Why does it still feel like I'm torturing myself?

I think most fat people got into these situations because of "control" problems. So its very counter productive to still eat those things.

Actually, no, it's called learning to live in the real world and getting control of your life. There will always be temptations and if you never learn how to say no or only eat one cookie you're going to lead a miserable life. Eating a cookie doesn't make you fat or become a health issue. Eating a bag of cookies is a problem. Learning how to eat a cookie and say no thank you to the rest of the bag is getting mentally healthy. Going through life feeling like every day is torture is not healthy.

If it feels like torture to you then it's not sustainable imo. Tastes do change, but it's ok to still have the foods you love. Personally I'd try a more gradually change, rather than a complete 180.

I do moderation and have never felt deprived. I usually allocate about 20% of my calories for chocolate or whatever I'm craving. The rest of my calories I use to hit my protein goal and get nutrients in.

i've only just started looking into this myself so i dont claim to know the answers but.... have you looked into glycemic index? its about controlling your blood sugar level. Maybe it can feel like torture if you're craving lots of foods that wil make your blood sugar levels peak and then crash, making you feel hungry quicker. If you try eating foods keep your blood sugar level steady, it may help.

Ive been trying to keep to foods with a low glycemic index for a week now to try and keep my blood sugar levels steady and i feel better and eating healthier is feeling easier. I am a sugar junky, and just by becoming more aware of the types of food i eat is making me feel in a lot more control.

Theres a lot of information and charts about GI on the internet that is worth reading IMO. I hope this helps

When I eat healthy like salads and stuff its not very filling honestly. If I ate all the food I craved 24/7 I would 5k calories a day. When I first started eating healthy the first few weeks I ate tones of fruits, vegetables, ect. I ate tones of whole foods and I was ALWAYS starving. Everyone that claims its not torture has just convinced themselves of that in the long run, trust me no one WANTS to be sucking down a wheat grass smoothie going jogging at 5am, but you do what yo gotta do.

I think most fat people got into these situations because of "control" problems. So its very counter productive to still eat those things.

Actually, no, it's called learning to live in the real world and getting control of your life. There will always be temptations and if you never learn how to say no or only eat one cookie you're going to lead a miserable life. Eating a cookie doesn't make you fat or become a health issue. Eating a bag of cookies is a problem. Learning how to eat a cookie and say no thank you to the rest of the bag is getting mentally healthy. Going through life feeling like every day is torture is not healthy.

Congratulations on losing 22 lbs! That takes a lot of hard work, however being in maintenance myself, I know that keeping it off is even harder!

You should not feel like you are torturing yourself. This will not be a sustainable way to live. You really need to look at your food choices and find a healthier balance of what will work for you. Even if it takes longer for the weight to come off, you are much better off with choices that you KNOW you can live with for the rest of your life.

Do you drink diet soda or drinks like Crystal Light? Try sticking with water or Propel Zero. I used to drink diet soda all of the time- why not, it is 0 calories- but I would then crave other foods. No one said you can't eat things you love- but you can't eat them all of the time. Try smaller portion sizes or substitutes that will satisfy that craving.

Going down this path can be scary and sometimes we do things to stop our own progress. You are doing a great job and keep on going. With a few tweeks, I am sure this will no longer feel like torture. Remember- "Nothing tastes as good as healthy looks"

If it feels like torture to you then it's not sustainable imo. Tastes do change, but it's ok to still have the foods you love. Personally I'd try a more gradually change, rather than a complete 180.

I do moderation and have never felt deprived. I usually allocate about 20% of my calories for chocolate or whatever I'm craving. The rest of my calories I use to hit my protein goal and get nutrients in.

Being a fatty who came here because I have a problem eating to much. I don't even want that stuff in my house, its counter productive to my weight loss goals and pointless. Sure I could eat 1 cookie but I see no point in it. We all know the sugar makes you want more, so this whole "having one thing" I mean good for you but thats not the norm. lol. As someone who used to gorge (and actually needs this site for weight loss), I am good off even having that in my house.

I think it's a pretty broad generalization to say that it's not the norm. Pretty much everyone on my friend list does IIFYM so it's not just me. To me being able to eat normally is the goal, and that includes being able to have cookies or chocolate in my house without going off the rails. Sugar doesn't make me want more. I did need this site for weight loss, as you can see by my ticker. Now I use it to track macros and to make sure my weight doesn't creep back up.

What I'm saying is that you have that problem, and that's fine. It makes total sense for you not to buy that stuff or have it in the house if you find it addictive. But the OP may not have that problem. Many people don't. If a person doesn't feel out of control around foods they love them I don't see the point in cutting those foods out completely.

I think anyone that has gotten fat has lost control at one point or another. I generalize because this is what I have seen MY WHOLE LIFE from people in person, not magical internet land where NO one seems to be the norm.
I can have those things in my house, like right now I have girl scout cookies and ritz, they are my sisters because she is here for spring break, I haven't touched them. BUT I am not going to go out and buy my favorite snack foods to just let them sit in my cabinets, that food made me the way I am, so by still eating I am completely being counter productive to my goals. Why would I want all that junk food that made me fat in my house?? If I want chocolate I can buy a dark chocolate bar and split it with my husband. But honestly I have a family of fatties and everyone I know got that way from control problems. So its counter productive to put all that tempting **** in your house. I don't HAVE to eat it, but its just SMARTER to not buy it.

