Angry Cranky and a Not so Happy Mood!

JacksMom is right. :flowerforyou:

Diets are restrictive eating. Way of Life is eating in the real world.

As I'm losing weight I'm eating real, everyday foods. My only restriction is 2% milk, which I have become accustomed to, it's just not what I grew up with. I'm eating pancakes, pizza, fried chicken, along with chicken, beef, pork, potatoes, rice, all sorts of fruits and veggies. I eat potato chips and cake too. I don't binge on these foods, because I'm not deprived. I make myself aware of what I'm eating and enjoy my meals. I don't eat mindlessly. There are days I battle, because I'm an emotional eater for sure - and sometimes I have to fight with myself. Yesterday was a bad, bad day because I was battling with my SO and just wanted to stuff my face. I stayed within my guidlines, but barely, and I made poor choices in the evening - but still stayed on board. Because I'm not going to continue living my life as a fat person - I'm going to get fit and live a life without gasping for air when I walk, being able to sit anywhere without fear and embarassment. I'm goig to live the good life.

You say you felt great after losing 100 pounds "and starting your relationship with food again". Christine, you have to develop a good relationship with food every day. Don't "diet" - just eat in a more healthy manner. There's a big difference between the two.

Hope you feel better!

Plus an "all or nothing attitude" is very much sabotage....i learned this the hard way. You have to allow yourself to live. Take it day by day. I too had a love/hate relationship with food and still struggle at times but i do have to take it day by day. I plan meals ahead, each time i'm eating breakfast i plan my next snack, when i eat my snack i plan my lunch, that way i am always prepared for my next meal in case my stomach gets hungry earlier.
If you eat something that you think is "bad" don't beat yourself up about it, suck it up and move on and start again. With a bad relationship with food, for the first little while you will find that you will have many struggles and will find temptation in so many places. Set small goals for yourself on the food front. Take one week.....just one week and plan your meals out.....yes its tedious at first but then you can see what a difference it makes with your relationship with food.

Is there something in particular that you crave that makes you feel like you have a bad relationship with food? For me it was sweets and salty high carb food.....this was really tough especially during that hormonal time a week before my cycle....but that was really the only time that i really struggled with it.....it was strongest at this time. This coupled by the crankiness and "don't even look at me at all" feelings lol.
If you need some more tips, i would be more than willing to help. I had a love/hate relationship with food, and my stupid scale which i am happy to say....i hid my scale.....and i don't struggle with food near as much as I used to.
It does get better, i promise you but sometimes you just have to help it just a little to get it back on track.

Jess

You say you felt great after losing 100 pounds "and starting your relationship with food again". Christine, you have to develop a good relationship with food every day. Don't "diet" - just eat in a more healthy manner. There's a big difference between the two.

^^^ This is the truth. The way to overcome an unhealthy relationship with food is to change it into a healthy relationship that will last the rest of your life. "Diet" has two meanings in modern American English: (1) a severely restricted set of foods that you eat temporarily, while losing weight, and then abandon, and (2) the normal range of foods that you eat. #1 is like the Atkins Diet or the Grapefruit Diet; #2 is like a Mediterranean diet or a vegetarian diet.

You need to focus on your diet in sense #2: are you eating a balanced diet that supplies the nutrients you need? Are you getting enough protein and complex carbohydrates, and are you limiting sugars? Do your foods supply the necessary vitamins and minerals? You can make this complex, but Michael Pollan sums up the basics succinctly: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." (By food he means stuff that our great-grandparents would have recognized as food, rather than the highly processed food products that are so plentiful these days.)

If you have a decent diet (sense #2), losing weight is then a matter of eating fewer calories than you expend in your daily life (including exercise). MFP is a useful tool for doing that. It's hard, because you're basically starving yourself (carefully, and in a good cause). But then, once you reach your target, you don't change *what* you eat; you just change *how much* you eat of your good diet.

You need to allow yourself treats (in moderation) while losing weight, and keep them (in moderation) after you reach your target. I love cheese, and there's no way I am giving it up, but I am making myself eat less of it. I'm eating less red meat and aiming for more fish and vegetarian meals. I'm buying new spices and focusing on flavor and texture.

And if I have a day when I just lose it and blow my calorie goal out of the water, I just get back on track the next day. We can't change the past. We should learn lessons from it; my most recent one is: don't stand next to the food table at a reception if I can't prevent myself from snacking indiscriminately. But we shouldn't beat ourselves up over it.