig into any ice cream, find the most expensive and delicious ice cream you can (and look at the label. Ice cream is made from cream and sugar and often eggs. That's it. And flavours. Nothing else is required. If your ice cream has xantham gum or anything else in it, put it down and walk away.)

DeeVanderbles

I tend to limit myself in the fact that I don't eat my favorite things as often as I used to. For the most part, I eat great all week long. On the weekends, I give myself some slack but still try to be good and within my calorie goals unless it's a really really special occasion.

I love food. I want to try a low carb diet once I get through some of the higher carb snacks I recently bought and see how that works for me but I don't think it will. My fiance and I are planning portions of our honeymoon around food. While we aren't leaving the area, we are going to eat at new places so I know I'm going to want to try new things and eat whatever I want instead of trying to plan a healthier meal ahead of time from their website.

mulcahya

I agree with a lot of people here!

I am relatively new to MFP, but I am looking at it as a healthy lifestyle change, rather than a diet.

There are foods that are high-cal and not very healthy that I really enjoy, and if I try to cut them out completely, I'm just going to end up wanting them more and failing harder! I think this is human nature, and that it increases risk of failure to just cut out completely.

And so, I try to eat smaller portions and less often, and I will exercise more on these days to earn more calories.

I also have found some low-cal, healthy recipes that I find delicious (turkey burgers, tuna/corn/potato patties, etc.) that I can make a batch of and then eat regularly (e.g. 2 per day for a week) for lunches. This way even though I am eating the same thing, it is something that I enjoy, as well as being low-cal and healthy.

I try to choose healthier options, and just eat less in general. After about ten days of doing this, I noticed I could only eat half of my usual full unhealthy meal on a Friday! I also didn't want to eat the chips as much as I did before.

I think it's important to be satisfied with what you are eating, find healthy snacks/lunches that suit you, and eat treats in moderation.

If they fit my calorie goal, I won't restrict myself, however I generally try to fill up on a high protein snack rather than something unhealthy and limit my sugar intake etc.

I often review my week's (or the past few days') food diary at the end to see how I ate the day before, and identify where I ate a bit too much sugar, not enough protein, etc., and whether that was really the best choice.

I aim for this to be a lifelong lifestyle change, and the only way I see feasible of doing that is to learn to control indulgences and eat in moderation.

WendyTerry420

My thing is to add foods that I wasn't eating before, especially fruits and veggies. I make sure that I have enough protein and fiber each day. I am also very careful on portion sizes. AND, most importantly, I am exercising every day, even if I don't feel like it. My problem was that I ate until I was stuffed, had no regard for portions, and sat around looking at the TV all night.

I am more interested in being fit. I don't have any issues with an occasional treat, so long as I am staying under my caloric total for the day. For example, last night was my night for light exercises, instead of intense, and I was still a little sore from the day before, and tired. But I forced myself to get off my butt and do it. When I finished, I used my final 200-some-odd calories to indulge in a well-deserved 1/2 cup of ice cream. I measured out the ice cream and was quite satisfied with the small portion because it was Belfonte chocolate silk with chocolate chunks, one of my favorites. I still had some calories left, but I was satisfied and left it alone, took care of a few last minute things, watched a little bit of TV and went to bed.

So far, it's working for me. :happy:

CJisinShape

My problem in the past have been being obsessed with clean vegetarian eating and hours on top of hours of structured exercise sad because I had four ab muscles showing and not six. Swing to eating a chocolate bar every day and takeout three or four times a week sitting in my recliner fooling myself that I wasn't a glutton and lazy. Because I've been there, I know these aren't healthy places for me. I've been trying modify certain habits and focus on the habits and not on the weight per se. Now I have a chocolate maybe once a week, shared. I used to want donuts all the time - my husband brought home donuts and I wasn't tempted to have a single bite. I eat a lot of soup, and I hope to add some kind of warm cereal to that. One thing at a time. I still eat more than I should and not as healthfully as I'd like. That said, I do enjoy the food I eat. I pretty much eat the foods i enjoy - Im just enjoying different kinds of foods now. I dont feel deprived at all, but Introducing the new habit is a challenge. This week, its getting enough water. I'm very thankful to God that He has helped me so much.

81Katz

Yes I find it hard for me to find a balance. Most times it's one extreme or the other, no happy medium. NONE of it for a period of time, which obviously makes me feel deprived or crave it more or LOADS of it for a period of time, which obviously makes me over-eat/binge like crazy when I can get my hands on it

:ohwell:

Laddiegirl

I'm not on a strict diet myself. I've tried them in the past and they aren't something I know I can do longterm so I'd rather learn to encorporate the foods I love or learn to cook them in healthier ways. I plan for special treats and make sure to exercise when I know I'm going to go over or indulge in something. This past weekend I spent visiting my sister who does not cook so we ate out at every meal, I made good choices that fit in my macros, but were also things I wanted and only went over by 168 calories on one day. I made a point to exercise each day (I had my workout video on my laptop, took walks and swam laps in her complex pool) and I didn't gain an ounce and enjoyed my weekend with my sister.

For me this journey is about learning how to fit the foods I love into a healthy and balanced diet so that I can get to and maintain a healthy weight while still enjoying food and not making it the enemy.