Changing One Meal at a Time?

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iamafatcowmoo
iamafatcowmoo Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been struggling with my diet habits for several years now, and I'm getting ready to try something new.

One of my past problems, I believe, is that I overwhelm myself by jumping head first into diet attempts, rather than trying to make each change part of my lifestyle. As a result, I go from being meticulously on a diet to living on processed snack cakes, chips, and Slim-jims. It's really an all or nothing thing for me.

I'm considering a new approach. I am going to start tracking my daily food intake as-is. Then, I'm going to start making gradual changes one meal at a time. To start, I'll focus on making sure I have a balanced, healthy breakfast. My go-to options will probably be Kashi GoLean cereal with unsweetened almond/coconut milk and fruit or Chobani yogurt with fruit, old fashioned oats, and chia seed (and agave on days I go with the plain yogurt). Then, I'll work on making sure my lunches are more balanced/healthy. This will be followed by dinner and snacks. As I work on each meal, I'll work on tweaking my numbers so I am hitting my targets.

I'm hoping that, in doing this, I can gradually adjust to a healthier diet. I am aware that I may not drop the weight as quickly as I would like, but I think being able to stick to this long-term is more important overall.

Is this a crazy idea, or is there a good chance it might actually work?

Replies

  • Heidi64
    Heidi64 Posts: 211 Member
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    What's helped me is putting health before weight loss. Everyone knows it's good to have fruits and veggetables each day. I made it a priority to have those every day. Before long, I was planning what to put in smoothies for breakfast and how creative I could get with a salad. Meals don't get boring because the fruits and veggies change up depending on what I buy or what's on sale or better yet, what comes out of the garden. A MFP friend and I have also challenged eachother to get these fruits and veggies into our daily diet, so the "pressure" is on. Add to that a daily goal of water intake (mine is 11-14) and before you know it, you're eating healthy, cravings are not a factor and viola! the weight falls off. Good luck in your lifestyle change journey. And it IS a journey with peaks and valleys.
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,224 Member
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    Not a crazy idea at all-especially if you're an all or nothing kind of person who's going to eat one cookie, "blow it" and fall off the rails completely.

    It's probably a great idea to log your food as-is and then see where you'll be comfortable making changes. Maybe don't restrict yourself to a specific meal-might be easier to just see where things fall when you log and go from there. When I first started, I did something similar and after 1 day of logging over 800 calories in coffees (not even fancy flavored ones), it was glaringly evident where I could make a significant change lol.

    You're absolutely right-the long haul is infinitely more important than the speed of loss (in my opinion). Do whatever you need to do to make changes in a way you can sustain.
  • linz1125
    linz1125 Posts: 441 Member
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    I think that is a great plan :-) just make sure you still change it up so you don't get burnt out on the same stuff.
  • FunnyBunnyHunny
    FunnyBunnyHunny Posts: 102 Member
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    Yes! I have been thinking about this all day. I have successfully lost major pounds from diet change and major exercise in the past, but never kept it off. This time, I'm doing things differently.

    The past three weeks, I have only logged my food. It has already helped me majorly and have already lost weight just being conscious of what I am eating. Now, I am gradually replacing meals with clean ones, but still enjoying other foods as well, so I don't just "quit". I'm also gradually reintroducing exercise, mostly not jumping in head first because its freezing outside and I can't afford a gym membership right now.

    I think that the gradual changes will prove successful for my goals over the next year... and will help me to form healthy habits for the long run. Plus, this way I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Its allowing me to celebrate the good meals and exercise days rather just dwell on and mourn the bad meals and lost exercise days.

    Good luck to you!
  • mzjada
    mzjada Posts: 3 Member
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    If you are looking for advice on changing one meal at a time, check out the Reader's Digest Change One diet and fitness plan. I think it's really great in teaching you which food groups to eat for each meal, and in what portions.

    Good Luck!
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,287 Member
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    I ran into a guy today who used to be overweight. He was perfectly thin. I asked him what he was doing to lose the weight. He said he has lost 65 pounds over the past three years by just not eating as much. He said he cut down on eating..and then started exercising and didn't really diet.

    That really told me something. That is our societies "quick fix" attitude that makes us all want to change right NOW. He just made small changes...and it took time..but he is there.

    You do the same thing...just start logging.. eat a bit less..make some better choices.. maybe taking a slow approach is the winning approach.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
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    I think if this system works for you and helps you keep a grip...then great! Good luck!

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