When did you WANT to??

Im_NotPerfect

I had an epiphany today. I finally understand why, even though he knew he should and he would be better for him, my husband didn't quit smoking sooner than he did (It was 7 years on June 1). He didn't want to. He liked smoking.

And that's how I feel about eating. Especially bad stuff. I KNOW I should stop (or cut down) on the bad stuff. I KNOW I shouldn't eat cookies or sugar. I KNOW that my major problem right now is my diet. But I don't WANT to stop eating "bad for me stuff". I guess I'm not ready to. I'm TRYING to cut back. I really am. But I LOVE my food.

So tell me...at what point did you WANT to eat heathier? Just not for short term, but forever? What was your "quit smoking" point? I'm still trying to find mine...

sandyn2

There may be some people out there who really prefer to eat an apple instead of a candy bar but I'm not one of them! I don't want to stop eating bad for me stuff, either, but I've decided to try hard to stick to the MFP calorie goal for the day. My thinking is that this is the weight loss phase and I'm going to be a little hungrier than I would like and I'm not going to eat as many sweets as I'd like for now. I'm not choosing healthy foods just because they are healthy (unfortunately) but because they have fewer calories and I need the nutrients to function.

My hope is that when I get to maintenance phase someday, I'll have a little more flexibility. On a positive note, I'm craving sweets less than I used to : )

BTW, I think one of the hard things about 'quiting' is the finality of it. Thinking you've 'quit' (eating junk food) means that you don't get to have it anymore ~ and that just makes you think about it more! Instead, try thinking, 'I'm not going to eat that today.' Or find a way to keep a little candy or whatever you need in your diet and still meet your calorie goal.

Good luck!

klkutz1405

I don't know that you ever get a point where you "want" to stop eating all the bad stuff. I think you just have to decide that eating healthy is what you're going to do and just do it. I know that's way easier said than done because I still crave the bad stuff. I've been on MFP for about 3 months now and have been trying really hard to eat healthier. And I've noticed that when I do give in to my cravings that the "bad" stuff doesn't taste as good as I remember and it tends to upset my stomach. I think once you've made the decision to try and eat healthier and stick with it it for a while, your brain may think it wants bad stuff, but the rest of your body will be happier with the good stuff.

yallcallmedeb

As the last poster said, the bad stuff starts to not taste so good. When we went to the football game this weekend, everyone was eating fried chicken fingers and fries. Just the look of it (yet alone the smell) nauseated me. It is much easier for me to give up grease than sugar. Probably because my digestive system does not like grease. As for the sweets, I still allow some. But, I've switched to dark chocolate. It's amazing....it is true that you will not want as much dark chocolate as you do milk. It is much more satisfying and there is a lot of research that sings its praises. As for other sweets.....I will eat them but they "have to be worth it". I'm trying to give myself permission that if I take a bite of something and it is not DELICIOUS, I can throw it away (I was brought up that food was never to be thrown away). If I'm going to have a treat, it is going to be a high quality treat. I have always found that I am more satisfied with one spoonful of Ben & Jerry's then a huge bowl full of cheap ice cream.. I have also learned that I will have less cravings and be more satisfied (i.e., more "full") if I have a piece of fruit than if I have a sugary treat. Both are sweet but one lasts and the other makes me want more sweets.

BlackKat75

I looked at my father's health and my father-in-law's health. After being told he was prediabetic eight years ago, my father took control of his diet and exercise - he lost about 40 pounds and started getting an hour of exercise every day (walking or cross-country skiing). He's 74 and fit as a fiddle - seriously, I went hiking with him last year and I could barely keep up. He no longer has any insulin resistance and, not only did he not develop Type II diabetes, he's no longer prediabetic.

In contrast, my father-in-law, is 64, and has had Type II diabetes for at least a decade. He's never taken his diagnosis seriously, never attempted to change his diet or add in exercise. His health has progressively deteriorated the entire time I've known him. He eats lots of unhealthy highly processed foods and still drinks sugary soda. He now has diabetic neuropathy in his feet, which causes him a lot of pain. He retired last year and can't enjoy his retirement because he's basically in chronic pain.

This is really what got me thinking about changing my lifestyle permanently. It can be difficult to see the health consequences of bad food choices on the daily level, but seeing the difference between the health of my father and father-in-law made me recognize that little bad choices every day can add up to chronic debilitating health conditions. This is what keeps me motivated.

As for doing it on a day-to-day level, what I've found is that committing to healthy eating for a couple of weeks and cut out the crap during that time period - basically a detox period - really helps. You can re-set your sweet tooth. In addition, if I'm going to have something sweet, I generally make it worth my while - e.g., a small amount of nice rich premium ice cream rather than a big bowl of not-so-great ice cream.

DarkFlutter

In January I decided I wanted to try to live healthier.
I'm a carb person...LOVE pastas, breads, etc. And I have a sweet tooth.

However, instead of cutting things out completely, I researched and found that I could simply make better choices with what I was eating. I won't deny myself what I want...that just makes me overeat when I do give in.

