Sometimes it feels like...

amymeenieminymo

I'm in prison by counting my calories. Don't get me wrong, I love this site, and it works. I've lost 50 pounds (and gained a couple back) and I am still working toward my goal. I've been at this for two years now, and it's the only method that I have stuck with and has worked, and have NOT gained any substantial amount back.

But sometimes, when I think about counting calories for the REST OF MY LIFE, I just feel like ugh! I miss the carefree days of eating when I feel hungry and eating what I want to. Like this afternoon, I have been hungry all afternoon, I couldn't even have a stinkin banana if I want to have a snack this evening (when the cravings are harder to turn down). Sure I try to do a cheat day every week or every other so I don't go nuts, and I DON'T miss being fat. I guess I just hate knowing this is how it's got to be forever, if I want to keep it off.

It seems like the idea would be relatively simple, just eat healthy, watch your portions and exercise. But there have been so many times when I had a day off, thought I ate relatively well and when I logged it anyway, I see that I am over by a few hundred calories. Like today, I had low fat yogurt, granola and dried fruit for breakfast. Lunch was a salad with grilled chicken, apples, strawberrys, cashews, and feta cheese, and dinner is spaghetti with ground turkey. But since I didn't work out today (my day off) I had to nix the salad dressing for lunch, the ground turkey and spaghetti sauce with dinner so that I can still have a snack a little later without going over. Anyone else feel like this sometimes?

♥Faerie♥

ALL THE TIME.........:grumble: :grumble: :grumble: :explode: :mad:

michellejayne

Me too , i try look at a year in a glance and then see how i do after a year and go from there!!!

NykkieC

Yes, I do too, a lot. What I find really frustrating is having a day all planned out and something falling through so I have to re-do everything! DH especially hates it when I have to waste an hour of our evening plugging in stuff to see if it works with my calories, ugh!

lornajg

It's hard. I agree. But it is excellent that you know it is forever. Unfortunately some of us will never just be able to eat without thinking. Whether we are out of control bingers or just gain weight more easily than others, we don't get a free pass.

One of the things I have been trying lately is to change how food controls me. Instead of structuring my day so that all I think about is food, I am trying to go back to a place where food is secondary. Yes, I might have hunger pangs. But guess what? They go away after 5 or 10 minutes. If I am enjoying what I am doing, I can be stronger than the pangs. It is so much more about our brains than our bodies. We are in control and if we don't revolve everything around food I think it can get somewhat easier. There is so much more to life than food.

sonjavon

I guess I'm different... I don't feel like I'm in prison at all... I feel like I'm actually being released from the prison of the fat and bad habits I've collected through the years. If I "ate when I was hungry" - I wouldn't be here. The problem is that I can find a million different reasons to eat... I had a bad day, my sister had a bad day, the dog had a bad day, the sky is blue, the grass is green... you get the picture. I find that I eat a lot MORE now than I used to - I just eat healthier choices.
If we're going out to eat, I do log on to check and see what the best choice is - but make no mistakes... if I REALLY want something to eat when we go out - that's what I eat. It's not the once in a while eating out that got me in the shape I'm in - it's that every day was a treat!
This is like any good habit - once you get used to eating healthy - you'll do it automatically.

By the way - I refuse to be hungry. If I'm hungry... I eat... but I'll eat something with some nutritional value and fiber. If you're getting hungry - take a look at what you're eating and see if you couldn't make better choices.

mvl1014

It really doesn't have to be forever. After you reach your goal you need to continue, but do you honestly think that after 5 years of weighing everything and measuring out portions you won't be able to automate a great deal of what you eat?

You are training yourself to do what you couldn't do. You don't use training wheels your whole life. And you don't need to count every kilocalorie you consume.

Does that mean you don't have to think about what you're eating? No. It just means that you'll learn how many cals/serving or cals/ounce most foods you eat regularly have and what that amount of food should look like. At some point you'll know to avoid the deep-fried snickers at the state fair and have a grilled chicken sandwich instead. For example, I know how many cals/serving egg whites and rice and pasta and chicken and ground beef and cheese and my favorite bread items have because I eat them all the time.

bellinachuchina

It's hard. I agree. But it is excellent that you know it is forever. Unfortunately some of us will never just be able to eat without thinking. Whether we are out of control bingers or just gain weight more easily than others, we don't get a free pass.

One of the things I have been trying lately is to change how food controls me. Instead of structuring my day so that all I think about is food, I am trying to go back to a place where food is secondary. Yes, I might have hunger pangs. But guess what? They go away after 5 or 10 minutes. If I am enjoying what I am doing, I can be stronger than the pangs. It is so much more about our brains than our bodies. We are in control and if we don't revolve everything around food I think it can get somewhat easier. There is so much more to life than food.

Agreed!

I will also say that you will feel like this from time to time, like it's too much, but after each milestone reached, counting and avoiding certain foods becomes habit. For instance, yesterday my Husband & Son got lunch at McDonald's during some of our errand running. It didn't even bother me, it was like nothing, like that food was just not for me so it didn't bother me at all. I got a black coffee while they had hamburgers! I believe in the saying "everything in moderation", but that can't be applied to your daily eating habits when trying to lose weight. It's more like "some foods in moderation once a month!" lol No worries, you will get past the idea of counting, & it will become second nature. For me, I know I'll always be fighting to stay trim, actively or subconsciously!