When I eat healthy like salads and stuff its not very filling honestly. If I ate all the food I craved 24/7 I would 5k calories a day. When I first started eating healthy the first few weeks I ate tones of fruits, vegetables, ect. I ate tones of whole foods and I was ALWAYS starving. Everyone that claims its not torture has just convinced themselves of that in the long run, trust me no one WANTS to be sucking down a wheat grass smoothie going jogging at 5am, but you do what yo gotta do.

I think most fat people got into these situations because of "control" problems. So its very counter productive to still eat those things.

Actually, no, it's called learning to live in the real world and getting control of your life. There will always be temptations and if you never learn how to say no or only eat one cookie you're going to lead a miserable life. Eating a cookie doesn't make you fat or become a health issue. Eating a bag of cookies is a problem. Learning how to eat a cookie and say no thank you to the rest of the bag is getting mentally healthy. Going through life feeling like every day is torture is not healthy.

^^ This. When you first start, part of the journey is to learn control. While some people throw out all the bad things and refuse to buy more and will get mad at other people who eat it around them or people who bring goodies to work and basically anyone else who is just going about their life including treats.. Most people eventually learn to deal with it. If you slip you log it and move on but if you never try then you will never gain that control and will go through the rest of your life feeling deprived, discriminated against and blaming others for your inability to lose weight.

If you are feeling like you are torturing yourself you probably are. As far as "sucking down a wheat grass smoothie going jogging at 5am" because you 'have to'... No thanks. Truth be told I don't choose to do a lot of things nor do I HAVE to. People choose to go to the gym 5 days a week, people choose to limit what they eat, choose to cut out certain food groups and all other forms of torture (in my mind) I choose to eat what I want as long as I have room in my calories, I choose to eat according to my TDEE and not at some random number dictated by a website that knows nothing about me. I choose to go about my day in the way that I always have just eating a little less and moving a little more.

Read these:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912914-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

Start there, and stop torturing yourself when you don't have to. Losing weight is simple - we are the ones that make it so hard.

tl;dr

I already commented back to that person thanks .

hope you're getting the results you want.

I totally agree with you. You've got to have the willpower to just stay away from it because if you DO give in, you've ruined it. It's really hard. And everyone struggles with it. It is all mental. AALLL mental. Which is sort of annoying because we tell ourselves that it is all these outside factors, but it is all within us.

I know I know the cookies, candy and ice cream didn't make me fat I did blah blah blah

Are you hangry? You seem very confrontational. From looking at your diary you eat your fair share of "bad" foods so why so upset? No one said the OP should buy junk food and keep it in the house to not eat. We're saying if you want to eat something other than steamed broccoli and chicken then do so as long as you can stay in control. No one said hang a bag of chips on the frig door but don't touch it.

Being a fatty who came here because I have a problem eating to much. I don't even want that stuff in my house, its counter productive to my weight loss goals and pointless. Sure I could eat 1 cookie but I see no point in it. We all know the sugar makes you want more, so this whole "having one thing" I mean good for you but thats not the norm. lol. As someone who used to gorge (and actually needs this site for weight loss), I am good off even having that in my house.

I think it's a pretty broad generalization to say that it's not the norm. Pretty much everyone on my friend list does IIFYM so it's not just me. To me being able to eat normally is the goal, and that includes being able to have cookies or chocolate in my house without going off the rails. Sugar doesn't make me want more. I did need this site for weight loss, as you can see by my ticker. Now I use it to track macros and to make sure my weight doesn't creep back up.

What I'm saying is that you have that problem, and that's fine. It makes total sense for you not to buy that stuff or have it in the house if you find it addictive. But the OP may not have that problem. Many people don't. If a person doesn't feel out of control around foods they love them I don't see the point in cutting those foods out completely.

I think anyone that has gotten fat has lost control at one point or another. I generalize because this is what I have seen MY WHOLE LIFE from people in person, not magical internet land where NO one seems to be the norm.
I can have those things in my house, like right now I have girl scout cookies and ritz, they are my sisters because she is here for spring break, I haven't touched them. BUT I am not going to go out and buy my favorite snack foods to just let them sit in my cabinets, that food made me the way I am, so by still eating I am completely being counter productive to my goals. Why would I want all that junk food that made me fat in my house?? If I want chocolate I can buy a dark chocolate bar and split it with my husband. But honestly I have a family of fatties and everyone I know got that way from control problems. So its counter productive to put all that tempting **** in your house. I don't HAVE to eat it, but its just SMARTER to not buy it.

When I eat healthy like salads and stuff its not very filling honestly. If I ate all the food I craved 24/7 I would 5k calories a day. When I first started eating healthy the first few weeks I ate tones of fruits, vegetables, ect. I ate tones of whole foods and I was ALWAYS starving. Everyone that claims its not torture has just convinced themselves of that in the long run, trust me no one WANTS to be sucking down a wheat grass smoothie going jogging at 5am, but you do what yo gotta do.