My favorite place to shop right now is Trader Joe's. They have my favorite foods, but there's are made with healthier ingredients. Take Mac-n-Cheese. Their version is made with seeds of plants to get the color, instead of the articifical colors/flavors of Kraft. When you compare the stats of the two...the only major difference is calories (half in TJ brand).

So I still get to eat what I like, but I'm putting better stuff into my body.

HollywoodDJ

I always "WANTED" to but finally DID IT...March 1st, 2012.....the day I started here on MFP!

quill16

The doctor told me he was upping my blood pressure meds and I was going to start diabetic meds. I cried when I left his office and vowed that it was the end and I had to stand in the truth of where I was headed.

withchaco

I don't want to quit cookies and cheesecakes. I still eat them, just in moderation!

But when did I begin wanting to exercise moderation? It was when I realized just how big I had gotten. I met a chubby child weighing 55 pounds, and it hit me: woah, woah, woah, you mean I'm carrying a blob of fat the size of this kid!? (actually bigger, since a 55 pound child is denser than 55 pounds of pure fat)

Also, it was when I realized that moderation would work, that I would not have to be miserable while losing weight.

d_Mode

I wanted to when I wound up in a hospital and found out I had developed Type 2 Diabetes...my wife was 7-months pregnant at the time. That was 2 years ago...I've made all the necessary changes to my diet, started exercising and am no longer having to take my meal-time insulin. If I drop another 20 lbs I'll be off all my insulin altogether.

kenazfehu

You can still have some of whatever you want as long as you plan it in. I've discovered that there are a lot of things I used to eat that I don't value enough to plan into my calories - like sugar cookies or store-bought sheet cakes.

What got to me was realizing that I was stuffing myself to the point of misery ON PURPOSE almost every single day (because it kept my attention off my suspicions about my son's drug abuse). I realized that if I could do that, I could do something entirely different.

Anamdalta

A couple of weeks after I turned 40, I got really sick. I realized then that I had to do something different. It still took me another 2 months to get off my butt and into the gym.

I've always eaten relatively healthy, but with an added layer of junk food (I'm the QUEEN of snacking after 8pm). So, I stopped eating junk, which was what got my calorie count down. I still eat ice cream, etc. occasionally, but now, only if it fits into my count after I've eaten real food all day. It's a lot like quitting smoking (harder, actually, I've done both) -- you have to simply decide you're not going to do it. The reason junk food is harder to kick is because there is often room to have a "few" chips, or a small bowl of ice cream. For some folks, that's a real trigger to keep eating more.

On the nights that I really want to eat junk, I just go to bed. Doesn't make for an exciting evening, but it has been effective

Now, 3 months in, I really only struggle in the week before my TOM - my salt cravings go absolutely nutty. So, I cut myself some slack, make sure to drink lots of extra water, and just get on with it.

You'll get there. You don't have to permanently abstain from all the fun stuff - you have to eat it mindfully (i.e., not in front of the TV while having no idea what you're actually putting in your mouth) -- it has to be a choice you make on purpose, as opposed to something you do from habit. Being in control of it makes a huge difference to your ability to choose *not* to eat it.

Good luck

samanthawarren

I have always wanted to eat healthier. The problem for me was two fold. One I really love bread, chocolate, cheese, beef, cheesecake............... And I really didn't think I was eating too badly, and for a "big girl" I am pretty fit. I work out regularly. I just thought I couldn't lose weight. Then I got a smartphone and just to see what I was eating I downloaded the app for myfitnesspal. Being able to see how much I was eating was an epiphany. Quite frankly I am surprised I only had about 100 lbs to lose when I consider I was downing over 3500 calories a day. That was enough to make me get started on this journey. It has only been one week and I have lost 3 lbs. That is enough to convince me I can do this.

Cheryl188

I totally understand your comparison to smoking, but eating healthy is very different in my books. You HAVE TO eat...you don't HAVE TO smoke. You must go into a grocery store and choose the FEW healthy options amongst the PILES of unhealthy.
For me, eating healthy has been a long, gradual process. I've made little changes starting years ago (threw out the deep fryer, switched to skim milk, etc) and I'm continuing to do so. The biggest change I made recently was giving up fast food. I haven't had McDonalds/Wendy's etc since December 2011. I still crave it and want to eat it, but I just refuse to.
That being said, I still indulge in treating myself to my fave "cheat" foods (nachos, pizza, ice cream). It's working so far!

barb1241

LOL! I quit smoking 4 years ago and promptly gained 80+ pounds. My feet hurt. Disc problems in my back were more frequent and more painful. My clothes didn't fit. I could barely climb the stairs from my basement to the main floor. My bigger clothes didn't fit. And so on. I was pretty miserable about having gained so much weight, but I kept right on eating. UNTIL-I saw a different doctor than my regular one for an unrelated issue and she asked about health problems other than obesity. That is exactly when it hit me. I was never fat before. Had maybe 10-15 pounds more than I needed max, but OBESE???? I think that awful woman just said I was fat! It was probably the first time I "saw" myself as others were seeing me. I had a curvy but not FAT person mental image of myself even at my highest weight. YIKES!!

I got very motivated shortly thereafter and began "dieting" and attempting to exercise by walking around the block, stopping several times to rest. I found another weigh loss support website directed primarily at women, regardless of age, size, diet plan etc. It was a big help when I read a lot of posts regarding logging food and exercise, a self-directed journal. I began to see how the foods I was eating were still way too high in calories and not enough nutritionally. it took a while, but I learned a LOT about how to get the most food for my calorie budget and I upped the exercise bit by bit. The exercise part was the hardest for me becuase of my back and dragging around that extra weight, but I lost weight pretty quickly and my feet didn't hurt anymore! My back is still a problem sometimes, but not more than once or twice a year. Once I had lost maybe 20 pounds or so, it was pretty easy to stay on track with my calorie counting and exercise because I had worked too hard to lose those pounds that I didn't want to have to do it more than once. I kept exercising, mostly eating right, but also beginning to slide down the slippery slope into careless eating and junk food. What I like to call "crap and garbage". I regained around 10 pounds over the course of about a year and 1/2, and decided it is time to not only lose what I had originally done, but also to get really back on track and lose the other 40-50-or more, depending on how I feel when I get to my first goal weight.

Dang! The doctor called me FAT. That was MY epiphany!

Barb

Cocochickdeleted

I've toyed with eating healthy off and on through the years, but as I get older, I realize that this is the only body I will ever have, and if I want it to work well for me as I age, I need to start taking better care of it now. My mom, who does not take care of herself, has a plethora of health issues that I do not want to deal with. And it finally dawned on me that while 'bad' food is delicious, it is momentary. Yes, it tastes good while it's in my mouth, but after that, it's just a memory. I don't have a perfect diet by any means, but I do try to opt for healthy whole foods over processed ones most often. My main focus now is fueling my body for activities that I enjoy rather than eating for enjoyment, which always leads me to weight gain.

julieh391

When I hit the biggest size I could buy in a "regular" store (18), food just didn't taste good enough to keep stuffing it in my face like I had been for years. It wasn't worth being "plus sized." You would think barely cramming my *kitten* into a roller coaster, or not being able to wear skirts anymore in the summer because of miserable chub rub, or hating every single picture of myself would have done it. But nope. It took being a tight size 18. Now I'm a 12, and they're getting a little loose. :happy:

Nikki31104

I still want to eat all the bad for you but so yummy food but I want to be skinny more. I think you just have to be ready. I used to smoke too. I tried to quit numerous times. When I was finally ready to quit it was so easy. And now I am ready to lose weight. And it has been easy. I have been here for 90 days and I have lost 15 pounds. I still have another 50 pounds to go but that is ok with me. I will get there. And then I will stay there. So what it all boils down to is that you have to be READY. You have to WANT it not just know that it is better for you.

ChildrenCryinNCoffee

Mine was May 13, 2009.

I was 24 years old, pregnant with our third child and sitting next to my husband, who was laying in a hospital bed for over 2 weeks .

I almost lost my husband to Rhabdomiolysis. I didn't want my 3 kids to possibly end up orphans, especially when one of us had the CHOICE to stick around and live for them.

I lost 140 lbs as of January 15, 2011 (177 lbs), down from 318 lbs in 2010 after giving birth to my 3rd.

I just had our 4th, 3 weeks ago, and I'm back on MFP, back to my old routine, despite being on high-risk pregnancy bed-rest 6 outta 9 months with her. I'm down about 1/2 of what I gained this pregnancy within 3 weeks and nothing is going to stop me from getting back to the 170's (as lower) because I have 5 (4 including my husband) very special loved ones I need to live for!

amberrose724

my breaking point was being diagnosed with hashimoto's disease which automatically makes someone get high cholesterol,high blood pressure easily and wanted to get rid of it,so i'm starting now.

fiberartist219

This is a good question, and it is vital to being healthy. You have to want to do it for yourself, not just because you know you should.

When I first started getting chubby, I actually didn't mind, because I wasn't terribly happy as a thin person. I didn't mind being slightly overweight. However, it got out of control and I hit the obese mark. I struggled with my thyroid and with migraines for a few years. I think the hormone imbalance caused the weight gain, and then the lazy attitude made it worse, and it just kind of spiraled on each other.

Anyway, I wanted to take control of the migraines first and foremost. I was on some medication that listed weight gain as one of the side effects, and honestly, I didn't care how fat it made me as long as I could start feeling better.

I got a new job with better hours and the migraines started to subside. I could actually plan my days and do what I wanted without hallucinating or feeling dizzy. That's when I decided I was ready to start exercising. I wasn't ready to take control over the food yet, because somehow, I believed that eating more food helped me feel less dizzy.

After several months of trying various exercises, I decided it was time to take control over my eating. I counted calories for a few months and finally lost a few pounds. It was grueling, but I was proud of myself for doing it.

I maintained for a few months and stopped counting calories. It made me tired and hungry, and I knew something else had to give.

I eventually got off the migraine meds and switched birth control methods and suddenly I had energy. The next few pounds fell off out of nowhere.

Now, I am at a point where I have to try again, and I think I'll maintain for a few more months and then try to lose again. I go through phases of ambition. Luckily I have enough motivation to at least keep the progress I have made so far and not gain any of it back.